New
New
Year 2

The world's hottest places

I can locate hot places in the world using an atlas and globe.

New
New
Year 2

The world's hottest places

I can locate hot places in the world using an atlas and globe.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The sun’s energy is more concentrated when it is directly overhead: in the tropics this happens throughout the year.
  2. The tropics are areas either side of the equator where the sun remains high in the sky throughout the year.
  3. Places that are hot and wet all year round are found at the Equator.
  4. Hot and dry areas called hot deserts can be found on the northern and southern edges of the tropical region.

Keywords

  • Equator - The Equator is an imaginary line encircling Earth at 0° latitude and is an equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole.

  • Temperature - Temperature is the measure of how hot or cold something is.

  • Hot desert - Hot deserts are areas on Earth which are very hot and very dry, having less than 25 cm of rain per year.

Common misconception

Hot deserts are mostly found at the Equator.

Tropical rainforests are found at the Equator. Deserts are mostly found at the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.

Use a globe to show that the sun's energy is more concentrated at the Equator.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
How do you measure temperature?
ruler
Correct answer: thermometer
rain gauge
pencil
Q2.
What is the imaginary horizontal line called that circles the middle of the Earth?
Correct answer: Equator
tropic
axis
Q3.
What is a hot desert?
somewhere that is cold and wet
somewhere that is hot and wet
Correct answer: somewhere that is hot and dry
Q4.
Where is it very cold on earth?
Equator
the tropics
Correct answer: the poles
Q5.
What does tropical mean?
somewhere hot and dry
somewhere cold and wet
Correct answer: somewhere hot and wet
Q6.
Where is it hotter?
Correct answer: Equator
North Pole
South Pole

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these is not a line of latitude?
Equator
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
Correct answer: Prime Meridian
Q2.
Where are the hottest places on Earth?
at the Poles
Correct answer: near the Equator
Correct answer: near the tropics
Q3.
What do you find along the Equator?
Correct answer: rainforests
deserts
snow and ice
Q4.
What do you find in the tropics?
rainforests
Correct answer: deserts
snow and ice
Q5.
Why is it hotter at the Equator than at the poles?
The sun is closer to the Earth.
Correct answer: The sun's rays are stronger and more concentrated here.
Heat from the centre of the Earth comes out at the Equator.
Q6.
Along the Equator the sun remains high in the sky all year round. Is this true?
Correct answer: true
false