Geography K–10 · Years 5–6

Climate graphs for two Australian stations from Bureau data

Geography (HASS F–6 sub-strand, Year 5 inquiry skills); NSW Geography K–10 (2015) Stage 3 geographical tools: Graphs and statistics (climate graphs), with the climate comparison drawn from the Stage 2 focus area Places are Similar and Different (Climate of places)

PracticalLow risk

The idea

Two places at different latitudes have different patterns of monthly rainfall and temperature, and a climate graph makes the pattern comparable at a glance.

What you need

Bureau of Meteorology Climate Data Online: monthly mean maximum temperature and monthly mean rainfall for two stations (for example Darwin Airport and Hobart) copied into a table
Graph paper or a spreadsheet; two colours
Ruler

How to do it

From Climate Data Online select each station, download the monthly climate statistics and copy the 12 mean-rainfall and 12 mean-maximum-temperature values.
Draw 12 rainfall columns (mm, left axis) and a temperature line (°C, right axis) for station 1; repeat for station 2 with the same axis ranges.
Mark the wettest three months and the driest three months on each graph.
Write three comparisons: the month of highest rainfall, the annual rainfall total (sum of the 12 means) and the range of monthly maximum temperature.
Locate both stations on the Geoscience Australia map and state each station's latitude from the map margin.

What you should see

Two graphs with identical axes and a table the class computes from the Bureau tables it downloads: for each station the month of highest rainfall, the annual total as the sum of the twelve monthly mean rainfalls, and the range of monthly mean maximum temperature (highest month minus lowest). The Bureau's own printed annual rainfall mean can differ slightly from the sum of the twelve monthly means, because the months do not all have the same length of record, so the class states which figure it used and keeps to its own sum. Read against the latitude printed in each station's details, a tropical northern station is expected to concentrate its rain in a few summer months under a high, flat temperature line, and a cool southern station to spread rain across the year under a lower line with a wider temperature swing; the two graphs are the evidence for the stations actually chosen. It worked if the annual total on the graph equals the sum in the table and both graphs share the same axis ranges.

What changes

This activity lists no variables to change, measure and keep the same.

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

Hot places are always wet.
Rain falls evenly through the year everywhere.

Safety card

Low riskLearners carry it out

Hazards

No hazard is listed.

Controls

No control is listed.

Note

No chemicals or heat are used. The activity is run under the school risk-assessment procedure; RiskAssess (riskassess.com.au) holds templates for school practicals and fieldwork. The NSW Department of Education Chemical Safety in Schools package is not triggered.

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

Geography K–10 Syllabus (2015), NESA; current and taught in 2026, replaced from 2027. The outcome codes are not printed on the NESA landing page for this syllabus, which only links the document, so the url given is the syllabus document itself (geography-k-10-syllabus-2015.docx); the code and its outcome text were read in that document on 23 September 2026.GE3-1 GE3-4
Australian Curriculum v9AC9HS5S02AC9HS5S03AC9HS5S07

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

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