Weather and climate activities
Look closely at the sky and connect daily weather with longer patterns. Choose a question, read an explanation and try the model to see what changes.
Every activity includes five reading levels, word help, a checkpoint and links to its science sources. No login is needed.
Read the sky
Identify real clouds, follow moving air and distinguish today's weather from climate.
- 1
What can a cloud's shape tell us?
Compare real cloud photographs and use shape as a clue to their names.
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Why does rain sometimes arrive as snow or sleet?
Follow precipitation through changing air temperatures.
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How is today's weather different from climate?
Compare one day's weather with long-term patterns.
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Storms and changing patterns
Read weather evidence, investigate storms and trace energy through the atmosphere.
- 1
What does a thunderstorm need?
Combine moisture, unstable air and lift in a simplified rising-air experiment.
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What do weather-radar colours really show?
Read a real historical reflectivity image and follow a separate radar-pulse diagram.
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Why does warm water not always make a hurricane?
Compare supportive ocean and atmospheric conditions without making a storm forecast.
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How do greenhouse gases affect escaping energy?
Follow sunlight and outgoing infrared radiation through a simplified energy diagram.
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How can a warming trend contain cooler years?
Explore a frozen NASA global temperature series and calculate labelled running averages.
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Keep exploring
Read more in Earth Science encyclopedia articles, with reading controls on each article. For printable practice, explore Maths worksheets and answer guides.