This whole-class activity will involve students in creating static electricity and developing a model to explain what happens when static electricity is formed from wool, plastic, and a paper clip.

In this video profile produced for Teachers' Domain, meet conservationist Steve MacLean, an Inupiaq from Barrow, Alaska, who works to preserve the health of the Bering Sea ecosystem.

Students learn that wind and storms can form at the boundaries of interacting high and low pressure air masses. They learn the distinguishing features of the four main types of weather fronts (warm fronts, cold fronts, stationary fronts and occluded fronts) and how those fronts are depicted on a surface weather analysis, or weather map. Students also learn several different ways that engineers help with storm prediction, analysis and protection.

This article provides elementary school teachers with background knowledge about science concepts needed to understand the first of seven essential principles of climate literacy--the sun is the primary source of energy for our climate system. Graphs, diagrams, and oneline resources provide more background for the teacher. The article appears in a free online magazine that focuses on the seven essential princples of the climate sciences.

This book list contains children's books that have been screened for accuracy in depicting scientific concepts. Each book's content is briefly described and its cover pictured. The topics of the books support learning in Grades K-5 about the issue's theme. The list appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on the essential principles of climate literacy.

Beginning with examples from the polar regions, this article examines the question ������Why do we have seasons?������ Included are links to lesson plans, a list of children������s books, and suggested alignments with science, literacy, geography, and climate instruction in K-5 classrooms. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears.

This video from NASA explains the process by which gamma-ray flashes associated with storms produce matter/antimatter particle pairs.

A lesson unit for Grades 4-9 on how the ocean affects climate and weather. Includes worksheets (also in Spanish) and maps.

Students learn about tornadoes, the damage they cause, and how to rate tornadoes. Specifically, students investigate the Enhanced Fujita Damage Scale of tornado intensity, and use it to complete a mock engineering analysis of damage caused by a tornado. Additional consideration is given to tornado warning systems and how these systems can be improved to be safer. Lastly, students learn basic tornado safety procedures.

The students will observe a maple tree throughout the year and recognize changes in weather and phenology using their 5 senses.

The climate where you live is called regional climate. Global climate is a description of the climate of a planet as a whole, with all the regional differences averaged. Includes links to additional resources on climate and climate change.

This interactive site allows students to describe their local weather using various weather related graphics. Students summarize the local conditions by typing a brief description using a list of weather related vocabulary words.

This list of children's books recommends nonfiction titles that supplement basic information found in lessons and activities of this themed issue of the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The books are grouped by topic -- water, weather and climate, and atmosphere. Each book is described by its content, reading level, and possible uses in the classroom. Covers are pictured. The online magazine is produced for elementary school teachers and is structured around the essential principles of climate sciences and climate literacy.

This video from Kentucky's Last Great Places shows how the Green River has remained unusually clean and why it is home to several endangered aquatic species.

Four unit plans provide opportunities for in-depth explorations of important foundational climate concepts -- weather, water as a solid, liquid and gas, and the water cycle -- that are appropriate for K-2 and 3-5 learners. These unit plans incorporate many of the lessons highlighted in other articles in this issue of the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine is structured around the essential principles of the climate sciences.

In this article, teachers find two unit plans (grades K-2 and 3-5) that use resources featured in the science and literacy articles in the magazine. The unit plans are modeled after the five key steps in the learning cycle: engage, explore, explain, expand, and assess, or evaluate. The plans are aligned with the science content standards of the National Science Education Standards and the English language arts standards of the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association. The plans appear in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle.

What causes wind? How does wind affect our weather? This website is neatly organized into topics about pressure, gradient force, Coriolis force, geostrophic wind, gradient wind, friction, boundary layer wind, and sea and land breezes. Text is supported with pictures, videos, and graphs.

This site from the University of Toronto provides the full text of 14 of Ambrose Bierce poems. Also included are brief notes on his life and works.

This site offers the text of a college lecture on the atmosphere, with information on the effect prevailing westerlies have on North America.