Public Information Systems

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Public Information Systems Unit 8.1 Lesson 2 of 6
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Lesson Objectives

• At the end of this lesson you will
• Know how weather information is obtained.
• Understand the difference between primary data
  and secondary information.
• Be able to investigate different weather data
  logging instruments using the Internet to find
  out the types of data they can collect.

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What weather do these people need?
Farmer Sailor Skier Cricketer Music
Festival Organiser
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Secondary Data
Weather forecasts are called Secondary
information. This means that you are not
getting the raw information yourself. Someone
else has collected it for you and you
they interpret what it means.
This is why we get very
clear weather
forecasts on
the TV!
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Primary Data

• Weather information such as the temperature (ºC),
  the amount of rain that falls (mm), or the wind
  speed (mph) are all examples of primary data
  which you can collect by using the correct
  instrument.
• Temperature Thermometer
• Rain Rainfall counter
• Wind Anemometer

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Lesson activity
Visit the following sites and investigate
different types of weather collecting
instruments. www.rainwise.com www.maximum-inc.com
www.smarthome.com/weather.html www.txwx.com How
does the instrument work? What data does it
collect and any other relevant information.
Write up in Microsoft Word titled Weather Data
Logging.
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Lesson Objectives

• You should now
• Know how weather information is obtained i.e.
  weather instruments.
• Understand the difference between primary data
  and secondary information.
• Be able to investigate different weather
  instruments using the Internet to find out the
  types of data you can collect.