Grades 6 to 8 Ages 11 to 14
Weather Lab Grades 6 to 8
Free online weather and climate course · 12 weeks
A home weather station, pressure, wind, clouds, fronts, storm safety and the climate record, from real data.
Free Self-paced online course
A Rocket & Raven series
Weather Lab
A free online weather and climate course for Grades 6 to 8: a home weather station, real NOAA and NASA data, and what makes weather, storms and climate.
Weather Lab is a free online course about weather and climate for Grades 6 to 8. Students build Station Rooftop at home from a jar rain gauge, a wind flag and a cloud log, and keep a daily weather log while Rocket, Raven and Nova work the same questions. Week by week they learn why the Sun heats the Earth unevenly, what air pressure and wind are, how water gets into the air and falls back out as clouds and precipitation, how air masses and fronts change the weather, what thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes are and how to stay safe, how ocean currents shape regional climates, and how NOAA and NASA read the global climate record. It ends with the student's own one-day forecast and a weather-ready plan for their home. Every fact comes from a NOAA, NASA, USGS, EPA or university page listed in the course sources. Short lessons run Monday to Friday, with a hands-on Station Lab each week, and Saturday is Station Day with the family.
What's in every course
- · Grades 6 to 8, about 20 minutes a day
- · Twelve weeks, from weather versus climate to your own forecast
- · A home weather station built from household things
- · Real NOAA and NASA data read as tables each week
- · Storm week is safety first, with the National Weather Service rules
- · The climate record as NOAA and NASA report it
- · A Saturday Station Day for the family, with a note for the grown-up
- · Free, start to finish. No card.
Courses in this series
The course is free, start to finish.
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost? +
Nothing. Weather Lab is free from start to finish, with no card. A free parent account saves each student's progress.
What do we need at home? +
A jar, a ruler, some cloth and a stick for the wind flag, a notebook, and a thermometer if the family already has one. A digital thermometer is fine; the course never uses a mercury one.
Is there anything dangerous? +
No. The station sits on the ground, a railing or a windowsill, never a roof. A grown-up handles anything hot or sharp, and nobody takes a reading outside in a storm. Storm week teaches the National Weather Service safety rules.
How does the course handle climate change? +
Week 11 teaches the global temperature record, the greenhouse effect and the evidence the way NOAA and NASA state them, with the sources listed. There are no predictions beyond the sources and no politics, and solutions are framed as design and community choices in week 12.
Does it need an app or a website? +
No. Lessons are read on screen and the hands-on work is on paper and outside. A grown-up note may point to the National Weather Service forecast for your area.