In this lesson, your students will practice being a meteorologist for a day. They may work in pairs or groups to gather weather data for a city or town somewhere in their country. Then they will create a weather report based on the data.
Students will learn about the science of meteorology and the work of meteorologists.
Write "Meteorologist" on the board.
Can you define this word?
The word "meteorology" comes from two ancient Greek words: meteor, which means "a thing in the air" and "logy," which means "the study of." So meteorology originally meant the study of things in the air above.
Today, a meteorologist is a scientist who studies the atmosphere of a planet, focusing on understanding weather processes and forecasting weather conditions. The scientific definition of weather is "events that occur in the atmosphere of a planet that are caused by the interaction of temperature, air pressure, air, and vapor."
What kinds of information or data does a meteorologist use to give accurate weather forecasts?
What kind of tools do meteorologists use to help them make accurate predictions?
Why are weather forecasts important? Ask students to name various kinds of occupations for which weather forecasts might be essential. Name some activities or situations in which weather forecasts can be useful.
Have you ever wanted to be a meteorologist or wondered how they get their information and make their predictions? Now is your chance. In this activity, you will research the weather conditions for a specific city or town, use your data to prepare a weather forecast for people living there, and present your report to the class.
The Meteorologist student guide (Office Word document, 19 KB) contains details on the main activities for this lesson plan, including Step 1, "Gather data for a weather report," and Step 2, “Present your weather report.”
Students can watch or listen to a television or radio news weather forecast or look to see what other kinds of weather data they can find on the Internet and then add these data points to their reports.
Ask students to research the technology of the Doppler radar, the Doppler effect, and the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler.
Ask students to conduct research on the Farmers’ Almanac and contrast the way it predicts weather versus the tools and radars available today.
Ask students to present their reports to the class as a live meteorologist broadcasting from a local television or radio station.
Assess students on the following:
There are many businesses that depend greatly on the weather, farming being the most obvious. Ask students to think of other businesses affected by rain, snow, and other types of weather.
Ask students to name a few cities in the world where it would be the least interesting to be a weather person. Where is the weather nearly the same every day? See if they head to Singapore or to the equator.
Compare two vastly different climates, such as those of a desert and tundra.