All About the Atmosphere
The atmosphere has multiple layers, each with unique traits. Travel along and discover each of these layers surrounding our planet.
Predicting the Weather
Meet a supercomputer and learn how these groups of computers work together to make models that predict the weather.
How Rainbows Form
See a rainbow in the sky? Most likely you’ve noticed the order of the colors. But how do rainbows form? Find out how.
The Why of Wildfires
Wildfires are a natural part of nature. But they can quickly become dangerous. Learn tips on how to keep safe from wildfire.
How the Sun Warms the Earth
Our planet would be very cold if we didn't have the Sun. Find out how the Sun heats the Earth from the ground up.
The Making of a Microburst
Microbursts are special types of storms. They last only a few minutes, but they’re very powerful storms you’ll want to know more about.
Classroom Activities
Shocking Lightning Science
Students make observations about lightning from a slow motion video, create static electricity as a model of lightning, and play a game to learn about lightning safety.
Make Lightning
Make static electricity to see how lightning works.
Cloud In a Jar
Clouds are made of water. Use common items from around the house to make a simple model of a cloud in jar.
IOOS K-12 Toolkit
Cool Playgrounds
Outdoors on a sunny, warm day, students explore how areas in the shade and light colors remain a bit cooler than areas in the sunshine and dark colors. Then they apply what they’ve learned to design a shade structure that will keep a playground cooler during hot summer days.
Drone Science Mission Board Game
Students play a board game that simulates the use of a drone aircraft to monitor a nearby volcano for signs of an impending eruption.
UAV Challenge: Deliver Disaster Relief Supplies
Students use a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or "drone") to conduct a simulated disaster relief mission.
Planning a Disaster Relief Mission: Storyboarding
Students plan a disaster relief mission employing a UAV (drone) by filling in a comic book-like storyboard of engineering design steps.
UAV Challenge: Aerial Survey of a Disaster Area
Students will fly their UAVs over a scale-model town that has been struck with a disaster, surveying the damage via a camera on the UAV.
UAV Challenge: Retrieve a Payload
Students use a UAV to pick up and carry a small payload, retrieving it from the far side of the room. Students design a "sky hook" to grab the payload.
UAV Performance Test: Carry a Payload
Students will test the ability of a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or "drone") to lift and carry a weight. The weight simulates a payload, such as sensors or supplies, transported by the UAV.
UAV Performance Test: Battery Lifetime
Students will conduct a simple performance test of aUAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or "drone"). They will determine how long the UAV can remain airborne before its battery runs out of power.
Learn to Fly! UAV Flight School
Students learn basic aviation terminology and practice simple controls using a mock flight simulator and then fly UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or "drones").
How Clouds Form
Students learn about the ingredients needed to make a cloud, and the role that air pressure and temperature play in cloud formation.
Clouds Teaching Box
Clouds are both universal and mysterious. The science of clouds helps students feel closer to the sky and in awe of nature as they learn elementary concepts of physics, the water cycle, and atmospheric science. Explore the educational resources in this teaching box and bring cloud science to your elementary students.
Observing Clouds
Students learn how to observe and describe clouds.
Cloud Trivia Game
Make a fortune-teller style hand-held game to test your cloud knowledge.
Using Satellites to Learn About Animals
A collection of educational activities (and a comic book!) about using satellites to track hard-to-study animals from space.
Explore How Cars Lose Control on Ice, Safely
Build a model of an icy road to explore winter driving conditions and develop your own slippery experiments.
CMMAP
Created educational simulations, activities, and articles about clouds and climate for K-12 teachers and students.
What Happens Before, During, and After a Tornado?
Students consider weather conditions before, during, and after a tornado and build a simple model of a tornado.
Planet Magnet
Students use iron filings to explore the magnetic field around a magnet and record their observations. Next, students apply their experience with the magnet to understand the magnetic field around Earth. Following their investigation, students summarize their findings.
Climate Postcards
Elementary students learn about the climate zones of the world by interpreting graphs and identifying climate zones described in postcards.
Infusing Science with the Arts
Explore STEAM education resources such as stories, online galleries, and activities to bridge art and science in your classroom.
Modeling a Weather Front
In this activity, students observe how temperature changes can create a weather front, in particular how the mixing of warm and cold air can produce thunderstorms. Water, which behaves very similarly to air, and a density tank are used in this demonstration.
Modeling the Behavior of Air with Bottles
In this hands-on activity, students explore how temperature affects the behavior of air molecules.
Thermal Expansion of Water
Students investigate how thermal expansion of seawater impacts sea level.
Blue Skies and Red Sunsets
Find out how some wavelengths of light are scattered more than others producing blue skies and red sunsets.
Up and Away - Bernoulli's Way
Learn about Bernoulli's Principle with hairdryers and ping pong balls!
Plunger Pull
Use plungers to create a vacuum and learn about how air exerts pressure.
Not Your Usual Pop!
Students learn how to crush a can with only air pressure.
Clouds in the Air: Why Are They There?
An experiment that demonstrates why there are clouds in the sky. Start with air, invisible water vapor, particles we call condensation nuclei, and air pressure...the cloud comes later!
Balloon in a Bottle
Air takes up space. It's only when air in the bottle escapes that more air is easily added!
Air on the Go
Students observe that air under high pressure will move toward a low-pressure area and certain objects in the air’s path may move in the same direction.
Balloon on a Bottle
In this activity, students brainstorm various ways that an uninflated balloon placed over a bottle's opening can be inflated without touching the balloon.
Drawing Clouds Inside the Lines
In this classroom activity, students investigate how clouds change over time by making repeat observations of a section of sky and then representing their data graphically.