Year 5 know that the sun evaporates water from the sea, but it is hard to believe when water vapour cannot be seen. In pairs, children open earth.nullschool on a laptop with the teacher's one-page guide, which walks them through three overlays. First they switch on total precipitable water, which shows how much water the air is holding, and spin the globe to find the wettest air, usually over warm oceans near the equator. Then they switch to sea surface temperature to check whether the sea is warm beneath the wettest air, and finally follow the wind streams from one wet patch to see where that air is heading and whether rain is falling there. Pairs record three places, the evidence for each stage of the cycle, and one question the globe raised, which the teacher collects for the plenary.
Tools: earth.nullschool.net Nine ideas for your own version in Generate
This page is one of a growing set of PICRAT examples by cell, subject and grade. Page maintained by Andy Perryer.