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Year 7

Types of rainfall

I can describe how rain forms and understand different reasons for its formation.

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New
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Year 7

Types of rainfall

I can describe how rain forms and understand different reasons for its formation.

Download all resources
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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Relief rainfall occurs when warm moist air from the ocean rises up over mountains.
  2. Convectional rainfall occurs when the sun heats up the land, when it cools and condenses it forms rainclouds.
  3. Frontal rainfall occurs when a warm front meets a cold front.
  4. The west of the UK is generally wetter than the east.

Keywords

  • Evaporation - the process of something changing from a liquid state to a gaseous state

  • Precipitation - water that falls from the sky as rain, snow, hail or sleet

  • Sublimation - conversion of a substance from solid to a gaseous form

  • Relief - the physical shape of the land in an area, including its height and steepness

Common misconception

There is only one type of rain; it is all the same.

Students will be exposed to the three different types of rainfall: relief, convectional, frontal.


To help you plan your year 7 geography lesson on: Types of rainfall, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Ensure that students are familiar with the hydrological cycle before starting this lesson.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Water can be:
a solid
a liquid
a gas
Correct answer: all of the above
Q2.
What do you think is happening to the water represented by the blue arrow here?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: It is moving up the hill, cooling down and condensing into rain.
It is evaporating as it goes higher and turning into rain.
It is moving down the hill and warming up.
Q3.
How would you describe the climate of the UK?
Correct answer: mild and wet
hot and dry
cold and dry
hot and wet
Q4.
What is "precipitation"?
The process of water turning into clouds.
Correct answer: Water that falls from the sky as rain, snow, hail, or sleet.
Water that evaporates into the air.
The movement of water through rivers.
Q5.
Temperature __________ with altitude.
increases
Correct answer: decreases
stays the same
Q6.
Why is "relief" important when studying rainfall patterns?
It explains how clouds form.
Correct answer: It helps us understand how the land’s shape affects weather.
It shows how fast wind travels.
It helps predict the temperature of the area.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the correct term for this system?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: Hydrological Cycle, Water Cycle
Q2.
Which of these diagrams is correctly representing relief rainfall?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Q3.
What type of rainfall is common in the south east of England, typically in the summer months?
Frontal
Relief
Correct answer: Convectional
Q4.
Which region of the UK is generally wetter?
North
East
South
Correct answer: West
Q5.
What happens to liquid water when it is frozen?
It becomes a gas.
Correct answer: I becomes a solid.
Nothing happens.
Q6.
What does rainfall start as when it falls out of the cloud?
Sleet
Rain
Hail
Ice
Correct answer: Snow