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Article Blog Climate Change Curriculum Teaching

A new Climate for Design Education?

Last year, Sylvia Knight, Head of Education at the RMetS, talked to a Technology teacher on behalf of Pearson. 

The teachers we worked with on our project stressed that what they needed was support, particularly in rapidly-evolving areas like D&T. They mentioned wanting things like CPD resources for themselves, case studies, data, sample assessment questions and high-quality, adaptable lesson resources. In your opinion, within the constraints of the current specifications and national curriculum, what would help you improve the climate literacy of your students without increasing workload for you and your colleagues, or information overload for your learners?

Read the full article here.

 

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Books Climate Change Primary

Book Review: A Climate in Chaos

A climate in chaos book
 
A Climate in Chaos

And How You Can Help

Author: Neal Layton 
Year: 2020
Publisher: Wren&rook
Suggested age range: 7-10
Price: £7.99

A Climate in Chaos is a 30-page, comprehensively illustrated book which was shortlisted for the Association for Science Education’s Book of the Year awards in 2021.

“Hey folks! Have you heard about climate change? It’s really important. It affects all of us living on Planet Earth right now.” This is how the book starts and finishes, presumably with the aim of explaining why in the pages between – I think it achieves that very well.

It has a lovely overview of the difference between weather and climate, greenhouse gases and climate change before dedicating almost half the book to mitigation strategies ranging from the very small actions that individual young people could easily take, to national-scale policies.  

What I don’t like about this book is very limited but includes that it falls into the common trap of drawing the greenhouse gases in a layer at the top of the atmosphere (a bit like the ozone layer), and maybe that the impacts of climate change it lists focus entirely on the natural world. Including some impacts on people might help the issue seem more relevant.

This book would probably appeal most to a keen reader, particularly if they already had an interest in science and/ or the natural world.

 

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Blog Climate Change Curriculum maths Teaching

New Maths Lessons with Climate Contexts

We are delighted to have collaborated with the resource team at Dr Frost Learning to create new maths lessons which include contexts such as weather, climate science, and renewable energy. 

Dr Frost Learning are working to explicitly interweave the applications of various mathematical ideas to climate change in order that students gain a better understanding from their studies.

This work follows research we published in 2022  in partnership with Ipsos, showing the need and want for better climate education in schools. The study revealed that just under half of pupils in Year 11 could not recall being taught about climate change in the past year, with 20% believing that they have never been taught about it. Over 60% of students stated they feel very concerned about the impact of climate change in their lifetimes, but many of them showed limited understanding of the science and its impacts.

Our 2023 report demonstrated the opportunities for including climate change across the secondary  school curriculum in England and we are delighted to have worked with Dr Frost Learning to turn some of the recommendations from this report into classroom resources. 

The resources demonstrate to students that the maths skills they are learning are relevant to their understanding of climate change, without increasing curriculum load. 

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Article Blog Climate Change Curriculum Teaching

Climate Change and the Natural History GCSE

Last month, Sylvia Knight, Head of Education at the RMetS, talked to the OCR about the proposed Natural History GCSE. 

“Whilst the Natural History GCSE is not and should not be a ‘climate change GCSE’ (in my opinion, the Statistics GCSE is actually best placed to be delivered entirely within a context of climate change), the inherent and intrinsic links between climate change and the natural world, in terms of impacts, adaptation and mitigation, are too numerous for climate change not to be near the core of the new qualification.”

Read the full article here

 

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Blog Climate Change CPD Curriculum Teaching

Climate Change Concept Association Tool

This exciting new interactive tool is for curriculum developers and other communicators to explore the diverse range of concepts associated with climate change and the links between them.

Which aspects of climate change are well covered by a proposed curriculum, where are there gaps, missed links, duplication or inadequate progression?

We’d love to hear back from you if you use the tool, or if you spot missing concepts or links – please email the Society.

There is a glossary of all the terms in the tool, and we have started tagging all the climate change teaching resources on MetLink so that they link well to the terms and concepts in the tool.

It’s a work in progress and we look forward to further developing the functionality and support through 2024.

For example, you could start with the term action, which serves as the primary catalyst for change. Action, in this context, depends on normative feedbackreflecting social influences based on expectations and values. This relationship leads us to the concept of society where communities influence and are influenced by actions, policies and norms. At the heart of society are individuals, whose actions are shaped by factors like scepticism or indifferenceThe collective actions of individuals drive societal changerepresenting a transformation in norms, values and behaviours. Importantly, this change can yield co-benefits extending beyond climate stability and delivering broader social and ecological benefits. These concepts are all rooted in the overarching goal of sustainabilityaiming to improve well-being for current and future generations.

However, much of society and industry is bogged down in greenwashing where claims of responsibility don’t align with actions. To achieve meaningful change, we must identify solutions including innovations and guidelines that promote positive action while discouraging harmful practices.These solutions are intricately linked to policy encompassing regulations, laws, and taxes that steer societal change. Effective policies and actions depend on individuals, organisations, and governments taking responsibility for the future. The success of our collective efforts hinges on effective communication compelling the world to recognise the necessity for change. Additionally, we must acknowledge and engage with barriers to action spanning cultural, social, political, economic, technical and legal obstacles.

These concepts represent just one interconnected web of issues. 

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Schools Teaching

MetMark Scheme Update

Congratulations to the following schools which achieved a MetMark in 2023:

Didcot Girls’ School
Masefield Primary School
Kilmarnock Academy
Tanbridge House
Outwood Primary Academy
Danes Hill School

The MetMark is awarded by the Royal Meteorological Society and Met Office which recognises excellence in weather and climate teaching, over and above the normal requirements of the National Curriculum or exam specifications. 

However, we have now made the difficult decision to end this initiative – congratulations to every setting which successfully applied for a MetMark over the last 9 years.

Categories
Climate Change Teaching

Climate Change Quality Controlled Resources

The following resources have been assessed against the Quality Control framework , climate change content, and meet the criteria:

March 2024

Engineering UK Tackling Climate Change

January 2024

Royal Meteorological Society with Dr Frost Learning

Secondary Maths Resources

December 2023

National Education Nature Park

What is the Anthropocene?

Climate change: making change

Climate change and mental health

Carbon cycle passport

Making change

Royal Meteorological Society with the Royal Geographical Society

Resources based on the 2021/ 2022 IPCC report for A level and GCSE geography

Royal Meteorological Society with the Young People’s Trust for the Environment

Heatwaves

Royal Meteorological Society with Mathematics Education Innovation (MEI)

Maths Climate Change Resources

Royal Meteorological Society

Climate change concept association tool

Carbon dioxide – seasonal cycles

Weather and Climate: a Teachers’ Guide

Royal Meteorological Society/ National Education Nature Park

Agree or disagree

UK Climate

The great debate

Greenhouse effect bulldog

Met Office/ National Education Nature Park

Exploring climate change data

Interpreting climate change models

Climate change P4C activities

Emotion line graphs

Royal Geographical Society/ National Education Nature Park

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Why is our climate like this?

Can climate change?

What will climate be in the future?

Does it matter if climate changes?

Royal Society/ National Education Nature Park

What do you want to know about climate change?

Thoughtbox/ National Education Nature Park

Changing climates

Changing climate cause and effects

Be the change

Phet/ National Education Nature Park

Greenhouse effect

Eden Project/ National Education Nature Park

Climate response

WWT/ National Education Nature Park

Climate champions

UCAR/ National Education Nature Park

Project drawdown

The Quality Control framework was developed as part of the National Climate Education Action Plan and in partnership with other organisations. 

Categories
Science Secondary

New Resource – Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere

Mauna Loa Observatory NOAA

Bringing together learning from biology and chemistry topics in GCSE science, this new resource explores the seasonal cycle in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations as well as the year-on-year increase due to human activities.   

Categories
Extreme weather Snow

When will it snow?

What are the requirements for snow?

There are three main requirements for snow, these are:

  1. Moisture

    There must be water vapour in the air for clouds to form. In the UK, surrounded as we are by sea, this is rarely a problem. As water warms up and cools down more slowly than land, the sea around us stays at a pretty constant temperature all year round and is a constant source of water vapour into the air above, through evaporation.

    It can be ‘too cold for snow’ in the centre of large land masses, such as Eurasia, Antarctica or N. America, where the wind has not encountered liquid water from which water can easily evaporate. It’s really ‘too dry for snow’ – but it’s too dry because it is so cold that the rate of evaporation from the lakes and rivers, which may be frozen, is very, very slow. 

  2. Cloud

    For clouds to form, the rate of evaporation must be lower than the rate of condensation. Evaporation and condensation are going on all the time, but the rate of evaporation falls as it gets colder. So, clouds can form when the air cools – there are several possible mechanisms for this

  • Where warmer air meets colder air at a front, causing it to rise. As the air rises, the air pressure falls and so the air cools (this is known as adiabatic cooling).
  • When air from somewhere colder than us (i.e. Arctic maritime of Polar Continental air masses) approaches the UK, is warmed from below as it travels over relatively warm land or sea which causes it to rise and cool. This is the most common source of snow in the UK.
  • When air is forced to rise over the coast, hills or mountains and, as it rises, cools. This mechanism can add to, or enhance, the formation of cloud by either of the other mechanisms above.
  • If the ground cools overnight, the air in contact with the ground can cool to the temperature at which cloud forms. This is fog and is not likely to produce rain or snow.
  1. Temperature

    It has to be cold enough for the cloud droplets to grow as snowflakes and to not melt as they fall through the atmosphere and down to the ground.  To see whether this is the case, forecasters look at the 528dam (=5280m) line. This line shows where the vertical thickness of the bottom half of the atmosphere (by mass) is 5280m i.e. the vertical distance between the 1000mb height (somewhere near the ground) and the 500mb height (somewhere in the middle of the troposphere). As warm air is less dense than cold air, the smaller this distance, the colder the air is.

If we are north of the line (i.e. the thickness is less than 528dam) then any precipitation can fall as snow, and if we are south of the line (i.e. the thickness is greater than 528dam) then we get rain.

If you look at the surface pressure forecast charts on the Met Office website, then if you go more than 24 hours into the future the thickness lines are shown. The 528dam line is shown as a blue dashed line, and the thicker/ warmer 546dam line as a green dashed line.

Another way to find out is to look at the weather forecast charts (in the charts and data menu) at http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=nwdc;sess= and select ‘HGT 500-1000’ from the ‘select chart type’ menu If the 528dam line is South of where you are, and there is a forecast of precipitation, then that precipitation is likely to be snow.

will it snow isobars
Image of the UK, 5th December 2012

It is also worth having a look at a cross section through the atmosphere for example at http://www.wetter3.de/ – select ‘Vertikalschnitte’ which gives a longtitude/ height cross section for 50N (move the pointer on the right side of the left hand map to change the latitude of the cross section). The air between the clouds and the ground has to be cold for snow to reach the ground.

Lesson Idea

Using the information above, can your students identify which countries/ regions should have a forecast of snow? At the basic level, they can just look and see where is inside the 528 line. More advanced students should try to predict where there will be precipitation. 

Nullschool is a great resource for visualising air flow and air masses. 

When do we get snow in the UK?

More information from the Met Office about Snow in the UK and forecasting snow.

A nice explanation of why we had such a different November in 2011 to the weather in November 2010 from the Met Office and a report on the 2010 snow and its impacts on the UK.

And an article from the BBC about what constitutes a white Christmas. 

Snow inspired science teaching ideas from Science in School.

Dreaming of a white Christmas – an article from MetMatters

Snow inspired geography teaching ideas from the GA.

How to make a snowflake, from the Institute of Physics

From Brilliant Maps; the probability of a white Christmas across Europe

Categories
Climate Change maths Secondary Weather

Maths Resources for Scotland’s Curriculum

maths for planet earth

We are delighted to have worked with Education Scotland to tweak some of our maths resources to align them with Scotland’s Curriculum. 

These resources were developed a couple of years ago in conjunction with MEI, and allow teachers to demonstrate to their students how their maths skills are relevant to their understanding of issues associated with climate change.