S2 World Geography

Population Density

Climate of the Tundra

Location of the Empty Lands

The Department of Geography

Part of the Faculty of Social Subjects

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Population Density






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Use this resource to learn more about the Tundra, its location, climate and people.

Complete the worksheet as you go.

Use the forward arrows to progress and the tabs on the left to change topic.

Have fun!!

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Population density is a measure of how many people live in a place.

If an area has a high population density (lots of people living there) then it is said to be

densely populated.densely populated.

If an area has a low population density (very few people living there) then it is said to be

sparsely populated.sparsely populated.

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People are not evenly spread throughout the world.

Some areas, like the north pole or the Amazon rainforest, have very few people living there and these areas are called the

empty landsempty lands.

These areas are empty for a reason: they may be too hot, too cold, too wet or too

mountainous.

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Other areas, like New York, London and Tokyo, are very busy. These areas are called

crowdedcrowded lands.

These areas may be crowded because they have flat land, a good climate, plenty of

shops and services, good transport facilities and things to do.

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One sparsely populated area is found in the Arctic Circle. These frozen cold lands are called the tundratundra.

The tundra is covered in ice for most of the year and temperatures range from a freezing -40˚C up to a chilly 5˚C.

During the winter there is nearly 24 hours darkness and nearly 24 hours daylight in the summer.

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This picture shows the different temperatures of the earth: the middle – the equator - is very warm with the north and south very chilly!! This is because the sun is very close to the equator but is far away from the north and south pole.

Tundra

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So where do we find the Tundra?

Click here to find out!

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So where do we find the Tundra?

Click here to find out!

The Tundra is found along the Northern most edges of

North America, Europe and Asia.

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The climate of the Tundra is very different to anywhere else on earth. It has a maximummaximum temperature of 10 ºC and a minimumminimum temperature of -20 ºC but it can get as cold as – 40 ºC!

Tundra areas are also known as “cold deserts” because they have a very low yearly rainfall: less than 250mm.

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To measure the climate of an area we use a Climate Graph. Climate Graph. A climate graph shows both temperature and rainfall.

This makes it easy to compare the temperature with the rainfall.

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Only 3 months above 0˚C

Lowest temp. - 25˚C

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Highest Rainfall 20 mm

Lowest rainfall 5 mm

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Temperature

Rainfall

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J F M A M J J A S O N D

Temp (C)

-22 -22 -25 -15 -8 3 5 5 -2 -15 -17 -20

Rainfall (MM)

8 7 6 7 8 10 11 22 9 10 9 10

This table shows the typical temperature and rainfall for each month in the Tundra. The

summer is the warmest and wettest and the winter is the coldest and driest.

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You may think that the Tundra is empty apart from snow, ice, wind and the odd animal but you would be mistaken.

The Inuit people have survived over thousand of years in the Tundra feeding on caribou (reindeer), seals, whales and fish.

Inuit previously lived in igloos but now life for the Inuit is very similar to life in Scotland: they shop in supermarkets (although they still hunt occasionally as food is expensive), they drive in cars (as it’s too cold to walk) and they live in houses like ours (except they’re on stilts so they don’t melt the ice).

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Caribou

House on Stilts

Igloo

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The Inuit have their own language called Inuktitut. Below is an example of Inuktitut with English letters next to it.

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Music and DanceDrum dancing is a popular form of Inuit music. The singers (usually women) sit in a circle, while the men danced. Singing is also an important part of Inuit culture.

Arts and CraftsInuit created art using the materials they had around them: wood, ivory, skin, bone and antlers. Using these materials, they have carved and decorated everyday objects.

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S2 World Geography