This site contains resources for units on weather, mainly for middle school teachers and students. These resources can be used by teachers as supplimentary materials or by students for research or inquiry assignments. I hope this site is useful for educators as well students.

Objective:

6.2 Investigate the interactions of solar energy with the atmoshpere and its effect on weather systems, seasons, and climates. (NCDPI Seventh Grade Standard Course of Study)

Weather TV Stations

• WRAL Online - WeatherCenter

WRAL Online allows students to find out current weather conditions in their local area. Five day forecasts, radar and satellite images, a severe weather guide and a storm section are available. Students can also chat with Greg Fishel or other meteorologists about any questions they have about weather.

• CNN-Weather

The Cable News Network has provided a website on weather. Students can find weather forecasts across the US or across the world. Weather maps are also available for any area in the world. A storm center is also available for up to date information on current storms or learn about past storms. Students can also find current news stories on any major weather situations that may be occuring.

• The Weather Channel

Weather Maps and Images

• The Guide to Weather Maps and Images

This site is a part of the Online Guide to Meteorology Website developed by the Covis group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A guide to reading weather maps is available here. It explains the meaning of symbols most often found on weather maps. A little exploring is necessary on this site to find all the information. The features covered are Coorinated Universal Time (UTC), Temperature conversions, Surface observation symbols, Surface Contours, and upper level observation symbols.

• Project: Weather Charting

Weather charting is a project included in the Athena Project. This site gives a current weather map of the US that is updated hourly. There is an activity listed that allows the students to compare the weather of their city to several cities across the US. Also, there is a list of sites that can help students research the weather in the cities they chose. A science journal requirement and questions for the students to answer or relect on is also a part of this project.

Weather Around the World

• International Weather
• The Weather Channel--International Forecasts

Weather Units and Lessons

Units

• UMDL Weather Project
• Weather Unit
• Weather Here and There

Lessons

Currents and Winds

• Ocean Currents
• Ocean Planet: Ocean Currents
• Find Gulf Stream
• Ocean Planet: El Nino

Clouds and Precipation

• Cloud Cover Introduction
• Clouds
• Precipitation

Fronts and Air Masses

• Warm Fronts
• Cold Fronts

Storms

• Hurricanes
• NC Stormtract

NC Stromtract was developed in partnership with The News and Observer and WRAL TV 5. This site will allow students to tract past hurricanes with given data. Also weather maps, photos, videos, a storm guide and current weathernews stories can be found here.

Temperture

• Air Temperature

Ms. Hopkins' Lessons and Projects

• Exploring Weather

Other Weather Sites

• Weather OnLine
  
  Weather Online was deveopled by the Weather Network. This site is a good informational site for students to use in researching concepts in weather or as supplimentary material for a weather unit. The main areas of this site are Tropical Weather, Local Weather, Expert Weather, Weather Tools, Weather Q & A, and Weatherboy Online. The two areas that would be most informative for students are the Local Weather and the Weatherboy Online. The Local Weather allows students to get weather information from any area in the United States. The information includes 4 day forecasts, satellite images, percipication and radar images. Also there is an area called Dr. Dewpoint, where questions can be answered. This area also incorporates math (algebra concepts) concepts such as calculating wind chill or making temperature conversions. Weatherboy Online will be another good place for students to visit. Weatherboy is an animated character that explains concepts of weather and the how's and why's of weather. The Weatherboy site is not running yet but should be soon.

• Online Guide to Meteorology
  
  Online Guide to Meteorology is a website developed by the Covis group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This site was developed to be an interactive learning site for students. The following topics are included in modules, which explain the basic concepts of meteorology. TDP ARchives, Atmospheric Pressure, Atmospheric Optics, Cloud Catalogue, El Nino, Forces and Winds, Guides to Fronts, Hurricanes, Guide to Weather Maps, Land Sea Breezes-Lake effect Snow, Severe Storm Spotters Guide, Severe Weather Outbreaks from April 19th 1996, Units for Elementary School Kids, and Other Instructional Resources. These modules provide an excellent area for students to research certain aspects of weather. These modules explain the basic concepts of weather and provide diagrams that will be helpful for students understanding weather. This site also has project ideas and other resources that would be helpful to teachers in planning weather units. Some areas of this site are in the process of being updated, moved or still being developed and may be hard to access. Teachers need to preview this site before using it with the students, in order to be familar with what areas are difficult to access. This will decrease the frustration students may have.

• WeatherNet
• Organized Weather Links: North America
• Kids as Global Scientists Home Page Weather Curriculum

NC 7th Grade Science Curriculum | Weather | Heredity | Cells | Force and Motion | Matter or Chemistry | Human Body Systems

Any comments, suggestions, or questions can be sent to Kelli Hopkins.