Use this Global Atmospheric Circulation practice exercise.
Changes to the Global Atmospheric Circulation as the climate changes.
Other Useful Links
We are delighted to have worked together with the OCR to develop resources to support this specification – click here to access the resources with links embedded into the scheme of work here.
1.1
How can weather be hazardous?
a) Why do we have weather extremes?
a) When does extreme weather become a hazard?
There must be one UK based and one non-UK based natural weather hazard event
2.1
What evidence is there to suggest climate change is a natural process?
a) What evidence is there for climate change?
b) Is climate change a natural process?
c) Why is climate change a global issue?
4.2
Why should tropical rainforests matter to us?
a) What biodiversity exists in tropical rainforests?
4.3
Is there more to polar environments than ice?
a) What is it like in Antarctica and the Arctic?
7.1
How is the UK changing in the 21st century?
a) What does the UK look like in the 21st century?
8.1
Will we run out of natural resources?
a) How has increasing demand for resources affected our planet?
8.2
Can we feed nine billion people by 2050?
a) What does it mean to be food secure?
Some introductory ideas on Climate zones
Teaching Resources
Data and Image Sources
http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/AnnualPrecipitationAnimation.gif
ipcc-updates-geography-teachers/#9
Teaching Resources
Data and Image Sources
ipcc-updates-for-a-level-geography/security-of-water-supplies/
Teaching Resources
Data and Image Sources
Weather records will always be broken!
Further Information
In Depth – Extreme Weather (Met Office)
Teaching Resources
What do we mean by Extreme Weather? Data analysis.
Community experience of extreme weather Fieldwork/ investigation
https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/key-stage-five/extreme-weather/
Work scheme on extreme weather including tropical storms
Data and Image Sources
Data and Image Sources
National River Flow Archive http://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/
Current UK river levels http://www.gaugemap.co.uk/
Teaching Resources
Tropical Cyclones Scheme of Work.
Work scheme on extreme weather including tropical storms.
https://www.metlink.org/teachers/teacher-development/extreme-weather-2/
Data and Image Sources
https://www.metlink.org/other-weather/weather-hazards/drought/
Teaching Resources
Data and Image Sources
A case study of the 2003 heat wave.
A case study of the 2013 heat wave.
Teaching Resources
Data and Image Sources
Teaching Resources
Past Climate Change teaching resources
Data and Image Sources
Considerably more information can be found at our Climate Change Updates for Geography Teachers pages and in our general past climate change resources/ section.
Teaching Resources
Climate Change Schools Project
Data and Image Sources
UK climate projections and associated teaching resources
Further KS4 resources.
Link to OCR website for the full specification.
We are delighted to have worked together with the OCR to develop the following resources to support this specification:
Extreme weather – worksheet for classroom activity
Extreme weather – Excel data sheet
Extreme weather – Answer sheet for teachers
1) Activities to develop basic Excel skills: Excel basics.
2) Graphs in Excel:
a) Exploring Extreme Weather – Exploring extreme weather graphs in Excel – student worksheet with Exploring extreme weather graphs in Excel – Excel sheet and Exploring extreme weather graphs in Excel – solutions for teachers;
b) Task 1 with Task 1 – Answers for teachers ;
c) Task 2 with Task 2 – Answers for teachers;
d) Guidance on choosing the right graph in Excel Choosing the right graph.
3) Climate graphs in Excel:
Exploring extreme weather – making a climate graph student worksheet with Exploring extreme weather – making a climate graph – Excel sheet, Exploring extreme weather – making a climate graph – Excel solutions for teachers and Exploring extreme weather – making a climate graph – solution summary sheet.
4) Measures of data dispersion:
Exploring extreme weather – measures of dispersion – student worksheet with Exploring extreme weather – measures of dispersion – background information and Exploring extreme weather – measures of dispersion – Excel spreadsheet.
Extreme weather – homework activity – student worksheet
Extreme weather – homework activity – Resource sheet
Extreme weather – homework activity – Solutions for teachers
Background information: Heatwave case study
Background information: St Jude’s storm case study.
Other recommended resources for OCR GCSE Geography A and OCR GCSE Geography B
We are delighted to have worked together with the OCR to develop resources to support this specification – click here to access the resources with links embedded into the scheme of work here.
An introduction to microclimates.
An introduction to urban heat islands.
Weather and Climate:a Teachers’ Guide Urban Climates
Weather and Climate: a Teachers’ Guide UK Climate
An introduction by the Met Office.
Air Masses – there are many more air mass resources on the key stage 4 page.
A case study of arctic maritime air.
A case study worksheet of orographic rain can be found on the key stage 4 page.
A Met Office YouTube video on Wind Direction and weather.
Weather and Climate: a Teachers’ Guide Changing Global Climate
Past climate change teaching resources.
Our Climate Change Negotiations for Schools resource.
Some introductory resources on climate and climate change.
Climate change updates for geography teachers.
Climate4Classrooms resources.
Climate Change Schools Project resources.
Global Atmospheric Circulation YouTube video
Weather and Climate: a Teachers’ Guide Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation
Some introductory ideas on climate zones.
We also recommend:
The nullschool animation of current surface winds.
Weather and Climate: a Teachers’ Guide: Tropical Cyclones
Complete KS3 scheme of work on tropical cyclones, which could be used for revision or background information.
Work scheme on extreme weather including tropical storms (aimed at A level but could be adapted).
Air masses and fronts – introductory text
Air Masses – an introduction to the major air masses affecting the UK
Case studies of UK air masses (November 2010, November 2011 and the end of September 2010) with answers for teachers and a case study of arctic maritime air (Jan/ Feb 2015) can be found on our case studies page.
Air Masses – worksheet and the Met Office’s air mass video .
AWS data to study air masses and depressions (adapted from LGfL)
Resources to teach the climate of the last 2.6 million years.
Climate negotiations resource:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn-ZqGJxpk4&
A case study of orographic rainfall in Scotland with images for students Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5.
An introduction to weather systems
Anticyclones, depressions and fronts
Understanding weather charts – excercises
Weather systems plenary, revision or homework exercise – an investigation into why the forecast showed the temperature rising at night.
What is the weather? Work out what the weather is like at several UK locations based on some simplified weather maps.
Isotherm and Isobar drawing exercise based on a depression: student worksheet. A simpler version of the T/ isotherm map can be found here or the full version including solutions may be found on the A level page.
Using WOW data to investigate a depression passing across the UK with worksheets for students
Use WOW data to track a cold front across the UK and work out its speed.
Weather Maps – basic information on synoptic charts, with Isotherm map excercise and Synoptic chart excercise.
We’ve pulled together some resources about ex-hurricane Ophelia, bringing together information about tropical cyclones, depressions, anticyclones and air masses to explore the extremely unusual weather we experienced in October 2017 Ophelia.pptx.
Using GIS to study hurricane tracks and tropical storm risk (developed by Bob Lang, teacher and GA consultant)
Some useful links about Super typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda
Urban Heat Island Fieldwork and a simple and effective lesson plan which uses WOW data to identify Urban Heat Islands. The supporting PowerPoint presentations can be found here.
A wide range of animations from the Met Office suitable for geography and science topics.
Resources looking at change of state, latent heat, data handling and the Electromagnetic Spectrum from the NCAS/ DIAMET project (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
An excellent resource (first published by the GA) investigating weather conditions needed for the various Olympic sporting events using weather station or WOW data.
It was reported in The Times newspaper on 15 April 1986 that a hailstorm lashing Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, had killed nearly 50 people and injured more than 400. The storm had brought winds of about 60 mph and hailstones weighing up to 2 lb (nearly 1 kg). Houses had been flattened, communications disrupted and the windscreens of more than 700 cars shattered. In such conditions, an umbrella was no use whatsoever; even a riot shield may not have provided adequate protection! According to Dick File, in Weather Facts (Oxford University Press, 1991), this storm (which struck on 14 April 1986) killed 92 people and produced hailstones that weighed 1.02 kg.
The heaviest hailstones to fall on the United Kingdom did so at Horsham, West Sussex, on 5 September 1958 and weighed 140 g. They were almost the size of a tennis ball. When they hit the ground, they were travelling at speeds in excess of 100 mph (50 m/s). If you find this surprising, do a little calculation, using the formula:
V2 = u2 + 2as where u is the initial speed, v the terminal speed, a the acceleration (in this case, due to gravity) and s the distance travelled. For a hailstone falling from a height of 500 m through still air, v = 100 m/s! The impact of a missile the size of a tennis ball travelling this fast is much more serious than that of a cricket ball hit for six.
Should you ever get the chance, collect some large hailstones and cut them in half. You may find a layered structure, with alternate layers of clear and opaque ice (as in the picture on the right, which shows a section of a hailstone viewed by transmitted light). The layers are acquired in different parts of the storm clouds. As hailstones fall, they collect tiny water droplets, which flow around them and freeze. If no air is trapped, the ice is clear.
The storm which struck the Wokingham area of Berkshire on 9 July 1959 produced hailstones more than 2.5 cm in diameter. This storm was studied in detail by Professor Frank Ludlam of Imperial College and his team of co-workers, who produced a striking three-dimensional model of the airflow with-in the storm and explained how large multi-layered hailstones may form in such weather systems.
In the diagram on the right, streamlines of air in which condensation occurred are shaded. The surface areas affected by rain and hail are shown by, respectively, grey and black shading. Heights are shown in thousands of feet. Precipitation formed in air which entered the storm near position H. As shown, the precipitation was carried across relative to the storm to around 13-15,000 feet, whereupon it fell and re-entered the strong updraught near posit-ion O. Some precipitation particles reached altitu-des of 30,000 feet or more and grew into large hail-stones before falling again, forward of the strong updraught, near position H’. The storm moved from left to right, with rain on its left flank and a squally ‘gust front’ (shown as a cold front) on its right flank. Behind the storm, chilled air reached the ground.
The diagram on the right shows a vertical section through a typical severe hailstorm (moving from right to left) and is also taken from Ludlam’s 1961 article in Weather. Compare this diagram with the three-dimensional model above
The paths of the air are drawn as if the storm was stationary. They are, therefore, relative streamlines. The dashed lines are trajectories of small hailstones. The thick full line shows the trajectory of a large hailstone.
To some extent, the features shown on this vertical section occur also in vigorous cumulo-nimbus systems which do not produce large hail. Students can look out for mamma, the udder-like cloud feature that hangs under the anvil and other parts of the cloud. How are mamma formed? Students can also observe gust fronts and measure the temperature drop that occurs when a storm passes. It is often several degrees Celsius. Perhaps, with the help of someone who has a car, they can map areas of rain and hail relative to moving storms.
In severe storms, downdraughts may be as strong as 30-40 m/s and reach the ground as ‘down-bursts’. These are dangerous, as the diagram above shows. Downbursts spread out near the ground. An aeroplane that flies into such an outflow first encounters an increasing head-wind (at 1 and 2), which adds to the speed of the speed of the air flowing over the aircraft’s wings and thus increases lift. At 3, however, the strength of the downdraught begins to reduce the altitude of the aircraft; and at 4 and 5 the aircraft experiences both a tail-wind (which reduces air speed and lift) and a downward force from the downdraught. Over the years, there have been many air disasters caused this way, especially in North America.
On 15 August 1952, the village of Lynmouth in North Devon was devastated by a torrent of water which poured off Exmoor; 34 people died. On 29 May 1920, in and around the Lincolnshire town of Louth, 22 people died when water from a storm over the Wolds caused the River Lud, normally a small stream, to rise 5 m above its normal level. In Dorset and Somerset, there have been similar occurrences; and in all cases, severe storms caused the havoc. When such storms occur in the British Isles, the wind in the upper troposphere is typically from the south-west, with the wind in the lower troposphere from a north-easterly point (and pressure low to the south and south-west). If this flow is lifted orographically, the storm may become stationary and deposit several inches of rain in a short time. Thus, it is places below slopes that face northwards or north-eastwards that are most at risk.
To frighten away the evil spirits that caused hail, primitive tribes used to shoot arrows into storm clouds; and Christians have tried to exorcise these spirits by ringing church bells (a dangerous practice because of lightning strikes on bell towers). Not only arrows, but also cannon-balls, artillery shells and rockets have been fired into storm clouds, but all to no avail. Though there is some evidence that cloud seeding may help to reduce the size of hailstones, there is nothing we can yet do to prevent the formation of severe storms.
Image reproduced with permission from Ed Hawkins. https://showyourstripes.info
This image shows the warming stripes for the whole globe from 1850 – 2019. These ‘warming stripe’ graphics are visual representations of the change in temperature as measured in each country over the past 100+ years. Each stripe represents the temperature in that country averaged over a year.
Go to https://showyourstripes.info and select climate stripes for a region of your choice.
Extension Question: How do the climate stripes demonstrate the difference between weather and climate?
Skills Exercise
You will need an Atlas for these activities
EXTENSION– can you draw simple arrows to show the pattern of wind over the UK on the small inset map? (recall that wind moves from high to low and is deflected to the left in the Northern hemisphere)
The RMetS is delighted to have collaborated with CREATE Education to develop instructions to allow schools to 3D print sections of the Central England Temperature Record and use their models to learn about weather, climate, extreme weather and climate change.
These engaging, tactile resources allow students to get a hands-on experience of what climate is and how it can change, and how extreme weather relates to the climate.
The Central England Temperature (CET) data record is the longest instrument record of temperature in the world, with average monthly temperature each month from January 1659 to December 2018.
This project and the accompanying resources allow you to create 3D models that will represent 10 years of temperature data. The models have been designed to interlink, so students can create a series of models to represent larger timeframes. Once the 3D models have been created and 3D printed, there is a tactile resource that can be used in multiple ways in the classroom to visualise and study past weather and climate, and at how the climate of the UK has been changing over time.
The lesson resources specifically focus on
1. The difference between climate and weather
2. The current climate of the UK
3. The changing climate of the UK
4. Looking at past extreme weather events and researching their impacts on people in the UK.
Further resources to teach weather, climate, correlation, photosynthesis, regression, the carbon cycle, isotopes and more.
Further resources past climate change teaching resources for secondary geography.
Identify the weather features on the synoptic (weather) chart below:
Cold Front
Warm Front
Highest pressure
Depression
Anticyclone
Isobar
Occluded Front
Strong Wind
Light Wind
Lowest Pressure
Advanced
Northerly Wind
Northwesterly Wind
Southwesterly Wind
(hint the clouds in the images below are cirrus, cumulonimbus, cumulus and nimbostratus)
