Weather and climate
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can understand the difference between weather and climate, and use climate graphs to compare different climates.
Key learning points
- Weather is the day to day atmospheric conditions whereas climate is the average weather conditions over 30 years.
- Weather can be seasonal which means our weather changes throughout the year, such as in the UK.
- Climate graphs show us the precipitation and temperature of a place over a calendar year.
- Analysing climate graphs can help us describe patterns of the climate.
Keywords
Weather - the day to day condition of the atmosphere, e.g. sunny, snowing, warm etc.
Climate - an average of weather conditions (e.g. rain, sun, wind) in a place taken over a long period of time (usually 30 years or more).
Climate graph - shows the amount of precipitation and the temperature each month for a location.
Precipitation - water that falls from the sky as rain, snow, hail or sleet.
Common misconception
Pupils may think that weather and climate are the same.
Pupils will explore that weather is the short term changes in the atmosphere whereas climate is long term changes in the atmospheric patterns of a place.
Teacher tip
A great way to help students remember the difference between weather and climate is by using the phrase "weather is what we get, and climate is what we expect!"
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What continent is the United Kingdom in?
Q2.Match up the key term to its definition.
The average weather conditions over thirty years.
The day to day conditions of the atmosphere.
Divisions of the year that are associated with different weather.
Any type of moisture that falls from the sky.
Q3.What do we call an official prediction of the weather?
Q4.In which season are trees most likely to drop their leaves?
Q5.Put the lines of latitude in order from furthest north to furthest south.
Q6.At which line of latitude is the climate warmest?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who is making a statement about the weather?
Q2.Climate is ...
Q3.The Earth moves in three ways around the sun. Which of these movements causes seasons?
Q4.Which of these are not shown on a climate graph?
Q5.How is temperature shown on a climate graph?
Q6.What type of patterns can be seen on a climate graph?
To help you plan your 7 geography lesson on: Weather and climate, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 geography lesson on: Weather and climate, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 geography lessons from the Weather and climate: how do they vary? unit, dive into the full secondary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.