Education Update – March 2020
For all teachers, this is truly an extraordinary time. In this update, we will focus on the resources which you may find most useful in trying to support your colleagues and your students.
Free Weather and Climate Course
We have brought forward the 11th run of our online weather and climate course, Come Rain or Shine, and it is now available on the FutureLearn platform. It is suitable for teachers, trainee teachers and older (16+) students.
Access to the course is free for five weeks after you register, and the course will be supported by expert mentors for at least three weeks. Most materials can be downloaded.
It's possible to purchase a certificate of completion, but it's also possible to improvise one using the 'progress' tab.
The Learning Objectives are:
- Describe the weather features associated with depressions, anticyclones and the four main air masses which affect the UK.
- Interpret a synoptic chart (also known as a weather chart) to provide details about wind speed and direction, precipitation and cloud cover.
- Describe some of the physical processes which give rise to weather, such as convection, condensation, pressure gradients and the Coriolis force.
- Investigate local weather conditions using readily available instruments.
- Explain some of the processes which transfer energy through the Earth system, including the transient effects of volcanoes and changes in the Earth’s orbit, and how these processes relate to the Earth’s climate.
- Apply your understanding of mid-latitude weather systems to the analysis of weather data and images.
New educational films using infrared technology to understand the atmosphere
We have been delighted to work together with Imperial College, London and the Institute of Physics Environmental Physics group to produce a set of 6 short films looking at how we can use an infrared camera or thermometer to observe physics at work in the atmosphere.
The videos can be found on our YouTube channel and cover albedo, the greenhouse effect, making cloud bubbles, looking at blue sky with an IR camera, cloud temperatures and clouds in a bottle.
Resources for remote teaching
Below, we've listed a selection of other resources best suited for remote teaching, but you can find far more on MetLink.
Resource |
Suitable for: |
|---|---|
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11-18 Geography |
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GCSE Geography |
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11-16 Geography |
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11-14 Geography |
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Simple experiments, many of which can be carried out with readily available equipment |
Everyone |
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Primary science - other primary ideas could include making a weather tree |
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| A whole set of resources looking at past climate change and more on past climate change including an online game and worksheets. |
11-16 Geography |
We wish you all the very best for teaching over the coming weeks!