6 WEATHER AND CLIMATE

• Do you know what they are ? Discuss in

groups and make a list of those
indicators.
It is a common experience for everybody to
hear elder people talking about the possible
weather on a day before planning to celebrate
a function of the family. They do it by
observation of different seasons. Farmers
listen to radio or watch T.V. for weather
In class VI you had seen how Ramya and forecast. They depend on these weather
Sowmya’s mother predicted that it was going predictions to plan their agricultural activities.
to rain. She also advised them to take an These weather predictions effect our daily life.
umbrella.
• On what basis did Ramya and Sowmya’s • Where do these predictions come from?
mother predict that it was going to rain?
• How does the meteorological
department make these predictions?
• Does it happen that each time you think The department collects data and uses it to
it would rain, it rains?
Generally our elders try to predict rain. make predictions.
Sometimes their expectations come true and Let us do-1: Observe the following table.
sometimes not. They look for some indicators This is about weather of Hyderabad for
to make such predictions.
Weather Day - 1 Day - 2 Day - 3
Maximum Temperature 28oC 27oC 29oC
Minimum Temperature 21oC 17oC 21oC
Rainfall None Light Shower None
Sky may be Clear Cloudy Cloudy
Wind Very mild breeze Mild breeze Good breeze
Humidity 95% 90% 85%
Sun rise 6:25 a.m. 6:30 a.m. 6:31 a.m.
Sun set 5:40 p.m. 5:40 p.m. 5:41 p.m.

54 Weather and Climate

three consecutive days. Hyderabad is the
Maximum
capital of Andhra Pradesh. Day Date
temperature
• What aspects do you see in this weather
record? 1 10-12-2011 30oC

• On which day did it rain ? 2 11-12-2011 31oC

We find that these aspects of weather keep
changing. The humidity changes, the wind 3 12-12-2011 31oC
changes, the temperature changes the sunrise
and sunset times change too. 4 13-12-2011 30oC
We find that there are some changes in a day.
5 14-12-2011 30oC
But most of the day is normal. The weather is
a complex phenomenon that it can vary over
very short periods of time. Sometimes its
sunny in the morning but clouds appear from
somewhere and it starts raining. Within a
matter of a few minutes this gives way to
bright sunshine. You must have had several
such experiences. The temperature, humidity,
rain, wind speed change. All this effects the
life of human beings and other living
Fig. 1 Graph showing the variation of maxi-
organisms. This constitutes weather.
mum temperature during 10-14 Dec. 2011 at
Do you know? Hyderabad.
Many people died during the tsunami in • Draw graphs for the minimum
Andaman and Nicobar islands in 2004. temperature and humidity as well.
But the tribals who observed the ocean
moving back and birds making sounds
• Understanding weather reports-
moved away from danger. They could Let us do-3: Understanding weather
predict the danger and save their lives. reports
Let us do-2: Plotting Graph Report 1:
• Take a newspaper or watch the TV news Isolated rain or thunder showers are lightly to occur
and record the maximum and minimum over Chittoor, Nellore, Prakasham and some parts
temperature, rainfall, humidity and wind of Kadapa districts. Mainly dry weather will prevail
pattern of any 3 cities or towns in a table. over southern Telangana districts and northern coastal
Do this over a week. districts of Andhra Pradesh. Sky should be cloudy
for the next two days in Kurnool and Ananthapur
• Take the figures of the maximum
districts.
temperature over a week and plot the
data on a graph. For example one is Report 2:
given here. According to meteorological department report 42oC
VII Science 55
maximum temperature recorded at Ramagundam of temperature. There is a special thermometer
Karimnagar district and 29oC minimum temperature to measure highest and lowest temperatures
recorded at Aarogyavaram of Chittore district. of a day.
Because of cumulonimbus clouds 2mm of rainfall Activity 4:
was recorded in Hyderabad. Scattered rainfall recorded
in some parts of interior Rayalaseema. Remaining Take a maximum minimum thermometer
part of the state was dry. (MMT) from your school laboratory. Let us
find out how to use it to measure the two
• Which report explains what will happen? temperatures.
• What aspects of the weather are B
discussed in both the reports?
I2 I2 I1 I1
• What are the differences in the weather
A
situation given by the two reports?
The report that explains future conditions is
a weather forecast. The report that explains
about past conditions is a weather report. In
common conversation we often refer to both
as weather report.
Measuring components of weather
We have different types of measuring
instruments to measure different weather Six invented the maximum minimum
components. Do you know how we measure thermometer (MMT) thermometer to
them? Let us know how to measure weather measure highest and lowest temperatures of
components like temperature, rainfall, wind a place. This consists of a cylindrical bulb A,
speed, humidity etc. connected through a U-shaped tube to
Measuring temperature of a place spherical bulb B that contains alcohol.
The weather of a place can change every day. When the temperature increases, the alcohol
This is why we often say today’s weather is in the bulb A expands. The mercury in the U
very humid or it is too hot and so on. Generally tube goes up to the bulb B side and the
mornings and evenings are pleasant during indicator(I1)also moves up. This indicates
summers but we feel that it is very hot during maximum temperature of the day. If the
noon. temperature decreases,alcohol in the bulb A
contracts then the mercury in the U-tube goes
• How do we compare a place which is
to the A bulb side and the indicator (I2 )also
hot with a place which is cool ?
moves up. This indicates minimum
• How do we determine the hottest part temperature of the day. After taking readings
of the day? the indicators I2 and I1 are brought to their
We have already learnt that there are original places by using a magnet.
thermometers that help us measure the Collect weather reports of a nearby city from

56 Weather and Climate

 Temperature at your school Temperature obtained based on
observed by MMT Radio or TV forecast
Date Comparsion
Minimum Time Maximum Time Minimum Maximum

newspapers. Tabulate your observations for Maximum

Day Date
a week and compare them. temperature
Write your observations in your notebook 1 10-12-2011 31oC
about the temperature that you have
measured. 2 11-12-2011 32oC
• When was the maximum temperature
recorded? 3 12-12-2011 32oC

• When was the minimum temperature 4 13-12-2011 32oC

recorded? Why?
• Is there any similarity in temperatures 5 14-12-2011 32oC
between your school and the nearest
city? Graph showing the variation of maximum
Activity 5 temperature during 10 to 14 Dec. 2011 at
Guntur.
Pravin has measured temperature of his
village with the help of MMT. He expressed • For how many days did Pravin observe
his observation through a graph. Observe the the temperature of his village?
graph. • On which day was the highest
temperature recorded?
• On which days did the lowest
temperature fall?
• Do you find any relation between 10th
and 14th of December 2011? What is
that?
• Make a graph with your observations of
maximum and minimum temperatures.

VII Science 57
Measuring rainfall Direction of the wind
• How can we measure the amount of We feel happy in the mornings and evenings
rainfall at a particular place? in summer. At that time cool breeze blows.
Farmers estimate the rainfall based on the We know that there is air in our surroundings
wetness of the soil after the rain. They call it and also that moving air is wind.
as “PADUNU”. This much of rainfall is • Can we guess what the direction of wind
sufficient to start agriculture activities like is?
ploughing. This is an approximate measure. Let us do-7:
Let us do - 6: Let us find the direction of wind by using card
Take a 10cm wide beaker and insert a funnel board pieces and a thin nail.
of the same width. Keep the apparatus in an
open place when it is raining. The rain water Take two cardboard pieces and cut them the
would be collected through the funnel into the shape of an arrow and paste them together.
beaker. After the rain is over, measure the Insert a thin needle or iron wire as shown the
amount of water collected in the beaker. If figure in the middle of the arrow. The needle
the depth of water is 1 cm then that the must be long enough to be fixed on a strong
magnitude of rainfall is 1 cm. base and should allow the arrow to move
along the direction of the wind.

Meteorologists measure the rain fall using a

‘Rain gauge’. It is also called Udometer or
We can also measure wind speed and direction
Pulviometer or Ombrometer. They can
with an Anemometer.
measure exact amount of rainfall. Rainfall is
expressed in centimeters or millimeters.
In rural areas if there is rainfall at the right
time farmers celebrate crop festivals.
• How do farmers celebrate the first
showers?
• Try to find out reasons behind this?
• Discuss with your elders in your village/
town. You can also collect the songs they
sing at that time. Display them on your Observe the direction of wind. Tabulate your
school wall magazine. observation of wind direction.

58 Weather and Climate

 North South
Time East North East North West South South East
West West
Early
Morning

Noon

After Noon

Evening

Night

• Does the wind move in the same ‘humidity’ of the place. If the humidity is high
direction the whole day? when it is hot, we feel sweaty. We will learn
• In which direction does it move in the more about humidity in subsequent classes.
morning? Think and discuss:
Humidity: • Why do people living in hot and humid
Why is it sweaty in Vijayawada and relatively region wear cotton clothes?
less in Hyderabad in summer? Even though it • In which season is the quantity of
is hotter, we do not sweat as much in moisture in the air high?
Hyderabad. In places near a river or in coastal
Are weather conditions cyclic during the
regions the weather in summer is sweaty.
years?
In summer season if you are in coastal region
We know that in the equatorial region it is very
you would feel very sweaty in addition to
hot and in the polar region it is very cold. How
feeling hot winds.Vijaywada is more humid
can we say a particular place is cold or hot?
than Hyderabad.
Let us do - 9:
• Why is Vijaywada generally more humid?
Think about it. Observe the weather report (temperature and
rain fall) of two places in our state. The
Let us do - 8:
average temperature and rain fall for the last
Take about 10 ml water in a test tube. Heat it 25 years of the particular month is given in
on a Bunsen burner or a candle. What the table. (See the table in next page)
happens? Think about it.
• In which month was maximum
• Why do bubbles appear in water? temperatures recorded? Why?
• Why is the water level reducing? • Comparatively which place is hot? Why?
• Where did the water go? • How can you say Arogyavaram is cooler
When water is heated, it changes into water than Ramagundam in summer?
vapour. The vapour enters into the air. In the If the same weather recurs periodically at a
same way sea water changes into vapour due place it is considered as climate of that place.
to heating by the sun.
The quantity of moisture in the air is the
VII Science 59
 Ramagundam Arogyavaram
Average Average
Average Rainfall Average Rainfall
Month temperature in
in millimeters
temperature in
in millimeters
Celsius degrees Celsius degrees
January 30 1 28 6
February 32 - 28 2
March 34 - 29 -
April 38 - 30 1
May 41 1 33 3
June 39 4 31 3
July 36 2 30 8
August 38 10 30 16
September 35 11 29 9
October 36 11 29 18
November 31 11 28 23
December 32 9 28 14

What is Climate? S. No. State Climatic Condition

The average weather pattern taken over a long 1 Kerala
time, say 25 years, is called climate of that
place. 2 Andhra Pradesh

Broadly, the same patterns of temperature, 3 Rajasthan

rainfall, humidity wind speed that have been 4 Jammu & Kashmir
generally continuing for a long time, say the
last 25 years, at a place gives the climate of 5 West Bengal
that place.
The Indian Meteorological Department
If we find that temperature at a place is (IMD) studies climate of our country.
generally high for large part of the year, we
Climate describes the weather condition
say the climate of that place is hot.
occurring over a relatively longer period of
· When would you say that the climate of time in a given place. For example in the
a place is rainy or cold? month of June. We expect the weather to be
Let us do-10 mild in Bangalore, humid in Kolkata, hot and
dry in parts of Rajasthan, cold in Kashmir and
Observe features of the following states, and
rainy in Coastal Kerala. What does this tell
specific places in India from an ATLAS. Try
us? Think about it. For example does it mean
to write down something about the climate in
that in coastal Kerala it is always rainy in the
these areas.
month of June or if it would be always humid
in Kolkata?
60 Weather and Climate
 Do you know? What we have learnt
The people living in an area adjust to the • Weather affects our life.
conditions of climate. For example the rain • The factors hot, cold, winds, rain etc
fall has being relatively less for the past two describe the weather of a place.
decades. Even in Rayalseema during rainy
season the tanks and canals remain dry. The
• We can measure temperature of a place
with maximum and minimum
dried canals and tanks are now used for
thermometer.
other purposes. The less rainfall has also led
to developing ways to use less water. The • The quantity of water vapour (moisture)
change in rainfall pattern shows there may in air is humidity.
be shifts in climate over long periods of • Humidity is measured by a hydrometer.
time. In areas which do not have a climate • Rainfall of a particular place is expressed
of rain when it rains heavily there is no way in millimeter (m.m.), centi meter
to drain out the water. As a result many areas (c.m.) and measured with a rain gauge.
were flooded and submerged in Kurnool
in 2010 and also in other parts of • Anemometer is used to measure wind
Rayalaseema. speed.

Now-a- days there is a complaint that climate

• Climate of a place can be defined after
25 years of weather observations.
is not as ordered as it was . Seasonal climatic
condition do not appear as predictable and • We adjust to the climate to live
known. Give examples of such changes in your comfortably.
area after talking to elders. Improving your learning
Climate and life style 1. What aspects should you observe to know
Climate mostly effects on our daily life. We and predict the weather of your village?
change our life style to suit that climate. We 2. Read a newspaper, collect the weather
wear cotton clothes in summer. We want to reports in it. Write about the various
drink cool water also. What do we like to do elements of the weather mentioned in
in winter? We take care to protect ourselves the report.
from rain. Imagine the precautions you would 3. Where is the meteorological department
need to take if you were going to visit in your area? How is it useful to you?
Kashmir or Ooty during winter. Discuss with
4. It is hot and sweaty at a place. What
your friend and write a note on these
could be the possible reasons for that?
precautions.
5. Write true or false. Give reasons.
Keywords
a. Minimum temperature is recorded in
Weather, forecast, temperature, early morning. ( )
climate, humidity
b. The direction and speed of wind is found
by an Anemometer. ( )
c. In summer the winds blow towards the

VII Science 61
 earth from the seas/ocean in the afternoon ( )
d. In our state the maximum temperature is recorded in the month of July. ( )
6. Observe the graph showing rainfall (in mm) of a place from August to December. Write
down the observations from it and what inference you can draw.

100
90
RAIN FALL IN MM

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
7. Why do people need and observe weather?
8. Explain these symbolsused in a weather forecast report.

9. Collect the weather reports from the news papers and make a profile of the weather in a
city.
10. Every year we have floods in the rainy season. Why?
11. Observe your surroundings and try to predict how tomorrow would be?
12. Priya’s mother said “It is very hard to stay at Vizag during summer” Why did she say so?
13. Collect different news papers and compare the weather reports. Are they same or not?
Why?
14. Observe your surrounding immediately after rain. Express your feelings in the form of a
song.
15. Prepare some questions to conduct a quiz programme in your class on this chapter.

62 Weather and Climate