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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Weather or Not

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
What is the difference between weather and climate? This is the focus question of a instructional activity that takes a deeper look at how weather data helps determine climate in a region. Using weather and climate cards, students decide...
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Lesson Plan
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California Academy of Science

California's Climate

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
The United States is a large country with many different climates. Graph and analyze temperature and rainfall data for Sacramento and Washington DC as you teach your class about the characteristics of Mediterranean climates. Discuss the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Vegetation, Precipitation, and Surface Temperature to Study Climate Zones

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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...
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Lesson Plan
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Montana State University

What's the Weather?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
How many jackets do you need to stay warm and climb Mount Everest? An informatie resource covers the topic of Mount Everest, the resource helps young scientists discover the difference between climate and weather. Activities include...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating the Climate System WEATHER

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students research, interpret, and become able to explain general characteristics of weather in tropical regions. Students observe and compare tropical and mid-latitude weather patterns.
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Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Citizen Science to the Rescue!

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
You don't have to be a scientist or even out of high school to contribute to scientific research. In the 12th instructional activity in the series of 21, scholars use this opportunity to add to the growing body of scientific knowledge...
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Lesson Plan
US Environmental Protection Agency

Tree Rings: Living Records of Climate

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Open with a discussion on weather and climate and then explain how tree rings can provide scientists with information about the earth's past climate. Pupils analyze graphics of simulated tree rings from various US locations for the...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Historical Climate Cycles

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
What better way to make predictions about future weather and climate patterns than with actual climate data from the past? Young climatologists analyze data from 400,000 to 10,000 years ago to determine if climate has changed over time....
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Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Climate Solutions – A Call to Action!

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The final lesson in the 21-part series on climate change focuses on energy solutions to the consumption problem. Using data specific to their school, pupils make recommendations, follow up on actions, and carefully track progress....
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Lesson Plan
Wild BC

Weather Where We Live

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Over a span of two weeks or more, mini meteorologists record weather-related measurements. What makes this particular resource different from others covering similar activities are the thorough details for the teacher and printables for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather, Sea Level Rise and Climate Change

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers differentiate weather and climate. In this earth science lesson, students compare weather and climate in different regions of the world. They interpret weather graphs and compare isotherm lines of northern and southern...
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PPT
Curated OER

Weather and Climate

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
It's hot today, but is that the weather or the climate? This colorful presentation isolates both concepts to allow for better understanding by covering the positioning of the planet, making comparisons of land versus water, and looking...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Regional Patterns of Climate: Pacific Northwest

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
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...
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Activity
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NOAA

How Do We Know?: Make Additional Weather Sensors; Set Up a Home Weather Station

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Viewers learn about three different weather measurement tools in installment five of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They build weather vanes to collect data on wind speed, barometers to determine air pressure, and rain...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Accessing Prior Knowledge: Global Climate Change Survey

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Begin a unit on weather and climate change by assessing prior knowledge of the topic. Learners respond to a survey with questions that ask what they think causes climate change, the effects of climate change, and if it is important to...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Investigating Daily and Seasonal Weather

For Students 3rd - 5th
Talking about weather isn't just for making conversation. Young scientists gather evidence from an interactive activity to make connections between daily and seasonal weather. They analyze data from different areas and compare the...
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Lesson Plan
Center Science Education

Weather and Climate Data Exploration

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Access local temperature data online, graph averages, and critique it. Learners listen to a scenario where weather and climate are confused, and then answer questions to differentiate the two. The lesson itself is compact, but there is a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does Your Garden Grow? Discovering How Weather Patterns Affect Natural Cycles

For Teachers 7th - 12th
For the warm-up in this cool climate lesson, you will need to click on "Mapping" and then "US Mapping" once you arrive at NOAA's "US Climate at a Glance" page. Earth science explorers realize that 2012 was a warm winter for us. They read...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Historical Climate Cycles

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...
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Activity
It's About Time

Present-Day Climate in Your Community

For Teachers 7th - 12th
So what exactly is climate? This first installment of a six-part series introduces the concept of climate using real-world data tables and topographic maps. The timely lesson includes a comprehensive overview of climate, as well as...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Climate Change Around the World

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
You know climate change is happening when you see a bee take off its yellow jacket. Part four in a series of five lessons explores all factors affecting climate change: temperature, cloud cover, precipitation, and carbon dioxide. By...
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Lesson Plan
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Historical Climate Cycles

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Ice core samples give scientists access to climates of old—those from more than 800,000 years ago. Through an analysis of various temperature graphs from ice cores, tree rings, and weather stations, scholars compare historical climates...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Comparing Temperature and Solar Radiation for Common Latitudes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
There's snow much to learn! Excited individuals use real-world data to discover how latitude affects the odds of a snow day. Scientists compare latitude, solar radiation, and temperature using NASA data for several locations....
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Lesson Plan
US Environmental Protection Agency

Weather and Climate: What's the Difference?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Future weather forecasters collect daily temperatures over a period of time. Afterward, they compare their data with monthly averages, as researched on national weather websites, in order to grasp the difference between weather and...