Climate systems involve sunlight, ocean, atmosphere, ice, land forms, and many other factors. Scholars explore each of these variables related to the Pacific Northwest rain forest. They use an online interactive to investigate the polar...

Students participate in culminating activities for a winter weather unit. They discuss what they have learned about winter weather, and write a diamante poem using winter vocabulary words. Students also construct a pinwheel and explore...

Students explore the ways that engineers study and harness the wind. They study the different kinds of winds and how to measure wind direction. In addition, students learn how air pressure creates winds and how engineers build and test...

Students explore hurricanes and tornadoes by conducting an experiment. In this weather pattern lesson, students define many extreme weather vocabulary terms and discuss the relationship with static electricity. Students utilize plastic...

It is unknown if cloud cover increases in response to carbon dioxide levels changing, helping climate change slow down, or if cloud cover decreases, allowing Earth to warm faster. Part four in the series of five lessons has classes...

Students articulate differences between climate and weather using examples in a written statement. Using climate data from across the country, they describe climate patterns for various parts of the United States on a map. Students...

Students review basic weather concepts and terminology, and explore weather modeling tools.

Students investigate extreme weather patterns. In this current events lesson, students visit selected websites to study hurricanes and their causes. Students write reports on their findings.

Sixth graders complete an El Nino scavenger hunt. In this earth science lesson plan, 6th graders describe the conditions that create El Nino and compare it to normal condition. They discuss how this phenomenon affects marine ecosystem.

Students study the characteristics of thunderstorms. They view an animation of radar reflectivity that depicts a thunderstorm and its outflow to locate the thunderstorm's outflow. Afterward, they explain what physical process occurs in a...

Middle schoolers explore Earth science by participating in a weather identification activity. In this scientific instrument lesson, students identify several weather related tools such as the weather vane, thermometer and rain gauge....

Learners study the different types of weather, how it affect what they wear, and how it is related to the seasons. They compare the seasons and tell how they prepare for the change in seasons. They design a creative presentation about...

Students recognize different types of cloud patterns and associate these patterns with certain types of weather. They predict the weather for the next 6 to 24 hours. They then improve their observation skills as they check on the weather...

Students explore the seasonal changes in Costa Rica.  In this dry season lesson students use the Internet to locate science data then generate data for precipitation. 

Students explore geographic changes by researching the state of Florida. In this Florida history lesson, students identify the storms and disasters that have created sinkholes in portions of Florida. Students read the book Strawberry...

Middle schoolers keep detailed weather records during the spring migration of the monarch butterfly. To keep track of the weather, students utilyze weather reports and instuments such as anemometers, compasses, thermometers and rain gauges.

Fourth graders interpret the weather data they gathered in Investigation 6. They take an average of each component in each season. They compare the same components of each season and write the differences they see between the seasons.

Students work together to agree on the days "preferred weather conditions." They choose a city in the world they think will have the preferred current weather conditions.

Pupils use yearly averages over a five-year period to understand weather trends for a specific area.

Pupils study the means by which energy is transferred from the sun through the Earth's atmosphere. They examine radiation, conduction, and convection. They complete a lab to determine how the different transfers affect the atmosphere and...

Ninth graders research the average temperature and precipitation of a prairie region to determine the type of climate it is, and how it differs from other biomes. They examine the types of adaptions animals have made to live in the...

Learners read the story "Weslandia" by Paul Fleischman, define the term microclimate, gather and record data in various places on school grounds to establish the presence of difference microclimates, analyze and compare microclimates,...

Students explore an estuarine system to gather data on density driven currents. This type of current is contrasted with temperature and wind driven currents.

Fourth graders investigate weather patterns in their home state of Utah. After creating KWL charts, they research weather and geographical data to locate the state's extremes. As an extension, 4th graders write and illustrate books about...