Introduction

The weather is an important part of our lives, and this is reflected in the arts and other sources we consume. Stories, songs, paintings and poetry all feature the weather as a recurring theme. They tell of storms wrecking ships, stranding people on desert islands; of surviving floods, cyclones and droughts; and of weathering stormy nights and windy days, as in the song 'Storm Wind' (Harrhy and Taylor, Songs for Young Australians, c.1941).

Weather is interwoven with our lives in the media as well, featuring in weather forecasts and news reports as regular bulletins.

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

Learning activities

Lights in the sky

As a class, discuss which natural phenomena identified on pages 24 to 27 of Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather (e.g. sheet or fork lightning, rainbows, moonbows, colourful sunrises) have you seen?

Ask students to choose one of these phenomena and create a piece of art that captures the colourful effects of these phenomena and their emotional response to them.

Display your artworks in the classroom and discuss how they make the class feel.

Alternatively, students could present a weather report in a written, spoken or visual format.