KS2 Geography: Weather, climate and seasons (Zoom In, Zoom Out)

Primary Resources > Geography KS1/KS2 > Exploring UK locations (Zoom In, Zoom Out)

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Rhys is in Northern Ireland to find out what factors influence the weather and the difference between weather and climate.

Rhys explains that the weather can be different across the UK due to factors like how far a place is from the coast, or how high above sea level it is. He also describes the difference between ‘weather’ and ‘climate’, and how climate is affected by a region’s proximity to the Equator.

Locals Kyla and Diarmuid join Rhys at the observatory to make and fly kites. The three of them talk about the impact of climate change on our weather, and discuss some examples of extreme weather.

Teacher Notes

Questions to consider:

What is weather? And what different types of weather can you think of, and describe?
What affects the weather?
How can we measure the weather?
What’s your favourite type of weather, and why?
How does the weather affect your life, what you can do, and where you can go?
Can you think of different jobs or industries that are affected by the weather? For example, farmers rely on a good balance of rain and sun for crop growth.
What is the difference between weather and climate?
What kind of climate would you like to live in?
What is climate?
What affects the climate of an area?
What is the equator, and how does it affect climate?
What is climate change, and how does it affect the weather?
What are some examples of extreme weather?
How do you feel about climate change and its effects?

Suggested activities to further explore learning:

1. Weather chart:

Pupils could take on Rhys’ challenge and find out what the weather is like in their local area by creating their own weather diary, recording the different weather each day for a week:

Draw a chart with a column for the days of the week, with each day (Monday-Sunday) written on a separate row. In another column write ‘weather’. Each day, pupils can draw symbols in the ‘weather’ column to document what the weather was like that day - for example, a cloud symbol, a sun, or raindrops.
You could be as specific as you like – recording the weather just once a day, or perhaps in both the morning and evening, or even every hour.
If your school (or pupil’s home) has a thermometer, you could also record the temperature each day at a specific time of day.
The rainfall could also be measured simply by placing a beaker outside and measuring the amount of water that fills it each day.
A rough measure, for comparison’s sake, of cloud cover can be made by noting down the percentage of the sky that is cloudy: the same location should be used each day.
Finally the amount of wind can also be easily measured, using bubble mixture to create bubbles and timing how long the bubbles take to drift across a metre of ground (if they just drop then there is no, or very little wind).

2. Cloud creations:

When it comes to clouds, there are four main different types: cumulus, cirrus, stratus, and nimbus. Pupils could use cotton wool, glue, and grey paint/felt-tip pens to create each type of cloud. Then may then stick them down on a large piece of paper with name and description labels:

Cirrus clouds - look like wispy feathers or tufts of hair. In the daytime they are whiter than any other cloud in the sky.
Cumulus clouds – puffy and fluffy. Often with a white top and a darker bottom.
Stratus clouds – flat sheets which are usually low-level and form near to the ground.
Nimbus clouds – what we call clouds when there is rain or snow falling out of them. They are often dark grey.

Having created a key, pupils could take their creations outside to help them spot the different types of clouds they can see in the sky. They could see whether they could take photographs of the different types and even keep a track of how many times, and on which days, they see each type of cloud to see if there is a pattern.

Key terminology	What it means
Carbon dioxide	Otherwise known as CO2. It’s a greenhouse gas that’s linked to global warming.
Climate	The average conditions and weather patterns of a place over a long period of time, usually 30 years.
Climate change	The process of our planet getting warmer, otherwise known as global warming, caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels like oil and gas.
Equator	An imaginary line that runs around the middle of the Earth which is always closest to the sun. A lot of places near the equator have a tropical climate which means it’s very hot and wet. Places furthest away from the equator have a polar climate which means it’s very cold.
Extreme weather	Unusual, bad weather that can have disastrous effects on communities like flooding and wildfires. Examples of extreme weather include blizzards, hurricanes, heatwaves and droughts.
Flooding	The overflow of water onto land that is usually dry.
Greenhouse gas	Gas that traps and absorbs heat radiated from the earth, and rather than releasing it into space, keeps our planet warm and contributes to global warming
Pollution	When the environment is harmed or dirtied by waste or chemicals. There are three main forms of pollution: air, water, and land, although in cities noise pollution can also be impactful.
Temperate climate	Areas of the planet characterised by mild temperatures that lack extremes - the UK climate would be classified as temperate.
Tropics	The region of Earth surrounding the Equator. The Tropic of Cancer is the Northern boundary and the Tropic of Capricorn is the Southern one.
Weather	The day to day conditions of a certain area, for example if it’s sunny or rainy.