Enrichment Ideas for Air and
Weather
Expand the boundaries of your kit study. Encourage your
students' curiosity with these outlets for extending
engagement in research.
animal
adaptations | el niño
| forecasting | make weather tools | movies and views | severe weather | umbrellas
Animal Adaptations
Animal Adaptations to Cold Weather
This page explains some of the ways that Alaskan animals
have adapted to severe climate. This page could spark
interesting discussions with your students about the ways
that local animals prepare for weather changes.
Desert Animal Survival
Read about the ways desert creatures have adapted to survive
in the desert, with its extreme heat, intense sunlight, and
lack of water.
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El Niño
El Niño Theme Page
This site from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration tackles all sorts of questions about El
Niño (and La Niña), attempting to explain what
these weather events are, how they happen, and how they
impact the global weather.
El Niño: Hot Air over Hot Water
This page from The Franklin Institute explains the
phenomenon of El Niño and provides many links for
additional information about El Niño and related
factors, including ocean currents and climate.
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Forecasting
Weather or Not?
This site challenges students to monitor the weather
environment and make predictions about the weather up to 48
hours before special outdoor events. Links to up-to-the-
minute satellite and radar images are provided.
Air Spray: Satellite Terra
In 1999, NASA launched the Terra satellite. The
purpose of the Terra mission is to study climate
change across the globe for the next 15 years.
Find out exactly where Terra is in the atmosphere
right now.
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Make Weather Tools
Make a Weather Station
The simple-to-make creations on this site provide students
with the tools and understandings they would need to create
a weather station. Learn to make a barometer, a rain gauge
tool, an anemometer, and a wind scale tool; learn to read a
thermometer, and find out how to use all of these skills and
tools to study the weather independently.
A Homemade Hygrometer
Using ordinary materials, this page offers instructions for
creating a hygrometer, which will help you become aware of
the humidity in the air and predict weather changes.
Make Your Own Barometer
This page from The Franklin Institute offers simple
instructions for creating a barometer to help you gauge air
pressure changes that signal shifting weather patterns.
Weather Vane
Using simple materials and the instructions on this page,
you can create a weather vane to tell you from which
direction the wind is blowing.
Cloud and Sky Watcher Window
A fun activity for young students, this site seeks to raise
awareness of the atmosphere by encouraging study and
prediction of the different colors of the sky and
clouds.
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Movies and Views
Weather Movies
BrainPOP brings you six animated movies about the water
cycle, tornadoes, wind, hurricanes, thunderstorms, and the
seasons. The topics are based on questions that kids sent in
to the site, and the resulting movies are humorous and
enlightening.
Mount Washington Observatory
Check out the views from atop the highest peak in the
northeastern US. The Mount Washington Observatory maintains
this site that details the conditions on the mountain as
well as links to weather info elsewhere. Take a look at the
summit
cam for the latest view from the top.
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Severe Weather
National Lightning
Check out this map to see the most recent
occurrences of lightning in the country and your
region. Data is posted within a half hour of the
most recent strikes.
Severe Weather Safety Guide
This page from the NOAA offers practical advice about how to
protect yourself if you find yourself in hazardous weather
situations such as an approaching tornado, flash flood,
lightning storm, blizzard, or a hurricane.
Savage Seas: The Weather Factory
This site from PBS Online offers articles, video clips, and
interactive animation exploring the role of the seas in
creating our weather. You'll need Flash, Quicktime, and Real
Player to view the animation and videos, but they're
fascinating and really worth the download if you don't have
them already.
Flood Stories from Around the World
This page offers hundreds of flood stories from the world's
folklore. It could be interesting for your students to share
in some of these stories and think about the tremendous
impact that weather—even possibly mythical
weather—can have on cultures and history.
Hyper Hurricanes
In this series of brief feature articles from Discovery.com,
you can find out about how hurricanes are made, how
scientists search for traces of ancient deadly storms, and
the difficulty of predicting hurricanes. What makes this
site especially interesting is the great video footage they
offer—travel over Hurricane Andrew though a computer
simulation, see footage from some of the deadliest storms of
the last century, and watch hurricanes from space.
Snow Activities
An Alaskan family created this site filled with snow
information and activity ideas. Learn how to capture and
study snowflakes, make snow-inspired art, and read snow folk
tales and poems.
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Umbrellas
Umbrella History
Did you know that umbrellas have been in use for more than
four thousand years? Read this fact and others in this short
article about the history of the umbrella.
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