Unit plans for Grades K-2 and 3-5 are a regular feature of the magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The plans draw on articles and resources in a themed issue and are aligned with national science and language arts standards. This unit is designed to provide elementary students with the opportunity to investigate how the annual rings in trees help scientists learn about past climates. It uses hands-on experiences and nonfiction text to answer the unit question: How do trees help scientists learn about the past?

In this video segment adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Inuit observers describe how their traditional understanding of weather patterns is being challenged by unpredictable weather behaviors.

Using three-dimensional scaffolds, these materials address the following topics:  - Interactions among living species.- 10% rule and carrying capacity.- Ecosystem disruptions, including climate change.  - Sustainability.  Each packet is broken into five parts - data dive, core ideas, investigations, asssessments, and life connections. Formative assessments and checkpoints are embedded throughout each packet. The final packet prepares students for a summative assessment, with a provided practice assessment.Implementation instructions are embedded for each component of each packet. PDFs are included as attachments (in case the file formats are altered by this system). 

In this video segment adapted from the College of Menominee Nation, learn about the emergence of invasive forest species and diseases and their possible impact on the Menominee tribal forest.

Students are introduced to the basics of the Earth's weather. Concepts include fundamental causes of common weather phenomena such as temperature changes, wind, clouds, rain and snow. The different factors that affect the weather and the instruments that measure weather data are also addressed.

In this month-long interdisciplinary project students collect weather data, determine the best visual representation for displaying it, and discuss the patterns and implications of their findings. This resource includes extension and assessment suggestions and guiding questions.

In this unit, students learn the basics about weather and the atmosphere. They investigate materials engineering as it applies to weather and the choices available to us for clothing to counteract the effects of weather. Students have the opportunity to design and analyze combinations of materials for use in specific weather conditions. In the next lesson, students also are introduced to air masses and weather forecasting instrumentation and how engineers work to improve these instruments for atmospheric measurements on Earth and in space. Then, students learn the distinguishing features of the four main types of weather fronts that accompany high and low pressure air masses and how those fronts are depicted on a weather map. During this specific lesson, students learn different ways that engineers help with storm prediction, analysis and protection. In the final lesson, students consider how weather forecasting plays an important part in their daily lives by learning about the history of weather forecasting and how improvements in weather technology have saved lives by providing advance warning of natural disasters.

In this scenario-based activity, students design ways to either clean a water source or find a new water source, depending on given hypothetical family scenarios. They act as engineers to draw and write about what they could do to provide water to a community facing a water crisis. They also learn the basic steps of the engineering design process.

Students determine their carbon footprints by answering questions about their everyday lifestyle choices. Then they engineer plans to reduce them. Students learn about their personal impacts on global climate change and how they can help the environment.

In this activity, students will investigate tree rings and attempt to figure out what environmental conditions cause differences in the width of rings in a given tree. They will use data to build an argument to support their hypotheses.

How does our climate affect us? How do we decide what to wear each day? What factors determine if our clothing choices are comfortable? What is the source of our water? Students explore characteristics that define climatic regions. They learn how tropical, desert, coastal and alpine climates result in different lifestyle, clothing, water source and food options for the people who live there. They learn that a location's latitude, altitude, land features, weather conditions, and distance from large bodies of water, determines its climate. Students discuss how engineers help us adapt to all climates by designing clothing, shelters, weather technologies and clean water systems.

When you walk or drive around your neighborhood, what do the roofs look like? What if you lived in an area with a different climate, how might that affect the style of roofs that you see? Through this introductory engineering activity, students explore the advantages of different roof shapes for different climates or situations. They observe and discuss what happens in a teacher demo when a "snow load" (sifted cups of flour) is placed on three model roof shapes.

This powerpoint presentation was provided by Cathy Techtmann, a Professor of Community Resource Development and an Environmental Outreach Specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension to gain an understanding of public perspectives on climate issues. Cathy lives and works in the homeland of the Lake Superior Ojibwe people. This presentation was part of the 2023 Fall Climate Education Series. Portions of this presentation could be used to introduce learners to place-based climate impacts. 

In this video segment adapted from United Tribes Technical College, listen as six Native American students share their concerns, hopes, and knowledge about climate change.

In this video segment adapted from United Tribes Technical College, listen as six Native American students share their concerns, hopes, and knowledge about climate change.

Students will learn the difference between global, prevailing and local winds. In this activity, students will make a wind vane out of paper, a straw and a soda bottle and use it to measure wind direction over time. Finally, they will analyze their data to draw conclusions about the prevailing winds in their area.

This is the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources GIS Open Data Portal. It is a free resource for locating, viewing, and downloading data developed and/or maintained by the Wisconsin DNR.

This site also has categories of: Water, Fish and Wildlife, Managed Lands, Cimate, Parks and Recreation, Forestry, Transportation, Indexess and PLSS, Boundaries and Land Cover and Vegetation.

The site also has Applications that include: PFAS in Wisconsin Data Viewer, Western Coulee and Ridges Regional Master Plan, North Central Forest Regional Master Plan, Wildfires Dashboard App, Report Invasive Species, CWD reporting, etc

The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) has been serving Wisconsin for over 125 years. Part of the Division of Extension at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, WGNHS provides objective scientific information about the geology, mineral resources, and water resources of Wisconsin. We conduct research, map Wisconsin’s geology, and share information through our publications and outreach.

This is the link to the Publications Catalog that includes Wisconsin Data sets and maps for: Bedrock Geology, Groundwater, Surficial Geology, Rocks and Minerals, Soils, Precambrian Bedrock, Surface Water, Metallic Minerals, Topography, Nonmetallic Minerals, Climate and Weather, and Frac Sand.

This is a publicly accessible website that contains wonderful, Wisconsin based data. Maybe the writing from another Wisconsin HS science teacher provides some ideas for how these data could be used.

Wisconsin's Tornadoes for the current and a link to find historical tornadoes from past years (shown on map with details of each tornado). From National Weather Service.