TESSA - Liberia

TESSA - Liberia

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Resource 1: African folklore relating to weather – a teacher resource

Teacher resource for planning or adapting to use with pupils

Country or region and type of weather	Myth	Scientific explanation
Africa: Lightning	Folklore: People hit by lightning were thought by many ancient Africans to have incurred the anger of the gods. Lightning bolts were considered bolts of justice.	Science: Lightning occurs when electricity travels between areas of opposite electrical charge within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. Lightning bolts between cloud and ground (‘bolts of justice’) start with electrons (negatively charged particles) zigzagging downwards from the cloud, drawing a streamer of positively charged ions up from the ground. When they meet, an intense wave of positive charge travels upwards at about 96,000 km (about 60,000 miles) per second! This process may repeat several times in less than half a second, making the lightning seem to flicker.
Ethiopia: Wind	Folklore: Many people believed evil spirits dwelt in whirlwinds, so they would chase the wind with knives.	Science: The wind is caused by a complex collection of forces. Warming and cooling of the air causes changes in density, or pressure. Air tends to move from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. Even very small differences in pressure from one area to another can cause very strong winds. Friction from obstacles like trees, mountains and buildings affect winds, slowing them down, or creating updrafts, bottlenecks and so on. Also, Earth's rotation creates what is called the Coriolis effect, causing winds north of the equator to tend to curve to the right and winds south of the equator to curve to the left.
Egypt: Sun	Folklore: Ancient Egyptians, boating on the Nile, believed that the sun sailed across the sky in a shallow boat.	Science: While the sun may seem to be sailing across the sky, it is we who are moving on Earth's surface as Earth rotates on its axis and orbits the sun. One rotation takes 23 hours 56 minutes, or one day, and one orbit takes 365.26 days, or one calendar year.
Kenya: Thunder	Folklore: The god of thunder, Mkunga Mburu, is believed by some to travel the heavens on a huge black bull with a spear in each hand, ready to hurl them at the clouds to make the loud noises.	Science: The noise we call ‘thunder’ – a distinct crack, loud clap, or gentle rumbling – is caused when air that has been heated to more than 43,000 °F along a lightning stroke expands and then suddenly cools and contracts when the lightning stops.
Nigeria: Lightning	Folklore: The Yoruba are said to have believed that lightning was a storm spirit who carried powerful magic. That spirit scolded them with fiery bolts of light shot from his mouth. He was believed to punish people for their wrongdoings by destroying things on the ground or by hitting someone with his bolts of light.	Science: Lightning occurs when electricity travels between areas of opposite electrical charge within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. Lightning bolts between cloud and ground (‘bolts of justice’) start with electrons (negatively charged particles) zigzagging downwards from the cloud, drawing a streamer of positively charged ions up from the ground. When they meet, an intense wave of positive charge travels upwards at about 96,000 km (about 60,000 miles) per second! This process may repeat several times in less than half a second, making the lightning seem to flicker.
Southeast Africa: Rainbows	Folklore: Many of the ancient Zulus thought of rainbows as snakes that drank from pools of water on the ground. According to legend, a rainbow would inhabit whatever pool it was drinking from and devour anyone who happened to be bathing there.	Science: Rainbows are by-products of rain. Raindrops act as tiny prisms when lit by the sun, bending light and separating it into its different colours. A rainbow's arch appears to dip down from the sky to meet Earth's surface. To see a rainbow, you must be standing with the sun behind you, looking at rain falling in another part of the sky. A rainbow may mean the rain is nearly over, since the sun must be peeping through the clouds to make the rainbow appear.

Adapted from original source: http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/ weather/ (Accessed 2008)

3. Using stories to think about the impact of the weather

Resource 2: A weather observation chart

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