Weather
Primary 6 · English
Weather
Lesson 1 of 5
40 min
In Kigali, the morning can be bright and sunny, and by three o'clock a heavy storm may be drumming on the iron roofs. So Rwandans talk about the weather all the time. Will it rain before we get home? Is it too hot for football? Should I take a jumper?
Today you will read what weather is, and learn the two tenses we use to describe it: one for right now, and one for usually.
This text is adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia article Weather.
Weather is the way the air around us changes from day to day, and even from hour to hour. Weather includes wind, rain, storms, lightning, hail and much more. Energy from the Sun is one of the main causes of the weather.
Climate is different. Climate tells us what kind of weather usually happens in a place at different times of the year.
Changes in the weather affect the lives of people, animals and plants. People wear different clothes and do different things when the weather changes, and they often eat different food in different seasons.
Weather stations around the world measure the weather. They measure the speed and the direction of the wind, the temperature (how hot or cold the air is) and the humidity (how much water is in the air). Scientists called meteorologists use these measurements, and powerful computers, to make weather forecasts: they tell us what the weather will probably be like in the future.
Some weather is dangerous. Severe weather, such as rainstorms, droughts and heat waves, can hurt people and damage their homes and farms.
Why does it rain? The air always holds some water, as a gas that we cannot see. When warm air rises, it cools. The water in it changes into tiny drops, which make clouds. When the drops become heavy, they fall as rain.
Answer each question in your head or in your exercise book first. Then tap Show answer to check.
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather changes from day to day and hour to hour. Climate is the kind of weather a place usually has at different times of the year.
Name three things that a weather station measures.
Any three of: wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity.
What do we call the scientists who make weather forecasts?
Meteorologists.
Look at the photo. Describe the weather with a sentence that ends in -ing.
Example: It is raining heavily. The man is walking quickly.
Many weather adjectives are made by adding -y to a noun:
| Noun | Adjective | Example |
|---|---|---|
| sun | sunny | It is sunny in Bugesera today. |
| cloud | cloudy | The sky is cloudy over Musanze. |
| rain | rainy | April is a rainy month. |
| wind | windy | It is too windy to fly a kite. |
| storm | stormy | Boats stay on the shore on stormy days. |
| fog | foggy | Drive slowly on a foggy morning. |
Other useful words: hot, warm, cool, cold, dry, wet, humid, thunder, lightning, hail, drizzle (light rain), downpour (very heavy rain).
For weather that is happening at this moment, use am / is / are + verb-ing.
Signal words: now, right now, at the moment, today, Look!, Listen!
For weather that happens again and again, and for facts, use the present simple.
always (every time) → usually → often → sometimes → rarely → never (not once)
Put them before the main verb (It often rains in the afternoon) but after am/is/are (It is usually cool at night).
You can use both tenses together: It usually rains in the afternoon, but today it is raining in the morning.
Tip
Look out of the window, and you need the present continuous: It is raining.
Look at the calendar, and you need the present simple: It rains a lot in April.
Write your answers in your exercise book, then check.
Choose: Look! It (rains / is raining).
Answer: is raining (Look! means right now)
Choose: In Kigali, it (rains / is raining) a lot in April.
Answer: rains (this happens every year)
Put often in the right place: It rains in the afternoon.
Answer: It often rains in the afternoon.
Make adjectives from: fog, wind, sun.
Answer: foggy, windy, sunny
Describe today's weather in two sentences: one about now, one about what usually happens.
Answer: Example: Today it is cloudy and the wind is blowing. In this season it usually rains in the afternoon.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Listen! The wind ___ hard against the windows.
