Subject: Local winds

Target group

Seventh‑grade student of elementary school

Core curriculum

IX. The natural environment of Poland against the background of Europe: geographical position of Poland; influence of tectonic movements and glaciations on the sculpture of Europe and Poland; transitional climate of Poland; Baltic Sea; the main Polish rivers and their systems against the rivers of Europe and their systems; main types of soils in Poland; forests in Poland; natural heritage of Poland, mineral resources of Poland.

Student:

7) characterizes elements of the Polish climate and the length of the growing season.

Purpose of the lesson

Students will learn what local winds are and what their mechanism is.

Success criteria

• you will explain the concept of „summer breezes and breezes”;

• you describe the mechanism of breeze formation;

• you will explain the concept of „foehn”;

• you describe the mechanism of foehn energy formation.

Key competences

• communicating in the mother tongue;

• communicating in a foreign language;

• mathematical competence;

• IT competences;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Methods / forms of work

• problematic: didactic discussion, lecture;

• exhibiting: presentation;

• programmed: using a computer, using an e‑manual;

• practical: exercises concerned;

• forms of work: individual, group and collective.

Teaching measures

• computers with internet access, or tablets;

• multimedia resources contained in the „local winds” lesson in abstract;

• interactive whiteboard / blackboard, marker / chalk.

Lesson plan

Introdution

1. Before the lesson, the teacher instructs the students to read at home all the material regarding the „Local Winds” lesson.

2. In class, the teacher defines the purpose of the lesson and informs students about its planned course. It gives students the criteria for success.

3. The teacher asks the students the question: how is the breeze created? Students write a short note on this subject in a notebook or an interactive whiteboard in the abstract. Then they present their answers on the forum.

Realisation

1. Relating to the following issues by volunteers or persons indicated by the teacher:

• the mechanism of day breezes;

• night breeze mechanism;

• the mechanism of the formation of the mountain wind;

• hazards caused by windfalls.

During their speeches, students can use the gallery 1 and gallery 2 in the abstract.

2. Students solve an interactive exercise on terms related to the topic of the lesson (multiple choice question).

3. Presentation of the animation showing the formation of the fox wind. The teacher shows students the most important stages of this process, such as the existence of a significant pressure difference on both sides of the mountain range, cooling of humid air rising along the slope on the high‑pressure side, condensation of water vapor and occurrence of precipitation, heating of dry air falling along the slope on the low side .

4. Work in groups. Students search on the Internet for information on foehn winds related to various mountain chains. They write a note on the subject in notebooks. The teacher verifies the correctness of the task performed.

Summary

1. The last stage of the lesson is discussion in the class forum about the most important information, recording of the message, clarification of any doubts and completing the notes.

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Local winds

Geographers distinguish dozens of local winds. A typical example is a breeze, i.e. wind blowing on the coasts of every sea, and even larger lakes. A sea breeze blows from the colder sea (where a higher pressure is locally formed above water) towards the warmer land (where the atmospheric pressure is lower) A land breeze is formed when at night the land loses heat at a faster rate than water (the atmospheric pressure is higher over land than over water). The breeze then blows from the cooled land to the warmer sea. The range of this wind is usually a few kilometres.

Another example is a foehn. In Poland, it is called halny. It has a different name in the mountains all over the world. It is formed when there is a difference in atmospheric pressure on two sides of high mountains. The air masses simultaneously rise and cool down by 0.6°C for every 100 m. The water vapour condenses and falls in the form of rain or snow. Cold air crosses the mountains and begins to fall on the opposite side, but because it is already dry, it warms up by 1°C for every 100 m, so it becomes warmer than at the same height on the other side of the mountains. Foehn winds are very violent and gusty, and when they occur in winter, they can quickly melt even a thick snow layer.
Local winds with different names are also formed on the border of wide plateaus, in wide valleys, near glaciers and ice sheets and on the border of deserts.