Question

united states
kenya
indonesia
france
brazil
canada
democratic republic of the congo

1. connecting location to climate

word bank: latitude, absorbs, concentrated, cooler, atmosphere
the sun plays the biggest role in our climate. at the equator, the suns energy is ______ in a small area because it hits the earth directly. this creates intense heat.
as you move away from the equator to higher ____, the suns rays hit at a lower angle. the light has to pass through more of earths __ before it hits the ground. the air __ some of this heat along the way. this is why countries far from the equator, like norway or canada, have ____ climates.
think about it: even though the equator is very hot, there are some mountains on the equator that have snow on top! how is that possible?

Explanation:

1. For the fill-in-the-blank section:

• Direct equatorial sunlight focuses energy into a small area, so the first blank uses "concentrated".
• Distance from the equator is measured by latitude, so the second blank uses "latitude".
• Sun rays pass through Earth's atmospheric layer, so the third blank uses "atmosphere".
• The atmosphere takes in heat from sunlight, so the fourth blank uses "absorbs".
• Areas far from the equator have lower temperatures, so the fifth blank uses "cooler".

1. For the "Think About It" section:

• Atmospheric temperature decreases with increasing altitude (lapse rate). Even at the equator, high mountain peaks like Mount Kilimanjaro reach elevations where temperatures drop below freezing year-round, allowing snow and ice to persist.

Answer:

Fill-in-the-blanks:

1. concentrated
2. latitude
3. atmosphere
4. absorbs
5. cooler

Think About It:
This is because temperature decreases as altitude increases. Mount Kilimanjaro's peak is so high (over 5,800 meters) that the temperature at the top stays below freezing, even though it is located on the hot equator, so snow can form and remain there.