Topic: What affects air temperature?

Target group

1st‑grade student of high school and technical school (basic programme)

Core curriculum

I. Geographical knowledge.

2. Familiarizing with various sources and methods of acquiring geographic information.

III. Shaping attitudes.

1. Developing geographical interests, awakening the curiosity of the world.

III. Atmosphere: climatic factors, distribution of air temperature, atmospheric pressure and precipitation, general atmospheric circulation, synoptic map, climatic zones and types of climates.

Student:

2) explains the distribution of air temperature and atmospheric pressure on Earth.

The aim of education:

The student will learn the reasons for the differences in air temperature in different parts of the world.

Criteria of success

• explain the concepts of: temperature inversion, temperature variation, diurnal temperature variation, annual temperature variation;

• describe the relation between the height above sea level and the temperature;

• describe how inversion contributes to the formation of such phenomena as fog and smog.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• mathematical competences;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Teaching aids

• computers (or tablets) with internet access;

• multimedia resources under “What affects air temperature?” in the e‑textbook;

• liquid thermometer, digital thermometer;

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, marker/chalk.

Methods / forms of work

• the expository methods: lecture;

• programmed learning: via computer, e‑textbook;

• practical learning: exercises on the subject;

• individual activity, activity in pairs, and collective activity.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

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

2. The instructor instructs students to familiarize themselves with the distribution of air temperature on the globe based on the content of the abstract and explain the following concepts:

• thermal inversion,

• temperature amplitude,

• daily amplitude,

• annual amplitude.

Realization

1. Students, working individually or in pairs, analyze the data presented in Table 1 attached to the lesson and maps included in the gallery. Then they solve the task given in the first command, as well as perform an interactive exercise, the aim of which is to systematize and consolidate the knowledge about the concepts they familiarized with working with the abstract (match the definition to the concept).

2. The trainer makes presentations of thermometers commonly available on the market (eg liquid thermometer, digital thermometer) and familiarizes students with the proper technique of conducting ambient temperature measurements.

3. Volunteers or persons appointed by the teacher measure the air temperature in the classroom or outside the window (one person per one type of device). The teacher gives students feedback on the correctness of the results they have obtained.

4. The teacher discusses the phenomenon of thermal inversion more broadly, supporting himself with materials posted in the gallery and initiating discussion on the class forum about the relationship between the phenomenon of thermal inversion and the formation of fog and smog.

5. Students perform interactive exercises included in the abstract in order to systematize knowledge.

Summary

1. The final stage of the lesson is its summary, during which students can ask questions, ask for explanations and complete the notes.

2. At the end of the lesson, the teacher instructs the house to measure the air temperature according to the instructions described in the abstract.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

What affects the air temperature?

The air temperature changes in the subsequent atmosphere layers in a very wide range. However, we are most interested in the temperature in the lower troposphere, the Earth's surface, and how it changes throughout the day and the year. Since it depends on so many factors, it is difficult to predict its values and fluctuations. Weather forecasting, including the air temperature, is a job for the department of meteorology.

As the altitude rises, the air temperature usually drops by 0.6°C every 100 m, but in the case of completely dry air, it can even drop by 1°C every 100 m. In some areas there are exceptions and then the valleys are cooler than the mountain peaks. This phenomenon is called air temperature inversion. What also affects the air temperature: cloudiness, vegetation or lack thereof, direction of terrain slope, sea currents and even human activities. Only after combining all these components can we understand, how difficult it is to predict the temperature of a given area and how often it changes in both time and space.
Air thermal variability in a given area is characterized by air temperature variation – the difference between the highest and lowest value measured in a given period. For example, one of the largest diurnal air temperature variations - differences between the maximum and minimum temperature measured during the day, occur in deserts near the Tropics. During the day, the air heats up, and at night the temperature can drop even below 0°C. Diurnal temperature variation can reach several dozen degrees Celsius. On the other hand, one of the largest annual air temperature variations – differences between the average monthly temperature of the warmest month and the average temperature of the coldest month – occurs in higher latitudes and away from the sea and ocean shores. For example, we have the Siberian Oymyakon, where the annual amplitude reached 104°C (-71°C – the average temperature in January, 33°C – the average temperature in July).

• The air temperature near Earth's surface depends on many different natural factors and on human activity.