- Did the European Conquest of the Americas Contribute to the Little Ice Age? from Teaching Geography, 2019.
- Investigating weather through fieldwork from Teaching Geography, 2013.
- Experiments demonstrate clouds forming in the Classroom from Physics Education, 2012.
- Primary Geography article on Tornadoes in Your Classroom.
- Catalyst article on Cloud Seeding.
- Catalyst article on launching a weather balloon.
- Physics Education article on Making Clouds in the Classroom.
- Physics Review article on Clouds.
- Physics Review article on Balancing planetary energy budgets.
- Physics Review article on Earth’s electric atmosphere by Keri Nicoll.
- Physics Review article on Forecasting Space Weather by Jenny Rourke.
- Physics Review article on Waves in the Atmosphere.
- Physics Review article on “Hot Times Ahead“
- Planetary energy budgets Science in School article by Sylvia Knight.
- Wind and rain: meteorology in the classroom, Science in School article on using atmospheric data to look at thermodynamics, by Maria Birba and Theodoros Kondilis.
- A hole in the sky Science in School article on the ozone layer, by Tim Harrison and Dudley Shallcross.
- Clouds: puzzling pieces of climate Science in School article by Karen Ranero Celius.
- Practical demonstrations to augment climate change lessons Science in School article by Tim Harrison and Dudley Shallcross.
- Climate modelling in the classroom Science in School article by Tim Harrison and Dudley Shallcross.
- Is climate change all gloom and doom? Introducing stabilisation wedges Science in School article by Tim Harrison and Dudley Shallcross.
- Climate change: why the oceans matter Science in School article by Tim Harrison, Anwar Khan and Dudley Shallcross.
- Meteorology and Science inspire secondary science students School Science Review, December 2010.
Articles from Weather Magazine
The Young People’s Special Edition of Weather magazine, edited, written and illustrated by under 21s.
Music
- Meteorological phenomena in Western classical orchestral music Aplin and Williams, 2011.
Optics
- Light in the atmosphere: part 1, Bigg, 1997
- Light in the atmosphere: part 2, Bigg, 1997
- Light in the atmosphere – the Green Flash, P. Candy, 1997
Climate & Climate Change
- Something nasty in the Greenhouse, J. Lovelock, 2005 and responses Something Nasty in the Greenhouse
- The greenhouse effect:a closer look, I. Strangeways, February 2011.
- Projections of future climate change, Collins and Senior, 2002
- Observed climate variability and change, Folland et al, 2002
- Global and Regional Climate in 2007, J. Kennedy et al., 63
Extreme UK weather events
- An updated UK tornado climatology:1981-2010, P.J.Kirk, 69, 171-175
- Cloudburst upon Hendraburnick Down: The Boscastle storm of 16 August 2004, Burt, 60, 219-227
- The Boscastle flood: Meteorological analysis of the conditions leading to the flooding on 16 August 2004, Golding et al, 2005, 60, 230-235
- Boscastle 16 August 2004 the day of the flood, 2006, Galvin, 61, 29
- Damage to trees and woodlands in the storm of 15-16 October 1987, Quine, 1988
- The Storm of 15-16 October 1987: A personal experience, H.D.Lawes, 1988
- The Great Storm of 1987, Burt & Mansfield, 1988
- The storm, the Media and the Enquiry, J. Houghton, 1988
- The Burns day storm, 25 January 1990, McCallum, 1990
- Factors contributing to the 2003 summer European heatwave, Black et al, 2004
- The exceptional rainfall of 20 July 2007, Prior and Beswick, 2008
- An analysis of the extreme rainfall in Yorkshire, June 2007, and its rarity Edward Hanna, Julian Mayes, Mark Beswick, John Prior, Len Wood, 2008
- The Helm wind of Cross Fell Lucy Veale and Georgina Endfield, 2014.
Tropical Weather
- The Weather and Climate of the Tropics- Part 1, setting the scene, 62, 245-251
- The Weather and Climate of the Tropics – Part 7 – Tropical and Revolving storms, 63, 327-333
- The Weather and Climate of the Tropics – Part 9 – Climate, flora and fauna, 64, 100-107
- The Weather and Climate of the Tropics – Part 10 – Tropical Agriculture, 64, 156-161
- El Nino, Causes, consequences and solutions, Coghlan, 2002, 57, 209-215
- Hurricane Andrew, Rappaport, 1994, 49
- Hurricane Gilbert: Caribbean record breaker, L.A. Eyre, 1989
- Hurricane Hugo – September 1989 (a personal account), H. Whistler, 1990
Other Weather
- A low-cost experiment for determining raindrop size, J. Mazon and M. Vinas, 2013
- Fog – definitions and basic physics, W.T. Roach
- Lewis Fry Richardson’s Forecast Factory – for Real, A Charlton-Perez and H Dacre, February 2011.
- Effect of Climate Variability on School Attendance
- Seasonal variation of the prevailing wind direction in Britain , Alan Lapworth and James McGregor, 2008.
Urban Heat Islands
- The urban heat island in central London and urban related warming trends in central London since 1900, Jones & Lister, 2010, 12, 323-327
- Mapping Manchester’s Urban Heat Island, Knight, Smith & Roberts, 2010, 12,
- Past and projected trends in London’s urban heat island, Wilby, 2003, 58, 251-260
- Urban warming? An analysis of recent trends in London’s heat island, Lee, 1992, 47. 50-55
- The synoptic climatology of Birmingham’s urban heat island, 1965-1974, Unwin, 1980
- Observing an urban heat island by bicycle, Melhuish and Pedder, 1998
- To play an interactive carbon cycle game in the classroom (developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Sciences (UCAR)) please see this link:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/teacher_resources/teach_carbongame.html - To learn all about the carbon cycle (with a diagram) please see this link from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Sciences (UCAR)):
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Water/co2_cycle.html - Atmospheric Science Mauna Loa curve carbon dioxide record from NOAA
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo.html - To learn about carbon sources and sinks with some experiments from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Sciences (UCAR)) please see this link:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/teacher_resources/teach_CO2.html - The Other CO2 Problem” – clay animation about ocean acidification by pupils from the Ridgeway school in Plymouth
- Computer based practical exercise looking at the modern atmospheric CO2 record (from the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College, USA)
- Windows to the Universe – the difference between weather and climate practical exercise in making observations and using online data http://eo.ucar.edu/educators/ClimateDiscovery/LIA_lesson1_9.28.05.pdf.
- You can find the Met Office climate introduction for teachers here.
- An animated gif showing how precipitation changes through the year around the world from views of the world.
- An animation showing the changing climate zones as the global climate changes, from Institute for Veterinary Public Health.
- Interactive introduction to the 6 climate zones of India (use links on left as well as the interactive map) http://new-learn.info/learn/packages/clear/thermal/climate/diversity/india/index.html
- You can find 4 lessons to teach KS3 weather, climate, climate change and climate engineering here. The lesson plans, which are specifically linked to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, are full of ideas for experiments, debates etc.
- A lighthearted introduction to the difference between weather and climate by Armstrong and Miller and a very nice animation showing a dog and his owner.
- Suntrek: A website dedicated to the Science of the Sun, including its impacts on the Earth and our climate.
- 4 lessons to teach KS3 weather, climate, climate change and climate engineering here. The lesson plans, which are specifically linked to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, are full of ideas for experiments, debates etc.
- Online talks on climate engineering and related teaching resources from the Royal Geographical Society.
- Teaching resources from the Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage and other background information from the UK Carbon Capture and Storage project.
- A podcast from NERC’s Planet Earth on Geoengineering, wind and sea squirts.
Other relevant background materials for teachers:
- New Scientist 2009 report on Tim Lenton’s research
- Royal Society 2009 report (£39)
- UK Government Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee’s 2008 investigation
- BBC – Climate ‘fix’ could deplete ozone
- BBC – Setback for climate technical fix
- BBC – Germany leads ‘clean coal’ pilot
- Planet Earth (NERC) article on Whitening the clouds
Teaching Resources:
- Climate change updates from the 2013 IPCC report for A level geography
- Climate change updates from the 2013 IPCC report for science teachers
- Climate change updates from the 2013 IPCC report for geography teachers
- For free teaching resources on climate change for students aged 11+ years, developed in partnership between the Royal Meteorological Society, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and the British Council. Includes the latest climate science and predictions from climate experts with special focus on the climate of China, Indonesia, Mexico, the UK, Chile, Bangladesh, Columbia, Argentina and Cuba. climate4classrooms.org
- Climate change teaching resources for KS2 – A level originally developed by the Climate Change Schools Project.
- The Royal Meteorological Society’s climate change teaching resources with links to AQA science GCSE can be found here.
- You can find 4 lessons to teach KS3 weather, climate, climate change and climate engineering here. The lesson plans, which are specifically linked to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, are full of ideas for experiments, debates etc.
- A resource that supports you to plan and deliver a cross-curricular collapsed-timetable event in your school about the science of climate change developed by the Science Museum for KS3. There is also background information from the Science Museum on climate change.
- An online, interactive lesson on climate change from NGfL Cymru and a newer version here for AS/A2 geography (with links to the WJEC specification). We recommend avoiding the ‘controversies’ sections which could be misleading.
- Royal Society of Chemistry climate change resources for KS4 and A level and an article on the use of isotopes and ice cores.
- Your climate, your life web page developed by RGS with IBG and DEFRA for information on climate change, evidence, global warming and carbon footprints aimed at A-Level students
http://www.yourclimateyourlife.org.uk/index.html - Loads of climate (and weather) games on the UCAR website.
- Some free BP resources aimed at KS2 http://www.bp.com/genericResource.do?categoryId=8042&contentId=7044215
- Teaching materials linked to GCSE/ AS/ A level physics from Physics and Ethics Education Project (PEEP).
- Teachers TV – the effects of climate change for KS3 geography, in verse! http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/2867
- For the BCGI plants and climate change KS2 and KS3 activity please see here:
http://www.bgci.org/education/2376/ - In the Greenhouse lesson plan for KS1 with nice animation (from British Gas) and weather assembly .
- primary upd8 – beat the heat – interactive game for KS2 (subscription necessary).
- primary upd8 – levels rising – activity related to melting ice sheets for KS2 (subscription necessary).
- Climate change for KS2 from the Royal Meteorological Society
- Climate Cops (NPower) resources for KS2
- BP Education Services (free registration) for KS2, BP Climate Change online activities (free registration) KS3-5, S1-6. See the BP climate and energy efficiency programme of teaching resources aimed specifically at the KS1 and KS2 science curriculum, but with cross curricular links to Geography and PSHE. Free resources include; starter activities, posters, online activity links, worksheets and stickers.
- Friends of the Earth (KS2)
- UCAR Kids Crossing (KS2 – American site)
- United States Environmental Protection Agency – KS2/3, American site
- CAFOD
- UCAR Windows to the Universe (American site) – KS2-4
- Teachers TV Climate Change Timeline (KS3-4)
- Operation Climate Control game (designed for KS4)
- Department of Energy and Climate Change calculator which allows you to play around with some of the calculations, choices and trade offs that the UK could make make to meet its future emission targets.
- An Inconvenient Truth – DFES/ DEFRA guidance for using the Al Gore film in KS3/ 4 teaching, or download the guidance notes here.
- BBC Climate Challenge game (not curriculum linked but suitable for KS4+)
- BP Carbon Crisis online game (KS4,5 S3-6)
- Basics of Climate Prediction – interactive resource (KS4+). Contact us if you would like to use the individual animations.
- Teachclimatechange.org KS1-4 links to other resources.
Other Useful background information
- Royal Society Climate Change: Evidence and Causes guide (2014) and a short guide to climate science.
- Thin Ice film – the inside story of climate science. Made by Oxford University and NIWA.
- A NASA introduction to the Earth’s Energy Budget – scroll down to “Balancing our Planet’s Energy Budget”.
- Facts and Figures from the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) website and their info note from the 2014 IPCC report.
- A summary of food insecurity and climate change produced by the Met Office. A more complete guide is available here.
- A useful resource for graphics and animations for climate change and climate change policy
from knowledge.allianz.com - An Oxford university website explaining the basics of climate and climate change in an animated and interactive presentation (individual animations are available on request from education@rmets.org.
- How to tackle climate change – BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/bloom/
- For the Guardian section on climate and climate change please see here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange - Download climate change layers for Google Earth:Met Office layer showing projections for the next century and BAS layer showing changes to the Antarctic ice over the past 60 years.
- For the Woodlands Trust Nature’s Calendar; a survey of vegetation changes through the season and in different climates and to get involved please see: http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk/
- Look here for the Institute of Physics briefing note on Climate Change
http://www.iop.org/News/file_38336.pdf - Climate change and information from Ice Cores from WAIS divide.
- Various short videos and resources from the scientists at Climatica.org.uk
Uncertainty in Climate Predictions
- Basics of Climate Prediction
- From climate4classrooms: How do we make climate predictions?, Why can’t we be sure what happened in the past?, Why are some aspects of climate harder to predict than others?, How can we make a climate prediction when we cant forecast the weather for next month? and Why aren’t climate predictions exact?
- Google Earth interface for CRUTEM4 land temperature data and the Met Office 4 degree rise google Earth layer. Temperature graphs and data for the whole world.
- Central England Temperature record (1772 – current)
- UN National climate reports
- Climate information for places around the world
- Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide measurements from Mauna Loa
Climate Predictions:
- Global temperature change animation from the Met Office
- Climate predictions for UNDP countries
- UK Climate Projections for the 21st century
Useful Links
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- BBC – Kyoto protocol
- MIT Greenhouse Gamble – a nice tool to demonstrate uncertainty in climate projections
Relevant articles
- Physics Review article on “Hot Times Ahead“
- Making Sense of Weather and Climate, Sense about Science
- Also see the relevant articles from the Royal Met Soc ‘Weather’ magazine (suitable for 16+)
Even the simplest of climate models are not trivial to use, and are best suited to advanced students at KS4 and above.
- Excel climate model and sample work sheet.
- Manchester University’s Build Your Own Earth and Reading University’s scratch based energy balance model..
- Java climate model and sample worksheet.
- SCENGEN (only recommended for very advanced users).
- Windows to the Universe Very, Very Simple Climate Model
- Walker Institute Simple Climate Model
- Other simple climate models can be found on the climateprediction.net website, on the schools pages.
- Online, free courses on climate modelling from climateeducation.net.
- Tutorial on Climate Models for teachers.
- Modelling climate change booklet full of experiments for school labs and computers available from SEP http://www.sep.org.uk/publications.asp
- Royal Meteorological Society interactive cloud identification key and game.
- The Man Who named Clouds film about how clouds, tornadoes and hurricanes form at OPAL explore nature
- The RMetS Cloud Wheel
- The OPAL cloud chart
- A wonderful satellite image from Dundee Satellite receiving station showing river valley fog in Northern France.
- An online, interactive activity looking at how clouds are represented in art from Windows to the Universe.
- Catalyst article on Cloud Seeding
- Physics Education article on Making Clouds in the Classroom
- Physics Review article on Clouds
- NCAR Cloudy Day resources including cloud viewer
- Cloud Appreciation Society
http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/ and in particular their amusing introduction to cloud types The Loudest Cloud.
- Some advice into predicting whether or not we will be seeing snow in the UK this winter.
- The British Antarctic Survey’s About Antarctica and their education pages.
- For KS3/4 teaching resources from the Royal Geographical Society, British Antarctic Survey and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, entitled ‘Discovering Antarctica’ see: http://www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk/
- Frozen Ground Cartoons – a collaboration between Arctic scientists and artists.
- For many activities, games, lesson plans and interactivity please see the following link:
Discovering Antarctica. - Antarctica – Teachers in the freezer video from Teachers TV for KS1/2 and for KS3.
- Windows to the Universe Graphing Sea Ice Extent in the Antarctic and Arctic practical for KS3
- Download the BAS Google Earth layer showing changes to the Antarctic ice over the past 60 years.
- Education resources from the International Polar Foundation EducaPoles site. Mainly focussed on climate change and biodiversity, there are other resources too.
- The COMET module on Arctic Ecosystems contains an interactive module and some information about the interaction between ice, carbon and life in the Arctic. Requires free registration.
- Some images, data and other resources from the National Sea Ice Data Center.
- An animation of the route of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition showing the temperature and pressure variations recorded on board the Endurance, James Caird and the Aurora.
- For an interactive introduction to African climate zones from Geography Teaching Today see this webpage: http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/images/activities_0109/contrast_africa.html
- Windows to the Universe Looking into surface albedo practical http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/teach_icealbedo.html
- NASA Earth’s Energy Budget – seasonal cycles practical http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/preview_lesson.php?&∓passid=44
- Radiation Budget tutorial for teachers.
- Physics Review article on Balancing planetary energy budgets.
- Royal Met Soc UK Extreme Weather resources for AS/ A2 Geography
- Royal Met Soc Extreme Weather resources for Geography AS/ A2 level, including tornadoes and hurricanes.
- A summary of the 2013/ 2014 UK rainfall and floods from the Geographical Association and the Met Office.
- Primary Geography article on Tornadoes in Your Classroom
- A GIS based resource from ESRI looking at tornadoes in the USA (type ‘tornado’ into the search box and select the lesson titled ‘Investigating historical and 1 modern tornado’).
- Teachers TV – the Great Storm of 1987 and severe Christmas weather.
- See ‘Your climate, your life’ webpage developed by RGS with IBG and DEFRA for information:
flooding, drought, storms, glacial melt and extreme weather fieldwork aimed at A-Level students - For a list of disasters from 1950-2005, with articles and descriptions for each, see this link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/themes/disaster_and_tragedy/natural/default.stm - For a BBC animated guide to tornadoes see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/5328524.stm - For a BBC animated guide to hurricanes see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7533909.stm - For a wild weather lesson plan please see:
http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/creative.htm - For an animated explanation of how tornadoes with Prof. Weather Extraordinaire, from curriculumbits.com please see:
http://www.curriculumbits.com/prodimages/details/geography/geo0009.html - For an explanation of flood risk management and four case studies, from the Geographical Association see:
http://www.geography.org.uk/resources/flooding/ - For a description of the Barcelona floods in June 2000 by the Geographical Association please see:
http://geographyfieldwork.com/ExtremeWeather.htm - Listen again to the Radio 4 ‘Costing the Earth’ programme about the Boscastle flood and 2003 heat wave on the link below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/costingtheearth_20041216.shtml - The Met Office introduction to extreme weather and some case studies of the 2005 Bodmin Snow, Hurricane Katrina, the Boscastle floods, the 2003 European heatwave, 1987 Storm, the 1952 London Smog, winter chills and floods.
- From climate4classrooms: Have the number of extreme events changed?, How do we think extreme events will change?.
- WikiNews: Humans may have contributed to 2003 European heatwave
- A stunning satellite image of the UK on 7th January 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8447023.stm
- For hands on and interactive activities aimed at KS2-3 students re. lightning, thunderstorms and tornadoes see:
http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/ - Also see the relevant articles from the Royal Met Soc ‘Weather’ magazine (suitable for 16+)
- Discovering Britain A walk across Great Dun Fell from the RGS, exploring the Helm wind and lots of other weather, as well as stories of sheep, socks, snow and spies and a relevant article from Weather: The Helm wind of Cross Fell.
- For general fieldwork advice, topics, techniques and guidance please see the ‘Geography Teaching Today’ website http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/fieldwork
- Extreme Weather fieldwork from the RGS with IBG and DEFRA.
- To see ideas suggested by the Woodland Trust for Outdoor Learning Resources see this webpage: http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/learning-kids/schools/Pages/stuff-to-do.aspx
- Find more information about making weather observations on our Observations and Data page.
- Urban Heat Islands
- Red sky at night … fieldwork ideas for teachers and students Red sky.pdf with an introductory concept cartoon from the ASE.(The full workbook may be purchased at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edexcel-Level-Projects-Student-Extended/dp/1846903645)
- Does it rain more at weekends? An experiment trialled at Manchester Science Festival http://www.manchesterrain.com/
- School Microclimate investigations from Geography Teaching Today (scroll down to point 5) and again.
- A lovely animation of the global atmospheric circulation http://daphne.palomar.edu/pdeen/Animations/23_WeatherPat.swf
- You can find a fairly formal introduction from physicalgeography.net here: http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7p.html.
- There are some useful links to atmospheric pressure and wind animations here: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/hurricanes/visualizations/atmospheric_pressure.html.
- YouTube Weather School animation
- Land and sea breezes animation http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1903/es1903page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization
- Coriolis Effect short movie: Video
- Other Coriolis Effect resources http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/School_Time/Science/Physics/Motion_and_Forces/Coriolis_Effect/
- MIT ‘Weather in a tank’ rotating tank fluid experiments http://paoc.mit.edu/labguide/projects.html
- Ideas on how to use ICT to teach about the weather: http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=cu&catcode=ss_cu_ac_geo_03&rid=4875&pagenum=1&NextStart=1&print=1
- To use ICT in teaching the concepts of weather and climate creatively please see the following link from the Geography Staffordshire Learning Net and scroll down to the Weather and climate creativity link: http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/creative.htm
- To see an example of how the South East Learning Grid carried out its own weather project in 2008 see the following link:
http://microsites2.segfl.org.uk/view_project.php?id=93 - Investigating weather systems using an automatic weather station.
GIS resources
- A GIS based resource from ESRI looking at tornadoes in the USA (type ‘tornado’ into the search box and select the lesson titled ‘Investigating historical and 1 modern tornado’).
- A GIS based lesson looking at hurricane tracks and tropical storm risk for KS3/ GCSE geography.
- ArcGIS World Precipitation web viewer or Mapping our World (Indian rainfall only).
- Google Earth weather layers including rainfall radar.
- Download climate change layers for Google Earth: Met Office layer showing projections for a 4 degree rise, BAS layer showing changes to the Antarctic ice over the past 60 years, Google Earth interface for CRUTEM4 land temperature data.
- A nice lesson starter on rainbows from the Met Office.
- Rainbows for 16-19 from schoolphysics.co.uk.
- For a KS1 activity, developed by the association for Science education on sound and light in the atmosphere please see the following link: http://www.primaryupd8.org.uk/activity.php?actid=94
- Rainbows from the Royal Met Soc
- Why do clouds look black from underneath? and Why is the Sky Blue? practical demonstration from the Royal Met Soc.
- University of Illinois guide to atmospheric optics for A level and higher level students.
- Also see the relevant articles from the Royal Met Soc ‘Weather’ magazine (suitable for 16+)
- Movers and Shakers:Physics in the Oceans from Science in Schools.
- Motion in the Ocean a guide to ocean currents by NOAA.
- Ben Nevis Case Study for Key Stage 2.
- Met Office lesson plan looking at mountain environments, for KS2.
- Books – The weathermen of Ben Nevis by Marjorie Roy and Mountain Weather by David Pedgley.
- QCA Mountain Weather unit.
- Schoolsnet unit on Mountain Weather.
- The Ozone Hole Tour developed by Cambridge University.
- Information on the Ozone from the
British Antarctic Survey and Jon Shanklin’s ozone page, including up-to-date data as well as more background information. - Look here for information from the The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have forged a unique partnership to provide primary school teachers with practical, hands-on and entertaining curricula material to educate their students about the protective role of the ozone layer and the causes and consequences of its depletion. http://www.unep.fr/ozonaction/information/educationpack.htm
- Look here for information from the United Nations Environment Programme; teaching younger children in an animated way about the importance of the ozone layer
http://www.ozzyozone.org/ - Mario Molina resources on ozone depletion from the RSC.
- Smog City – a worksheet to guide students through using a simple computer model to investigate the relationship between tropospheric ozone pollution and weather.
- Some background information from the WMO’s Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2006 (click on the ‘twenty questions and answers’ link).
- UK and European weather and air quality forecasts from Manchester University manunicast.
- A summary of information about the 2014 Paris Smog
Windows to the Universe introduction to the layers of the Earth’s atmosphere
A Pollutant’s Tale – an excellent lecture/ demonstration from the University of Bristol covering the composition and structure of the atmosphere
Institute of Physics paper on Atmospheric Stability
A cartoon explaining how satellites monitor the weather from EUMETSAT.
Current and archived satellite images from Dundee University (requires free registration)
Royal Met Soc Watching the Earth teaching resources for science GCSE.
A Met Office lesson plan on Artificial Satellites.
You can also download a Met Office poster on satellites.
EUMETSAT satellite images
Current satellite image showing temperature and cloud cover.
- ‘Why do we have seasons?’ lesson plan from the Met Office education team.
- ‘Earth’s Energy Budget – Seasonal Cycles’ lesson plans from the NASA data website. http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/preview_lesson.php?&passid=44
- Convection in the atmosphere – cumulus clouds
- Tutorial on Atmospheric stability for teachers.
An introduction to Tropical Cyclones from The Met Office.
Blown away: the physical facts of hurricanes Harvey and Irma from the Geographical Association’s Teaching Geography magazine.
Some useful links about Super typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda in 2013 and a guide to What Made Typhoon Haiyan so Devastating from Geogarific.
Hurricane Katrina Animation
A GIS based lesson looking at hurricane tracks and tropical storm risk for KS3/ GCSE geography.
An online lesson on Hurricane Isabel (2003) from NGfL Cymru for KS3 geography
A YouTube video from the Met Office about tropical cyclones, how they form and their impacts.
Hurricane House video from Teachers TV and Hurricane Katrina.
Wild Weather: Hurricanes lesson plan and materials (scroll down to the relevant section)
Plotting hurricanes using Google Earth – an activity based on Katrina on the GA website.
Fox News’ interactive guide to the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane strength.
Windows to the Universe Hurricanes and Climate practical
A simple introduction to hurricanes with a game, from NASA.
Disaster Dynamics: Hurricane Landfall a strategy and planning online game for older students.
Interactive introduction to African climate zones from Geography Teaching Today
A monsoon lesson plan from the Teach India Project
Hurricane science and graphics from the University of Rhode Island.
COMET programme Introduction to tropical meteorology online textbook and other tropical resources including Hurricane Strike!. In particular, the ‘basics’ section of the Community Hurricane Preparedness module gives a very good introduction to hurricanes and how they develop and can be found at http://www.meted.ucar.edu/hurrican/chp/navmenu.php?tab=2&page=1.0.0 . All COMET modules require free registration.
Images of tropical storms from NOAA
Simple hurricane and tornado guides from the National Geographic, including ‘build your own’.
Links to all sorts of hurricane teaching resources.
American National Weather Service guide to tropical weather – Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, Cyclones and El Niño. The available lesson plans are not relevant.
El Niño and hurricanes from the University of Illinois (suitable for 16+).
Hurricane Hunters
El Niño lesson plan for secondary schools from UCAR.
El Niño education resources from NOAA.
A practical demonstration of El Nino from NASA.
A nice El Nino/ La Nina animation from Wycombe High School.
A great summary of El Nino and how it affects the rest of the world from Reigate Grammar School.
A good explanation from BBC weather in May 2015 and another in September 2015.
From the Met Office: some background information , maps of the worldwide impacts of El Nino and La Nina and graphs of the current and forecast states of ENSO. Also a video and a blog about the start of the 2015 El Nino event.
Some images of the Atacama desert in bloom following the start of the 2015 El Nino related rains.
Also see the relevant articles from the Royal Met Soc ‘Weather’ magazine (suitable for 16+)
Urban wind flow: PowerPoint presentation (need link) introducing how the wind is affected by urban structures and notes for teachers introducing simple fieldwork which can be carried out in the school grounds, using bubbles.
Windows to the Universe simple urban heat island field work
The RMetS urban heat island background material and case studies.
Articles from Weather magazine about the Urban Heat Islands of London, Manchester, Birmingham and Reading.
eVACuate – a forecasting game/ exercise from the Met Office. Can you keep the inhabitants of Green Island out of danger from an erupting volcano?
To learn how volcanic eruptions can affect the climate see this webpage from the National Centre of Atmospheric Research
http://eo.ucar.edu/educators/ClimateDiscovery/LIA_lesson8_9.28.05.pdf
To find out more about the effects of volcanoes on climate see the webpage from NASA here
http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/Features/Volcano/
Some background information on the Climate4Classrooms pages
Two COMET modules on volcanic ash and volcanism. These are short self-taught courses which require free registration.
Some articles from Planet Earth: Managing flooding by working with nature, Groundwater: the threat beneath our feet and On the road to resilience in Ethiopia.
A nice lesson starter on the water cycle from the Met Office and another good animation on YouTube from Doodle Science.
For lesson plans, activities and interactive online games from P1-P7 levels, produced by Scottish Water please see the link below:
http://www.scottishwater.co.uk/education/
For four lesson plans on the hydrological cycle and some experiments, from NOAA National Weather Service, please see this link:
http://www.srh.weather.gov/jetstream/atmos/hydro.htm
A YouTube film showing one water molecule completing the water cycle made by NASA and their water droplet game.
Beat the Flood practical challenge from Science in School for KS2/ 3.
A one hour tutorial on Climate variability, change and water resources from MetEd (requires free registration). The level is suitable for A level.
Current and archived hydrological data
Three lesson plans investigating mid-latitude weather systems including a case study of storm Klaus.
Teachers TV looks at the effects of weather on people, for KS3 geography ‘Today’s Forecast’ and at Weather Around the World for KS1/2.
An online, interactive lesson going from weather data collection through to forecasting from NGfL Cymru for KS3 geography
Some advice on teaching weather forecasting and depressions to KS3 from digital geography.
Videos introducing weather forecasting in the UK and how research improves forecasts.
To play a weather forecasting game with Barnaby Bear from the BBC see here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/barnabybear/games/weather_report.shtml
To learn about weather in general and how weather affects people (aimed at KS1-KS2) see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/whatisweather/
To see lots of weather and climate related activities from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research see the following link: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/teacher_resources/main/activity.html
To see what the weather doctor has to say please see here http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/doctor.htm
Using automatic weather station data to study local weather in the UK.
For another good website which has animations and videos to explain weather concepts in a simple way:
http://www.youtube.com/weatherschool
Weather and climate teaching resources for KS3 from radical geography including ‘postman pat does depressions’.
A really nice interactive introduction to weather systems and fronts from NGfL Cymru for KS3 geography or WJEC GCSE geography.
To see BBC bitesize explanations of weather systems, synoptic charts, symbols and processes see this link:
GCSE bitesize
Images from NOAA.
A nice animation of global weather patterns can be found here.
You can buy a slide chart Weather Cycler at http://www.weathercycler.com/weatherc2.htm target=”_blank” rel=”noopener” or http://wardsci.com/
Anticyclones and Depressions
A weather forecasting exercise useful as a fun revision session for A level geography or as a weather club activity.
An introduction to weather forecasting from the NCAS DIAMET project.
- Some great ocean and atmospheric data from the Discovering Antarctica site, with associated resources.
- Google Earth weather layers including rainfall radar.
- A lovely animation of current world weather from earth.nullschool.net.
- Will it rain today? http://www.raintoday.co.uk/, http://goingtorain.com/.
- MeteoGroup UK and world weather data on weathercast.co.uk.
- Jet Stream forecast from NetWeather.
- Links to weather charts from around the world from weather.org.uk.
- ArcGIS World Precipitation web viewer or Mapping our World (Indian rainfall only).
- The BBC weather pages: http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/
- The Weather Observations Website (WOW) supported by the Met Office, Royal Meteorological Society and Department for Education.
- The latest information from the UK Met Office http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/, UK weather forecast , current radar image of rainfall, the Central England Temperature record (1772 – current) and worldwide weather forecast
- xcweather current weather and forecasts for the UK.
- Map of current UK/ worldwide lightning strikes.
- The Norwegian Met Service has very nice ‘Meteogram’ style weather forecasts for various locations worldwide.
- For weather data for Hertfordshire for the last 10 years, with annual summaries and charts see: http://www.iceni.org.uk/
- Other, unverified, weather observations and images from Weather Underground http://www.wunderground.com/
- Latest shipping forecast for UK waters
- UK weather webcams
- Latest surface weather charts for Europe
- Current weather charts and data for Europe and other continents
- Another listing of weather charts from around the world from The Weather Window.
- Archived weather charts for Europe
- European weather webcams
- Current global weather charts
- Past European weather charts and data from ECMWF reanalysis and model runs.
- Worldwide weather webcams
- Roger Brugge’s weather website
- BBC weather pages.
- Look here for the latest information from the UK Met Office http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/
- Look here for the latest climate summaries available from the Met Office http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries
- Look here for information from the European Centre for medium Range Weather Forecasting http://www.ecmwf.int/
- Look here for information on Climate Science research from the Walker Institute at the University of Reading http://www.walker-institute.ac.uk/
- UK weather world for weather enthusiasts.
- Look here for the Guardian Climate Science pages http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange
- Look here for the Guardian Meteorology pages http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/meteorology
- For an American Meteorological Education site please see here: http://www.meted.ucar.edu/index.htm
- For a good website with many animation links to explain those all-so-important concepts in a simple way: Educypedia
- For another good website which has animations and videos to explain weather concepts in a simple way: http://www.youtube.com/weatherschool
- Snow forecasts: http://www.snow-forecast.com/maps/static/uk/3days
- Weather outlook: http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/
- For lots of weather information and forecasts see: http://www.greatweather.co.uk/
- Weather online: http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/
- American National Weather Service Jetstream Progamme http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream//
- Students’ Cloud Observations Online S’Cool cloud observation project and teaching resources.
- National Environmental Research Council http://www.nerc.ac.uk/
- Institute of Physics http://www.iop.org/
- Institute of Physics education site http://www.iop.org/activity/education/Events/Events%20for%20Teachers/index.html
- Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) http://www.rgs.org/HomePage.htm
- Science Council http://www.sciencecouncil.org/
- School Science http://www.schoolscience.co.uk/
- Society for the Environment http://www.socenv.org.uk/
- Met Office http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
- European Meteorology Society http://www.emetsoc.org/
- Science Museum http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/educators/whats_on_for_teachers.aspx
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Geography Teaching Today http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/
- Science Learning Centres https://www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/
- The COMET program supports, enhances, and stimulates learning about atmospheric and related sciences
- British Antarctic Survey http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/home/index.html
- UK Climate Impacts Program http://www.ukcip.org.uk/
- Australian Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/
- The British Science Association Science Clubs
- OPAL OPAL is a partnership initiative celebrating biodiversity, environmental quality and people’s engagement with nature. To see all the projects you can be involved with and the one run in partnership with the Royal Meteorological Society see the following link. http://www.opalexplorenature.org/
- Cloud Appreciation Society http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/
- Weather Acronyms – download our weather acronymns list
- Physics on the web http://www.physics.org/
- For the UK Environmental Change Network weather tutorials and explanations of weather features please see: http://www.ecn.ac.uk/Education/index.html
- For information on Project Budburst (a plant phenology and weather project from the USA) see: http://budburst.org/
- For information on the Climate system and the Sun-earth connection developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research for teachers see: http://eo.ucar.edu/educators/ClimateDiscovery/
- GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program. GLOBE’s vision promotes and supports students, teachers and scientists to collaborate on inquiry-based investigations of the environment and the Earth system working in close partnership with NASA and NSF Earth System Science Projects in study and research about the dynamics of Earth’s environment. For more information on the project and to get involved see: http://www.globe.gov/
- Radio 4 Material World, many discussions on weather and climate issues. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qyyb
- Times Educational Supplement – Meteorology discussions http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6027035
- Times Eureka Science Magazine http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/eureka/
- Wacky Science with Stephen Spangler http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/
- Bang – BBC site about putting science to the test http://www.bbc.co.uk/bang/
- For the BBC Science and Environment pages see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/default.stm
- To see the activities, games and more from the Woodland Trust see the following link: http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/
- To see the Woodland Trust environmental children’s activities and games see the following webpage: http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/learning-kids/children/Pages/stuff-to-do.aspx
- To see ‘Planet Earth’ online (environmental research news) see: http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/
- For the Guardian Science pages see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science
- There are some great ideas for linking the weather with music and art on the SEGFL website.
- See some of the lovely art work produced by Harris Primary Academy’s Cloud 9 project.
- An online, interactive activity looking at how clouds are represented in art from Windows to the Universe.
- Weather sounds from the BBC schools radio Stimulus Sounds.
- A demonstration of how to make amazing weather sounds without instruments from Perpetuum Jazzile on YouTube (first part only).
- Meteorological phenomena in Western classical orchestral music Aplin and Williams, 2011.
- Is there a Rhythm Of The Rain? An analysis of weather in popular music, Sally Brown, Karen Aplin, Katie Jenkins, Sarah Mander, Claire Walsh and Paul Williams