Lesson Plans

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility Education and Outreach Program creates basic science lessons related to weather and climate for K-12th grade. ARM Education strives to make lessons that are relevant to the needs of the schools in the communities where ARM has its sites, the Southern Great Plains (SGP) of the United States, the Tropical Western Pacific (TWP), and the North Slope of Alaska (NSA). However, almost all of these lessons are useful for students anywhere. To learn more about the ARM Climate Research Facility, click to view a short video (YouTube).

Additional classroom materials are available at Just for Fun, including an activity book full of Climate, Coloring, Crosswords... and Other Fun Stuff!

At the teacher workshop at Barrow High School, the teachers took part in an Arctic Microclimates Lesson and Activity. The teachers, shown here, are taking temperatures of different microclimates.

Getting Started

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans for Specific Grade Levels

Grades K-2 Common Covering Clouds (PDF, 297KB)
Grades K-2 When Floating Ice Melts in the Sea (PDF, 631KB)
Grades 3-5 Planting Trees (PDF, 285KB)
Grades 3-5 Rainfall and the Water Table: The Salinity of Soil (PDF, 625KB)
Grades 3-6 Water Cycle; Cloud Formation; Precipitation Patterns; and Air Pressure (PDF, 12.6MB)
Grades 6-8 Making Clouds (PDF, 247KB)
Grades 6-8 Why is it Hotter at the Equator? (PDF, 1.6MB)
Grades 7-9 Introduction to Wind; Wind, Moving Water, and Waves; Observing Wind Speed and Cloudiness (PDF, 4.3MB)
Grades 9-12 Thermal Expansion of Water (PDF, 870KB)
Grades 9-12 Monsoon Convection Cells (PDF, 254KB)
Grades 9-12 Thermal Expansion of Water (PDF, 870KB)
Grades 10-12 Introduction to Solar Radiation; Effect of Solar Radiation on Land and Ice (PDF, 4.3MB)