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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clouds

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
Incorporate art and poetry into an early elementary science activity about cloud formation. With fun and engaging activities that follow a natural learning progression, youngsters will develop key vocabulary and conceptual understanding...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating the Climate System - Clouds

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Here is a fabulous instructional activity on the Earth's radiant energy system. This amazing, 31-page document is chock-full of great activities, worksheets, lab sheets, quizzes, rubrics, and assessments. Learners model and explain cloud...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aruba Cloud Cover Measured by Satellite

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students analyze cloud cover and compose written conclusions to a given related scenario. Students submit a letter of response and a report detailing their calculations and conclusions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deep Convective Clouds

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students observe clouds. In this deep convective clouds lesson plan, students analyze cloud data recorded over one month and draw conclusions based on results.  Students predict "Thunderstorm Season" and prepare to defend their decision...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Cloudy vs. Clear - Maps

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Find out the science of how clouds keep Earth cooler on hot days. Using guided discussions, investigators analyze and interpret maps of how much solar energy Earth receives at different times of the year. Participants draw conclusions...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Cloudy vs. Clear - Graphs

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Explore the link between solar energy and cloud cover using real data from NASA from China! Future climatologists analyze and interpret graphs of solar energy on clear and cloudy days using a literacy cube. Investigators draw conclusions...
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Activity
NASA

The Types of Clouds and What They Mean

For Teachers K - 3rd Standards
Learn to forecast the weather using cloud types. Budding meteorologists identify cloud types and learn to use a dichotomous key. As scholars develop observation and identification skills, they discover how different cloud types cause...
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Lesson Plan
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American Chemical Society

What Makes it Rain?

For Teachers K Standards
Clouds come alive when curious minds create rain in an action-packed activity. Scholars view a video of rain and analyze an image of water uses to generate a class discussion leading into a hands-on exploration. Using a set of...
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Activity
PBS

Cloud Clues

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
It's cloudy with a good chance of learning! An inquiry-based lesson begins with an exploration of transparent, translucent, and opaque materials. Young scientists then connect their learning to the different cloud types as they take the...
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Lesson Plan
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American Chemical Society

What Makes It Snow?

For Teachers K Standards
Discover the icy world of snow from the comfort of the indoors. Young meteorologists study visuals and a video to examine snow formation and structure. Using the information they learn, scientists follow a procedure to construct a...
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Activity
Museum of Science

Cloud in a Bottle

For Teachers K - 6th
Perhaps one day humans will learn to control the weather. Future scientists simulate clouds and fog in a plastic bottle. They conduct an experiment where they place smoke and hot water in the bottle, then squeeze and release repeatedly....
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Activity
NASA

Water Works on a Blue Planet

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Keep within a water budget. Learners find out that less than 2.5% of Earth's water is available to drink—and that there is a fixed amount of water. Scholars read an interesting article comparing the available water to a game of Monopoly...
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Activity
NASA

Keeping Nine Eyes on the Weather

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Take a look at climate change from another angle. Readers learn about the MISR instrument on the Terra satellite and how it studies Earth. Pupils experience how the multiple cameras give scientists multiple views so they can better study...
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Activity
Discovery Education

Smoke on the Water

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How do clouds form? Learners demonstrate the formation of clouds and the water cycle by testing four different setups in a plastic bottle. They identify the key components of a cloud to help them understand the process of cloud...
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Meet Our Home: Earth

For Students 1st - 6th
Earth is a complex structure. Learners explore their home, the earth, using a fun hands-on activity. They create tactile models of the earth using ordinary household materials that represent some common features: land, polar caps,...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

NOVA Cloud Lab Lesson Plan

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A sign that washed away from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 beached itself 3,595 miles away in France. This artifact and others from around the world help scientists understand water currents and the far-reaching impact of hurricanes. Scholars...
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

Do Cities Affect the Weather? (Making a Cloud in a Bottle)

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The dynamics of a city can have a drastic effect on the weather. A hands-on lesson asks learners to build a model to illustrate how city pollution provides a nucleus for condensation. The greater the pollution, the greater chance for...
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

How Can Clouds Keep the Air Warmer?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Condensing water warms the air around it. Young scholars consider this concept as they experiment with air temperature around evaporating and condensing water vapor. They simulate the formation of clouds to experience the associated...
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

Why Do Clouds Form in the Afternoon?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The stability of the atmosphere changes on a daily basis. A kinesthetic lesson models how the stability of the air changes as it's warmed by the sun. Learners connect their models to the changing air currents and movement of warm and...
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

Why Are Clouds White?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Is it possible to change the color of clouds? A three-part activity explores the scattering of light by the water droplets that make up clouds. After observing a demonstration, curious scholars conduct their own investigations of the...
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Activity
Weather Wiz Kids

Cloud in a Bottle

For Students 4th
This resource provides a short experiment for students to explore how clouds are formed.
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Interactive
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NOAA

Hurricanes

For Students 6th - 12th
Here's a hurricane lesson that's sure to catch your eye! Pupils learn about the unique balance of conditions required to form one of nature's most destructive forces. The interactive illustrates how hurricanes form, grow, and affect...
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Unit Plan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

That’s Amazing!: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 3)

For Teachers 4th Standards
That's Amazing! is the theme of an English language development unit created by Houghton Mifflin. Following a speak, look, move, and listen routine, scholars delve into topics; seasons, weather, animals, landforms, telling time,...
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Printables
US Geological Survey

The Water Cycle — A Placemat for Kids

For Students 2nd - 5th Standards
What better time to reinforce a concept than when you're eating? Boost scholars' knowledge of the water cycle with an eye-catching placemat featuring playful raindrops and bright colors.