1. Standard Grade Geography
Weather and Climate

2. What is the Standard Grade course?
What do you know about the
Standard Grade course?
The Standard Grade course is a two year course over S3 + S4.
It is split into different levels (Foundation, General and Credit).
You will sit two final exams.
The exams are split into two sections Knowledge and Understanding (KU) and Enquiry Skills (ES)

3. KU and ES KU: Your knowledge of the topics that we cover. ES:
Your ability to gather knowledge from a range of different sources.

4. What is expected of you?
You must take responsibility for your learning – homework must be completed on time and you must revise topics you find difficult.
Use the Geography department online blog to find resources and revise.
Each topic will have an end of unit test. You will also sit an S3 exam, an S4 prelim and the final exam in two years.

5. If you need help. You can ask any member of the Geography department.
Come along to the Geography revision club on a Monday at lunchtime.
Use the Geography department Blog.

6. Unit 1: Weather and Climate
This unit should be straight forward for you as you covered it in S1.

7. Unit 1: Weather and Climate
Starter:
How many people know what the weather is going to be the next three days?
How do you know?
Can you predict the weather?

8. Unit 1: Weather and Climate
Tip:
Start watching the weather reports in the news, looking at the weather reports in the paper and checking online.

9. Unit 1: Weather and Climate
Why is it important to study the weather?

10. Unit 1: Weather and Climate
Task 1:
What is the difference between weather and climate? (2 minutes to discuss)

11. Unit 1: Weather and Climate
The state of the atmosphere at any given time. (Look out the window and view the weather)
Climate:
The atmosphere of an area recorded over a given time period (often 30 years)

12. Weather Elements: Task 2:
Write down as many different weather elements that you can remember.
Hint: temperature is one.

13. Weather Elements: Temperature Precipitation Wind Speed Wind Direction
Sunshine
Humidity
Air Pressure
Cloud Cover
Visibility

14. Task: Weather Elements
Look at page 42 of the Geography SG book.
Take notes on all of the weather elements you just copied down.

15. Starter: Homework task
Find out the weather report for the weekend and write it in your jotter under the title “Weather report for the weekend”
Task, compare the weather reports that you recorded. Are they the same?
If they are different why do you think this is?

16. Recording the weather
As well as knowing all of the elements of the weather you must also know how we record each one.
How do we record the weather?

17. Recording the weather
Using the handout you have been given write down:
The name of each weather recording instrument.
What the measure.
The unit that they measure in.

18. Instrument:
Sunshine recorder
What does it measure:
Hours of Sunshine
What unit does it measure in:
Hours

19. Instrument:
Rain Gauge
What does it measure:
Precipitation
What unit does it measure in: mm

20. Instrument:
Anemometer
What does it measure:
Wind speed
What unit does it measure in:
MPH

21. Instrument:
Wind vain
What does it measure:
Wind direction
What unit does it measure in:
Compass points (N,S,E,W)

22. This also measures humidity
Instrument:
Stevenson Screen
What does it measure:
It houses thermometers
to measure air temperature.
What unit does it measure in: °C

23. Visibility is measured by the eye.
Cloud cover is measured in oktas.

24. Location of a weather station
For each of the following site
write down the positives
and negatives of each.

25. Exam question:
Which of the following sites would be the best for a weather station. (5KU)
You must say the positives of 1 but also mention the negatives of others to make up full marks.

26. Fieldwork: Jordanhill weather station.
Things to remember.
The weather station must have:
A Stevenson screen
A Barometer
A Anemometer
A Wind vane
A Sunshine recorder
A Rain Gauge
You must think about all of these when you are picking the site.

27. Factors that influence the weather.
Latitude
Altitude
Proximity to sea
Ocean currents
Rainshadow
Aspect

28. Latitude:
The suns rays are most concentrated at the equator, and they have less of a distance to cover here too. This means the closer to the equator you are the hotter it will be. The further you are the colder it will be.

29. The higher up you are the colder it is.
Altitude:
The higher up you are the colder it is.
For every 100m you climb it goes down roughly °C. This is called the lapse rate.
Very cold due to
massive height

30. The sea cools down and warms up slower than the land.
Proximity to the sea
The sea cools down and warms up slower than the land.
This means it helps keep places close to the sea cool in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Land heats
and cools much
more
quickly than
the sea.
Stays cool
in the summer
and
warm in
the winter.

31. Ocean currents.
Ocean currents can cool or warm the land. The UK is kept warm due to the North Atlantic Drift (or Gulf Stream) coming from S.American water.
Thermal
images show
the warm
current

32. The Rainshadow is caused due to areas of high land.
The moist air from the sea is blown over mountains and therefore many clouds are formed, and there is lots of rain.
This means that the area after the mountains will have a dry period.
This is known as the rainshadow.
Copy this
diagram

33. Aspect – in the northern hemisphere south facing slopes receive more sunshine than north facing slopes. North facing slopes are in the shade and so will be colder than south facing slopes. Snow tends to last longer on north facing slopes.
South
This will be
warmer in the
northern
hemisphere
North:
This will be
cooler in the
northern
hemisphere

34. Air masses Air masses also affect the weather greatly.
Arctic Maritime
Air masses also affect the weather greatly.
The UK is affected by 5 main air masses.

36. Polar = cold Tropical = hot Maritime = wet Continental = dry
Air masses
Polar
= cold
This may seem complicated but it is actually pretty easy.
You just have to know what each word means, and it is easy to work out.
Tropical
= hot
Maritime
= wet
Continental
= dry

37. Extremely cold weather
Air masses
Now just add them together.
Polar continental =
Polar maritime =
Tropical continental =
Tropical maritime =
Arctic =
Cold and dry weather
Cold and wet weather
Hot and dry weather
Hot and wet weather.
Extremely cold weather

40. Stevenson Screen:
You have been given a handout with a diagram of a Stevenson Screen on it.
You must explain why it has each of it’s features.

41. Inside the Stevenson screen
What is inside a Stevenson screen?
Maximum and minimum thermometer.
Wet and dry bulb thermometer (to measure humidity)

42. Sloped roof
Painted White
Slated sides
1m long legs
Placed on grass

43. Stevenson Screen: homework
Features:
1m long legs.
Placed on grass.
Slanted roof.
Slats in the side of the main box.
Painted white.
Why does it have each of these features?

44. 1m Long legs. So that the ground temperature is not measured.
This makes the reading of the air temperature more accurate.

45. Placed on grass
Grass does not heat up as much as other surfaces such as tarmac.
This means that the readings from the thermometer are more accurate.

46. Slanted roof.
This is so rain and snow do not lie on top of the Stevenson screen.
If they did they could lower the temperature readings.

47. Slats on the sides.
This is so air can circulate through the box without letting precipitation get in.
If it was enclosed the temperature would increase a lot when hot.

48. Painted White White reflects heat more than any other colour.
This means that the readings are far more accurate as the Stevenson Screen does not heat up.

49. Weather forecasting.
We know that you can get information from a weather station.
But one weather station is just a single location.

50. Weather forecasting.
Sometimes we need to look at weather on a bigger scale.
How does the MET office get their information?

51. Satellite
Satellites around the planet give detailed information to weather offices.

52. Weather Planes:
These planes are fitted with devices that help measure the weather. They can get readings from high in the sky and also over large distances.

53. Radiosonde/
Weather balloon
These ballonons are sent up in the atmosphere and collect data.

54. Weather ship.
These ships have weather stations on them to collect data at sea.

55. Forecasting the weather
Radar
Aircraft or land
weather station
Weather ship
The Met Office collects
Information to predict the
Future state of the weather.
Satellite
Radiosonde/
balloon
THIS IS CALLED FORECASTING

56. Weather Symbols Aims of this section:
To learn what different weather symbols mean.
To be able to identify the weather from looking at weather charts and maps.

57. Weather Symbols Task: Collect a whiteboard 1 between 2.
A number of different weather situations will come up on the board.
You must draw what you think the symbol could look like.

58. Rain Snow Sunny Cloudy 10mph winds Sunny with showers Heavy Cloud
Weather Symbols
Rain
Snow
Sunny
Cloudy
10mph winds
Sunny with
showers
Heavy Cloud
Sleet
Heavy rain
Hail
Fog

60. What weather does Eastern England have?
TYPICAL MEDIA WEATHER MAP
Look at the symbols.
What weather does Eastern England have?
What is the weather like in Northern Scotland ?

61. MET office weather symbols.
See weathersymbols.pp
Lesson starter:
See whiteboard.

62. Pressure systems.
We are going to learn about two different types of pressure systems:
Low pressure systems: A depression.
High pressure systems: An anti-cyclone.

63. But first……..
We have to know a few things

64. Things we need to know. Iso bars The level of pressure will
Isobars show air pressure
on weather charts.
The level of pressure will
be shown by numbers.
Generally under 1000mb
is low pressure, and over
is high pressure
Isobars also tell us what the
wind will be like. If the isobars are
close together it will be very windy.
If they are far apart it will be calm.
980
985
990
995
Low pressure usually brings bad weather.
High pressure usually brings
calm nice weather.
1000

65. Fronts Fronts are VERY important too.
Important: Fronts of any sort ALWAYS bring rain!

66. Fronts
Warm front: Warm air comes behind it. Generally brings light steady rain.
Cold sector
Warm sector
Direction of front

67. Fronts
Cold front: Cold air comes behind it. This front will cause very heavy rain and thunderstorms on occasion.
Warm sector
Cold sector
Direction of front

68. Fronts
Occluded front: This will bring the worst weather. Very wet, windy and usually storms.
Direction of front

69. High pressure and low pressure.
The amount of air pressure is how much the air in the atmosphere is pushing down on the earth.

70. High pressure and low pressure.
If the pressure is high that means that the air is low and pushing down on the earths surface.
Air is low =
Lots of pressure = high pressure

71. High pressure and low pressure.
If the pressure is high that means that the air is low and pushing down on the earths surface.
Air is low =
Lots of pressure = high pressure

72. High pressure and low pressure.
If the pressure is low it means the air is higher and therefore not putting as much pressure on the earth.
Air is up high =
Low pressure

73. High pressure and low pressure.
QUESTION: If the air is close to the ground (high pressure) what do you think we will not get?
Copy this:
In areas of high pressure you do not get many clouds in the sky.
Answer:
Clouds. The air is close to the ground and therefore too warm for clouds to form.

74. High pressure and low pressure.
QUESTION: If you don’t get clouds in areas of high pressure what happens in areas of low pressure?
Copy this:
In areas of low pressure the air is high in the atmosphere and it is colder. This means that it cools, condenses and forms clouds. (The 3 C’s)
Answer:
The air is higher up and therefore it cools, condenses and forms clouds.

75. High pressure – what does it mean?
From what we know already about isobars, air pressure and fronts what can we tell about this pressure system. What will the weather be like?
Talk with each other come up with as many ideas as you can.
1020
1015

76. High Pressure = an anticyclone
Air pressure is getting
higher as it moves into the middle,
also over 1000mb = high pressure
Isobars are far apart.
This means that the winds
will be calm.
Air pressure is high so
no cloud cover
1020
1015
One last thing you can
tell is wind direction.
In an anticyclone wind
blows clockwise.
(In the northern hemisphere)

77. High pressure/anticyclone weather
High pressure in
the summer:
Calm
Dry
Sunny
Warm weather
Sometimes
thunder
and storms
High pressure in
the winter:
Calm
Dry
Clear conditions
Cold
Frosty
Fog
1020
1015

78. Low pressure systems = Depression
Again you can tell wind
direction. It travels anti
clockwise in a depression
Low pressure, this
means very cloudy
Isobars close together,
this means strong winds.
980
985
990
995
1000
Pressure decreases
towards the centre.
This shows a depression

79. Weather during a depression
The weather during a depression depends a lot on the fronts that come with it.
Each stage of a depression brings very different weather.
980
985
990
995
1000

80. Cold sector =
cold air
Cold sector =
cold air
Warm sector =
warm air

81. Depressions – how are they formed?
Depressions form where warm air meets cold air
The boundary between the two air masses is called a front
Along a front there will usually be thick cloud and heavy rain

82. A Depression
Warm Front
Cold Front

83. Depressions bring very changeable weather.
The weather in Wick would be very different to Stornoway

85. Passage of a depression
Please Note
These animations and exercises would also be suitable for use at KS4 and KS5.

86. Living graph of a depression.
Copy the diagram on the white board then place the numbers on it:
1. Weather getting warmer with only a little drizzle.
2. Weather for T-shirt, shorts and sun glasses.
3. Warm clothes but you can leave the umbrella at home.
4. Umbrella and wellies needed! Warm clothes too.

87. Anticyclones – high pressure

88. High pressure synoptic chart
The word high is written in the middle of the high pressure area
The isobars are widely spaced
The value of the isobars get higher towards the centre of the anticyclone

89. Anticyclone weather - Summer
Dry and hot days with little or no cloud.
Early morning dew and mist.
Nights are cool due to lack of cloud during the day.

90. Anticyclone weather - Winter
Fog that may last all day.
Mostly clear skies.
Frost in the mornings.
Freezing nights.
Dry.