Weather Lab Grades 6 to 8
Build a home weather station, read real NOAA and NASA data, and learn what makes weather, storms and climate, with Rocket, Raven and Nova.
Free, start to finish. No card. Every week opens without signing in.
- Grade
- Grades 6 to 8
- Length
- 12 weeks
- Pace
- 6 short lessons a week, about 20 minutes each
- Price
- Free, every week
About this course
Weather Lab Grades 6 to 8 is a 12-week weather and climate course for middle schoolers. Students build Station Rooftop at home from a jar rain gauge, a wind flag and a cloud log, and keep a daily weather log. Week by week they learn why the Sun heats the Earth unevenly, what air pressure and wind are, how water gets into the air and falls back out as clouds and precipitation, how air masses and fronts make the weather change, what thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes are and how to stay safe, how ocean currents shape regional climates, and how NOAA and NASA read the global climate record. The course ends with the student's own one-day forecast and a weather-ready plan for their home. Short daily lessons with checked answers, a hands-on Station Lab each week and a Saturday Station Day for the family. 100% free, start to finish.
Kids will
- Tell weather from climate and measure temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation and wind at a home station
- Explain how unequal heating by the Sun drives pressure, wind, ocean currents and regional climates
- Describe the water cycle, how clouds form and how each kind of precipitation falls
- Read a surface weather map and explain how air masses and fronts change the weather
- Name the main weather hazards, tell a watch from a warning and follow the National Weather Service safety rules
- Read the global climate record as NOAA and NASA report it and design a weather-ready plan for your home
The 12 weeks
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Week 1
Weather or Climate?
The state of the air today, and the pattern over many years
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Week 2
The Sun Heats the Earth Unevenly
Energy from the Sun, and why some places get more of it
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Week 3
Air Has Weight
Air pressure, the barometer, and what rising and falling mean
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Week 4
Where Wind Comes From
Air on the move, from high pressure to low
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Week 5
Water in the Air
Evaporation, condensation and the dew point
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Week 6
Reading the Clouds
How clouds form, and what their shapes tell you
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Week 7
Precipitation
Rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain and hail
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Week 8
Air Masses and Fronts
Where weather changes come from
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Week 9
Storms and Staying Safe
Thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes and the family plan
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Week 10
Oceans, Currents and Climate Zones
How moving water shapes the climate of a place
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Week 11
The Climate Record
How NOAA and NASA measure a warming planet
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Week 12
Forecast and Design
Your own forecast, and a weather-ready plan for home
Try Week 1 today.
Open the course, pick Day 1 and go. Make a free parent account when you want progress saved for each kid.