On Sunday, October 20, 2013 3:18:16 PM UTC+1, Steve Jackson wrote:
This is long, but here is the syllabus we teach for A2 AQA waether & climate unit



Major climate controls



The structure of the atmosphere, the atmospheric heat budget, the general atmospheric circulation, planetary surface winds, latitude, oceanic circulation and altitude.

The climate of the British Isles

Basic climatic characteristics: temperature, precipitation and wind.



Air masses affecting the British Isles.



Origin and nature of depressions. Weather changes associated with the passage of a depression.



Origin and nature of anticyclones. Associated weather conditions in winter and summer.

Storm events: their occurrence, their impact and the responses to them. One case study from within the last 30 years should be undertaken.



The climate of one tropical region - tropical

wet/dry savanna

Basic climatic characteristics: temperature, precipitation and wind.



The role of sub-tropical anticyclones and the inter-tropical convergence zone.



Tropical revolving storms. Their occurrence, their impact and the responses to them. Two case studies of recent (within the last 30 years) tropical revolving storms should be undertaken from contrasting areas of the world..



Climate on a local scale: urban climates

Temperatures: the urban heat island effect.



Precipitation: frequency and intensity, fogs, thunderstorms and their relationship to urban form and processes.



Air quality: particulate pollution, photochemical smog and pollution reduction policies.



Winds: the effects of urban structures and layout on variations in wind speed, direction and frequency.



Global climate change

Evidence for climatic change over the last 20 000 years.



Global warming: possible causes. Possible effects: on a global scale, on the chosen tropical region (above) and on the British Isles.



Responses to global warming: international, national and local.

Good to see, but I don't see the drawing of weather maps from synoptic station data, or weather prediction from those charts 12 hours hence, in there. Sorry if you do that and I hope students do. Ah, memories!

Must also remember that most students sitting the old Meteorology GCSE were, in fact, 6th formers. The exam was beyond most Y11 pupils. (Not all, however; I had a particularly keen Y9 who did it in his own time, with after-school coaching and got a top grade.)