Climate and Latitude Data

Teach World Climate Zones by Latitude first, because its text gives the five bands. On Climate and Latitude Data, let students plot all eight points before they read the note about Quito.

Plot eight cities by latitude and average temperature, then explain why Quito breaks the pattern. The directions on the page read: Plot each city from the table on the graph (the temperatures are rounded yearly averages). Draw a dot and write its name. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade World Geography and Regions, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with world climate zones. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

World Climate Zones by Latitude uses a simple model of five bands: tropical, dry, temperate, continental and polar. Each band is given a range of latitudes, and the text notes that oceans, winds and mountains also shape climate.

Near the equator the Sun's rays strike Earth most directly. Farther away, sunlight arrives at a lower angle and spreads out, so places are colder.

Both are near the equator, but Quito lies high in the Andes Mountains, about 2,850 meters above sea level. Air gets colder as you go higher, so a city at high altitude is cooler than its latitude alone would suggest.