How does rain affect daily life?
Rain is very important and can affect our lives in many different ways.
In this article you can learn:
- How rain affects our daily lives
- What causes a flood
- What causes a drought
- How people manage extreme weather conditions
This resource is suitable for weather topics for primary school learners.
Video - How does rain affect daily life?
Watch this video to find out how rain affects our daily lives and the world around us.
In Scotland, we’re all used to rain. Many of us have been caught outside in a downpour or have had to wait for the bus in the rain!
We might not always like it but rain is very important, and can affect our lives in a lot of different ways - not just making us soggy!
Rain provides animals and plants with the water they need to grow and survive.
Rain also affects the things we do. The water in our taps starts off as rain. We drink this water and use it for our showers and baths every day. When it’s raining, we have to think about what we’re going to wear and it might mean we travel by bus, car or train instead of walking or cycling.
But what happens when we don’t get the right amount of rain? This can cause extreme weather. Too much rain can cause floods.
If the ground is very dry and hard, the rain can’t drain away properly.
At other times, it rains so heavily over a long time that the earth soaks up too much water and the ground becomes saturated. This means the ground becomes like a sponge that is so full of water that it can't take any more in.
This extra water flows into streams and rivers. Sometimes rivers become too full from all the extra rainwater, and they burst their banks.
Floods can make travelling difficult. Roads and bridges might be closed. Trains and buses might be delayed so we have to plan ahead.
North East India is one of the wettest places in the world. In the forests here, the local people have grown natural bridges made from the roots of rubber trees. This is because it’s so wet and damp that wooden bridges rot away in just a few years.
If there’s too little rain, we have what’s called a drought. If it didn’t rain for a long time, then the ground would become hard and dry. We couldn’t grow the food that we need for both us and animals to survive.
Droughts are not common in Scotland but they are in other parts of the world. The Sahel region of Africa has been badly affected by droughts. Many countries are looking at ways to find and collect water and use water more efficiently. For example, collecting rain water in tanks on roofs and digging wells to reach water far underground.
In the UK, we don’t get huge extremes of rain or drought but our weather never stays the same for long so we have to be ready for sudden changes.
How does rain affect our lives?
- Rain gives animals and plants the water they need to grow and survive.
- The water in our taps start off as rain. We drink this water and use it for our showers and baths every day. It's part of our The process in which water travels from the Earth's surface, up into the sky and back to Earth again. The three steps of the water cycle are evaporation, condensation and precipitation..
- We have to think about what we're going to wear when it's raining. We should think about wearing waterproof clothing.
- We have to think about how we are going to travel when it's raining. We might take the bus, car or train instead of walking or cycling.
- Too much or too little rain can cause An unusual or severe weather event, like a flash flood or heatwave. events like When water overflows onto land that is normally dry. and When it doesn't rain for a long time and the ground becomes hard and dry..
- Extreme weather events can affect travel or our ability to grow food.
- In the UK, we don't often get huge extremes of rain or drought but many places do.
How does rain affect life slideshow
This slideshow shows real life examples of how rain affects our daily lives and the world around us.
Image caption, Water for plants and animals
Rain provides plants and animals, like this red squirrel, with water. Like us, plants and animals need water to grow and survive. (Gary Cook / Alamy Stock Photo)
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Extreme weather
Discover what happens when we get too much or too little rain.
Image caption, Floods
Floods happen when there is a lot of heavy rain and it can't drain away properly. Floods can make travelling difficult. For example, roads and bridges might be closed. (Paul Maguire / Alamy Stock Photo)
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Key words about rainy weather
- flood - When there is too much rain and it can't drain away properly.
- saturated - When something is so full of water that it can't absorb any more liquid. When it rains heavily for a long time, the ground becomes like a sponge that is so full of water that it can't take any more in.
- drought - When it doesn't rain for a long time and the ground becomes hard and dry. This makes it difficult to grow food.
Test your knowledge
Quiz
Test your knowledge of rain and how it affects us with this short multiple choice quiz.
Challenge
Write down or draw some examples of how rain has affected your day today.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- We use water that comes from the rain to brush our teeth, take baths and clean our dishes.
- Rain helps crops grow so we have food to eat.
- If it's raining outside, we have to think about wearing something waterproof and we might change how we travel.
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