How can weather data be presented?

You need to be able to both draw and interpret weather maps (synoptic charts) and climate graphs.

Synoptic Charts

Weather maps use standard symbols to show a variety of weather data. The information you need to read these charts can be found in the key. Here are the standard symbols used on weather charts:

Synoptic charts also show isobars. These are lines joining points of equal pressure. Remember: pressure is measured in millibars. The pressure readings are shown on the isobars as numbers.

You also need to know about isohyets (which join points of equal rainfall) and isotherms (joining points of equal pressure).

The Met Office pages about synoptic charts can be found here. They offer a very clear summary of the topic, with some activities to complete.

Climate graphs

Climate graphs show temperature and rainfall for each month of the year in a given location.

Rainfall is shown as blue bars (a bar chart).
Temperature is shown as a red line (a line graph).


When interpreting a climate graph, make sure you are reading from the correct axis as there are two different vertical scales, one on each side of the graph.

When plotting a climate graph, make sure that the temperature plot is placed in the middle of the month.

There is a superb living climate graph interactive activity here. Its in two parts - you have to finish the first one to gain access to the second. Thanks to Russel Tarr for making and sharing this activity.

Introduction to weather and climate

Today's objectives were as follows:

- To be able to define the terms weather and climate.
- To know the names of the key components of weather.
- To know the names of the key weather instruments.

Weather is the short term state of the atmosphere over a small area. By contrast, climate is the 'average weather', usually taken over a period of 30 years, for a larger area. It considers long term trends.

You need to be able to define the following aspects of the weather, know how they are measured, and give the units of measurement:

- precipitation
- temperature
- air pressure
- cloud cover
- wind speed
- wind direction
- visibility

Precipitation means water falling from the sky in any form eg. rain, sleet, snow, hail. It is measured in millimetres using a rain gauge.

Temperature means how hot or cold it is. It is measured in degrees, using a thermometer.

Air pressure is how 'heavy' the air is. It is measured in millibars using a barometer.

Cloud cover is how much of the sky is hidden by clouds. You use your eyes to measure cloud cover. Cloud cover is expressedin oktas - one okta cover means that one eighth of the sky is obscured by clouds.

Wind speed is how fast the wind is blowing, and it is measured using an anemometer. As you will know from our fieldwork in the lesson, it can be given in a variety of units eg. miles per hour, kilometres per hour, metres per second, knots.

Wind direction is which direction the wind is coming from - it is measured using a weather vane and given as a compass direction eg. north, south, east, west.

Visibility means how far you can see. It is measured using a lightmeter, and usually given in metres.

Coursework - Cross Unit Task

Here are the instruction sheet and writing frame for the coursework. The deadline is 14th December.

1 minute review of the topic!

Here's a 1 minute review of the Amazon topic. Could you produce a better summary? If so, let Dr Hutchinson have a copy of your work and we will post it here for other pupils to see.

Consequences of deforestation - drought in the Amazon

A video from Greenpeace:

Correspondent - Fires of the Amazon

The transcipt for the 'Fires of the Amazon' film that we watched in class is here.

Click on the image for useful background information about the programme, including a discussion of Brazil's 'schizophrenic policy'.

Why was Brazil under such pressure to exploit the rainforest?

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What does sustainability mean?

Key objective:

• To understand and be able to define the term 'sustainable development'.

We played a game of jenga before thinking about sustainability, but changed the rules slightly! You had to remove the blocks and not replace them on the tower. This was to simulate what happens when logging happens in the rainforest and trees are not replaced.
The towers soon fell down - you couldn't keep playing the game forever. It was not sustainable.

So, to our definition of sustainable development...

Sustainable development is development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development attempts to minimise the negative impacts of development by considering the needs of both the environment and future generations of people.

In other words, this means growing enough food and sourcing our energy and raw material needs without doing irreversible damage to the environment. Sustainable development is environmentally responsible - it does not waste resources.

You must learn this definition - it is a common 2 mark exam question!

The video below is from DEFRA - it considers what sustainable development means and gives some examples of the way in which DEFRA are implemeting sustainable projects in the UK, including The National Forest.



To play online Jenga, click on the picture below.

What are the effects of deforestation in Brazil?

Make sure that you can distinguish global/local effects of deforestation and environmental/social effects.

Loss of bio-diversity
Large numbers of plants and animals have been destroyed. It is possible that medicines are being lost.

Soil fertility
Once an area has been cleared, lots of rainfall reaches the ground. This washes the nutrients out of the soil and makes it less fertile.

Soil erosion
Clearing trees means that there is no canopy to protect the soil from heavy rain, or plant roots to bind it together. The result is that a lot of the soil gets washed away.

Amerindians
There has been a huge reduction in the number of people in local tribes.

Traditional culture
Many Amerindians have been forced off their land and ways of life have been destroyed.

World climate change
The burning of the forest releases carbon dioxide into the air. This may be linked to an increase in world temperatures. The carbon cycle and water cycle are severely affected.

Decrease in hardwoods
Trees such as mahogany and rosewood are becoming endangered species.

How are we exploiting the Amazon rainforest?

Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers from all over the world are writing about the environment, which fits rather nicely with today's lesson!

Today's objectives were:

to know that the Amazon has suffered large scale deforestation

to recognise that the rate of deforestation has changed over time

to be able to give reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon

Deforestation is the conversion of forest areas to non-forest areas (i.e. cutting down the forest). In 2005, an area larger than Wales was cut down in the Amazon Rainforest. The rate of deforestation has slowed since 2005.

The main reasons for deforestation are:

Slash and Burn - most commonly for local tribes who need space to plant crops on a small scale. In recent years, only about 1/3 of deforestation can be attributed to shifting cultivators.

Road Building - particularly the TransAmazonian Highway.

Logging - commercial logging is widespread. It has been estimated that 28 trees are damaged for each one that is removed.

Cattle Ranching - an extensive form of farming - beef cattle roam large areas because the land is not fertile enough for them to feed on the grass in a small area. Most people agree that this is now the major reason for large scale forest clearance.

Hydroelectric Power - areas have been flooded when dams have been built for HEP projects. An example is the Balbina Dam.

Farming - soya farming has become big business. Nutrients in the soil are quickly exhausted and the land become infertile.

Mining - eg. gold, tin, copper, bauxite, oil. This can raise large amounts of cash.

New settlements - a significant amount of deforestation is caused by poor farmers who are encouraged to settle. Each squatter acquires the right to continue using a piece of land by living on a plot of unclaimed public land and "using" it for at least one year and a day. After five years the squatter acquires ownership and hence the right to sell the land.

The pie chart below shows the causes of deforestation in Amazon between 2000-2005.

Brazilian deforestation is closely linked to the economic health of the country - periods of lower deforestation (eg. 1988-2001) link to periods of slower economic growth; periods of rapid deforestation (eg. 1993-1998) link to periods of faster growth in the economy. During recessions, ranchers and developers do not have enough cash to rapidly expand their operations, while the government lacks funds to build new roads and settlements and grant tax breaks and subsidies.

How have plants adapted to the conditions in the tropical rainforest?

Lesson objectives:

• To be able to name plants of the tropical rainforest.
• To be able to describe and explain the adaptations that these plants have made to the conditions of the forest.

You should be aware of the following plants:

Lianas
These are thick vines that loop around tree trunks to make their way up to the canopy and the sunlight. They have thick, woody stems and come in various lengths (up to 3,000 ft) and varying shapes. They begin life on the forest floor but depend on trees for support as they climb upwards towards the sunlight they need for survival. They do this by attaching themselves to trees with sucker roots or tendrils and growing with the young sapling, or they climb by winding themselves round the tree's trunk.
When they reach the top of the canopy they often spread to other trees or wrap themselves around other lianas. This network of vines gives support against strong winds to the shallow-rooted, top-heavy trees. However, when one tree falls several others may be pulled down also.
Lianas include rattan palms, philodendron and Strychnos toxifera (from which the deadly poison strychnine is obtained). Rattans, the Asian lianas, have thorny stems and can reach heights of 650 feet (200 m). They are used to make a variety of things including baskets, ropes and wicker furniture.

Epiphytes, or air plants
These plants forget about roots in the soil - they perch high up on branches.
Epiphytes grow everywhere but can be found mainly on the branches, trunks, and even the leaves of trees. The name 'epiphyte' comes from the Greek word 'epi' meaning 'upon' and 'phyton' meaning 'plant'.
Different types of epiphytes may grow on the same tree, including orchids, cacti, bromeliads, aroids, lichens, mosses and ferns. They begin their life in the canopy from seeds or spores transported there by birds or winds.

Ferns
Ferns grow very well on the forest floor as they have adapted to the shady conditions.

Bromeliads
Bromeliads are related to the pineapple family. Their thick, waxy leaves form a bowl shape in the centre for catching rainwater. Some bromeliads can hold several gallons of water and are miniature ecosystems in themselves providing homes for several creatures including frogs and their tadpoles, salamanders, snails, beetles and mosquito larvae. Those that die decompose and furnish the plant with nutrients.

Strangler Figs
Most stranglers are members of the fig family. In Spanish they are known as matapalo - 'killer tree'. The seed of the strangler fig starts life as an epiphyte high in the trees, borne by birds and monkeys which eat the fig fruit. The seedling fig sends down long roots to the ground from where it begins to surround the host tree. It grows quickly and eventually suffocates the host: when the host tree dies it leaves an enormous upright strangler with a hollow core.
By using an adult tree as its host, the strangler fig avoids competition for light and nutrients at ground level.

Adaptations

You should be familiar with the following adaptations:

1. Buttress Roots - above-ground root system to ensure stability for the tallest trees and to increase the surface area over which the plant can draw its nutrients.
2. Drip Tips - the leaves are shaped to shed the heavy rainfall.
3. Branchless Trees - the trees put their energy into climbing upwards towards the canopy rather than growing branches at intervals along their trunks.

How have animals adapted to the conditions of the Tropical Rainforests?

Lesson Objectives:

• To know the names of at least one one animal that you could find in each layer of the tropical rainforest.
• To be able to give a detailed summary of the ways in which at least two animals have adapted to life in the Tropical Rainforest.

You did some independent research about a variety of rainforest animals - as soon as I receive your PowerPoints, I'll post them here! To keep us going until then, here are a few notes about some of the plants and animals of the rainforests...

Parasol Ants (forest floor)

Leaf-cutter, or parasol ants, climb trees up to 100-feet tall and cut out small pieces of leaves. They then carry these fragments, weighing as much as 50 times their body weight, back to their homes. Sometimes they must travel 200 feet, equal to an average human walking about 6 miles with 5,000 lbs. on his/her back!

These ants don't eat the leaves they have collected, but instead bury them underground. The combination of leaves and substances that the ants produce such as saliva allows a type of fungus to grow. This fungus is the only food that the ants need to eat.

The Jaguar (forest floor and undercanopy)

The Jaguar is both a good climber and a good swimmer. It pounces from trees on its prey, and is at home both in the understorey and on the forest floor.

Toucans and Parrots (canopy)

Toucans and Parrots have large beaks. These beaks give them a great advantage over other birds with smaller beaks. The fruits and nuts from many trees have evolved with a tough shell to protect them from predators. In turn toucans and parrots developed large strong beaks, which serves as a nutcracker and provides them with many tasty meals.

The three-toed sloth (canopy)



The three-toed sloth is born with brown fur, but you would never know this by looking at it. The green algae that makes its home in the sloth's fur helps it to blend in with the tops of the trees, the canopy, where it makes its home. But green algae isn't the only thing living in a sloth's fur; it is literally "bugged" with a variety of insects. 978 beetles were once found living on one sloth!

The sloth has other clever adaptations. Famous for its snail-like pace; it is one of the slowest-moving animals on earth. (It can even take up to a month to digest its food!) Although its tasty meat would make a good meal for jaguars and other predators, most do not notice the sloth as it hangs quietly in the trees, high up in the canopy.

The Woolly Spider Monkey (canopy)

The spider monkey is a wonderful acrobat which can leap six metres from tree to tree. It has a special tail that can be used like a hand to hang from trees or to reach out for fruit (this is called a prehensile tail).

The Harpy Eagle (emergent trees)

The Harpy is the largest eagle in the world. It hunts monkeys, sloths and snakes by swooping low over the canopy. When its sharp eyes spot prey, it dives into the branches and quickly snatches up its next meal.

Introduction to the Tropical Rainforest

The lesson objectives were:

• To know where the tropical rainforest biome is found.
• To practice describing the distribution of the tropical rainforest.
• To know that the tropical rainforests can be divided into four distinct vertical layers and to be able to name the layers.
• To understand that the climate affects the nutrient cycle of the forest.

Tropical rainforests are found in equatorial areas, between the tropics (concentrated between 10 degres north and south of the equator). They cover about 6% of the earth's surface. The main areas covered by rainforests are: Central America; the Amazon Basin (in South America); Central Africa; Madagascar (much of this has now gone); Southern Asia; Australasia. This is shown on the map below.


You may well get a question along the lines of 'Describe the location of the tropical rainforests' in your final exam. This type of question is usually worth 2 marks. Make sure you mention the general pattern (equator/tropics) and specific rainforests in your answer.

Express Yourself with Gizmoz Video Clips

We watched a video about the structure of the rainforest and the way in which nutrient cycles work. Unfortunately, the video is not available online... here's an alternative for you...


The key things to remember are:

• In general, the rainforest is a hot and humid environment. There is relatively little variation in temperature throughout the year (approx. 2 degrees). There is a wet season and a dry season. The growing season is very long.

• The rainforest has four main layers: shrub layer, under-canopy, canopy and emergents.

• The shrub layer (ground level) is dark and gloomy because the trees of the canopy block out 95% of the sunlight. There's not much growth here.

• The under-canopy has limited sunlight. Saplings wait here for a spot in the canopy to become available for them!

• The canopy is like a vast green ocean when viewed from above! Its full of life.

• The emergent trees can be up to 50 metres high.

• The nutrient cycle operates very quickly due to hot, humid conditions in which dead plant matter decays very quickly. There are very few nutrients stored in the soil because they are quickly absorbed by plant roots.

The diagram below shows the structure of the rainforest. The examiners often ask you to describe the structure of an ecosystem, so make sure that you are able to draw a fully labelled diagram to show the layers of the forest.

End of topic assessment - Ecosystems

Express Yourself with Gizmoz Video Clips

I'm really impressed! Most of you managed to complete the whole question in the time available, including the case study section. You used a variety of case studies - the most successful answers were based on the Savanna Grasslands.
I noticed three main things about your answers:
(a) lots of people hadn't learnt their definitions - so they threw away easy marks!
(b) quite a few of you didn't read the questions carefully - you ended up describing where you should have been explaining and I couldn't give you any marks!
(c) most people didn't use the data from the graph appropriately - you must quote figures from the graph if you are asked to describe what it shows!
These things are easy to put right - I'm already looking forward to results day 2009 as I'm confident that you'll all do really well if you keep at it. Well done.
To revise your graph interpretations skills, you could use the BBC Bitesize summary. Why not take the test bite to see how much you can remember once you have worked through the online unit?

Desertification in The Sahel

Lesson objectives:

• To know where the Sahel is located.


• To know that the Sahel has undergone desertification in recent decades.


• To understand the causes and consequences of desertification in the Sahel.


• To recognise that people can manage land in a sustainable manner to reduce the impacts of further desertification.
  

Express Yourself with Gizmoz Video Clips

Where is the Sahel?

The Sahel region lies just to the south of the Sahara Desert in Africa.

The Sahel has been heavily affected by the process of desertification - this means that the land is turning to desert. Desertification happens because of both physical and human factors. The term 'land degradation' tends to be linked to the human factors, with 'desertification' being linked to climate change.

This clip from BBC Bitesize provides a useful summary of the topic. It is a video file - you will need to turn your speakers on or plug your headphones in before you watch it! Alternatively (or additionally if you're feeling keen!) you could watch the green.tv clip - I can't work out how to embed this in the blog, so please click on the link and then watch the movie in a new window.

Here is the PowerPoint we used during the lesson:

The extension task was to add arrows to the flow chart showing how a range of factors interact to cause desertification. The chart without the arrows is here.

An example of a completed flow chart is shown below.

The Savanna Grasslands

The objectives of the lesson were:

• To be able to describe the location of the savanna grasslands biome.
• To be able to describe the climate, soils and vegetation of the biome.
• To draw a labelled diagram to show how a given plant from the savanna adapts to the wet and dry seasons.



This clip is from 'The Lion King', which is set in the African savanna grasslands. You can see a wide variety of animals in the clip. There are some isolated trees, such as the baobab and acacia.

As you watch the clip, think about what 'The Circle of Life' means in the context of your study of ecosystems.



The map below shows the location of the savanna grasslands. This biome is located mainly between 5 and 15 degrees north and south of the equator. It lies between the tropical rainforest and hot desert biomes.



There are clear seasons of wet and dry weather in the savanna. As a result, plants and animals have to adapt to extremes of moisture availability. The rain falls in short bursts (convectional rainfall). The main adaptation is to drought in the dry season. Most plants have xerophytic (drought-resistant) characteristics. The wet season allows the vegetation to grow and at this point of the year the vegetation can include lush green grasses and wooded areas. As you move further away from the equator and its heavy rainfall, the grassland becomes drier and drier - particularly in the dry season. Savannah vegetation includes scrub, grasses, and occasional trees which grow near water holes, seasonal rivers or aquifers. Animals migrate long distances to get to water.

Grasses
The grass grows very quickly, reaching up to two metres high in the short wet season. As many of the animals in this biome feed on grass, they have adapted in different ways in order to co-exist. For example,

• zebras eat the tall grass
• wildebeest eat the short grass
• gazelles eat the new growth left behind

Baobab Trees
Baobob trees (sometimes known as 'upside-down trees') can grow up to 25 metres tall and 10 metres wide. They store water in their trunks (up to 120,000 litres!) and they have a thick bark which protects against fire. This also reduces moisture loss. They have very few leaves, and the leaves are only on the tree for about 3 months each year. The trees lose their leaves through the dry season to conserve moisture and have long roots so they can get water from deep underground.



In 'The Lion King', Rafiki has made his home in a Baobab Tree.

British Woodland: Nap Wood and The National Forest

The lesson objectives were:

- To be able to describe the structure of the ecosystem at Nap Wood.
- To know how Nap Wood has been managed by The National Trust.
- To know that The National Forest is a large scale afforestation scheme.
- To consider whether The National Forest has been a success.

Express Yourself with Gizmoz Video Clips

The PowerPoint presentation about Nap Wood has been stored at SlideShare, and you can either watch or download it from here.



The case study notes about Nap Wood are contained in this word document. Make sure that you know:

- where Nap Wood is
- who manages it
- how the ecosystem is structured (plants and animals)
- how it is managed

Click on the logo above to visit The National Forest website.

Here is the PowerPoint presentation about The National Forest.

The British Woodland Ecosystem

The lesson objectives were:

- To know the main features of a British Woodland ecosystem and how they link to each other.
- To be able to construct a food web for the British Woodland ecosystem.
- To know that the ecosystem is under threat from human interference.

This lesson addresses Key Question 4.2 from the exam specification.



You need to be able to give examples of plants and animals at each level of the ecosystem. The Forestry Commission website hosts several webcams that will give you an insight into how the British Woodland ecosystem operates. You can see videos and webcams showing some of the animals that live in the forest here. There is a factsheet about some of the animals in the New Forest here.

The BBC Bitesize revision pages contain useful information about the links between the components of ecosystems. Make sure that you can define the key terms from today's lesson: producer, consumer, herbivore, carnivore, decomposer, trophic level.

Producer: Usually a green plant that produces its own food by photosynthesis.

Primary Consumers: Animals that consume only plant matter. They are herbivores - eg rabbits, caterpillars, cows, sheep, and deer.
Secondary Consumers: Animals that eat primary consumers (herbivores).
Tertiary Consumers: Animals that eat secondary consumers (i.e. carnivores that feed on other carnivores).

Decomposers: Organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead organisms and their wastes. They do not 'eat' the food like scavengers, as they have no mouth-parts. Instead they break down solid matter into liquids which they can absorb. Examples: bacteria and some fungi.

Tropic Level: A trophic level is each level in a food chain. Matter is always 'lost' as heat energy at each trophic level.

There are several online interactive activities here and here which let you make your own food webs. If you have a printer connected to your PC, it would be useful for you to print out the completed webs and stick them into your exercise book.

Here is the worksheet we used to practice choropleth mapping skills. These skills are often tested in paper 1/2 in the final GCSE exams.

The global distribution of ecosystems

The objectives for today's lesson were:

- to know that, on a world scale, climate is the main factor determining the nature and extent of natural vegetation cover.
- to understand the term ‘biome’.
- to learn the names of the world’s main biomes.
- to be able to describe the changes in vegetation cover from the equator to the polar regions.

This map shows the world's main biomes. Can you define the word 'biome'?

Biomes: Large ecosystems at the global scale where the climate and vegetation is uniform.

Foundation tier: Make sure that you can describe the changes in vegetation cover from the equator to the poles.

Higher tier: Make sure that you can describe and explain the changes in vegetation cover from the equator to the poles.

Introduction to Ecosystems

The objectives for today's lesson were:

- to be able to define the term 'ecosystem'
- to recognise that ecosystems can be any size
- to understand that energy flows are crucial to an ecosystem
- to be able to list the main inputs, processes and outputs of an ecosystem

The lesson focuses on Key Question 4.1 from the exam specification:



Here is a copy of the image we used for the memory game. You could try to draw your own copy without looking at the screen and then check back to see how much you have remembered.



You should make sure that you know the definitions of the key words we used today:

Ecosystem: A system of links between plants and animals (the living, or biotic, community) and the habitats where they live, including the non-living, or abiotic, environment.

Photosynthesis: The process whereby plants take in the sun's energy with carbon dioxide and water to produce energy, oxygen and plant tissue.

Food web: The transfer of energy through an ecosystem from primary producers to consumers and decomposers.

A food chain shows how each living gets its food - i.e. who eats what (or who). A food chain always starts with a green plant. A food web consists of many ood chains. A food chain follows only one path (eg. a hawk eats a snake, which has eaten a frog, which has eaten a grasshopper, which has eaten grass) whereas a food web shows the many different oaths through which plants and animals are connected (eg. a hawk might also eat a mouse, a squirrel, a frog or some other animal; the snake may eat a beetle, a caterpillar, or some other animal, and so on for all the other animals in the food chain).

The PowerPoint from the lesson is here:

Make sure that you can name at least 3 inputs, processes and outputs of a named ecosystem. Here are some examples for a British Woodland ecosystem:

Inputs: sunshine, rainfall, air, soil, fertiliser
Processes: photosynthesis, tree clearance, reproduction
Outputs: water into rivers, evapotranspiration, timber

Climate, the Environment and People

This is the first unit you will study in Year 10.



We will start by considering ecosystems.

There are four key ideas that underpin this part of the course. They are:

(a) Ecosystems operate at a variety of scales.
(b) Ecosystems can be perceived as a resource for human benefit.
(c) Changes occur in ecosystems as a result of natural processes and/or human activity. The consequences of such changes may go beyond the immediate ecosystem.
(d) The impact of human activity on ecosystems needs careful management to achieve sustainability.

The document below outlines this section of the course.

A message for the Class of 2007

Well done to the Class of 2007. Your results were superb and we are really proud of you. 77.6% of you achieved A*-C grades, which was almost 10% above your target as a group. Best of luck with your future plans.