Curated OER
Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System
Wow! What a lesson plan! Six terrific activities are described in great detail, in this 31-page document! Learners will model and explain cloud formation, sketch and identify certain cloud types, calculate and compare incoming and...
Science 4 Inquiry
Temperature of Inner Planets
Mars, Earth, and Venus contain atmospheres that generate weather. Young scientists explore the temperature of inner planets. They create a model simulating the greenhouse effect before researching and answering guided questions to...
Curated OER
How Probable is It?
Students explore probability. In this probability lesson, students look at videos and websites where they discover probability facts that can be used in situations. They determine the probability of different events.
Curated OER
Beach Zonation
Young scholars investigate the characteristics of the beach environment and explore beach zonation. After gathering samples from different areas of the beach, learners discuss how the beaches work and the characteristic of each zone....
Curated OER
Become the Meteorologist
Seventh graders analyze the data from Hurricane Tracking maps. In this earth science lesson, 7th graders plot data points on their maps and predict where the storm will most likely hit. They compare their prediction with the actual storm...
Curated OER
The Earth's Atmosphere and Temperature
Students describe and compare the layers of the atmosphere. They explain how to measure the temperature of the atmosphere and discover what causes the atmosphere to heat up in some places more than in others.
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
You Can Take the Pressure!
Learners construct and use a barometer over a period of 1-2 weeks to investigate and predict upcoming weather from barometric pressure.
National Wildlife Federation
Branching Out – Exploring Dendrochronology
Tree rings from North America give a continuous history of El Nino intensity over the last 1,100 years. Scholars learn how scientists use tree rings to create timelines demonstrating variations in weather patterns. The cumulative...
Curated OER
Clouds Movement and Type
Students examine types of clouds and their movement. In this science lesson plan, students explore how to determine cloud movement and direction, differentiate between the different types of clouds, and predict the weather based on the...
Curated OER
What's Your Favorite Season?
Students explore earth science by creating illustrations in class. In this four seasons lesson, students identify the four different types of weather that take place during the year and read the books Harvest Year and Snow Comes to the...
Curated OER
Four Seasons
Students investigate the four seasons in a year. In this seasons lesson, students explore the weather during each season. Students illustrate each season with pictures.
Curated OER
Hurricanes
Upper elementary meteorologists take a glance at what a hurricane is and how it is formed. Because this does not get into the differences in air pressure that drive the associated winds, it may not be useful for older learners. The...
Curated OER
Is it Partly Cloudy or Partly Sunny?
Learners investigate the concept of weather and how it is created. They review relevant vocabulary related to weather. Students predict weather given slight background knowledge. The lesson includes background information for the...
Curated OER
Forecast Fever
Ninth graders investigate what high-tech tools are used to gather weather data and make weather forecasts. They view a video and a PowerPoint presentation, and conduct research on a cloud chart website. Students make local weather...
Curated OER
Create Your Own Cloud
Learners explore and analyze weather conditions, climates, compositions and characteristics of the atmosphere and weather patterns. They explain in detail the water cycle and its relationship to weather patterns. A lab experiment is...
Curated OER
Climate Change in My City
Students investigate the climate changes occurring locally, regionally and globally over the last one hundred years. They brainstorm and predict whether the current year's weather was warmer or colder than last year then check the...
Curated OER
Earth's Energy Budget - Seasonal Cycles in Net Radiative Flux
Young scholars 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...
Curated OER
Storm Clouds-- Fly over a Late Winter Storm onboard a NASA Earth Observing Satellite
Students study cloud data and weather maps to explore cloud activity. In this cloud data instructional activity students locate latitude and longitude coordinates and determine cloud cover percentages.
Curated OER
Wind Effects- A Case Study
Students explore hurricanes. In this weather data interpretation lesson, students draw conclusions about the impact of Hurricane Floyd as it related to weather conditions. Students read and interpret a tide data table, a barometric...
Curated OER
How to Beat the Rainy Day Blues
With a little ingenuity, lively exercise can occur despite the weather.
Curated OER
Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones
Using NASA's Live Access Server, earth scientists compare the temperature, precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index for four different locations. They use the data to identify the climate zone of each location using...
National Park Service
Aspect, Treeline, and Climate
Head to the treeline and beyond to examine how this feature of the landscape affects weather and climate, which gives scientists clues about its health. Class members' observations of photographs provide the data...
Alabama Learning Exchange
The Water Cycle
Learners identify the stages of the water cycle. They listen to the book "Magic School Bus: Wet All Over," examine the Build Your Own Water Cycle website, predict and measure the amount of water in a jar for a week, and read a short play...