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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Weather Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created weather resource to teach weather vocabulary. Build a weather word wall with your students during your weather lessons.
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Weather versus Climate Poster
A poster explaining the difference between weather and climate.
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Cloud Graphing Activity
A worksheet to use when graphing cloud observations.
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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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The Changing Seasons – Worksheet
Read and write about the changing seasons with a comprehension passage and worksheet.
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Seasons, Days, & Months of the Year Spelling Worksheet
Spell the days of the week, months of the year, and the four seasons with a printable Spelling Homework sheet.
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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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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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How About This Weather? - Worksheet
Explore different types of weather and subsequent observable changes with this 5-page worksheet pack.
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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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Natural Disasters Vocabulary Display
Reinforce science vocabulary in your classroom with this set of illustrated and annotated natural disaster word wall cards.
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Navigating Natural Disasters Worksheets
Explore natural disasters, their effects, and how humans manage them with a pack of Navigating Natural Disasters Worksheets.
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Order of Seasons Interactive Activity
Explore the order of the seasons with your students by travelling through times of the year in this interactive adventure.
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Seasonal Changes Worksheets
Engage your young learners with this set of fun season worksheets. Included are 12 activities to keep them learning!
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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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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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Months and Seasons Worksheet - Matching Activity
Order the months of the year and match them with their corresponding seasons with a cut-and-paste activity.
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Seasons Affect Plants and Animals Flipbook
Use this fun flipbook to teach students how the seasons affect plants and animals while allowing them to connect to prior knowledge by answering questions on each page.
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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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Characteristics of Seasons Interactive Activity
Use this activity-packed interactive resource to explore with your students the names and characteristics of summer, autumn, winter and spring!
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Season Characteristics Task Cards
Give your students the clues and watch them select the mystery season with this set of 24 task cards.
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Types of Weather – Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this cut-and-paste science worksheet to match a picture and description with each weather condition.
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All About Clouds PowerPoint
Teach your students about the different types of clouds with this 19-slide teaching presentation.
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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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Months of the Year Poster - Southern Hemipshere - No Christmas
A poster displaying the months of the year.
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Natural Disasters PowerPoint
A 45 slide editable Natural Disasters PowerPoint for teaching a unit on natural disasters.
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Natural Disasters Inquiry Task - Newspaper Report
Use our 3-page graphic organiser to research and report on a significant natural disaster from the last 100 years.
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Types of Clouds - Identifier
Help your students identify the clouds in the sky with this cloud identifier.
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Seasonal Changes Teaching Presentation
Show your students this 26-slide teaching presentation all about the changing seasons, and develop their understanding of seasonal changes in the environment.
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Natural Disaster Posters for Kids
Introduce and explain different types of natural disasters with printable natural disaster posters.
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Printable Windsock Craft Template - Stars
Make a fun Windsock Craft to observe wind movement inside and outside the classroom.