🔬 3rd Grade Science · Unit 4
Weather and Climate
20 short narrated lessons in 4 chapters, each with pictures, a quiz with a hint and a second try, and an explanation for every answer.
Standards: 3-ESS2-1 3-ESS2-2 3-ESS3-1 3-5-ETS1-2
3rd Grade Science · 5 units
What your child will learn
Weather
- What Is Weather?Describe weather as what the air outside is like: temperature, wind, clouds and precipitation.
- Measuring TemperatureExplain how a thermometer measures how hot or cold the air is.
- Measuring Wind and RainDescribe how wind vanes and rain gauges measure wind direction and rainfall.
- Weather Through the SeasonsRead simple weather tables and graphs to describe typical weather in each season.
- Weather Review ReviewReview what weather is, how we measure it and how it changes with the seasons.
Climates around the world
- Weather or Climate?Explain that weather is day to day while climate is the usual weather of a place over many years.
- Hot, Dry DesertsDescribe the hot, dry climate of deserts and how plants and animals live there.
- The Frozen PolesDescribe the cold climate near the North and South Poles.
- Hot, Wet RainforestsDescribe the hot, wet climate of rainforests.
- Climates Review ReviewReview how climates differ around the world.
Weather hazards
- What Is a Hurricane?Explain what hurricanes are and how they can cause damage.
- Floods and Flash FloodsExplain how heavy rain can cause floods and why they are dangerous.
- Twisting TornadoesExplain what tornadoes are and how people stay safe during one.
- Lightning and ThunderExplain what lightning is and how to stay safe in a thunderstorm.
- Weather Hazards Review ReviewReview different weather hazards and how to stay safe.
Designing against weather hazards
- Levees and Flood WallsExplain how levees and flood walls protect towns from floods.
- Lightning RodsExplain how a lightning rod protects a building from lightning.
- Shelters and Strong RoofsDescribe how shelters and strong roofs protect people from storms.
- Which Solution Is Best? ReviewCompare design solutions for a weather hazard and decide which works best and why.
- Unit 4 Test: Weather and ClimateShow what you learned in the whole unit (Weather, Climates around the world, Weather hazards, Designing against weather hazards) by answering mixed questions.
Try a question from this unit
From the lesson “What Is Weather?”
What is weather?
Show the answer
What the air outside is like at a certain time and place. Weather is what the air outside is like at a certain time and place, like hot, windy, or rainy.
Hint kids see after a wrong try: “Think about checking outside before you pick a jacket.”
Key words
- weather
- precipitation
- temperature
- thermometer
- rain gauge
- wind vane
- season
- graph
- data
- climate
- desert
- dry
- polar
- arctic
- rainforest
- humid
- hurricane
- storm surge
- flood
- flash flood
- tornado
- funnel
- lightning
- thunder
Try these lessons in Kids Shelf
Narrated lessons, pictures and quizzes for every grade from K to 8. Works offline.
