Weather and Meteorology Lapbook
Teach your elementary and middle school students all about the weather and weather forecasting with this comprehensive weather lapbook.
This interactive Weather learning folder contains 18 different printable activities all about weather forecasting, the history of meteorology, and different types of weather, clouds, and the layers of the Earth’s atmosphere.
For junior high students who want to learn about the weather more in depth, check out this weather class schedule.
We are all affected by the weather, but most of us don’t really know much about what causes weather changes or how weather forecasts are made.
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Here are the resources used in the Weather Lapbook
Library List
If you can’t find these exact books, you can use books available to you on the same subjects. These are listed in order of reading difficulty.
Books on OpenLibrary are free ebooks. If you don’t have a Hoopla account, you can probably get a free one with your local library card.
**Especially helpful books
What Will the Weather Be? (a Let’s Read and Find Out book) by Lynda DeWitt Also on OpenLibrary
Down Comes the Rain (a Let’s Read and Find Out book) by Dr. Franklyn M. Branley Also on Hoopla
Feel the Wind (a Let’s Read and Find Out book) by Arthur Dorros Also on OpenLibrary
Weather Forecasting (also on Open Library) and Weather Words and What They Mean, both by Gail Gibbons**
Weather Mania: Discovering What’s Up and What’s Coming Down by Michael A. DiSpezio also on Open Library
Eyewitness Books: Weather by Brian Cosgrove
The New Weather Book by Michael Oard Also on Hoopla
Online Resources
Weather Idioms and What They Mean
University of Illinois (this site is old, but has good info):
Weather Academy Meteorology 101 Online Class
NOAA Severe Weather Educational Resources
Videos
History of Meteorology from Weather 101
Types of Clouds from NOAA SciJinks
Extreme Weather from SciShow Kids
How the Weather Works from Magic School Bus (Full episode)
The Atmosphere Song from the Science Mom
Extra (Optional) Ideas and Activities
Attend an in-person SKYWARN class to learn how to be a weather (tornado) spotter (best for ages 13 and up) or take an online class from the National Weather Service (free, but you need to sign up in advance). These classes are usually held in the spring
Make a “tornado” with dry ice **Use adult supervision when using dry ice
Watch this silly parody of a weather forecast from Studio C.
Weather Lapbook Activities
Using what you’ve learned in the books and from the online resources, write about each topic in the mini-books.
Vocabulary: Here is a list of possible vocabulary words, select the ones that are best for your student’s abilities: greenhouse effect, convection, precipitation, hail, sleet, dew, fog, frost, cloud seeding, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere, condensation, highs and lows, wind velocity, air masses, fronts, squall lines, thunderstorms, tornado, hurricane, Doppler RADAR.
Temperature: Record high and low temperatures; convert C to F and back.
Water Cycle: Draw and illustrate the water cycle. If you want to go down a “rabbit trail” and study the water cycle more in depth, here is our water cycle lapbook.
Bible Verse: Write your favorite weather-related Bible verse. If you can’t think of one, try looking up “weather” in topics on Bible Gateway.
Sayings: Write out some popular weather idioms, like “it’s raining cats and dogs”.
Meteorology: Write about the history of meteorology, some of the first (famous) meteorologists, and about some of the tools used in meteorology.
Forecasting: Keep track of the daily forecasted and actual temperatures for your area for a week. Use division to calculate the meteorologist’s accuracy (times they were correct/times they forecasted).
Clouds: Write about how clouds are formed, and then write about the different kinds of clouds. Finally, draw a picture of each type of cloud.
Extreme Weather: Describe tornadoes, hurricanes, and monsoons and how and why they form. Tell about the damage they can cause.
Thunder and Lightning: Write about the causes of thunder and lightning.
Fog, Frost, and Dew: Explain what causes fog, frost, and dew.
Rainbows: Write about rainbows. If you have younger kids, they may want to learn more about rainbows with this fun Rainbow Science Unit, or these Colors of the Rainbow printables.
Wind: Explain what causes wind.
Fronts and Lows: Explain what causes weather fronts, high pressure and low pressure, and how they move and affect the weather.
Symbols: Draw some weather symbols and label them.
Atmosphere: Name and explain the 5 layers of the atmosphere.
Greenhouse Effect: Write about the greenhouse effect.
Precipitation: Describe at least five different types of precipitation.
Download a copy of the OLD EDITION (without links) Weather Lapbook from the Free Resource Library. Look under “Lapbooks”
Or get the NEW UPDATED version with links and new printables in the HHO Shop
Not a member of the HHO Squad yet? Scroll to the blue box at the bottom (or side) to sign up and get immediate access to the Free Resource Library.
More Educational Weather Resources
- Daily Weather Worksheet – Fahrenheit and Celsius
- Weather and Seasons Notebooking Pages
- Water Cycle Notebooking
- Clouds Worksheet
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