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Weather and climate
Weather and climate

Weather

The state of the air and atmosphere for a period of several hours to several days is called weather. Its characteristics are sunshine, air temperature, rain, snowfall, wind, clouds, etc., commonly called meteorological events. With great accuracy, short-term weather forecasting by meteorologists is performed with the help of measurements, observations, previous experience and computer models. Medium and long-term forecasts are not always justified.

Climate

Climate is a long-term weather regime in a certain geographical area, characterized as a result of many years of statistical research on such parameters as temperature, sunshine, humidity, atmospheric pressure and others. Such research can be conducted for hundreds of years. In short, climate is a description of the long-term weather pattern in a given area. Scientists have identified six main climatic regions: tropical, dry, temperate marine, temperate continental, polar and alpine, with two types of climate in the tropics: tropical humid and tropical humid and dry.

Climate change

Climate change refers to changes in long-term daily averages. It is a common occurrence today for children to hear from their parents, grandparents how the snow used to reach their waists in winter, and summer temperatures rarely reached 35oC. Changes in snowfall over the last decade or so, as well as all-time record summer temperatures and prolonged heat waves, show that the climate has changed since the time the parents were young.

Educational scenario

Climate change

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist


Climate is a long-term weather regime in a certain geographical area, characterized as a result of many years of statistical research on such parameters as temperature, sunshine, humidity, atmospheric pressure and others. The world community has been monitoring the climate changes that have been observed in recent decades with increasing concern, defining them as one of the greatest threats of the 21st century. The effectiveness of plans and measures taken to tackle climate change depends to a large extent on public awareness and willingness to support them.

Learn more:

Climate or weather


Setup:

Write on separate sheets/cards 5-10 different phrases containing information related to weather or climate, for example:

  • "On December 31st, sub-zero temperatures below 0oC are expected";
  • "The summer in the town of Sandanski is very hot";
  • "The most frequent winds on the Black Sea coast come from the east northeast";
  • "In the spring, the waters of the Danube river rise due to heavy rains and melting snow," etc.

In class:

Explain to students the difference between Weather and Climate. Initiate the following game. Have all students stand in the middle of the classroom. Designate one corner of the room as the Climate home and the other one as the Weather home. Begin taking out the cards one by one, reading the recorded phrases. Have the students go to one of the two corners depending on whether they identify the given information as Weather or Climate related. Those students who have difficulty finding their way can stay in the middle of the classroom. Continue playing until all participants correctly understand the difference between weather and climate.


What is the climate like in your locality (region)


Research the climate in your locality (region) by consequently answering the questions:

  • What region do you live in?
  • Is it a big city or a small village?
  • What are the main economic activities in the settlement (region)?
  • What are the main sources of energy (electricity, heat)?
  • What water sources are used to meet domestic and economic needs?
  • What is the climate like in your region and has it changed in the recent years?

Conduct a survey among your parents, neighbors and various representatives of the community (workers, farmers, traders, representatives of the public administration) whether they believe that climate change may affect their professional activities. Share your findings and describe them in a short report supported by photographs you have taken.


Greenhouse effect – а model of the Earth


Carry out the experiment "Greenhouse Effect – a Model of the Earth" and discuss the observed results.

Greenhouse Effect – a Model of the Earth


Play the video "What is the Greenhouse Effect?"

Discuss the following questions:

  • What is the similarity between a greenhouse (a greenhouse facility used in agriculture) and the Earth's atmosphere?
  • Why does the presence of an atmosphere create favorable conditions for the existence of life on Earth?
  • Which human activities contribute to the release of more carbon dioxide?
  • Is it possible to control the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from Space?

Present the video "Climate Animation" to the class. Discuss the following questions:

  • How does the temperature change with the growth of human activity and the number of cars?
  • What is the reason for the thermometer to start alarming?
  • What does the jar surrounding the planet symbolize?
  • What must be done to calm the thermometer and lower the temperature?
  • What does the change in color of cars from red to green symbolize?

What is the climate like in your locality (region)


Setup:

Nominate four volunteers who will be given the task to research and report to the class which are the main greenhouse gases using the information provided in the INFO-portal, in the fact sheet "Greenhouse gases" as well as other Internet sources.

In class:

Have the four speakers share with the rest of the class what they have learned about the main greenhouse gases. Discuss which activities in your area may be a source of greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases


Human activity and climate change


Organize a role-play performing a Regional Conference on Climate Change. For that purpose, identify 9 volunteers to familiarize themselves in advance with several main factors considered responsible for the ongoing climate changes, namely: mining, energy production, transport, industry, agriculture, trade, food production,, deforestation, households.

Have volunteers present to the class how each of the factors listed contributes to adverse climate change. Try to scale the factors depending on the specific situation in your locality/region.

Human activity and climate


Where do I prefer living?


Identify several typical Bulgarian regions/settlements where a person can live, for example:

  • by the sea;
  • along a large river;
  • in the plain;
  • in a mountainous area;
  • in a big city.

Divide the class into several groups, the number of which corresponds to the number of residential areas. The task of each group is to investigate the living conditions in each specific region. Have students discuss and record the positives and negatives of:

  • the natural conditions in the region (temperature, precipitation, risk of natural disasters, fauna, flora, etc.);
  • possible work activity, determined by the character of the region
  • the availability of infrastructure allowing cultural and sports activities; Encl.
  • education opportunities;
  • possible risks related to climate change in the region.

Let each group briefly present the results of the discussion to the representatives of the other groups. Could it be claimed that some places have a better quality of life because of their climate? Are there regions at increased risk to human health and the environment as a result of climate change? Could such risk be particularly important in choosing where we prefer living?


Climate interview


Assign students to conduct an interview with an elderly person, such as a grandparent or a neighbor with many years of life experience, based on the following questions.

  • Did they grow up in your region/town?
  • Have they witnessed any changes in climate?
  • If so, what changes have they seen and how has it affected their lives?

Share your findings with your classmates.


Score: | 10
Question: | 10


Share your findings with your classmates. Discuss the results of the interview with your family, as well as the lessons learned within the activities described above.

Ecological studio

Organize individual or group creation of message cards on the topic of climate change, in which young artists recreate their attitude towards nature and climate, give a creative advice, recommendation or idea on how to protect nature and mitigate the negative effects of climate change . Any materials can be used for the artistic design. Organize a mini-exhibition or send message cards to different institutions.


Action is awareness, but awareness is not action You can have awareness without action, but you can not have action without awareness. The important message is that being aware of the climate challenges does not necessarily mean that you are acting to overcome them — which is a common misconception we have in our world today. Аwareness without action is worthless!

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About the portal

The informational and educational portal Klimadapt is intended for the dissemination of information, training of students, teachers and the general public, as well as for the organization of civil projects and campaigns dedicated to overcoming and adapting to climate change. Its creation took place within the project Changing with Climate, which is implemented by 10 partner organizations with the support of the Environmental Protection and Climate Change Program through the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area /2014-2021/.

The Klimadapt portal includes a variety of informational and didactic materials (texts, videos, lesson plans, dilemmas, model stories and fairy tales, worksheets, experiments, tests, games, instructions on how to organize actions, etc.) that provide opportunities for implementation of a learning process and/or organising a variety of activities related to mitigation or adaptation to the occuring climate changes.

Portal Development

Information texts and structure, concept of the portal: Kliment Mindjov

Educational scenarios: Kliment Mindjov, Tatiana Miteva

Portal design and PDF files: Sylvia Magyar

Illustrations and graphics: Laszlo Falvay

Video adaptation: Ivan Kozhuharov

Translation from/into English: Irina Dobriyanova, Kliment Mindjov

Editing in Bulgarian: Galina Spassova

Programming: Daniel Mirea

Management of the "Changing with Climate" project: Mariana Bancheva, Violeta Nikolova

The portal uses photos from the iStock and Unsplash platforms, as well as “pro bono” provided materials from the photo and video library of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC).

Acknowledgements

The development of the Klimadapt informational and educational portal was made possible through the goodwill and cooperation of a wide range of specialists and organisations.

We express our heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Dennis Meadows and his collaborators for the copyright for the Bulgarian language version of "The Climate Change Playbook", which includes 22 interactive games.

Nikolay Petkov researched and prepared information related to good Bulgarian and foreign practices in dealing with climate change. We thank him.

In the virtual library of the portal, informational and educational materials of various nature of various organizations, created years ago, but facing increasingly difficulty to find on the Internet, are included. In this regard, our thanks go to:

The informative and educational texts in the portal reflect facts and data from various international and Bulgarian sources: European Commission, European Environment Agency, World Health Organization, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); United States Environmental Protection Agency, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), World Bank, World Resources Institute,  Ministry of Environment and Water of the Republic of Bulgaria, Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, publications in BBC, The Guardian and other periodicals. The creators of the portal are responsible for the content and the way the information is presented and visualized.

Finally, but not least, we would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our sponsors from the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA FM) and the program operator at the Ministry of Environment and Water of the Republic of Bulgaria. Thank you!