Theme Pack 6

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z849q6f/articles/zmqwscw

Click the link above to watch the following videos. Then read the information before you complete the tasks.

Oceans of the world There are five oceans that cover just over 70% of our planet, and they are all connected together:

the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean the Indian Ocean the Southern Ocean the Arctic Ocean

The nearest ocean to the UK is the Atlantic Ocean. It stretches from Europe to North and South America, and is the second largest of the five oceans.

What are ocean currents?The water in the oceans is constantly moving in patterns called currents. Some currents flow quickly, while some move very slowly. As the currents flow around the planet, they move cold and warm water from one place to another, changing climate and temperatures all over the world. The UK would be much colder if it wasn’t warmed by water that travels from the Caribbean - called the North Atlantic Drift.

The ocean currents also help move anything that floats in them. This can be sea creatures or ships, but unfortunately can also be rubbish that has been dumped carelessly by people. This rubbish finds its way around the world, pollutes the oceans and can be harmful to sea creatures. Some kinds of rubbish, such as plastic are eaten by sea creatures. This causes them lots of problems and can even kill them.

We need to look after our planet by recycling and reducing the plastics we use.

Watch this video to see more on oceans!

Task 1Label the oceans of the world on the map of the world activity sheet.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z849q6f/articles/z7dkhbk

Weather and climate

What is weather?

Weather is a description of what the conditions are like in a particular place. For example, it could be:

hot or cold

wet or dry

windy or calm

stormy, with thunder and lightning

What is climate?Climate is a description of the average weather conditions in a certain place for the past 30 or so years.

Different areas of the world have different climates. Climate is influenced by lots of different things, including:

how near or far it is from the Equator

how near or far it is from the sea

how high or low the ground is

its position on a continent

Climate changeThe climate across the world has changed naturally over thousands and millions of years. In the past, the UK has experienced both freezing ice ages and warm tropical climates.

Today however, because people have been burning fossil fuels to power homes, factories and vehicles, more carbon dioxide has entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide acts like a greenhouse. It lets the sun’s rays through to heat up everything inside the atmosphere but stops the heat from escaping. This is making our planet warm faster than it naturally would and is causing world climates to change.

Task 2Research climate change and pollution effects on the world . What information can you find out and what can we do to help our planet and reverse the effects of climate change?

Task 3Create an information poster / a fact file / a PowerPoint presentation about the negative effects of pollution and climate change. Include ways that we can help to reverse these effects and support the world we live in.

Challenge – Can you include some of the positive side effects that the Covid19 is having on the world right now? What effect is having less people outdoors having on our planet?

Below are some useful websites to help you.

https://www.wwf.org.uk/get-involved/schools/resources/climate-change-resourceshttps://climatekids.nasa.gov/

You can also read the info pack if you do not have access to the internet for research.