Bring Science Alive! Weather and Climate Program Highlight
Bring Science Alive! Weather and Climate is a program built from the ground up to align to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Common Core Standards.
As students begin the program, they will investigate weather patterns related to rainfall, temperature, and humidity. Identifying these patterns will help hem understand climate, which is the average weather in a place over many years. Then they will use their newfound knowledge to make sense of the alarming, and often-times controversial, topic of climate change.
Students will build their own weather instruments to measure their local weather. They will design a model, using balloons, and syringes and plastic tubes, that shows how differences in air pressure cause wind. Students will visit eight locations on Earth to gather evidence of climate change and use that evidence to make predictions. and they will use their engineering skills in the mystical land of "Weatherlandia" to develop plans for lessening the impact of a changing climate.
By the time they finish this program, students will have a deep appreciation for what causes the weather. A sudden cold front, a blast of wind, or a heavy downpour will make more sense than ever before. They will be able to connect those events to the larger pattern of weather and climate around Earth.