Topic: Climate characteristics based on meteorological data

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

I. Geographical knowledge.

6 . Identifying interdependencies between elements of the natural and socio‑economic environment as well as relationships and dependencies in a geographical environment on a local, regional and global scale.

Specific requirements

IV. Landscapes of the world: humid equatorial forest and temperate forest, savannah and steppe, hot and ice desert, taiga and tundra, mediterranean, high altitude Himalayas; zonation and climatological vegetation in the world.

Student:

2 ) reads the value and describes the course of air temperature and distribution of atmospheric precipitation based on climatograms and climatic maps.

General aim of education

The student will learn how to present and read climate data.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• what is a climateogram;

• draw a climateogram based on a table with data;

• read climate information on temperature and rainfall distribution on an annual basis.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

• The teacher determines the purpose of the lesson, informing the students about its planned course.

Realization

• The teacher explains to students the concept of climatogram and discusses the contents of tables concerning measurements made on Śnieżka (lesson in the manual „Climate characteristics based on meteorological data”). Next, he plays a multimedia material containing a detailed instruction on creating climate charts.

• The teacher checks how well the students have understood the instruction presented, indicating the person who explains how the chart in the lesson was created. If necessary, the teacher provides additional explanations and practical tips on the preparation of climatograms.

• The teacher divides the students into groups and instructs them to search the internet for sample climate charts prepared for various places on Earth. Each group designates a student from another group who will read the data from the presented climatogram.

• Students jointly verify the correctness of the answer given and report any observations regarding the analyzed climatogram.

• Working individually or in pairs, the students follow the instructions in the lesson in the textbook: they draw a climate based on the data in the table. Then they perform an interactive exercise, the purpose of which is to test the ability to read climate charts. The teacher monitors the course of work on an ongoing basis and helps students who have difficulties in completing tasks.

• The next stage of the lesson is a summary of students' independent work. The teacher discusses the correct way to solve both tasks and the reasons for possible errors of students.

Summary

• The last step is to summarize the lesson, during which the students ask questions and complete the notes, and the teacher gives explanations. In particular, the question of the usefulness of climatographs to the correct climate characteristics is being further advanced.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Climate characteristics based on meteorological data

The ability to measure, record and display climate data allows us to analyse climate conditions on Earth. It is best to present many different components of the climate with great accuracy. Very helpful in the analysis of the climate are graphs showing the air temperature and precipitation patterns at a given location and time (usually a year), called climatograms (climate charts or diagrams). Data presented in climate charts are averages from several decades of measurements and often show monthly averages, thus not taking into account extreme phenomena – particularly strong frosts or heat waves, torrential rains or extraordinary droughts. Average values can sometimes be confusing. In tropical deserts one can encounter very large daily air temperature amplitudes. If the temperature rises to +40°C during the day and falls to 0°C during the night, then on average we obtain a very pleasant temperature of 20°C. Therefore, a climatogram is not sufficient for the correct description of the climate and additional information is necessary. Below is an example of a climatogram created on the basis of data from a long‑term period (1971‑2000), collected at the Tadeusz Hołdys High Mountain Meteorological Observatory on Śnieżka in the Giant Mountains.

The animation shows how to draw a climograph.

• The weather is determined based on appropriate observations and measurements of its components: air temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, precipitation and atmospheric deposits, wind speed and direction, cloudiness, intensity of sunlight, atmospheric phenomena.

• Long‑term and systematic measurements of the weather components allow to determine the climate in a given place.

• Climatograms are graphic representations of the climate characteristics of a given place.