Lesson 22: Weather and the Water Cycle
Weather includes temperature, wind, clouds, and precipitation at a particular time and place. Observations and measurements connect daily changes with sunlight, seasonal patterns, and weather forecasting.
Key Ideas
- Weather describes the air and sky at a particular time and place. It includes temperature, wind, clouds, and rain or snow.
- The Sun warms Earth unevenly. This helps move air and powers evaporation in the water cycle.
- Clouds contain tiny water droplets, ice crystals, or both. Rain or snow can fall when drops or crystals grow large enough.
- Weather often follows seasonal patterns, but each day can be different.
- Climate describes a place’s weather patterns over many years. One unusual day does not tell us that its climate has changed.
Vocabulary
- Weather / Climate: Weather is what the air and sky are like now. Climate is the pattern of weather over many years.
- Temperature: A measure of how hot or cold the air is.
- Precipitation: Water that falls from clouds as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
- Wind: Moving air.
- Meteorologist / Forecast: A meteorologist studies weather. A forecast predicts what the weather may be like.
- Season: A time of year with predictable weather patterns tied to Earth's orbit and tilt.
Discussion Questions
- Why does the Sun cause air to move? What do you think happens when one part of Earth's surface gets warmer than another?
- How does a cloud form? Where does the water in a cloud actually come from?
- How do droplets, ice crystals, and temperature conditions help explain different kinds of precipitation?
- Why do you think meteorologists use so many different tools and types of data instead of relying on just one measurement to predict the weather?