Published in the February 3-16, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Debbie Tawney’s second-grade class at El Toro Elementary School
There is a big difference between climate and weather — and it’s really important to know why they’re not the same.
Climate and weather both relate to the sun’s energy and how it impacts the earth’s temperature, but they are different concepts in physical science.
Weather consists of rain, sun, snow, fog, wind, thunder, overcast and hail. These are events that happen during a certain specific time.
Climate is the consistent temperatures of a certain place on the planet or time of year.
For example, the continent of Antarctica usually is very cold and freezing so you will get a lot of ice. The African desert called the Sahara is usually very hot and so you get a lot of sand and heat there.
Climate also relates to what happens throughout the year. For example, in California the temperature can be really warm during the summer months. And in the winter months, it can be freezing or really cold, especially where snow can fall in the mountains.
If someone says the climate in a location is generally hot, someone might think that they mean the weather for every day is hot. But there might be a special day or two when it’s actually cold and maybe even snowing. So that shows the difference between climate and weather.
Both climate and weather are related to the sun’s heat energy because the sun controls the temperature on the planet.
We like the fact that California’s climate gives us nice, mild days most of the year because it lets us play outside and enjoy the sunshine.
But other parts of the North America continent during the winter months have climates causing lots of snow, rain and floods. So the children there have to stay inside because of the wet and cold weather.
After a Junior Journalism workshop by Morgan Hill Life Publisher Marty Cheek, El Toro Elementary School second graders in Debbie Tawney’s class wrote this column.
