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34 topics · Preschool to Grade 8

How the Earth and its weather work

Why does it rain, and what makes a volcano erupt? These topics explain how our planet works, from the air above to the rock below. Children follow the water cycle through clouds, rain, snowflakes, hail, fog and dew, watch lightning build in a storm cloud, and see how tornadoes and hurricanes spin. Underground, they discover how earthquakes shake the ground, how aquifers store water and how sinkholes open. Along the coast, they meet tides, ocean waves, currents and tsunamis. The last topics explain the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle and air pollution in calm, clear words. Each topic has an animation, a look inside, a simulation to try and a challenge.

  1. 1Watch it
  2. 2Look inside
  3. 3Try it
  4. 4Solve a challenge
  5. 5Go deeper

34 topics in Earth & weather

Earth & weather

#69 Earth & weather How do clouds form, and why does it rain? Follow a water droplet through evaporation, condensation, rainfall, and its return to rivers or oceans. Change conditions in a simple water-cycle simulation. #70 Earth & weather How do rainbows form? Position sunlight, water droplets, and an observer. Follow light as it bends and reflects, and explore why different colors appear at different angles. #71 Earth & weather How do lightning and thunder happen? Explore a simplified storm cloud and the buildup of electrical charge. Compare when a flash is seen and its thunder is heard at different distances. #72 Earth & weather How do volcanoes erupt? Look beneath a volcano and follow magma, gases, and pressure in a simplified model. Compare different volcano shapes and eruption styles. #73 Earth & weather How do earthquakes happen? Move sections of Earth's crust, watch a fault slip, and follow earthquake waves. Compare how different model buildings respond to shaking. #74 Earth & weather How does wind form? Explore uneven heating, air pressure, and moving air. Change land and water temperatures in a simplified coastal model to investigate sea breezes. #75 Earth & weather How do tornadoes form? Explore airflow inside a simplified rotating thunderstorm. Watch a tornado develop and follow its movement across a model landscape. #76 Earth & weather How do rivers shape the land? Guide flowing water across a landscape and watch erosion, sediment transport, and deposition. Change slope and flow to create bends, channels, and deltas. #77 Earth & weather Why do ocean tides rise and fall? Explore the Moon's and Sun's influence on a simplified ocean model. Move them into different positions and compare patterns of tidal change. #446 Earth & weather How do snowflakes form? Grow virtual ice crystals under different conditions and compare their branching patterns. #447 Earth & weather How do hailstones grow? Follow an ice particle through a storm and watch additional layers accumulate. #448 Earth & weather How does fog form near the ground? Change air temperature and moisture and watch tiny droplets appear. #449 Earth & weather How does dew appear on grass? Cool a model surface and follow water vapor condensing into droplets. #450 Earth & weather How does frost form? Explore ice crystals growing on a cold surface from water vapor. #451 Earth & weather How do hurricanes develop? Explore warm ocean water, moisture, rotation, and storm organization in a simplified model. #452 Earth & weather How do weather forecasts get made? Combine station readings, radar, satellite images, and a simplified forecast model. #453 Earth & weather How do weather fronts change the weather? Move warm and cold air masses together and observe clouds and precipitation. #454 Earth & weather How do mountains create rain shadows? Guide moist air over a mountain and compare its windward and sheltered sides. #455 Earth & weather How does lake-effect snow happen? Move cold air across warmer lake water and follow moisture into snowfall. #456 Earth & weather How does humidity affect the air around us? Change temperature and water vapor and explore relative humidity and condensation. #457 Earth & weather How do floods develop? Add rainfall to a model watershed and compare absorption, runoff, and river levels. #458 Earth & weather How do droughts develop? Follow rainfall, evaporation, soil moisture, and stored water through a dry period. #459 Earth & weather How do ocean currents move water? Explore wind, temperature, salinity, and Earth's rotation in a simplified ocean model. #460 Earth & weather How do ocean waves form and reach the shore? Add wind and follow wave energy toward shallower water. #461 Earth & weather How do tsunamis form? Displace a model seafloor and follow waves across deep and shallow water. #462 Earth & weather How do aquifers store groundwater? Send water through soil and rock layers and explore storage and movement underground. #463 Earth & weather How do natural springs bring water to the surface? Follow groundwater until rock layers and terrain direct it above ground. #464 Earth & weather How do sinkholes form? Explore dissolving rock and underground cavities beneath a model landscape. #465 Earth & weather How do landslides happen? Change slope, water content, and vegetation and compare ground stability. #466 Earth & weather How does soil form? Follow rock weathering, organic matter, organisms, and time into layered soil. #467 Earth & weather How do waves change coastlines? Compare erosion and sediment movement around beaches, cliffs, and headlands. #468 Earth & weather How does air pollution form and spread? Trace model emissions, particles, wind, and atmospheric reactions across a town. #469 Earth & weather How do greenhouse gases warm the planet? Compare incoming sunlight and outgoing heat in a simplified atmospheric model. #470 Earth & weather How does carbon move through the environment? Follow carbon between air, plants, animals, soil, oceans, and fuels.

Keep exploring

Games to play

  • Weather LabPredict the weather in a box, then run a fair test to find out why.
  • Landform ExplorerMountains, valleys, peninsulas and deltas — learn the shapes of the land and find them on Earth.
  • River MysterySomething changed the river. Sample sites with a limited budget, follow the evidence and find where the change begins.

Guide for grown-ups

Science games by grade

Science worksheets by grade