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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Tropical Cyclone Worksheet - Year 5/6 Comprehension
Use our Tropical Cyclone worksheet pack to teach your students about natural disasters.
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Map of the World's Climate Zones
Display this climate zone map in your classroom while teaching about the 6 climate types.
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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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Seasons in the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere Poster
Use these posters in the classroom to give students a visual representation of the seasons (and which months they inlcude in both the Northern Hemishpere and the Southern Hemisphere).
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Natural Disasters Word Search
Use a Natural Disasters word search to introduce your students to the vocabulary surrounding these destructive acts of nature.
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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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Four Seasons Tree Activity
Create a visual representation of the 4 seasons with a printable tree template.
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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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Australian Climate Regions Poster and Worksheet
A poster and a worksheet outlining the climate regions in Australia.
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Natural Disasters Report – Mini Book Template
Download this natural disasters information report template to use when teaching informative writing to primary students.
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Reading a Thermometer Worksheets
Practise reading the temperature with a set of printable Reading a Thermometer Worksheets.
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What Are Floods? Comprehension Worksheet
Read and learn about flooding with a printable reading comprehension worksheet.
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What's the Season? Teaching Slides
Use this teaching presentation to help your students explore the four seasons and how they affect everyday life.
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What's the Weather Like Today? – Mini-Book
Measure, record and graph weather information with a printable mini-book.
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Fish Windsock Craft Template
Create a fun wind sock with our Fish Windsock Craft Template.
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Diagram of a Volcano - Labelling Worksheet
Label the volcano diagram with a printable worksheet.
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Seasonal Changes Differentiated Word Search
Get your students’ minds buzzing with this word search seasons activity, while they build their scientific vocabulary about Earth and space sciences.
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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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Climate Zones of the World – Poster Pack
Learn about different climate types with this set of 6 printable posters.
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Pinwheel Template
Use our printable pinwheel template to introduce your students to the science of wind and motion!
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Seasons and Months Posters
Use these four months and the seasons posters to help your students to learn the seasons and their corresponding months.
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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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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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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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My Favourite Season Worksheet
Activate your students' prior knowledge about the seasons using this worksheet which prompts them to state which is their favourite season and justify their choice.
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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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Impacts of Floods PowerPoint
A 17-slide editable PowerPoint template about floods and their impact on communities.
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Dress for the Weather Worksheet
Identify proper clothing choices for different weather conditions with this worksheet.
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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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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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Natural Disaster Word Wall Vocabulary
Use this teacher-created resource to explore natural disaster vocabulary with your primary school students.
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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.