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Summaries · Grade 6 Geography › Climate graphs and population
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Climate graphs and population

How to read a climate graph, why the hemispheres have opposite seasons, and how to calculate population density. Read one part at a time and tap “I know this”. Then test yourself in the quiz.

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Read a climate graph

A climate graph shows rain and temperature together. The rain is bars in millimetres, and the temperature is a line in degrees Celsius.

0035870161052414032JFMAMJJASONDRain (mm)Temperature (°C)
Summer rain: the tallest bars are in the summer months.
  • The wettest month: look for the tallest bar.
  • The coldest month: find the lowest point on the line.
  • Compare two months’ rain by comparing the height of the bars.
  • The hottest month: find the highest point on the line.
  • Which hemisphere? If the hottest months are December to February, the place is in the Southern Hemisphere; if they are June to August, it is in the Northern Hemisphere.
  • Annual rainfall: add up all twelve bars. Temperature range: highest temperature minus lowest temperature.
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Summer rain or winter rain?

0035870161052414032JFMAMJJASONDRain (mm)Temperature (°C)
Winter rain, like the south-western Cape (Cape Town): the tallest bars are in June to August.
  • The maximum temperature is the day’s highest; the minimum the lowest.
  • The Earth’s axis is tilted, so the two hemispheres have opposite seasons: when it is winter in the north, it is summer here.
  • In South Africa the summer months are December, January and February. Summer-rain areas get most rain from about October to March: that is where a summer-rain graph has its tallest bars.
Summer hereWinter here
The tilted Earth around the Sun: when it is summer here, it is winter in the north.
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Population

A population is the number of people in an area. It changes because people are born (birth rate), die (death rate) or move (migration): people who come into a country are immigrants, and people who leave are emigrants. People move to places with jobs, schools, hospitals and roads; hot deserts attract very few people.

Rule

Population density = number of people ÷ area in km². A town with 12 000 people on 400 km²: 12 000 ÷ 400 = 30 people per km².

Meerkat tip

Town A: 5 000 people on 50 km². Town B: 5 000 people on 500 km². Town A is more densely populated.

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Remember this and test yourself

Remember this: your summary
  • A climate graph shows rain as bars (mm) and temperature as a line (°C).
  • The tallest bar is the wettest month; the lowest point on the line is the coldest.
  • Tall bars in summer = summer rain; in winter = winter rain (south-western Cape).
  • The Earth’s axis is tilted, so the hemispheres have opposite seasons.
  • Population density = people ÷ area in km². 6 000 ÷ 30 = 200 people per km².

Write these points in your book. Read them again the night before the test.

Memory trick

Bars = rain, like buckets filling up. Line = temperature, like the line in a thermometer.

Flash cards · Tap to turn over

Important words

First say what the word means, then turn the card over.

Test yourself · Part 2

True or false?

Read the question and the answer. Is the answer right? Tap True or False.

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