OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to use raw data to make a climatograph; they will be able to look at the resulting graphs and describe the climate; they will be able to understand the process of orographic precipitation and the concept of a rain shadow ; and they will be able to make and defend an educated guess about the location of the area of their climatograph on a map which shows landforms and prevailing winds.

GEOGRAPHIC THEMES: Location, both exact and relative; Place, the physical and human characteristics of a place; Movement, how people who live in such an area use technology, migration and trade to reap the advantages and minimize the disadvantages of the various climate zones present in this type of geographic configuration; Region, the unique mini-regions created by the variety of subclimates .

GEOGRAPHIC STANDARDS: The geographically informed person knows and understands:(Geography Standard 7 : Physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface)

1. The dynamics of the four basic components of Earth's physical systems: the atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.

2. The interaction of the Earth's physical systems.

3. The spatial variation in the consequences of physical processes across the Earth's surface. This knowledge leads to the awareness that a variety of factors influence the livability of an area, and humans adapt themselves and change their environments to adjust to each area; also, that some physical features of topography and weather create certain kinds of effects wherever they are found in combination.

GEOGRAPHIC SKILLS:

1. Asking geographic questions.
2. Acquiring geographic information.
3. Organizing geographic information
4. Analyzing geographic information to interpret data about physical features and inter polate social conclusions about cultural and regional characteristics.

LESSON CAN BE USED WITH A UNIT ON: weather, landforms, the water cycle, reasons why people settle in certain areas, climates on high islands, and/or northwest rainforest.

MATERIALS NEEDED: Plastic 3D relief maps of the Olympics and Haleakala, or maps which are shaded to show relief; average temperature and precipitation records for cities (available on the Internet at http://www.wrcc.sage.dri.edu/climsum.html ); graph paper; colored pencils and pens; reference materials on Haleakala(or the Big Island) and the Olympic peninsula.

PROCEDURE:

1. Separate station statistics from the name of the place, mount on construction paper; mount names of places on another paper to use as a key; using a number-letter key to match the statistics with the title. Use marker or paper dots to mark the locations of the weather stations on the map using the station numbers from your key..
2. Pass statistic sheets, pens, instructions, and a sheet of graph paper out to students.
3. Have students make graphs, either only one area, or one WA and one HI location per pair or group of three students. If they have statistics from both areas, have them figure out which are which, and elicit their ideas about how they did this, and put their observations on the board or chart paper. Have them answer the Climatograph Questions.
4. Post map on bulletin board, or place it on a large table; have students come up and match graphs to the approximate position on the map where they think their climate belongs (be sure to indicate the direction of the prevailing winds on the map). Students will need to compare and discuss each other's graphs. The important outcome is not necessarily that they get the exact spot correct, but that they can state their reasons for choosing the spot they pick. (However, it is fun to have some kind of reward for the ones who figure out the exact spot!)

ASSESSMENT: The accuracy of their placement of the graphs, and particularly their defense, either verbally or in writing , of their reasons for choosing the location should indicate how well they have understood the principles underlying this lesson.

EXTENSIONS: Similar lessons can be planned for other areas being studied. The lesson can also be extended by asking students to compare and contrast the two geographic areas, or the mini-regions within each of the areas, and to choose a location where they would like to live, describe what they think it would be like, and list the advantages and disadvantages of living there. The lesson could also be extended by a study of the indigenous peoples of the respective areas, and the adaptations they made to fit the various climate zones.

APPENDIX: Definitions:

• orographic precipitation = the process that occurs when warm, moisture-laden air moves inland toward a mountain, rises up the slopes of the mountain, and condenses as the temperature drops with altitude..
• rain shadow= the dry (leeward) side of the mountain on which very little rain falls.
• maritime winds= wind blowing from the ocean toward land

See attachments and sample graph.
How to Make a Climatograph

Patterns are also included for making models of a volcano and a glacial valley.

REFERENCES

• Salter, L. and Kovacik, C., Essentials of Geography , Random House School Division, New York, 1989
• Souza et al, Geography for life: National Geography Standards, 1994