5 Easy Ways to Study Weather in the Classroom

1. Keep a Weather Journal

Weather journals are an easy activity to study weather in the classroom. Have your students record the weather conditions either as a class or on their own, whichever option is appropriate for their age level. Students should keep track of various conditions, such as:

• High and low temperatures
• Cloud cover
• Precipitation
• Wind speed and direction and
• Humidity

These are just some ideas. There are dozens of weather data sets to choose from, making this activity versatile and appropriate for any age level!

2. Make Home-Made Weather Monitoring Tools

Take a hands-on approach to bringing weather into the classroom by helping your students construct their own weather measurement tools. You can make barometers, anemometers, wind gauges, rain gauges and other apparatuses with simple classroom objects like cups, plates, liter bottles and tape. Our friends at We are Teachers have these directions as well as more ideas on their blog.

3. Study Severe Weather Events in the Classroom

Hurricanes, Cyclones, tornadoes, hailstorms and other forms of dangerous severe weather occur on a daily basis on planet Earth. Interest your students by setting aside time to study these impressive weather phenomena as they happen. This can be done by watching the news or accessing online storm reports and weather conditions. Schools that are a part of the Earth Networks schools program can also access real-time camera feeds from over 10,000 schools across the nation.

4. Integrate STEM Education

Incorporate math and geography into the already scientific subject of weather with graphs and maps. Students can use the data from their weather journals, home-made weather monitoring tools, and real-time conditions to create graphs and maps that make analyzing and visualizing weather data easy and interesting. Earth Networks’ Achieve software helps students and teachers collect, organize, present and understand complex weather data and storm patterns.

5. Get Lessons Plans from Leading Meteorologists

Unless you’re a meteorologist, teaching weather can sometimes be a challenging or intimidating task. Local news weather teams normally enjoy working together with teachers and schools to answer questions and sometimes even hold interactive assemblies for students. Another way to access meteorologists is to see what school service(s) your weather provider takes part in. For example, schools that use Earth Networks Achieve have access to hundreds of lesson plans from teachers throughout the country as well as weather data and stories straight from our meteorological team.

However you chose to study STEM education this year, don’t forget to add weather into your lesson plans to bring real-world concepts to your students!