Weather Teaching Resources
Browse printable weather worksheets, activities, science vocabulary resources, experiments for kids, resources about floods and natural disasters and more ideas for teaching students in primary school about the weather outside your classroom and around the world.
This collection of curriculum-aligned weather teaching resources was created by teachers with teachers in mind. That means every printable and digital resource has been carefully checked by a member of our expert teacher team to ensure it's classroom-ready, so you save time on your lesson plans!
Looking to get started on the weather, or just need more ways to make this science topic more engaging in your classroom? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
What Is Weather? A Kid-Friendly Definition
When it comes to defining weather for students, here's a kid-friendly definition you can use to explain what weather is:
Weather refers to the conditions in the Earth's atmosphere, such as temperature, wind, precipitation and cloudiness. The weather outside your classroom or home is affected by many things, including the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface, the rotation of the Earth and the presence of water vapour in the atmosphere.
Weather can change rapidly, and it can be unpredictable, so it's important to stay informed about current weather conditions and be prepared for different types of weather.
What Is Weather Science?
Meteorology — also known as weather science — is the study of the Earth's atmosphere and the weather conditions that occur within it. This includes studying temperature, air pressure, wind, precipitation and other atmospheric phenomena.
Weather scientists known as meteorologists use a variety of tools, such as satellites, radar and weather balloons, to collect data about the atmosphere and predict what the weather will be like in the future. These predictions are called weather forecasts and help us decide what to wear or how to plan for outdoor activities that might be affected by rain or excessive heat.
Weather science isn't just important for telling us what to wear, however! It helps us prepare for extreme weather events, provides important information for transportation and aviation safety and helps scientists better understand the Earth's climate.
Students can act as amateur meteorologists as they learn to record weather information to keep track of what is going on outside of your classroom, including relative temperatures such as hot or cold, clear or cloudy, calm or windy and rainy or icy!
Is Climate the Same as Weather?
The two words are often used interchangeably, but it's important to impress upon your students that weather and climate are two very different things!
Weather, as we already explained, deals with the conditions of Earth's atmosphere at any given time. It can be termed as the short-term atmospheric conditions of a specific place — such as temperature, wind, humidity, precipitation and cloud cover — over a short period of time, usually a few hours or days.
Climate, on the other hand, is a look at those conditions over a long period of time. It can be termed as the long-term average weather patterns of a specific region or location, usually over a period of at least 30 years.
What Do Kids Need to Learn About Weather?
Weather is a broad, broad topic — to say the least! So what's going on during primary school weather lessons? Before kids move on to high school, they should have a basic understanding of the different elements that make up the weather and how they interact with each other. They'll also need to understand weather forecasts and how to use them to plan.
With that in mind, here are the biggest topics to cover:
- Temperature — Learning how to measure temperature using a thermometer and how temperature changes over time, as well as the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit, are part of weather lessons at this stage of kids' education.
- Precipitation — Young students learn about different types of precipitation — such as rain, snow, sleet and hail — and how they form in the atmosphere.
- Wind — Wind direction and speed, how wind is measured and how it affects the weather should all be covered before kids head off to secondary school.
- Clouds — From cumulus to strato-form, students learn about the different types of clouds and how they form plus how clouds affect the weather.
- Extreme Weather — Extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods and thunderstorms are typically part of the science curriculum at this stage, and depending on where you are teaching instruction on how to stay safe during these events may well be on the agenda.
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What Is Climate Change? Worksheet Pack
Teach your students about the perils of climate change with this comprehensive article with accompanying comprehension questions.
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Four Seasons Mini Book
Make learning about the four seasons fun with this marvellous minibook for your Foundation students!
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Four Seasons Picture Sorting – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Sort pictures according to the season they represent with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Types of Clouds – Poster Pack
Learn about nimbus, cirrus, stratus, and cumulus clouds with this set of 4 printable posters.
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Daily Weather Report – Interactive PowerPoint
Encourage your students to become weather reporters with this interactive weather activity.
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Four Seasons Spinner Activity — Southern Hemisphere
Print a four seasons spinner activity to expand students' understanding of the different times of the year.
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Flood Safety Poster - Design and Create Task
A design and create task for students to demonstrate their understanding of the impact of floods.
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Printable Weather Recording Charts
Use these printable weather charts to graph and analyse the weather for each month.
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Severe Weather STEM - Build a Storm Shelter Project
Design a storm shelter to protect against wind and rain with a hands-on Weather Stem Challenge.
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Natural Disaster Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created resource to explore natural disaster vocabulary with your primary school students.
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Seasons, Weather and Our Choices Worksheets
Hand out these eight great seasons worksheets to help your students learn all about the seasonal changes and the way they affect our everyday choices.
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Seasons, Weather and Our Choices Interactive Activity
Complete this whole-class interactive activity to teach students the connection between the seasonal conditions and their daily choices.
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Dressing for the Physical Environment Sorting Activity
Help children learn about dressing for the environment by sorting clothing items into categories for warm climate and cold climate.
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Wonderful Weather – Foundation and Year 1 Worksheets
Make weather predictions, create a weather report and write about the weather with this set of printable worksheets.
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Natural Disasters – Printable Puzzles
Match pictures and facts of various natural disasters with this set of printable science puzzles.
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Flashcards About Weather - Printable Picture Cards
Use this set of 12 flashcards about weather to explore words that cover terms such as sunny, humid, overcast and foggy.
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Dress for the Weather Match-Up Activity
Identify proper clothing choices for different weather conditions with a clothing and climate matching activity.
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Spring Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers
Use the season of spring to inspire writing in your early years classroom.
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Weather versus Climate Poster
A poster explaining the difference between weather and climate.
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Flood Vocabulary Task
A vocabulary task for students to use when demonstrating their understanding of the impact of floods in Australia.
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Tornado in a Jar Experiment
Create a Tornado in a Jar with an interactive science experiment slide deck and Tornado in a Jar Experiment Worksheet.
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Natural Disasters - Flood Simulation Experiment
A hands-on experiment to use when exploring natural disasters.
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Diagram of a Volcano - Labelling Worksheet
Label the volcano diagram with a printable worksheet.
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How Seasons Affect Plants and Animals Poster Set
Display these informative posters in your Grade One classroom to remind students of the five ways animals and plants adapt to seasonal changes in their environment.
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Classroom Weather Chart for Identifying Environmental Conditions
Use this fun classroom weather chart in your morning meetings to help students visualise the weather and changes in the environment due to the changing seasons.
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Order of Seasons Task Cards
Use these task cards to allow students to practise ordering images of seasonal changes across the year.
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The Earth's Seasons Teaching Slides
Use this fact-packed digital teaching resource to show your students the names and characteristics of Earth’s four seasons.
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Types of Weather – Sorting Activity
Observe and categorise pictures showing different types of weather with this sorting activity.
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Weather Words – Worksheet Pack
A set of worksheets to use when teaching weather vocabulary to your students.
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Clouds and Their Position – Poster
Learn about the different types of clouds and their position within the atmosphere with this printable poster.
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Seasons of the Year Sorting Activity
Year 1 students can identify proper clothing, activities and objects for different types of weather with this four seasons activity.
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What to Wear Today? – Classroom Display
An interactive classroom display where students update the clothes the character is wearing each day based on the weather.