Curriculum Materials

• Health and Physical Education
• Mathematics
• National Science Week
• Science
• SOSE (Geography)
• The Arts
  
  
  
• References

Below are subject-specific experiments and activities designed for students and teachers.

They include interactive animated models, a cloud quiz, teacher lesson plans and student worksheets. Some of the web pages below use javascript computer language. Early web browsers (example Netscape version 2 and earlier) will not run the animations. Go to the Help for Teachers page for more detail.

Brochures

We also have many brochures which are useful for school projects. They may be downloaded directly off the internet or ordered as printed copies. See the Alphabetic List of Topics or Publications to see a listing of the available brochures and how to obtain them.

Visits to the Bureau of Meteorology

The Melbourne exhibition area at 150 Lonsdale Street is now closed due to works associated with the Bureau's move to 700 Collins Street. A new exhibition area in the Docklands building is planned, but no starting date has been decided.

However, if you live in regional or rural Australia, there may be a Bureau office nearby. Our offices welcome school visits, subject to availability of staff and operational requirements. Look for your local office in the telephone book under 'Bureau of Meteorology', or contact the Bureau Regional Office in your state.

Weather-related education programs are offered by some other Melbourne organisations, including:

CSIRO Education Victoria, http://www.csiro.au/melbcsirosec/, based in Highett, tel: (03) 92526387.
The centre hosts science shows and takes shows to Victorian schools. It runs targeted shows on the weather for primary school students.

Monash Science Centre, http://www.sci.monash.edu.au/msc/, based at the university in Clayton, tel: (03) 9905 1370.
The centre's programs can take place at the centre or travel to classrooms. It runs a weather program for early primary students and programs that touch on weather-related phenomena for mid and upper primary students.

Scienceworks & Melbourne Planetarium, http://scienceworks.museum.vic.gov.au/education/index.asp, based at Spotswood, tel: (03) 9392 4800.
The centre caters for excursions by primary and secondary students. Exhibits touch on weather-related themes, such as the "Lightning Room" and "Earth's Fury".

Weather Kits

The Bureau of Meteorology has produced a number of weather kits, available throughout selected Australian states as below. Each kit contains over 30 weather-related instruments, instructions on how to use the equipment, as well as suggestions on activities and other resources. You can also access the resources produced to accompany the weather kits online.

Victoria
The Victorian Department of Education, Employment and Training (DEET) currently have nine weather kits for loan. These kits are available in each of the nine educational regions in Victoria (4 metropolitan and 5 regional). To make a booking, please get in touch with the regional coordinator for your education region.

Tasmania
For schools in Tasmania, the Bureau has three kits available for loan. Please contact Mr Malcolm Riley for further details.

Malcolm can be contacted:
. by e-mail using m.riley@bom.gov.au
. by phone on (03) 6221 2043,
. at Tasmanian Regional Office, Level 5,
  111 Macquarie Street, Hobart TAS 7000.

Queensland
One weather kit is stored in Brisbane and is available for loan. Please contact the relevant office of the Bureau of Meteorology to discuss a loan.

South Australia
One weather kit is stored in Adelaide and is available for loan. Please contact the relevant office of the Bureau of Meteorology to discuss a loan.

Western Australia
In Western Australia, a weather kit is managed by the Western Australia Department of Education. To discuss details on obtaining the kit for a loan period, contact the Regional Technician at Yule Brook College on (08) 9459 5444.

Electronic Weather Monitoring

A weather station is a collection of equipment that measures local weather conditions. All-in-one electronic weather stations are available for purchase through various websites and stores in Australia: a multi-sensor weather station (temperature, humidity, wind, rainfall and atmospheric pressure) may cost from around $500. Some units also come with software that connects the station to a personal computer, so data can be viewed in real time and then stored for later analysis.

Some examples of school projects created using data from a computer-connected weather station are:
· web pages displaying current weather data on the internet or school intranet;
· data analyses such as working out monthly averages and totals; and
· comparison of the data with manual observations, taken using thermometers, rain gauges and other low-cost instruments. (This could be incorporated with the projects detailed below on measuring pressure and wind speed).

A good example of a website featuring data from an electronic weather station is that of Elliot Levin, a student from Caulfield, Victoria.

External Links

We've also provided links to specially selected external web sites. These web sites relate specifically to learning about meteorology.

Dro and the Weather Map

'Dro' the raindrop learns how to read a typical weather map found in the newspaper. Presented in a storybook method containing 11 pages.
Learning outcomes: identify simple patterns in observations arising from explorations of readily observable phenomena. Includes many small animations.

Teachers' lesson plan

Students' Storybook with exercise.

Teachers' lesson plan
Students' worksheet

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Teachers' lesson plan
Students' worksheet

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Teachers' lesson plan
Students' worksheet

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An experiment looking at how the ozone layer has changed over the decades and during a year. Includes an interactive animation that models the destruction of ozone by CFCs. Some parts require the use of javascript.
Learning outcome: relate the safe use and disposal of common substances to their physical and chemical properties. Includes animation (120KB).

An activity that investigates the humidity in the classroom and the school ground.
Learning outcome: describe weather conditions over a period of time.

Teachers' lesson plan
Students' worksheet

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Teachers' lesson plan 3
Students' worksheet 3

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