Teachers TV

I'm sure others starting the PGCE in September have received the email from Teachers TV, but just in case! The link below takes you to their website where you can register.

Teachers TV Registration

Weather in the UK

The following links are a set of animations which could be used in a lesson for key stage 3 students to aid the explaination of:

• how the weather over the British Isles varies according to air masses and pressure systems
• how a mid-latitude depression and weather fronts are formed
• the characteristics of a depression
• the contrasting weather associated with a depression and its associated fronts

Starter Activity

Main Activity

Plenary

Weather and Climate

Key Stage 3 Weather Activities

The weather affects us in many different ways, for example our moods, what we wear, our leisure activities and the way we travel. To highlight the importance of the effect that weather has on our day to day lives, simple observation and recording work can be done. Weather conditions can be recorded over a period of time and at the same time the effects the weather has on factors can also be noted.

Activies

Collect and cut out newspaper headings or articles which show how the weather affects our lives - eg Rain Stops Play.

Think of some songs (e.g. chart songs, nursery rhymes) which relate to the weather. Write a couple of lines from each song that you have thought of.

Record the general weather conditions every day for a week on a chart recording sunshine, rain, cloud, wind, snow, mist/fog and temperature. Tick the weather conditions for each day or write a short summary.

Did the weather affected their activites this week? Ask students to write a few details about whether or not their activities were affected by the weather for the week they filled in the weather chart. Eg did rain stop a sporting activity or did a hot day make them want to go swimming?

Pakistan Floods and Wildfires in Russia – Are They Linked?

During the last month the news has been filled with stories relating to weather and climate, including floods in Pakistan and a heatwave in Russia. It appears that these two apparently disconnected events have a common cause.

According to meteorologists monitoring the atmosphere above the northern hemisphere, unusual holding patterns in the polar jet stream are to blame. A jet stream is a fast-moving current of air that moves around the world at an altitude of around 10 and 12 kilometres above ground. There are two branches usually in place in the northern hemisphere at this time of year: a strong subtropical jet blowing over the Mediterranean and central Asia, and a weaker northern polar jet that blows over northern Europe (and carries with it the low pressure areas that bring the UK most of its rain).

Weather forecasters use the polar jet to predict medium-term temperatures, because it acts as a barrier between cold Arctic air and warmer tropical air. If the polar jet moves north then areas just south of it will be warmer and drier than normal. If it moves south, then areas just to the north will be cooler and wetter.

During July 2010, an exceptionally strong polar jet stream moved up to the north of Moscow, and then plunged back south towards Pakistan. This brought hot air north over western Russia, and stopped low pressure systems from dropping their rain on the region, where harvests normally depend on it.

Instead, that rain was carried far to the north of Moscow, and then down unusually far south into the mountains of northern Pakistan, where it combined with the usual summer monsoon in Pakistan to cause unusually intense flooding.

Having taken up such an unusual position, the jet stream just sat there, frozen in place. The weather systems causing the heatwave and the torrential rains remained in place for more than a month, continuing to contribute to the increasingly disastrous conditions.

The reasons for the unusual conditions in the jet stream aren't entirely clear although three suggestions have been made, including high sea-surface temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea, climate change and solar activity being modulated by the sun.

In the last week or so, the jet stream has begun to move and weaken again, and is heading back towards a more normal position and strength. A storm is heading towards Moscow. However, the consequences for both Russia and Pakistan are likely to last for some time.

I would get students to compare these events with others that have occured in previous years. They could produce a table outlining the causes, short and long term effect, social impacts and economic impacts.

Introduction

As an introduction is always a good way to start, here we go!

I am starting a PGCE in Geography at Leicester University from September 2010. I graduated in 2005 with a degree in Environmental Earth Science and subsequently went on to do further studies in town planning. I have since been working as a town planner but realised that it wasn't the right career for me and have decided to follow a path in education.

Looking through the subject knowledge audit the main topics that I am a little rusty on, not having looked at them since I was at school, are as follows:

• Weather and Climate: air masses, depressions and atmospheric lapse rates.
• Cultural Geography
• Skills: use of GIS etc

I will aim to improve my knowledge of these topics through posts over the coming months and look forward to chatting and reading other post’s from those also starting the PGCE.

Emily