MetLink Activity 16 (all ages)

Please see the note at the end of this activity for adapting it to world areas other than Europe.

Weather Variations in Europe on Friday 3 February 2006:

+ This activity is partly reliant on a ÒliveÓ Internet resource which is continually updated, so it can only be used from afresh today.
+ Once you have captured the data from the live source, then you can continue to work on this activity for Friday 3 February on future days, as the MetLink resources for 3 February which have been captured by the MetLink team will remain available indefinitely.
+ This activity will be updated daily throughout the second week of the current active phase of the MetLink project if you wish to start it afresh then.

This activity is a general one which is suitable for use across the entire 11 to 18 age range.
It is essentially a data-collecting activity from the Internet.
What is then done with the information gained will vary according to the age and ability of the young people involved, and the purpose for which they are studying the weather.

Important: This activity sheet should be used by teachers for organizing activities. It is NOT intended to be used as a raw worksheet for students.
However, it is perfectly acceptable for teachers to copy and paste from it in creating their own activity sheets for the use of students.

The aims of this activity are:
+ to use ICT skills in finding information and collating information about the weather;
+ to use mapping and graphical skills in presenting information, making use of standard weather mapping symbols;
+ to describe how weather conditions vary with location;
+ to interrelate and attempt to explain weather conditions.
The activity also incorporates an element of understanding how time zones differ across Europe, and it is hoped will provide students with awareness of a resource Ð the weather wunderground website Ð which they can use in future study and their own lives (for example in the travel and holiday-making context).

For this activity students need:
+ A data spreadsheet ready prepared in either Word or Excel.
The spreadsheet needs 25 rows for each of the places listed below, plus three extra rows at the top for the title, the column headings and the units of measurement (where appropriate).
The spreadsheet needs 14 columns, headed as follows:
Country; Place; Update time; Time zone; Time UTC; Latitude; Longitude; Elevation; Temperature; Weather; Wind speed; Wind direction; Pressure; Visibility;
+ Printed copies of MetLink Activity 16 data collection form if Alternative 2 below is to be used as the data-collection method. Click here to access this resource.
+ Atlases: This is very much a spatial activity and students need to appreciate where the places they are studying are located.

The Data Collection Activity:

The places for which weather data is to be collected are:

Country	Place
Austria	Sonnblick
Austria	Vienna
Bulgaria	Mussala
Bulgaria	Sofia
Czech Rep	Prague
Finland	Helsinki
France	Paris
Germany	Munich
Germany	Hamburg
Greece (Crete)	Heraklion
Italy	Rome
Norway	Oslo
Poland	Warsaw
Romania	Bucharest
Romania	Ceahlau Toaca
Russia	Moscow
Russia	Saint Petersburg
Serbia	Belgrade
Serbia	Sjenica
Spain	Malaga
Spain	Madrid
Spain	Bilbao
Switzerland	Geneva
Switzerland	Guetsch
UK	London

It is suggested that students collect the data in one of two ways:
Alternative 1: Work in pairs. One calls up the data on-screen and reads it out aloud; the other enters it directly onto a Word or Excel spreadsheet.
Alternative 2: Each student collects the data for one location on a data-recording sheet, and the sheets are then circulated around the class for everyone to enter up the information onto their spreadsheets.
Whichever method is to be used, all students need to look at an example of the data which are required and how they are set out. Click here to see this.

Collection: Go to the www.wunderground.com home page by clicking on the link. This is the live resource which is continually updated and therefore the data from it MUST be captured today, Friday 3 February, as it will be replaced by new data after that.
+ If the map on the home page is not one of Europe, you will need to select Europe from the maps option on the left of the home-page screen.
+ Once you have the Europe map page on screen, simply type in the name of the place you are trying to find, and it will appear on screen.
+ This is the point when the data collection takes place.

Using the data:
Once the data have been entered on the spreadsheet, they can then be used in a wide variety of possible ways, for example:
+ Investigating the relationship between temperature and latitude.
+ Investigating the relationship between longitude and temperature, which is essentially an investigation of how temperature changes as you move farther eastwards. Note: Only the three places in Spain have longitudes West, and so if these are entered with minus values, correlation is possible.
+ Investigating the relationship between temperature and altitude.
+ Investigating the relationship between wind speed and altitude.
+ The sort functions on the spreadsheets can be used to help achieve these comparisons.
+ Visual comparisons of rankings can be carried out.
+ For a more advanced approach, correlations can be attempted using Excel.
+ Hypotheses may be set up to be tested before carrying out the above comparisons.
+ Another way of using the data is to present it on an outline map of Europe by using an atlas to mark the positions of each place and using the standard Met Office key to plot the information. Visual analysis of what is shown can then be carried out.

Relating the data to other information. Resources:
The following may be looked at in relation to the above findings:
+ Satellite images of Europe.
+ Weather (pressure) maps of Europe.
+ The Europe Weather Overview map.
These can be obtained for the day of study by clicking here.

Forming conclusions and explaining observations:
At the end of the process it is important that students formulate conclusions about the relationships in the spatial variations in the weather that have been established, and then attempt to explain the reasons that account for these conclusions. Clearly teacher guidance and probably the provision of other resources, such as text books, will be needed for this.

Adaptation for use in other areas of the world:

This study format can be applied to areas of the world other than Europe.
The www.wunderground weather site is a worldwide resource and is continually updated, Teachers can compile lists of places to be investigated in their own country or world area by firstly visiting the relevant section of the wunderground site.
MetLink resources can be accessed using the link above.
Unfortunately, no weather overview map is available for other world areas, although you may find useful materials by carrying out a web search of your own countryÕs weather service.