Weather apps are getting better at telling us what the weather will be like. They use new technology to give us weather news that is right for us. A weather service in the UK made their weather maps better so people can see the weather change as it happens. They also made special weather reports for people going to the beach or the mountains.

These apps are not just getting better at being right; they are also getting faster at sharing weather news. Because the weather is changing in ways we don’t expect, the people who tell us about the weather are working hard to warn us about big storms. But, new weather apps are having a hard time getting money to start because the people with the money live in a place without crazy weather.

One weather app called Accuweather is using smart computers to guess the weather and talk to people in many languages. They are also trying to tell people about dangerous weather and the air we breathe. Weather apps want to make sure they tell us about storms quickly, give us good information, and make it easy for us to use their apps.

Original news source: How weather apps are trying to be more accurate (BBC)

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Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into pairs or small groups.
2. Give each group a copy of the article.
3. Instruct the groups to read the article and discuss the main points.
4. After a few minutes, ask each group to summarize the article in 3-5 sentences.
5. Have each group share their summary with the rest of the class.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions:
1. Write the following question on the board: “Do you use a weather app? Why or why not?”
2. Instruct the students to think about their answer and be prepared to share their opinion.
3. Have the students pair up and ask each other the question, taking turns sharing their opinions.
4. After a few minutes, have a class discussion where students can share their opinions with the whole class.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions:
1. Choose 10-15 vocabulary words from the article (e.g. weather apps, technology, special reports).
2. Write each word on a separate piece of paper.
3. Divide the class into teams.
4. One member from each team comes to the front of the class.
5. Show the word to the student and give them 1 minute to draw a picture that represents the word.
6. The team members must guess the word based on the drawing.
7. Repeat the process with different team members and words.

– Synonym Challenge
Instructions:
1. Write a list of 10-15 words from the article on the board (e.g. better, faster, warn).
2. Instruct the students to work individually or in pairs.
3. Give the students a few minutes to come up with as many synonyms for each word as they can.
4. After the time is up, have a class discussion where students share their synonyms.
5. Encourage students to use a dictionary or thesaurus to find more synonyms if needed.

– Speed Summarizing
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into pairs or small groups.
2. Give each group a copy of the article.
3. Instruct the groups to read the article together.
4. Set a timer for 3 minutes.
5. Challenge the groups to summarize the article as quickly as possible within the time limit.
6. After the time is up, have each group share their summary with the rest of the class.

Comprehension Questions:

1. How are weather apps getting better at telling us the weather?
2. What did a weather service in the UK do to make their weather maps better?
3. What kind of special weather reports did they make for people?
4. Besides being right, what else are weather apps getting better at?
5. Why are the people who tell us about the weather working hard to warn us about big storms?
6. Why are new weather apps having a hard time getting money to start?
7. What is one weather app called that is using smart computers?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

Weather apps are getting (1)______ at telling us what the weather will be like. They use new technology to give us weather news that is (2)______ for us. A weather service in the UK (3)______ their weather maps better so people can see the weather change as it happens. They also made special weather reports for people going to the beach or the mountains.

These (4)______ are not just (5)______ better at being right; they are also getting faster at sharing weather news. Because the weather is (6)______ in ways we don’t expect, the people who tell us about the weather are working hard to warn us about big storms. But, new weather apps are having a hard (7)______ getting money to start because the people with the money live in a (8)______ without crazy weather.

One weather app called Accuweather is using smart (9)______ to guess the (10)______ and talk to (11)______ in many languages. They are also trying to tell people about dangerous weather and the air we breathe. Weather apps want to make sure they tell us about storms quickly, (12)______ us good information, and make it easy for us to use their apps.
Go to answers ⇩

Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a weather app?
2. How would you feel if you didn’t know what the weather was going to be like?
3. Do you like using weather apps? Why or why not?
4. What do you think is the most important thing a weather app should do?
5. How would you feel if a weather app could talk to you in different languages?
6. Do you think it’s important for weather apps to warn us about dangerous weather? Why or why not?
7. What do you think “the air we breathe” means in the article?
8. How would you feel if you couldn’t use a weather app because it was too difficult to understand?
9. Do you think it’s important for weather apps to be fast at sharing weather news? Why or why not?
10. What do you think the people who make weather apps need money for?
11. How would you feel if you lived in a place without crazy weather and couldn’t use a weather app?
12. Do you think weather apps are getting better? Why or why not?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. technology
2. weather
3. maps
4. beach
5. mountains
6. apps
7. storms
8. money
9. computers
10. languages
11. information
12. easy

Meanings:
(A) Very bad weather with lots of rain, wind, and lightning
(B) Pictures that show us where things are
(C) Facts or details about something
(D) Different ways people talk to each other
(E) The use of machines and tools to do things
(F) The thing we use to buy things we want or need
(G) A place by the ocean where people go to swim and play in the sand
(H) Not hard to do or understand
(I) Tall, big hills that people like to climb
(J) Machines that can think and do things like people
(K) What the sky is like outside
(L) Programs on our phones or tablets that help us do things
Go to answers ⇩

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What are weather apps getting better at?
(a) Playing games
(b) Making phone calls
(c) Cooking dinner
(d) Telling us what the weather will be like

2. What did a weather service in the UK do to make their weather maps better?
(a) Made them bigger
(b) Made them smaller
(c) Showed the weather change as it happens
(d) Made them invisible

3. What kind of special weather reports did the weather service make?
(a) For people going to the movies
(b) For people going to school
(c) For people going to work
(d) For people going to the beach or the mountains

4. Why are weather apps getting faster at sharing weather news?
(a) Because they want to sell more apps
(b) Because the weather is changing in unexpected ways
(c) Because they want to play games
(d) Because they want to make phone calls

5. Why are new weather apps having a hard time getting money to start?
(a) Because the people with the money live in a place without crazy weather
(b) Because they don’t want to make money
(c) Because they already have too much money
(d) Because they don’t like weather apps

6. What is Accuweather using smart computers for?
(a) To play games
(b) To guess the weather and talk to people in many languages
(c) To cook dinner
(d) To make phone calls

7. What does Accuweather want to tell people about?
(a) Dangerous weather and the air we breathe
(b) Dangerous animals and plants
(c) Dangerous movies and TV shows
(d) Dangerous food and drinks

8. What do weather apps want to do?
(a) Sell us toys and clothes
(b) Teach us how to dance
(c) Tell us about storms quickly, give us good information, and make it easy for us to use their apps
(d) Fix our cars

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. Weather apps aim to provide quick storm warnings, reliable information, and user-friendly interfaces.
2. Weather forecasters are working hard to warn us about big storms because the weather is changing unexpectedly.
3. Weather apps are flourishing to get funding because the people with money live in areas without extreme weather.
4. The UK weather service also created special weather reports for people going to the beach or the mountains.
5. A weather service in the UK has made their weather maps worse so people can’t see real-time weather changes.
6. Accuweather is a weather app that uses dumb computers to predict the weather and only communicates in one language.
7. Weather apps are not only becoming less accurate but also slower at sharing weather news.
8. Weather apps are improving and becoming more accurate at predicting the weather.
Go to answers ⇩

Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. How are weather apps getting better at telling us about the weather?
2. What did a weather service in the UK do to improve their weather maps?
3. Why are weather apps trying to warn us about big storms?
4. Why are new weather apps having a hard time getting money to start?
5. What is one weather app called that is using smart computers to guess the weather?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Weather apps are getting better at telling us the weather by using new technology and smart computers.
2. A weather service in the UK made their weather maps better by showing the weather change as it happens.
3. They made special weather reports for people going to the beach or the mountains.
4. Besides being right, weather apps are also getting better at sharing weather news faster.
5. The people who tell us about the weather are working hard to warn us about big storms because they want to keep us safe and prepared.
6. New weather apps are having a hard time getting money to start because the people with the money live in places without crazy weather.
7. One weather app called Accuweather is using smart computers.
Go back to questions ⇧

Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) better
(2) right
(3) made
(4) apps
(5) getting
(6) changing
(7) time
(8) place
(9) computers
(10) weather
(11) people
(12) give
Go back to questions ⇧

Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. technology
Answer: (E) The use of machines and tools to do things

2. weather
Answer: (K) What the sky is like outside

3. maps
Answer: (B) Pictures that show us where things are

4. beach
Answer: (G) A place by the ocean where people go to swim and play in the sand

5. mountains
Answer: (I) Tall, big hills that people like to climb

6. apps
Answer: (L) Programs on our phones or tablets that help us do things

7. storms
Answer: (A) Very bad weather with lots of rain, wind, and lightning

8. money
Answer: (F) The thing we use to buy things we want or need

9. computers
Answer: (J) Machines that can think and do things like people

10. languages
Answer: (D) Different ways people talk to each other

11. information
Answer: (C) Facts or details about something

12. easy
Answer: (H) Not hard to do or understand
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. What are weather apps getting better at?
Answer: (d) Telling us what the weather will be like

2. What did a weather service in the UK do to make their weather maps better?
Answer: (c) Showed the weather change as it happens

3. What kind of special weather reports did the weather service make?
Answer: (d) For people going to the beach or the mountains

4. Why are weather apps getting faster at sharing weather news?
Answer: (b) Because the weather is changing in unexpected ways

5. Why are new weather apps having a hard time getting money to start?
Answer: (a) Because the people with the money live in a place without crazy weather

6. What is Accuweather using smart computers for?
Answer: (b) To guess the weather and talk to people in many languages

7. What does Accuweather want to tell people about?
Answer: (a) Dangerous weather and the air we breathe

8. What do weather apps want to do?
Answer: (c) Tell us about storms quickly, give us good information, and make it easy for us to use their apps
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. Weather apps aim to provide quick storm warnings, reliable information, and user-friendly interfaces. (Answer: True)
2. Weather forecasters are working hard to warn us about big storms because the weather is changing unexpectedly. (Answer: True)
3. Weather apps are flourishing to get funding because the people with money live in areas without extreme weather. (Answer: False)
4. The UK weather service also created special weather reports for people going to the beach or the mountains. (Answer: True)
5. A weather service in the UK has made their weather maps worse so people can’t see real-time weather changes. (Answer: False)
6. Accuweather is a weather app that uses dumb computers to predict the weather and only communicates in one language. (Answer: False)
7. Weather apps are not only becoming less accurate but also slower at sharing weather news. (Answer: False)
8. Weather apps are improving and becoming more accurate at predicting the weather. (Answer: True)
Go back to questions ⇧