Manchester Community College Week 6 Meteorology Biome Distribution Lab Worksheet

Temperature, Rainfall, and Biome Distribution LabWelcome to your climatogram lab. In this lab you will investigate the relationship between the
amount of rainfall and the variance of temperature and the effect on the distribution of biomes
globally.
Purpose:
This exercise provides practice in associating climate (as expressed in monthly averages of
precipitation and temperature) with biomes. You will also make predictions about the
distribution of a biome via altitude and latitude.
Large ecosystems or biomes can be described in terms of their climate, or long-term weather
patterns. The climate of a biome is the result of the interaction of several abiotic factors. These
factors include temperature, precipitation, and radiant energy from the sun, evaporation, wind
and humidity. These abiotic factors serve to limit the diversity of plants and animals found
within an ecosystem. The two most important of these limiting abiotic factors are temperature
and precipitation. A climatogram is a graph with a double-Y axis that plots the average monthly
temperature & precipitation in a biome.
Climatograms of a large ecosystem (or biome) show variation in only two factors- temperature
and precipitation. Although there are other factors that affect the climate, a climatogram does
give a rough idea of the climate in a particular biome.
Procedure:
Part I: Building a library of examples
Graph the climate figures for precipitation and temperature for the four locales in Group 1 onto
your blank climatogram sheets (found at the end of the packet). Be sure that you label each
location and it’s biome name. Also be extremely careful as to how you record the information.
All temperature readings are measured on the right side of the climatogram! All precipitation
measurements are on the left side of the climatogram! Be sure to draw a line graph for
temperature data and a bar graph for precipitation data. Calculate the average temperature and
average precipitation for each data set. Record these values on your climatogram.
Group 1
Cuiaba, Brazil: Tropical Deciduous Forest
J
F
M A M J
J
A S
O N
Precipitation (in cm): 24.9 21.1 21.1 10.2 5.3 0.8 0.5 2.8 5.1 11.4 15
D
20.6
Temperature (in C°): 27.2 27.2 27.2 26.6 25.6 23.9 24.4 25.6 27.8 27.8 27.8 27.2
Average Rainfall in cm: __________________
Average Temperature in Celsius: __________
Santa Monica, California: Chaparral
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Precipitation (in cm): 8.9 7.6 7.4 1.3 1.3 0
0
0
0.3 1.5 3.5 5.8
Temperature (in C°): 11.7 11.7 12.8 14.4 15.6 17.2 18.9 18.3 18.3 16.7 14.4 12.8
Average Rainfall in cm: __________________
Average Temperature in Celsius: __________
Moshi,Tanganyika: Tropical Grassland
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N D
Precipitation (in cm): 3.6 6.1 9.2 40.1 30.2 5.1 5.1 2.5 2
3
8.1 6.4
Temperature (in C°): 23.3 23.2 22.2 21.1 19.8 18.4 17.9 18.4 19.8 21.4 22 22.4
Average Rainfall in cm: __________________
Average Temperature in Celsius: __________
Aden, Aden: Tropical Desert
J
F
M A M J
J
Precipitation (in cm): 0.8 0.5 1.3 0.45 0.3 0.3 0
A S
O N D
0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Temperature (in C°): 24.6 25.1 26.4 28.5 30.6 31.9 31.1 30.3 31.1 28.8 26.5 25.1
Average Rainfall in cm: __________________
Average Temperature in Celsius: __________
Combined with the six climatograms given below as examples (see below), you now
have ten climatograms representing ten different biomes found worldwide.
Part II: San Francisco
Now graph the information for San Francisco.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
Precipitation
4.5 2.8 2.6 1.5 0.3 0.1 0
(in cm):
A
S
O
N
D
0.1 0.2 1.1 2.5 3.5
Temperature
13.0 15.0 16.0 17.0 17.0 19.0 18.0 18.0 21.0 20.0 17.0 14.0
(in C°):
Average Rainfall in cm: __________________
Average Temperature in Celsius: __________
Compare the climatogram for San Francisco with the ten known Biomes from Part I.
Answer the following questions about San Francisco
1) What biome is San Francisco found in? Consult your textbook.
2) Which of the known biome climatograms closely resembles San Francisco?
a. In what ways were they similar?
b. In what ways were they different?
c. Would you consider them to truly be the same biome? Explain?
d. During the thirty-year period used for the figures in the San Francisco
climatogram there were four drought periods. How would this effect the
appearance of the climatogram?
Meteorology Worksheet
Covers Chapters 17, 18, 19
36 points
Fill in the correct answers.
1. The gaseous component of dry air is roughly 78% _____________ and 21%
___________________ and 1 % other gases.
2. Atmospheric pressure is measured with a _________________; the safest type of these is
the ____________________.
3. The layer of air closest to the Earth is called the ___________________.
4. The ozone layer is located in the ___________________.
5. ________________ is the proportional reflectance of a surface.
6. Snow fields and glaciers have high ____________ and reflect 80 to 90 percent of sunlight.
7. _____________ is the transport of heat by direct collisions among atoms or molecules.
8. _____________ is the transport of heat by movement of currents.
9. In meteorology, horizontal air flow is called ________________.
10. The energy released or absorbed when a substance changes from one state to another is
called _________________.
11. _________________ is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram
of material by 10C.
12. If water and rock both absorb the same amounts of energy which becomes hotter?
13. On the first days of spring and autumn, every portion of the globe receives 12 hours of
direct sunlight and 12 hours of darkness and they are called the ___________.
14. The _________________ is the day that has the greatest amount of sunlight.
15. The ________________ is the day that has the fewest hours of sunlight.
16. Meteorologists draw lines on maps that connect areas of the same average temperatures
that are called ________________.
17. Temperature _______________ at higher altitudes.
1
MOISTURE IN THE AIR
Write the letter of the correct definition from the right column on the blank in front of the vocabulary
term on the left.
_____ 1. Transpiration
A. Air that contains all the water it can hold
at a certain temperature
_____ 2. Dew
B. Clouds often appearing as one layer covering
_____ 3. Humidity
_____ 4. Saturated air
_____ 5. Relative humidity
_____ 6. Dew point
_____ 7. Orographic lifting
_____ 8. Sling psychrometer
_____ 9. Condensation nuclei
_____ 10. Fog
_____ 11. Cumulus
_____ 12. Rain gauge
_____ 13. Cirrus
_____ 14. Precipitation
_____ 15. Sleet
_____ 16. Glaze
_____ 17. Hail
_____ 18.Stratus
most of the sky
C. Instrument for measuring relative humidity
using two thermometers with a damp cloth
on one thermometer
D. A cloud on the Earth’s surface
E. The release of water vapor by plants through
their leaves
F. The percentage of saturation
G. The temperature to which air must be lowered
to make it saturated
H. Lumps of ice that form within cumulonimbus
clouds
I. Condensed water vapor on cool surfaces
J. Particles around which water vapor condenses
K. Coating formed when rain falls on a
subfreezing surface
L. Fluffy or lumpy clouds
M. Lift that occurs when air flows over mountain
N. Feathery looking clouds
O. The amount of water vapor in the air
P. All forms of moisture that fall from the air to the
Earth’s surface
Q. Frozen rain
R. Instrument for measuring amount of rainfall
2