Rain dodgers
- There are four main types of air mass that affect UK weather.
- An air mass is basically just a big lump of air with different properties that depend on where it’s come from.
- If an air mass is ‘continental,’ it comes to the UK after being over land, meaning it’s likely to be more dry.
- If an air mass is ‘maritime,’ it comes to the UK after being over the sea, meaning it’s likely to be more wet.
- A ‘polar’ air mass will come from the cold polar regions and could bring a big drop in temperatures, while a ‘tropical’ air mass comes to us from tropical regions and will probably make the weather much warmer.
- The four main air masses that affect the UK are a combination of these; ‘Tropical maritime,’ ‘Tropical continental,’ ‘Polar maritime’ and ‘Polar continental’.
Before you begin
- It may be helpful to prepare some information on air masses beforehand. Having something like some key terms or a diagram you can print out and stick up somewhere visible will be useful.
Run the activity
- Explain that you’ll be looking at ‘air mass’ and how different air masses shape the kind of weather we get in the UK. Share the ‘Information about air masses’ with the group.
- Agree upon some actions to mime for different weathers.
- Everyone should stand in a circle. Choose one person to lead the game. They should stand in the middle of the circle.
- The person in the middle should point to someone at random and say one of the four air masses that affect the UK.
- The person indicated needs to mime what kind of weather the air mass will make. You could give each person five seconds to do this.
- Anyone who runs out of time or mimes the wrong kind of weather should sit down. Continue playing until there’s a winner.
Reflection
Remembering new information quickly can be really tough. Different people process new information at different speeds. They might remember one thing, tropical maritime air masses for instance, really well, but forget all about polar continental ones. How might playing this game several times over help you to remember all of the air masses? Between you, the group will probably remember some information, even if you only just learned it for the first time, and seeing others recall it will remind you. Pooling what you remembered in this way will help everyone understand all four air masses and what weather they lead to.
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
Run this game with just the words ‘polar’ and ‘tropical’ (cold and hot) to simplify. Challenge the group by speeding things up, having a second person in the middle pointing or by having a sequence of three air masses per person (for instance, ‘tropical continental,’ ‘polar maritime,’ ‘tropical maritime.’).
- Run this sitting down if that’s needed, with those who are out leaving the circle.
- Replace miming the weather actions with stating the weather types, where necessary.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
Think more about air masses and the kind of weather they can lead to. For each of the four kinds of air mass to affect the UK, consider what weather events (like thunderstorms or heat-waves) each air mass might potentially lead to. Find out about how air masses have been at the centre of some of the world’s most talked-about weather events, such as the melting of polar ice, the increased likelihood of extreme weather and natural disasters like tsunamis.
Have young people come up with the actions for each kind of weather. They could even come up with their own signature moves during the game. What would they do in heavy rain or under sunny skies?