Weather Versus Climate

Lab Brief #1

🎯 Your mission

Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.

⚡ The twist

The slowest changes are the biggest ones.

What you'll learn

Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions like temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate describes the average weather patterns in a region over a long period.

Key words

precipitation
Water that falls from clouds as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
weathering
When rocks slowly break apart from wind, water, and weather.
climate
The usual weather in a place over many years.

Make a hypothesis first

Predict: which will erode faster?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

thermometer
rain gauge
plastic tray

⚠️ Safety first

Check glassware for chips before use and carry it with both hands.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Set up a weather station: use a thermometer, rain gauge (a jar with a ruler), and wind sock (a plastic bag on a stick). Record data for one week.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Use your senses (except taste) to describe what you notice.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a summary of your findings in 3-5 sentences.

Question 1 of 3

What is the difference between weather and climate?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

What causes weathering?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What is erosion?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🪨 Every grain of sand on every beach used to be a mountain.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Reading a Weather Forecast All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: Today's weather, tomorrow's beach, next century's coastline — all this.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Look at the sky for 5 minutes and try to predict tomorrow's weather.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the slowest change you can think of?”

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Weather Versus Climate

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