Hot places and cold places
Geography · Early Years · The School
The middle is hot, the ends are cold
Look at a globe. Find the line that goes round the middle. It is called the EQUATOR. It is hot there. The Sun is high up, right above it. Now find the very top and the very bottom. These are the POLES. They are cold. Everywhere else sits somewhere in between. Britain is a long way from all of them.
Animals fit their place
A polar bear lives where it is cold. It has thick fur. It has fat under its skin to keep it warm. A camel lives in the hot desert. It stores fat in its hump. It can go for days with no water. Each animal fits its own home. Swap them over and neither one would last long.
People fit too
In hot places, homes have thick walls. The windows are small. This keeps the heat out. In cold places, homes have thick walls too. The windows are small too. But this keeps the heat in. The same idea solves two problems that are opposite. Look at pictures of homes from three countries. What can you see that is the same?
Shine a torch straight down on some paper. Draw round the bright spot. It is small. It is very bright. Now tilt the torch to one side. The light comes in at a slant. Draw round the spot again. It is much bigger now. It is not as bright. The same light is spread over more paper. That is why the poles are cold. That is why the equator is hot.