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TEACHER´S SHEET
Didactic unit
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Topic:
Weather
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Level:
B1, B2
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Social and cultural
information
Variety of weather in different
countries.
The influence of weather
conditions on people’s mentality.
Origin of the weather.
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Objectives\aims
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To
enable students to behave appropriately in a certain social situation.
To enable students to use language
in a certain social context.
To involve emotions in the
learning experience.
To increase students’ awareness
of different weather conditions in different countries.
To
develop the liberality towards non-native cultures.
To strengthen students’
Internet, research and organization skills.
To teach students the skills of
independent work habits.
To teach students to work
effectively with others.
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Tasks\functions
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To improve vocabulary related to
the topic. ( see appendix nr2.)
To develop speaking skills.
 | Description
( telling the details)
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| Identification
( talking about one’s likes and dislikes)
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| Language-
in –action (doing things and talking)
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To increase the ability to perform
communicative functions
| Agreement
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| Disagreement
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To provide socio-cultural
information (see above),
To increase the ability to answer
the questions,
To develop writing skills
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Methodology
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Pre-activities
| Warming
up activity (comparative discussion about likes and dislikes)
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Procedural activities
| Pair
work
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| role-play
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| matching
pictures
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| project
work
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| individual
work
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Didactic material
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See appendixes
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Evaluation
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KWL
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Further information
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http://infohost.nmt.edu/~armiller/travel.htm
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Expected results
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Students will increase knowledge
about weather conditions in different
countries.
Students will continue to learn
tolerance and respect towards non native cultures.
Students will learn to use
language related to the topic.
Students will increase the skills
of independent work habits.
Students will increase the skills
of individual work.
Students will improve skills of
searching for information.
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Role –play
Ask
students to explore different kinds of weather forecasts ( see examples in
appendix nr.1) and organize role-play activity.
Each
student investigates his/hers material and acts as a weather reporter.
Students
may chose and look for weather broadcasts according to their interests or may be
given material by a teacher.
For
presentation different types of maps can be used.
Additionally
students may study different
temperature scales ( see appendix nr. 2)
Individual work
Ask students to think of and to
search for the weather-related folklore such as “Ring around the moon,
’twill rain soon” and “Red sky at night, sailors’ delight; red sky at
morning, sailors take warning.” Each student selects country for his/hers
investigations.
For presentation of the results students may use graphic organizers. For example:
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Country
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Weather
related folklore
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Origin
of the saying
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Have each student select and research
one such saying investigating its accuracy in predicting the weather.
Discuss the results of the work in class
comparing sayings about the weather sayings in different countries.
Appendix
nr.1
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THU
APR 7
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FRI
APR 8
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SAT
APR 9
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SUN
APR 10
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MON
APR 11
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HIGH
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16°C(60°F)
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23°C(73°F)
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24°C(75°F)
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24°C(75°F)
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21°C(69°F)
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LOW
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9°C(48°F)
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10°C(50°F)
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12°C(53°F)
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13°C(55°F)
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15°C(59°F)
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CONDITION
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Sunny
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Sunny
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Cloudy
periods
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Cloudy
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Light
rain
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Today
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Tomorrow
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Sat
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Sun
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Mon
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6-10
Day
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High: 50°
Low: 40°
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High: 46°
Low: 36°
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High: 44°
Low: 37°
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High: 50°
Low: 37°
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High: 55°
Low: 40°
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Hourly
Weather Forecasts for
LIEGE
,
BELGIUM
7pm
Thursday 4/7 - 3am
Friday 4/8
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TIME
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7pm
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8pm
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9pm
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10pm
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11pm
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12am
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1am
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2am
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3am
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Weather
Conditions
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Precipitation
Type
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--
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--
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--
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--
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--
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--
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--
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--
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--
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1
hr Liquid Amount
(cm)
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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Temperature
(°C)
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10
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8
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7
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6
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5
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5
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4
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3
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3
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Realfeel
Temp®
(°C)
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5
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4
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2
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1
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1
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0
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-1
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-1
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-2
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Dewpoint
(°C)
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3
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3
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3
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2
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2
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1
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1
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1
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1
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Relative
Humidity
(%)
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64
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69
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73
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76
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79
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80
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81
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83
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86
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Visibility
(km)
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7
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7
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9
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9
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9
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9
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9
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9
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8
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UV
Index
(1-10+)
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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Wind
Direction
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SW
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SW
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SW
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SW
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SW
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SW
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SW
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SW
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SW
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Wind
Speed
(kph)
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15
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14
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12
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12
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12
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11
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11
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10
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10
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Wind
Gust
(kph)
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38
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35
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28
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27
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25
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24
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24
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22
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20
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(Force)
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24
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22
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17
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17
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16
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15
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World
Forecast Map
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The
three different temperature scales
Project
work
Aims
To understand
basic information about weather
To learn about different types of
weather maps
To create and present weather maps
showing different conditions of different countries
The class will need the following:
Internet access
Resources
about weather
Steps
- Write the following
questions on the board:
| What
are some examples of weather?
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| Where
does weather come from?
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| Where
does weather happen?
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| How
does weather happen?
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| Is
weather always the same?
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- Ask students
brainstorm elements that make up weather. What makes one day’s weather
different from the next, for example:
| Temperature
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| Precipitation
(rainfall, snowfall)
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| Wind
speed
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| Humidity
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| Cloud
cover
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- Explain
that meteorologists, or scientists who predict and report the weather, use
different types of maps to show the elements of weather.
- Divide
students into groups to look at weather map of the country they have
chosen in different types of maps, and present their maps to the class.
- Write the following
types of maps on the board:
| Satellite
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| Radar
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| Precipitation
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| Temperature
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| Wind
speed
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| Front
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- Each group should
create a presentation that answers the questions below.
| What
do satellite images show? Why is this information important?
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| How
do we get satellite images? How do satellites travel?
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| What
can meteorologists learn by the shade of the clouds on a satellite image?
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BACKGROUND: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wearadar.htm
| What
does radar show?
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| How
do you use the map key on a radar map?
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| How
do we get radar images?
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| What
are some of the limitations of radar maps?
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BACKGROUND
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/prcp/home.rxml
| What
is precipitation?
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| What
are some examples of precipitation?
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| Define
the different types of precipitation on the map.
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| What
causes different types of precipitation?
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BACKGROUND: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whattemp.htm
Precipitation definitions http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wds8.htm
| What
is temperature? (For the clearest definition, see the “Weather terms”
chart in the background article.)
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| What
are the two most important factors in temperature?
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| Why
is it usually cooler at night?
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| Why
does temperature change during the seasons?
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BACKGROUND: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wpress.htm
| Explain
the main cause of winds.
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| Why
are some winds stronger than others?
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| How
does wind affect the weather?
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| How
are winds named?
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BACKGROUND: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wpress.htm
| What
is a low-pressure system? What is a high-pressure system? What kind of
weather does each typically bring?
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| What
is a cold front? What is a warm front? What types of weather does each
typically bring?
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| Explain
how the map key shows each of the terms above.
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Other helpful sites:
What is weather http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/reporters/central/whatis.htm
Weather basics http://www.usatoday.com/weather/basics/wworks0.htm
- Members
of each group give a weather report using their map. Their presentations
should also answer the questions provided.
- Ask questions
| Why is it helpful to
use different types of weather maps?
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| When might some
maps be more helpful than others? For example, why might you be more
interested in precipitation one day and wind speed the next?
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Students
are asked to observe the weather during the week.
Students are encouraged to search for weather information on the
Internet, on TV to fulfill a table.
Name
__________________
Date__________________
Weather
data for the week of _________ to ______________
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Day
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Temperature
in the place of living
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Temperature
in the native country
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Rain
in
the place of living
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Rain
in
the native country
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Wind
direction
in
the place of living
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Wind
direction
in
the native country
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Role play
Appendix
nr.3
Vocabulary
Words
describing the weather
Cold
weather
Chilly, frosts, sleet, slush, settling,
blizzards, snowdrifts, to thaw, to melt.
Warm/hot
weather
Close, stifling, humid, scorching,
boiling, mild, a heatwave.
Wet
weather
The wet weather scale gets stronger from left to
right
Damp, drizzle, pour down/downpour,
torrential rain, flood.
Mist
and fog
Haze/hazy, mist/misty, fog/foggy, smog.
Wind
Breeze, wind, blustery, gale, hurricane.
Students present the information about
the weather in their country as part of a brochure for prospective visitors and
newcomers.
Steps
- Tell
students they will prepare a brochure about the seasonal weather in their
country.
- Divide
students into groups.
- Each team
will use various kinds of graphs to present data about specific aspects of
weather in their state. These might include the following:
 | precipitation
in inches |
| days
of sun |
| temperature
range |
| storm
types and frequency |
As the
teams organize their brochure pages, each should plan to include a map of
the country.
Students
bind and share their brochures after preparing durable, illustrated covers
and adding other information, such as a bibliography of helpful sources of
information for tourists.
Ask the
whole group to discuss what they learned as they researched and organized
their data.
Pair-work
Agree with the first sentences by choosing two synonyms.
Use a word from (1) category in the first response and a word from (2) category
in the second.
For example:
heavy (1) / oppressive (2)
Question - It’s sultry today isn’t it?
Answers - Yes, it’s very *heavy*
Yes, it is a bit *oppressive*
freezing (1) / muggy (1) / pouring (2) / breezy (1) / nippy (2) / sweltering (2)
/ clammy (2) / blowy (2) / boiling (1) / chucking it down (1)
Match
the weather to the seasons
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What’s the
weather like in your country?
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In spring it’s
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In autumn it’s
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In winter it’s
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In summer it’s
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