First Steps

We started with a discussion and word storming activity to see what the pupils knew and understood about different types of weather and their causes. A weather "wall of words" resulted which began to focus ideas. Pupils explained their understanding of the water cycle (which they had studied 2 terms previously) using diagrams. This enabled the teacher to identify those children who would have difficulty with the terminology and so give extra help and explanations.

The pupils were asked to think about how the weather affects the external school environment. They were then asked to make an informed guess as to which areas would be the most exposed and which the most sheltered. The more able drew their own maps of the school (not to scale) and made up their own key to indicate their ideas. Special needs children made symbols which they stuck on an aerial map of the school to describe their ideas.

The children then proceeded with the geographical enquiry as outlined on the Microclimates Enquiry grid.

The children's ideas were investigated using the weathering table.

One pupil is partially sighted and used this diagram to explain his ideas.

Investigating site conditions

Where should we put the benches?

Abigail writes:-

The P.T.F.A. have raised enough money to improve the school's environment. We need some more sheltered seating areas around the school so we are going to take some tests to find where to put the benches. For example to see where the driest and most sheltered places are. So like you don't feel just like sitting down and doing some colouring or playing a quiet game.

Where I think it will be good

I think the places which would be best to put the benches would be in the playground against the classrooms to be sheltered from the wind and rain, because our classroom protects the playground from the wind from the marsh and the rain is not as strong as it could be. The best place to put the benches would be at the corners of the playground, because it is quite sheltered from the wind and the rain from the marsh.

What tests and records I will keep

We can take windspeed and temperature in 3 places on the playground and three places on the field. The three places on the playground will be by the waterfountain, in the quiet area and by the P.E. shed. The 3 places on the field will be by the cliff, the far hand left trees at the bottom and the far hand right trees at the bottom.

Place	Windspeed	Temperature
Cliff	7 m.p.h	5.5 degrees Celsius
Quiet Area	5 m.p.h	5 degrees Celsius
Left hand trees	6 m.p.h	1 degrees Celsius
Right hand trees	7 m.p.h	3 degrees Celsius
By water fountain	2 m.p.h	7 degrees Celsius
By P.E. shed	4 m.p.h	4 degrees Celsius

As you can see from my results the Quiet area is not a good spot to put tables and chairs. The most sheltered and warmest spot by the water fountain . By Abigail

Pupils find peeling paint.

They had to decide, did the evidence of weathering match up with their own ideas of which were the most sheltered and most exposed sites?

Pupils measure the wind speed on the cliff edge.

Mapping the Microclimate.

Pupils were asked to design a test to prove whether their ideas were accurate. Abigail and James designed and carried out their test using various weather measuring instruments. As a result of these investigations the tables and benches were sited and planting carried out around the quiet area and on the cliff edge where Abigail had found it was most windy.

Site conditions