Weather Graphing Activity

Looking for a more RIGOROUS weather activity? Try a WEATHER GRAPHING ACTIVITY! Students will practice SCIENCE GRAPHING SKILLS and answer questions in the CLAIMS-EVIDENCE-REASONING format as they extend their learning about weather!

There are THREE graphing activities included. They can be used together, as three stations, or completely independently from each other. The format of each activity is the same:

1. Students read a brief background information passage.
2. Students make a graph from the provided data.
3. Students answer a question in the claims-evidence-reasoning format using evidence from the data table and graph.

Included Weather Graphing Activities:

• Graphing Air Pressure vs. Wind Speed (line graph): Graph provided data about wind speed and the air pressure difference between two locations. Using the data and graph, students make a claim from evidence to answer the question, How is wind speed affected by the air pressure difference between two locations?
• Graphing Precipitation and Temperature (line graph): Graph provided data about temperature change and precipitation during a cold front. Using the data and graph, students make a claim from evidence to answer the questions: (1) How does the timing of a cold front’s passage affect precipitation amounts? and (2) What is the relationship between temperature change and precipitation during a cold front?
• Graphing Cloud Cover vs. Temperature (line graph): Graph provided data about cloud cover and the difference between the minimum and maximum temperatures of a day. Using the data and graph, students make a claim from evidence to answer the questions: (1) How is the minimum temperature of a day related to cloud cover? and (2) How does cloud cover affect daily temperature range?

Through these activities, students will discover that:

• The larger the difference in air pressure between two locations, the stronger the wind.
• Temperature is not related to precipitation amounts. Precipitation amounts are related to the timing of a cold front.
• Days with cloud cover experience less of a difference between minimum and maximum temperatures. Days with little cloud cover experience a larger swing in temperatures.

Teacher Notes:

• Answer keys included.
• Please note: the resources in this weather graphing activity set are not editable.
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Related Standard:

• NGSS MS-ESS2-5: Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions. Emphasis is on how air masses flow from regions of high pressure to low pressure, causing weather (defined by temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind) at a fixed location to change over time, and how sudden changes in weather can result when different air masses collide. Emphasis is on how weather can be predicted within probabilistic ranges. Examples of data can be provided to students (such as weather maps, diagrams, and visualizations) or obtained through laboratory experiments (such as with condensation). Assessment does not include recalling the names of cloud types or weather symbols used on weather maps or the reported diagrams from weather stations.