What are hot and cold places like?
In hot places, you might see sand or palm trees.
In cold places, you might see snow and ice.
What other things could you see in hot or cold places?
What clothes would you wear if you were going to a hot place? Would you wear different clothes in a cold place?
Describing weather and climate
Weather
The weather tells us what it's like outside each day.
Is it raining? Is the sun shining? What is the weather like where you are now?
Wet and dry
When something is covered with water, we say that it is wet.
When things or places are not wet, we say that they are dry.
Cool and mild
We can use the word cool when weather is a little bit cold but not very cold.
When we say the weather is mild, it is comfortable: It is not too warm and not too cool.
Climate
When we look at the weather in one place over a long period of time, we call this its climate.
The climate in a place tells us what the weather is likely to be at different times of the year.
Climate zone
Parts of the world that have similar climates are called climate zones. Some different climate zones include rainforest, desert and the Arctic.
Watch: What is climate?
Find out more about different types of climate in this video from BBC Teach.
Do you know the difference between weather and climate?
Well, the weather tells us what it’s like outside each day. Like, if it’s raining… or if the sun is shining. And if it’s hot or cold.
But climate is worked out by looking at weather patterns in one area over a long period of time, usually around 30 years. It tells us what the weather there is likely to be at different times of the year.
There are several different climate zones around the world. These are large areas that have similar climates.
In the United Kingdom we have a temperate climate and four distinct seasons. We get cool winters and warm summers… well warmish! Other climate zones are very different to ours.
A Polar climate is very, very cold and dry, but with lots of ice and snow, as it’s too cold for it to melt.
A Mediterranean climate has warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. A hot dry climate is what it sounds like – very, very hot and dry because it hardly ever rains.
A tropical climate is also hot all year round – but also very wet – although some do have a dry season. But scientists say the earth is warming and our climates are changing.
This is affecting food and water supplies, as well as habitats such as oceans and forests, which are all needed by humans, plants and animals. That’s why we need to look after our planet, so it can look after us!
What is climate change?
Our world is getting hotter.
This is affecting the weather in different parts of the world. We call this climate change.
Places with a mild or wet climate might start to feel hot or dry.
When ice warms up, it melts. In the Arctic, ice is melting.
Activity: Hot and cold places quiz
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