Curated OER
Earth's Energy Budget - Seasonal Cycles in Net Radiative Flux
Students attempt to understand seasonal variation by viewing images of the energy received by the earth. In this weather lesson, students view images from NASA of the influx of energy from the sun and make predictions about resulting...
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Radiation Comparison Before and After 9-11
Using the NASA website, class members try to determine if changes could be detected in cloud cover, temperature, and/or radiation measurements due to the lack of contrails that resulted from the halt in air traffic after the attacks of...
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Winter Wonderland - Winter Olympics and the Water Cycle
After a concise introduction to the water cycle, junior meteorologists access NOAA's average snowfall data. They choose a city to examine in terms of precipitation. Then they look at historical snowfall data and use it to predict snow...
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Fronts
Fourth graders define cold and warm fronts, explain how they are formed and they ways that they affect the weather.
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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
The classic book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs lesson, is used to help readers compare and contrast the weather in Chewandswallow to their own town. Students write their own fantasy weather story. This lesson is intended to be an...
Curated OER
Wind
Young scholars build an anemometer and measure wind speed. In this wind speed lesson plan, students build an anemometer using the student instruction sheet. Young scholars visit the Alaska windspeed website and look up the wind speed...
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Measuring Wind Speed
Students study wind speed and collect wind speed data. In this wind speed lesson, students visit a website to learn about the local wind speed forecast for their week. Students discuss wind and wind speed. Students collect wind speed...
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Dimming The Sun
Students review the meanings of global warming and global dimming. While watching a video, they take notes on different aspects of the issue. In groups, they develop a list on what can be done to reduce global dimming. They...
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Rain
First graders practice oral and silent reading using beginning comprehension and decoding strategies. In this guided reading lesson, 1st graders take a picture walk and make plot predictions prior to reading the book Rain by Robert...
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Sequencing / Story Events
Students read a story and use sentence strips to order story events. In this sequencing lesson, students learn new vocabulary words centered around the story Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, preview the story, make predictions about...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Causes and Effects of Climate Change
It's time for your class to literally show what they know! Pupils illustrate what they learned about the causes and effects of climate change by filling out a graphic organizer to complete the 5-part series of lessons. They discuss them...
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Evaporation
First graders explore, analyze, document and study weather and the water cycle. They observe the weather and begin a weather journal. Each student interacts with the concepts of evaporation, condensation and precipitation, clouds,...
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Groundhog Day in Punsxutawney, PA
Students read the history of this tradition, examine Phil's predictions for the last 100 years.
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Science: What Is a Barometer?
Fourth graders discover how barometers help to predict the weather. Using newspapers, they examine the weather forecast and determine the meaning of high and low as they pertain to pressure. After making cluster diagrams, 4th graders...
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Build a Thermometer
Students build a thermometer. In this weather lesson, students use red food coloring, rubber stoppers, and hard plastic tubing to build a thermometer. Students use their homemade thermometer to measure the temperature.
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Wet-Dry Bulb Hygrometers: Measuring Relative Humidity and Apparent Temperature
Young scholars work in groups of 4 for the activity/activity part of this exercise. They know that clouds are formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate. Also that global patterns of atmospheric movement...
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Trends of Snow Cover and Temperature in Alaska
Students compare NASA satellite data observations with student surface measurements of snow cover and temperature. They practice data collection, data correlations, and making scientific predictions.
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Air and Water in the Environment
Second graders participate in a three part lesson plan in which they identify and describe forms of moisture in the environment. Part one of the lesson plan involves the three stages of the water cycle, part two focuses on creating...
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Thunderstorms
Fourth graders examine the attraction between two different charges to investigate lightning in a thunderstorm. They complete an experiment and a worksheet.
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Thunderstorms
Fourth graders investigate the attraction between two different charges to explain the concept of lightning in a thunderstorm.
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El Niño ~ The Return of El Niño
El Niño sure creates a stir when it comes around! Why not stir up your earth science class with this data analysis activity that examines the temperature and precipitation over the 2002-2003 water year. A tracking chart is provided...
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Meteorology
Students research and produce an oral history that reflects the importance of meterologists in the lives of people in their community.
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Physical Changes and the Water Cycle - Three
Third graders observe and reproduce the water cycle in their very own classroom. A simple, yet very effective, demonstration on how water evaporates is observed by the young scientists. They make observations and sketches in their...
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Tornadoes
Students examine the characteristics of a tornado. They practice using new vocabulary and participate in a question and answer session. They use the internet to gather more specific information.