What you need to do
Keep a daily record of the weather from your own observations for at least one month, to include at least four of the following:
- Wind force and direction
- Cloud type and amount
- Weather — using Beaufort letters
- Temperature
- Pressure
- Rainfall amount
Understand the working principles of the following instruments and construct a simple version of one of them:
- Thermometer
- Barometer
- Sunshine recorder
- Anemometer
- Rain gauge
- Understand at least three different ways in which clouds are formed.
- Know the typical weather produced in your own area by ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ air masses in summer and in winter, noting the different effects of land and sea tracks. Understand the weather associated with a change of air mass at fronts.
- Know how synoptic weather maps are produced and be able to understand a simple map, with fronts and isobars, similar to those shown on television and printed in some newspapers. Relate your observations in requirement 1 to these maps.
- Understand the effects of temperature, wind and water on the human body in cases of hypothermia and exhaustion.