Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Gilyeat, and I'm going to be your geography teacher for today.

In today's lesson, we are going to be learning about the climate of Russia.

Our lesson outcome for today is that you can explain the different climate types across Russia.

So we've got three keywords for today's lesson, the first one is continental climate, which is a relatively dry climate with very hot summers and very cold winters found in locations away.

Far from the sea, latitude is imaginary lines on Earth showing position of north or south of the equator, and it's measured in degrees, and altitude is the height above sea level or ground level.

These keywords are highlighted in bold throughout the lesson if you need to refer back to them at any point.

So we've got two learning cycles, first of all, we're gonna learn about what a continental climate is, and then, we're gonna look at what are the climates of Russia like? Now, the climate of a place is influenced by a combination of factors, including the latitude, so that's how far north or south an area is, and we usually measure this in degrees from the equator, altitude, so how many metres above sea level an area is, okay? So I want you to have a think what you might already know, what happens to temperature and precipitation when latitude increases, so when you get further away from the equator, when altitude increases, so when you go further metres above sea level, and when distance from the sea increases, what do you think might happen to temperature and precipitation? Have a quick chat with your partner.

So we're gonna look at what happens.

Generally, the following will happen to temperature, so when latitude increases, so that means you get further away from the equator, temperature tends to decrease, okay? So if we think about it, it's colder at the poles than it is at the equator, okay? So as you get further away from the equator, it tends to get colder.

When altitude increases, so that's when you get further up from the sea level, okay? So metres above sea level, imagine if you're climbing a mountain, temperature decreases, so it's colder on mountain peaks than it is at sea level.

Now, this is a bit of a tricky one, so when distance from the sea increases, you get further away from the coastline, temperatures are hotter in the summer but they are colder in the winter, and we're gonna learn about why that is in a minute.

Now, we're gonna learn about what happens to precipitation, okay? So generally, these are the things that happen.

Now, precipitation varies in broad latitudinal bands, okay? Now, around our earth we have the atmosphere, and within that atmosphere we have things called cells with.

Cells of the atmosphere, which bring different types of weather.

Now, we're not going to go in depth for this lesson, however, basically, what we need to know is that rainforest and temperate areas have more rainfall than the deserts and the poles, okay? So different regions in terms of latitude around the earth have different amounts of rainfall due to what's happening in the atmosphere, but we're not gonna go into that much detail for this lesson, okay? When altitude increases, so that means you are getting higher above sea level, precipitation tends to increase, so mountain peaks have more rain and snow than at sea level, okay? So that's often why you go for a walk up a mountain, it's a good idea for you to take your waterproof, 'cause there's a good chance it could rain or even snow.

Now, when distance from the sea increases, precipitation decreases, okay? So if you think about it, closer to the sea, there's more water, that means there's more water in the atmosphere, a higher chance of rainfall, as you move away from the ocean, there's less water around you, therefore less water in the atmosphere, and therefore, less rainfall.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned.

What happens to temperature as latitude increases? It decreases, well done if you got that correct.

Next one, what happens to temperature and precipitation as altitude increases? Temperature decreases and precipitation increases, well done if you've got that correct.

Now, continental climates are found in the interior of large landmasses, so basically an area with a coastline nowhere near, okay? So they are surrounded by land.

They explain why temperatures are more extreme inland, and also why when distance from the sea increases temperatures are hotter in the summer and colder in the winter and when distance from the sea increases, precipitation decreases, okay? So we're gonna look at why this happens now.

Okay, so water takes longer to heat up than land, but it also holds onto heat for longer, so seasonal temperatures on the coast and in the centre of continents vary.

Okay, let's have a look at this on a diagram.

So here we've got two areas, area A is next to the coastline, area B is a continental climate, okay? So it's far away from a coastline.

Now, in summer, area A is cooler, the reason for that being, okay? The sea is still cold, or colder, from winter, okay? So as I said earlier, it takes water longer to heat up than land does, okay? And that means the coolness from the ocean keeps the area by the coastline a little bit colder, whereas area B, where we've got the continental climate, is hotter, the reason for that being is that land heats up much faster than water, and therefore, it gets hot on land in summer very, very quickly, okay? So in the summer, areas by the coast tend to be a little bit cooler, whereas inland, they tend to be hotter because land heats up faster, but in winter, okay? Area A, so by the coastline, has a milder winter, and that is because heat from the ocean is keeping that area a little bit warmer, okay? So it takes longer for the water.

For the sea to cool down, and therefore, heat from the ocean keeps the coastline a little bit warmer, whereas, in the continental climate at area B, the land can cool down very, very quickly, okay? And therefore, you have a colder winter, so if we think about it, areas at the coastline tend to have less extreme, so they have cooler summers but milder winters, and that's because of the effect of the ocean, that it's taking longer to heat up and cool.

And longer to cool down, whereas continental climates have more extreme climates, so they have hotter summers 'cause they heat up really quickly, but they also have colder winters because they cool down quickly and they don't have an ocean surrounding them to keep them a little bit warmer, okay? It's a little bit tricky to get your head around that, but I'm sure you've done a fantastic job there.

Now, as air moves over water, it gains moisture, but much of it is lost before reaching the interior of large continents, resulting in less precipitation the greater distance from the sea, okay? So if you think about it, if you've got air above the ocean, when some of that ocean water evaporates, it goes into the air above, okay? When that air moves towards the land, it will lose some of that moisture that's in it in coastal areas, so coastal areas tend to have more rainfall, okay? However, as that air mass moves further inland, it loses a lot of the rainfall, okay? Or the moisture in the air, so the further that you go inland there tends to be less rainfall, okay? So if we have a look at the diagram here, so the blue arrow represents the air mass, which is full of water moisture from the evaporating ocean, that air mass moves inland at area A, it loses a lot of that rainfall, okay? And then, as it moves further and further inland, it's already lost the rain, and therefore, area B is drier.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned.

True or false, the sea cools down the land, and so, coastal areas are colder than inland areas in winter.

That is false, and can you tell me why? Water takes longer to heat up than land, so in winter months, the sea keeps coastal areas warmer than inland areas.

Well done if you got that correct.

Okay, so to evidence continental climates, we can study two cities of similar latitudes and altitudes, so we're gonna look at London in the UK and Warsaw in Poland, okay? So if we have a look at the map there, and I've highlighted where those two cities are at the similar latitude, I want you to have a think from what we've just learned, which city will have the hotter summers, the milder winters, and which will have more precipitation? Have a quick think.

Okay, so let's have a look at our answers, and we can do that through looking at climate graphs.

Now, climate graphs evidence the impact of continental climates, so hopefully, what you should've figured out is that London is cooler in the summer and milder in the winter than Warsaw, okay? And that's because London is closer to the ocean than Warsaw is, okay? Also, London has higher precipitation totals than Warsaw, again, because it's closer to the ocean, okay? So if we have a look at the two climate graphs, we can see that London's temperature, okay? Ranges between about 5° and just under 20° C throughout the year, okay? Whereas Warsaw has a much more extreme in climates, okay? So their average climate in winter can actually go below zero degrees in January, okay? But up to 20 degrees in summer, so there's a much more extreme in climates, and in total, London sees more rainfall than Warsaw does, okay? So well done if you figured that out.

Okay, so we're onto our first task for this lesson.

Okay.

So three cities share the same altitude and distance from the sea, which has the highest latitude? Explain your answer, okay? So to do that, you are looking at the the first.

The top table on here, so you've got city A, B, and C with the January temp, the July temperature, and the average precipitation, so out of those, which has the highest latitude? And explain your answer, and then, for the second question, we've got three cities here which share the same latitude and the same altitude, okay? So which of those cities out of D, E, and F is furthest away from the sea? So again, you've got the average January temp, the average July temperature, and the average precipitation, okay? So pause the video and have a go at those two questions.

Okay, so our third question, we've got three climate graphs to look at here, so three cities share the same latitude and distance from the sea, which of those has the highest altitude? And explain your answer.

Okay, so we can check our answers for this, so for question one, where we've got the same three cities that have the same altitude and distance from the sea, okay? So which had the highest latitude, okay? Hopefully you've got this answer, so when latitude increases, temperature decreases, city A, therefore, has the highest latitude as it is the lowest average temperature in January and July, well done if you got that right.

And for question two, where we have three cities that shared the same latitude and altitude and we had to figure out which was the furthest distance from the sea, so my answer was when distance from the sea increases, temperatures are hotter in the summer and colder in the winter, city F is furthest from the sea as it has the highest lower.

Sorry, as it has lowest average temperature in January and the highest in July, furthermore, there is less precipitation as you move further inland and away from the sea, city F has the lowest average precipitation, okay? Well done if you've got that correct.

Okay, so we've got answers to question three here, so here we had three cities which shared the same latitude and distance from the sea and we had to figure out which had the highest altitude.

Okay, so when altitude increases, temperature decreases and precipitation increases, city J, therefore, has the highest altitude as it has the lowest temperatures and the highest precipitation, well done if you got that correct.

Okay, so we're gonna move on to our second learning cycle now, so we figured out the general theory of how climate can change in an area, so we're gonna look at what the climates of Russia are like using that information that we have just learned.

So understanding how the factors impact climate independently is important, but when comparing climate between places, the factors need to be considered together.

Okay.

So we're gonna look at some examples of cities and their characteristics to kind of figure out what the climate of Russia is like in different areas, so we've got four Russian cities here, so we've got Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Murmansk, and Takutsk and their latitude, okay? So we can see there that the.

That Murmansk has the highest latitude and Rostov-on-Don is closest to the equator.

So looking at the latitudes of those cities, which city should be the coldest? Okay, so we should have got that from that then, so as I've just said, Murmansk should be the coldest city as it is at the highest latitude, okay? However, we've now got the altitude information, so how does that complicate where is going to be the coldest? <v ->Okay, so Murmansk is at sea level</v> whilst all the other cities are at higher altitudes.

These cities will have colder temperatures than their latitude suggests, okay? And we've got another set of information here as well, so we've also got distance from the sea, okay? So another question is how does distance from the sea complicate this further? So Murmansk is on the coast whereas the other cities are inland, Murmansk will be cooler in summer and milder in the winter, okay? So looking at that information, which city do you think is the coldest in the winter and which city do you think is the hottest in the summer? Okay, so we've got the information there of the the different places, okay? So Yakutsk is the coldest in the winter, okay? So January temperatures is -35° C, and Rostov-on-Don and Yakutsk are the hottest in the summer, with an average temperature of 25° C, so we can see there that Yakutsk has got the highest variation between the summer and the winter temperatures, okay? Precipitation is even more complicated, so it will generally be higher closer to the coast, but it also depends upon latitude and factors such as the dominant wind direction, okay? But looking at this, we can see that, generally, precipitation is lower the further inland that you go, so if.

Again, if we look at the example for Yakutsk here, which is 620 miles away from the ocean, they've got a low rainfall amount of 238 millimetres, okay? However, Novosibirsk, which has got.

Which is even further away from the coastline does actually have quite a high precipitation there of 425 millimetres, okay? So there might be different factors there which are influencing that area to have slightly more rainfall.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned, so who is correct? So read the speech from Sam, Sofia, and Alex and you have a think who is the correct person there.

Okay, so Alex is correct, "You can only compare the climate of places by looking at all the factors together." Well done if you got that right.

Now, Russia has continental climates, but there is variety as the country is so large.

Russia's temperatures show the impact of latitude and altitude.

It is generally colder as you move further north, okay? And it is generally colder in the east where the altitudes are higher, okay? So if we have a look at the map here, we can see that, in general, the darker pink-y purple colours are further north, okay? And they tend to be further east, whereas in Southwest Russia it tends to be the more yellow-y orange-y colours which are warmer, okay? So if we look at this map, we can see that Russia's temperatures show the impact of distance from the sea, okay? So coastal areas are generally milder in winter than inland areas, okay? So we can have a look there and we can see that the coldest temperatures in Russia are inland, whereas generally, tending towards the coast, they tend to be a bit milder in the winter, but Russia's temperatures show the impact of distance from the sea, so if we have a look at this, we can see that coastal areas are generally cooler in the summer than the inland areas, okay? So if we have a look at that north coast of Russia where it meets the Arctic, we can see there that some of the average summer temperatures are actually lower than 10 degrees, which shows that that arctic ocean is cooling that north coast down in the summer.

Okay.

And we've got another map here which shows the precipitation levels of Russia.

So Russia's precipitation shows the impact of distance from the sea.

Precipitation levels are generally higher closer to the coast land, okay? Now, there is a little bit of an exception there, so you can see that in the kind of east of the country on the Arctic coastline, there is an area with lower rainfall, but, in general, the higher rainfall tends to be in coastal areas.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned, which of the following is untrue, and could you make that statement correct? Okay, so statement C, so it is generally cold in Eastern Russia, not Western, where altitudes are higher, okay? Well done if you spotted that mistake and managed to correct it.

Okay, so we're onto our final tasks for this lesson, so you are going to match the city to its climate graph and complete the table, okay? And then, you are going to justify your decisions, okay? So you've got the three climate graphs there, A, B, and C, okay, you've got the table, so which of those cities matches with that information? And then, I'd like you to justify your decisions.

Okay, let's go through the answers for this then, so Nizhny Novgorod was climate graph C, St.

Petersburg was climate graph A, and Pyatigorsk was climate graph B, okay? And there's the January and July average temperatures, so well done if you managed to get those correct 'cause that was quite a tricky task.

Okay, so here's my justification.

Nizhny Novgorod does not have the highest latitude, but its altitude and distance from the sea mean its climate will have extremes and the lowest winter temperatures, St.

Petersburg is coastal, so the sea will make temperatures cooler in the summer and milder in the winter than would be expected of a city of the highest latitude, and Pyatigorsk, whilst at altitude, is the warmest due to its lowest latitude, okay? So pause the video and just make sure that you have got your justification correct.

Okay, here we've got a summary for today's lesson.

Now, the climate of a place is influenced by a combination of factors, including latitude, altitude, and distance from the sea, Russia has a continental climate with extremes of hot summers and very cold winters, it is generally colder as you move further north, it is generally colder in the east where altitudes are higher, coastal areas have milder temperatures in winter and are cooler in summer than in inland areas, and precipitation levels are generally higher closer to the coast.

Right, well done on today's lesson 'cause that was quite complicated, okay? So that's it from me, and I'll see you next time.

Bye.

(no audio).