Australia's wild weird wonderful weather

About this module

Designed to give teachers flexibility and develop student skills, the content of this module is based on Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather by Stephanie Owen Reeder and Tania McCartney (NLA Publishing, 2020), and is best used in conjunction with the book.

The resource also has relevance to the general capabilities of literacy, critical and creative thinking, intercultural understanding, and personal and social capability.

Copyright for teachers

You can download all collection materials in this resource for education purposes. For more information, go to copyright for teachers.

Topics in this module

Clipping of a newspaper article titled 'Weather Prophets'.

WEATHER PROPHETS. (1937, November 4). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 17. nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205560442

Forecasting weather

Topic

As cub reporter Betty Wilson (aged nine in 1937) tells us, forecasting the weather is not all about maps and laboratory science!

Digital Classroom

Sheet music featuring an illustration of a child looking out an open window

Edith Harrhy & Bronnie Taylor, Songs for young Australians [music] / words by Bronnie Taylor ; music by Edith Harrhy, 1941, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-175231656

Presenting weather

Topic

The weather is an important part of our lives, and this is reflected in the arts and other sources we consume.

Digital Classroom

A sepia image of a weather almanac for 1894.

New South Wales weather almanac for ... : a general handbook for the year, 1894, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-406743496

Recording weather

Topic

In colonial Australia, there was a useful household book called an almanac. It contained lots of information, including weather forecasts and pictures of the flags used to signify approaching storms.

Digital Classroom

A black and white photo of a man with a frostbitten face.

Frank Hurley, Madigan's frostbitten face, Adelie Land [Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145067660

Exploring weather

Topic

Antarctica has been explored by meteorologists since the early 1900s. Blizzards are common there.

Digital Classroom

an image of a map showing an outline of the eastern half of Australia with about 30 towns down the side with their minimum and maximum temperatures.

WEATHER MAP, 9 am 3 FEBRUARY, 1877. (1877, February 5). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 6. nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13389140

Mapping weather

Topic

In 1877, meteorologist and astronomer Henry Russell produced the first published weather map for the colony of New South Wales.

Digital Classroom

Norman B Tindale, Map showing the distribution of the Aboriginal tribes of Australia, 1940, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230054338

Describing weather

Topic

Colonial settlers brought with them to Australia the concept of four distinct seasons. While this works for much of southern Australia, non-Indigenous people in the other parts of Australia identify seasonal change as wet and dry.

Digital Classroom

Image of a colour sketch of a heavily snow covered town of Hobart houses with water and mountains in the background in 1882

H.J. Graham, Severe snow storm over Hobart, 1882, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135529606

Experiencing weather

Topic

There are many stories of extreme weather and descriptions from those who survived the ordeals of droughts, bushfires, floods and cyclones in Australia.

Digital Classroom

Introductory activities

These activities aim to facilitate a shared understanding of the themes and concepts relevant to HASS: Geography and Science for the learning levels this resource supports. They are designed to get students thinking in broad terms about weather in Australia before exploring National Library collection material in each of the themes.

The weather is an important part of everyday life in Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples developed an intricate understanding of the environment over tens of thousands of years, using seasonal knowledge of the areas in which they lived

In the hundred years after European settlement, colonial Australia developed an observation network larger than the entire area of Europe. Now, the Bureau of Meteorology issues Australian weather forecasts based on meteorological data from a range of sources. From the Japanese Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS) providing three-hourly pictures from 36,000 kilometres above the equator to the weathervane on the roof of a farmer's barn, observations provide vital data for forecasting the weather.

A map of Australia showing different coloured shaded areas of annual rainfall.

H.A Hunt & Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology (Australia). (1920). Revised average annual rainfall map, Australia and Tasmania [transparency], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-142324647

Black and white photo of a man in a hat reading thermometers

Fairfax Corporation. (1920). Meteorologist Edward Timcke reading the temperature on thermometers at the Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales, ca. 1920s, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-161044970

Page of drawings of colourful flags saying 'Telegraphic storm and general signals'.

(1894). New South Wales weather almanac for ... : a general handbook for the year, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-406743496

Reading the clouds

Have the class create a chart for recording the following information:

the main cloud types
the days of the week (Monday to Friday)
the daily weather

At the end of each school day, record the types of clouds observed in the sky that day and the weather experienced.

Discuss the types of clouds you recorded and how they related to the weather each day.

Cycle of life

Discuss the water cycle. Where does the moisture in the air come from? Where does it go?

What sorts of processes create water vapour (for example, condensation, evaporation)?

To test the role of plants in creating water vapour:

fasten a clear plastic bag over the leaves on the end of a tree branch on a sunny day
observe what happens over the course of an hour
discuss the results.

To test the evaporation of water:

leave a number of different-sized receptacles filled with the same amount of water in the sun outside your classroom
time how long it takes for the water to evaporate in each receptacle
discuss why the water in some containers takes longer to evaporate than that in others and to where the water goes.

To test how condensation works:

tie each of the corners of a plastic sheet onto one of four poles anchored in a sandpit or a garden
place a small stone in the centre of the plastic sheet, so that the plastic dips in the middle
place a measuring cup under the centre of the sheet and leave it overnight
in the morning, record:
- where water has collected––in the sheet or in the cup
- how much water has been collected
- discuss the implications of this process.

What about me?

Have the class create a mind map of the ways in which the weather affects their daily lives. There will most likely be a range of positive, negative and neutral responses. Once the map is complete, have students illustrate the diagram using stock photos found on the internet.

Talking about the weather

Choose five weather-related sayings (for example, 'breaking the ice', 'right as rain', 'fair-weather friend', 'raining cats and dogs' and 'every cloud has a silver lining').

Have groups of students explore the origins and meanings of these sayings.

Create a poster or a brochure to illustrate these sayings and explaining their meaning.

Concluding activities

Climate change

Discuss what students can do on a daily basis to help slow down climate change. This could include:

recycling, to help reduce emissions
cutting down on the use of plastics
turning off home appliances when they're not being used
walking, cycling and using public transport for travel
buying locally grown food and locally made products
using a clothes line, rather than a tumble dryer
planting trees, to absorb more carbon dioxide and create more oxygen.

Get the class (in small groups or as individuals) to research, identify and list the following:

non-renewable energy (e.g. fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas)
renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, wave, biofuels).

Discuss the types of energy used both at home and school. How could you reduce the use of non-renewable energy at home and at school?

Create a diagram of a house or your school identifying the non-renewable energy sources and showing the renewable energy sources that could replace them.

Photo of a large crowd with placards against global warming.

Wendy McDougall, Placards on display during the Walk against warming , Martin Place, Sydney, 12 December, 2009, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138025570

A man snorkeling underwater with a prosthetic arm carrying a flourometer.

Simon O'Dwyer, Marine botanist Peter Ralph, surveys the reef with a fluorometer to measure stress levels in coral algae, Heron Island, 17 November 2005, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148451336

Curriculum links

This resource has been developed with specific reference to two geography content descriptions for years 4 and 5 students in the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences:

The use and management of natural resources and waste, and the different views on how to do this sustainably (ACHASSK090)
Interpret data and information displayed in a range of formats to identify, describe and compare distributions, patterns and trends, and to infer relationships (ACHASSI100)

It also supports a further four content descriptions for years 4, 5 and 6 students in the Australian Curriculum: Science:

Living things depend on each other and the environment to survive (ACSSU073)
Earth’s surface changes over time as a result of natural processes and human activity (ACSSU075)
Construct and use a range of representations, including tables and graphs, to represent and describe observations, patterns or relationships in data using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS090)
Sudden geological changes and extreme weather events can affect Earth’s surface (ACSSU096)

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About this module

Topics in this module