This article assembles free resources from the Weather and Climate issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine into a unit outline based on the 5E learning cycle framework. Outlines are provided for Grades K-2 and 3-5.

This formative assessment item is used to uncover student ideas about weather at the North and South Poles. It will help to determine whether students understand that weather is different at the North and South Poles and the reasons behind the differences. Teacher resources are provided that give general information as well as instructional suggestions. This probe is aligned with National Science Education Standards.

This lesson is divided up into three activities, two of which take place outside. By the end of the lesson students will be able to describe weather conditions on a given day and some of the factors that contribute to them. Students will identify weather factors that can be measured and the reasons for monitoring weather.

Students are asked to explain how climate and extreme weather events affect people's lives in this writing exercise provided by Science Now!

This video segment adapted from NOVA uses satellite imagery to illustrate the Gulf Stream's path and animations to explain how atmospheric phenomena cause it to move. [1:51]

Abby Brown, KIDS Clubhouse Adventures co-host, loves to help kids have fun while learning! In this segment, Abby teaches kids about the weather. Kids learn to observe the air and sky as well as a thermometer in order to evaluate the weather. [2:16]

Students determine their carbon footprints by answering questions about their everyday lifestyle choices. Then they engineer plans to reduce them. Students learn about their personal impacts on global climate change and how they can help the environment.

This classroom lab activity is an investigation into what happens to warm air and cold air in the atmosphere shown by the convection of colored water.

In this story, a brother and a sister choose clothes to wear for different types of weather. Includes audio readaloud feature in 15 additional languages, while text is in English.

This formative assessment item uncovers student understanding of weather and seasons. It uncovers student ideas about differences in seasons depending on whether a person lives in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, or along the Equator. The probe follows along with National Science Education Standards. Resources are available to assist teachers in background information as well as lesson ideas dealing with the seasons of the world.

How does our climate affect us? How do we decide what to wear each day? What factors determine if our clothing choices are comfortable? What is the source of our water? Students explore characteristics that define climatic regions. They learn how tropical, desert, coastal and alpine climates result in different lifestyle, clothing, water source and food options for the people who live there. They learn that a location's latitude, altitude, land features, weather conditions, and distance from large bodies of water, determines its climate. Students discuss how engineers help us adapt to all climates by designing clothing, shelters, weather technologies and clean water systems.

In this video segment from Planet H20: Water World, experts and teens inside and outside the Great Lakes watershed provide different perspectives on sharing the water from one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world.

In this video segment adapted from United Tribes Technical College, listen as six Native American students share their concerns, hopes, and knowledge about climate change.

Students will learn the difference between global, prevailing and local winds. In this activity, students will make a wind vane out of paper, a straw and a soda bottle and use it to measure wind direction over time. Finally, they will analyze their data to draw conclusions about the prevailing winds in their area.

Students learn about wind energy by making a pinwheel to model a wind turbine. Just like engineers, they decide where and how their turbine works best by testing it in different areas of the playground.

Global wind patterns are dictated by the movement of the Earth on its axis and are significant factors in determining the climate for regions of the planet. Students learn how the Coriolis effect and Hadley convection cells determine the location of deserts on Earth. They manipulate inflated plastic globes to discover how the Coriolis effect drives wind clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Then they incorporate latitudinal differences onto this modeling exercise to understand why deserts form at 30 degrees north and south of the equator. Once students understand the importance of global winds, they discuss hydropower in the desert. They compare and contrast two case studies: China’s Three Gorges Dam, and Chile’s proposed plant in the Atacama Desert that would creatively use solar power to move seawater up to the top of a mountain so that it can flow back down and generate power. Students note the economic, environmental, cultural and social impacts, issues and benefits of both power plants. Then they reflect, write, debate and discuss their ideas and opinions using evidence from the case studies and their own research.

Windows to the Universe offers information on the Earth's atmosphere. The site contains links to a weather crossword puzzle and images.

If you're studying the weather, this is an excellent project for students to develop their understanding of how weather is measured. They will use real time data from their location as well as from around the world to learn about weather instruments, precipitation, wind, temperature, clouds and elevation. This is a comprehensive and well rounded unit with handouts provided for the various activities. It does have few graphics though, which may lessen its appeal to students.

Learn about the environmental conditions of Death Valley in this video from Nature.