Weather Map
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Approach:  One to one
Level: Year 4 and year 8
Focus: Understanding weather map symbols  
Resources:
2 weather maps, picture
408Kb
Questions/instructions:  


Show picture.

Here is a picture of a ferry boat that goes from the North Island of New Zealand to the South Island across Cook Strait. People who travel on the ferry are always keen to know what the weather will be like when the boat is going.



[Interislander-Arahura.jpg. Retrieved from:
http://www.discovernewzealand.com/
default.aspx?DN=b6f9d0e0-b400-4ba9-b158-eb3dad4471c2
Tourism Holdings Ltd (May 2008)]
 
% responses
2007 ('03)
y4
y8
 

[Click on graphic to enlarge.]
 Show map one.
This map shows the weather for one day. There is a red dotted line to show you where the boat will be going from the North Island to the South Island.

1. What do you think the weather will be like on this day for going on the ferry boat?
calm
3 (4)
16 (10)
clear, fine/sunny
25 (29)
28 (38)
hot, warm (and/or cool at night)
55 (50)
51 (47)
a good day
13 (17)
25 (20)
2. How does the map tell you that the weather will be like that?
‘H’:
means high pressure/anticyclone
0 (1)
4 (6)
means high
15 (21)
27 (27)
related to temperature / hot
44 (39)
37 (33)
no relevant comment
41 (39)
32 (34)
no close-together circles/lines (isobars) mean little wind
1 (3)
7 (7)

[Click on graphic to enlarge.]

 Show map two.
This map shows the weather for another day.

3. What do you think the weather will be like on this day for going on the ferry boat?
windy
43 (50)
67 (67)
southerly
1 (1)
3 (5)
(relatively) cool / cold
31 (31)
41 (41)
a bad day
9 (16)
19 (15)
cloudy/rainy/stormy
31 (25)
24 (30)
4. How does the map tell you that the weather will be like that?
‘L’:
means low pressure/depression
1 (0)
5 (7)
means low
11 (8)
32 (39)
related to temperature / cold
29 (29)
12 (12)
no relevant comment
59 (63)
51 (42)
circles / lines close together (isobars) mean wind
16 (16)
35 (26)
location of lines, front, ‘L’ – all suggest southerly (at least one mentioned and that it suggests southerly)
2 (2)
6 (7)
cold front symbol supports cold temperature
2 (0)
9 (11)

Total score:
5–14
3 (9)
20 (23)
4
9 (6)
16 (18)
3
22 (22)
24 (24)
2
28 (23)
20 (22)
0–1
38 (40)
20 (13)
Subgroup Analysis [Click on charts to enlarge] :
Year 4
Year 8
Commentary:
Students at both year levels showed quite limited understanding of the meaning of the symbols H and L on weather maps, tending to associate them with temperature rather than air pressure. In fact, an H is not always associated with warm weather or an L with cold weather. Overall, performance was quite low, with little evidence of change between 2003 and 2007.