Short Lessons About the Longest Day of the Year
Perhaps my favorite thing about living in northern New England is the amount of daylight we have in the summer. I enjoy the early sunrises even more than I do that late sunsets (before I had kids it was the other way around). The longest day of the year is coming up and if your […]
What is Lightning? – Another Question from My Daughter
On Saturday we had the first thunderstorm of the summer at our house. I made it back from a bike ride just as the thunder and lightning started to crack overhead. The storm prompted my five-year-old to ask, “what is lightning?” We tried to give my daughter a short explanation that lighting is electricity traveling […]
What’s the Difference Between Snow, Sleet, and Freezing Rain?
Yesterday it started to sleet during my daughters’ skiing lessons. They didn’t mind and kept right on skiing. But I heard a lot of other parents saying things like, “what the heck? why isn’t this snow? it’s cold enough to be snow!” As an amateur meteorologist I knew the answer was that while the temperature […]
Questions from my Daughters – What is Frost?
On my phone I keep a list titled “Questions from my Daughters.” Whenever they ask a question that is interesting to them and is one that I haven’t thought about for years, if ever, I add it to the list. This week’s addition to the list came from my four-year-old who asked, “what’s frost?” when […]
Five Interesting Lessons About Winter Weather
There is no doubt that winter has arrived here in Maine. The temperature was in the single digits (Fahrenheit) most mornings this week and we had our second significant snow fall this week. The chill in the air and the snow on the ground prompted me to look back at some of my favorite videos […]
Live Weather Lessons for Kids Hosted by a Meteorologist
Mallory Brooke is a meteorologist who lives in and is an active part of my local community. In addition to giving weather forecasts on a couple of our local television news stations, she runs a firm called Nor’Easter Weather Consulting. Last night she announced that starting next week she’ll be giving live weather lessons to […]
Four Interesting Lessons About Winter Weather
When I got up to let my dogs out yesterday morning it was a brisk -10f with the windchill. When I got in my car an hour later the thermometer had reached a balmy 4f. The chill in the air prompted me to look back at some of my favorite videos for learning about winter […]
The History of Thermometers and Barometers
Many moons ago when I was an undergrad I took a meteorology course. It was my favorite course outside of my major. I’m still fascinated by weather and weather forecasting. In fact, for my next career I might become a meteorologist. All that to say, I was naturally interested when I came across a Met […]
What Makes It Windy? – Lessons for Kids
The wind has been howling here in Maine for the last two days. As my daughter says, “it’s soooo windy.” She asked me this morning why it was so windy outside. That’s a hard concept for a two year old to grasp, but I tried my best to explain it to her. If you have […]
An Online Lab for Learning About Weather Patterns and Forecasts
The Smithsonian Science Education Center’s Weather Lab is one of many online learning activities produced and hosted by the Smithsonian. The Weather Lab is designed to help elementary and middle school students learn about weather patterns. In the Weather Lab students select an ocean current and an air mass then try to predict the weather pattern that will result […]
Two Lessons on Cloud Types and Their Names
Meteorology is a science topic that affects all of us whether you like it or not. Look up at the clouds and you’re making a science observation. But what exactly are you looking at when you look at the clouds? And what kind of clouds are you seeing? Those questions are answered in a National […]
How Is Wind Chill Calculated?
Here in Maine it snowed all day yesterday. I like the snow. What I don’t like is the bitter wind that follows the day after a snow storm. Today’s daytime forecast for my area has a high temperature of 1F and the wind chill down to -31F. If you live in a cold climate, your […]
Articles and Lessons About Weather – From ReadWorks
ReadWorks is a great service that provides lesson plans designed around nonfiction and fiction articles. All of the articles provided by ReadWorks are labeled with a suggested grade level and a Lexile score. The ReadWorks Digital classroom service provides teachers with a free way to distribute assignments and monitor students’ progress. Learn more about ReadWorks […]