Year 7 - Geography
Weather and climate
Weather and climate: how do they vary?
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit teaches pupils about the physical processes that help explain our weather and climate. Pupils will use fieldwork to investigate weather in their local area. Pupils will also learn about how and why our climate is changing.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to understand the difference between weather and climate, and use climate graphs to compare different climates.
Key Notes
- 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.
Vocabulary To Learn
- 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 Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils may think that weather and climate are the same.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this geography topic using two clear key 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.
2. Define this geography term and use it in an example. 'weather'
the day to day condition of the atmosphere, e.g. sunny, snowing, warm etc.
3. Correct this common geography misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils may think that weather and climate are the same. Correction: 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.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Actions to tackle climate change Study Guide
- Anticyclones Study Guide
- Causes of climate change Study Guide
- Depressions Study Guide
- Fieldwork: Analysing, concluding and evaluating microclimate data Study Guide
- Fieldwork: Planning and collecting microclimate data Study Guide
- Fieldwork: Presenting microclimate data Study Guide
- Impacts of climate change on the UK Study Guide
- Past climate change Study Guide
- The UK's climate Study Guide
- Types of rainfall Study Guide
- Weather and climate forecasting Study Guide
- World climate zones Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 7 Geography guide library.