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Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) - Resources and Programs for K - 12 Youth

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Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) - Resources and Programs for K - 12 Youth

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This is a 39-page document that lists a variety of adaptable programs, resources, and curricula for educators wishing to teach students of all ages about sustainable agriculture.

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The NC Department of Environmental Quality Climate Education Network is a resource for K-12 and nonformal educators that provides materials and support to "enhance scientific aspects of the curriculum, with an emphasis on climate issues and awareness."

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Provide educational materials and support for K-12 and nonformal educators to enhance scientific aspects of the curriculum, with an emphasis on climate issues and awareness.

Our priority is to connect scientists, researchers and educators to understand the latest in North Carolina climate science. We also strive to offer best practices in teaching about climate science.

To sign up for emails from the NC Climate Education Network, click here.

Want to catch up?

Missed a previous Open House? View our hyperdocs for more information and recordings:
February 29, 2024: NC Aquaculture Sustainability November 14, 2023: Ocean Acidification May, 2022: Drought
April 2022: Climate and Convos (Password: April-01)
February 2022: Climate and Coffee with Counter Culture Coffee January 2021: NC Climate Education Resources March 2021: The Atmosphere June 2021: Climate Reports September 2021: NC Hurricane Data
Join Us for Upcoming Events

Join the NC Climate Education Network and receive related emails about opportunities, webinars, and other updates related to North Carolina Climate Education.

NC Climate Education Network

Submit your work to the: Student Work Mapping Tool

View your entry, along with others, on our Climate Student Work Statewide Map!

Climate Data Art Challenge- Ongoing!

We are inviting students from across North Carolina to create their own art through visualizing climate data! We accepting submissions to our map. If you are interested in creating art using graphs, charts, or other visual data you can submit your K-12 student art to our statewide map using the links below:
Suggested sites for climate data: NASA Vital Signs North Carolina State Climate Office NOAA Climate Data Online Earth Engine Map Cloud2Classroom Air Quality Trends in NC NASA CO2 Data USGS Surface Water Data
( This link is not 30 year data, but it has great imagery of changes on the planet over the past 20 years.)

How can this network help you?

Our vision is for every teacher in North Carolina feels confident leading class discussions and providing engaging activities for students to learn about climate issues. We want to connect teachers with scientists and empower our students to ask questions and formulate viable solutions to ever-changing scenarios, both hypothetical and real. Explore our resources by topic, grade level, or just cherry-pick the materials you like. We welcome your feedback and ideas for the future.

Previous Contests:

Past Contests include our 2020 Climate Resiliency Art Contest: Click here to view submissions.

Webinars/Online Courses

Stay hip with the latest online trainings available from the CLEAN network. Some of these courses are even available for students!

NC Climate Education Network Leadership Team:

Erika Young- NC Sea Grant, Eyoung6@ncsu.edu

Rebecca Ward- NCSU, NC State Climate Office, Rebecca_Ward@ncsu.edu

Lauren Daniel- NC DEQ/Division of Water Resources, Lauren.Daniel@ncdenr.gov

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Provide educational materials and support for K-12 and nonformal educators to enhance scientific aspects of the curriculum, with an emphasis on climate issues and awareness.

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How can the food we eat have an impact on our health, our local economy, and our environment?

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community, systems, cause and effect, patterns, stability and change

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ecological function, conservation, weather, climate, carbon footprint, ecosystem, sustainability, food production, climate change, well-being, resources

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Eating foods that are available to us seasonally and regionally is a sustainable practice.

Sustainable practices are beneficial for the health and well-being of our bodies and our environment.

Environmental conditions directly impact the availability of food and resources in a community.

Sustainable farming ensures that the production of the food we eat will not have a negative impact on our environment.

Unsustainable food production practices directly contribute to climate change.

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How are we affected by our environment?

How is our environment affected by us?

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What are sustainable practices?

Why are sustainable farming practices so important for the well-being of an ecosystem?

What are the consequences of unsustainable food production?

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Do our choices about the food we eat have an impact on the environment?

What can we do in our communities to help reverse the effects of climate change?

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Compelling Questions

I.1.1 Identify content required to provide an answer to compelling questions.

I.1.2 Construct compelling questions that promote inquiry with peers.

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3.L.2.2 Explain how environmental conditions determine how well plants survive and grow.

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3.PCH.1.2 Classify behaviors in terms of whether they do or do not contribute to healthy living.

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3.NPA.2.1 Identify the sources of a variety of foods.

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3.G.1.2 Explain how climate and physical characteristics affect the ways in which people live

in a place or region.

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3.E.1.2 Explain how the natural resources of a region impact the production and consumption

of goods in local communities.

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The Nature Conservancy: Nature Lesson Plans for Grades K - 5

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The Nature Conservancy: Nature Lesson Plans for Grades K - 5

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The Nature Conservancy offers a wealth of resources to teach students positive environmental stewardship practices and the impact of sustainability. This list of lesson plans offers guides for topics such as dirt, pollinators, and water filtration, just to name a few.

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Download educational lesson plans about nature for students in kindergarten through grade 5. Each lesson plan comes with a video and educator's guide.

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Nature Lab Gardens Lesson Plan - Living Systems

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Nature Lab Gardens Lesson Plan - Living Systems

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In this lesson plan (geared for grades 6-8, but able to be modified for younger audience), students will design and model a virtual garden to explore the ecological functions of a garden ecosystem. This lesson, unlike many traditional gardening lessons, can be done inside the classroom using technology and visual art to create a garden design that models a natural living system.

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The Nature Conservancy - Food and Carbon: The Local Tomato

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The Nature Conservancy - Food and Carbon: The Local Tomato

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This is the second video in a two-part series produced by the Nature Conservancy for an audience in US grades K - 5 on the benefits of eating foods that are grown locally and seasonally for the area where you live. It is a wonderful resource for transitioning into lessons on local climate, agriculture, and reducing your carbon footprint.

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The Nature Conservancy - Food and Carbon: The Industrial Tomato

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The Nature Conservancy - Food and Carbon: The Industrial Tomato

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This the first video in a two-part series from The Nature Conservancy explaining how food is produced, transported, and consumed in a manner that is appropriate for US grades K - 5. This is a valuable resource to help kids understand the geographic and economic factors that go into what we eat.

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Sustainable Earth - Getting Their Hands in the Dirt: A Case for Elementary School Gardens

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Sustainable Earth - Getting Their Hands in the Dirt: A Case for Elementary School Gardens

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This is a case study from Manzo Elementary in Tuscon, AZ exhibiting the impact of gardening on student's developmental health, education, and outlook on life.

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Young students in west Tucson work together at Manzo Elementary's school garden to plant and harvest vegetables sustainably for their community. Created by Kristina Vicario, Allison Barton, Louisa Stanwich. https://vimeo.com/user65419617

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Sustainable Earth: Classroom Activities for Sustainability

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Sustainable Earth: Classroom Activities for Sustainability

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This is a list of resources for classrooms K - 12 that help teach students sustainability, conservancy, and global responsibility.

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Classroom Activities - Sustainable Earth

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Classroom Activities | Discover lesson plans, activities, resources and more for teaching sustainability in the classroom or at home.

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Simon's Community Garden here in Winston-Salem, NC is a project of St. Atkins Community Development Corporation that aims to empower Winston-Salem residents with resources and skills to grow healthy food, provide education opportunities for members of the community from all walks of life, and create a safe space for the development of mental and physical wellbeing. Simon's Community Garden has many learning opportunities, such as "Cooking in the Garden," an opportunity for the whole family to cultivate culinary creativity while learning to incorporate fresh, local fruits and vegetables into delicious and easy meals, and "Kids Gardening Club," where kids of all ages can learn what it takes to grow their own food.

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Empowering East Winston-Salem residents with the resources and skills needed to grow their own healthy foods, increase access to fresh produce for all

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Brent Loken for Ted-Ed - "Can we create the 'perfect' farm?"

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Brent Loken for Ted-Ed - "Can we create the 'perfect' farm?"

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This video from Ted-Ed gives examples of sustainable agriculture practices used across the globe to revolutionize farming. This exploration of innovation seeks the solution to feeding humanity within the environmental limits of the Earth.

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Can we create the "perfect" farm? - Brent Loken

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Video - Weather v. Climate: Crash Course Kids #28.1

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Video - Weather v. Climate: Crash Course Kids #28.1

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This is a video from Crash Course Kids explaining the difference between weather and climate. Knowing the difference between these two terms can help kids understand the concept of climate change, and debunk the argument that Earth's climate "naturally changes with the seasons" that is frequently used to undermine the immediacy of the climate crisis.

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Weather vs. Climate: Crash Course Kids #28.1

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Infographic - ClimateKids: A Guide to Climate Change for Kids

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Infographic - ClimateKids: A Guide to Climate Change for Kids

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This is a printable guide to climate change for kids made by ClimateKids.NASA.gov that could be hung in the classroom as a visual aid.

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These are Environmental Stem Education Program lessons on sustainable gardening, the importance of pollinators, the processes of decomposition, and more. They are available upon application.

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Where does our food that is alive come from?

This inquiry evolved into exploring the fate of uneaten food and the impacts on sustainability and power of food waste.

The Beeyond HarvestED Program, our innovative K-6 classroom garden and agriculture initiative, comprehensively covers the life cycle of fruits and vegetables grown in gardens and on farms, encompassing topics like soil, bees, seeds, preparing fresh food, and everything in between! Rooted in creating opportunities for environmental literacy, Beeyond HarvestED aims to nurture both gardeners and future leaders in agriculture.

Beeyond HarvestED Digital Toolkits foster hands-on exploration while being flexible and aligned with NGSS standards to cultivate future green leaders and scientists through Science and Engineering Practices.

Beneath Our Feet: Unveiling the Secrets of Soil - Explore the wonders of soil composition and its impact on plant growth and the larger ecosystem! Your learners will engage in hands-on soil experiments that help them learn more about the role of invertebrates and microorganisms in soil health.

From Scraps to Soil Gold: Nature's Way of Nutrient Recycling - Learn the processes of composting and decomposition and their role in nutrient recycling on the microscopic and macroscopic levels in an ecosystem. Your learners will understand the importance of reducing waste and promoting sustainable habits that improve the quality of life all around them.

Tiny Garden Allies: Native Bees and Garden Invertebrates - Discover the world of native bees and powerful pollinators in our ecosystem! A Planet Bee classic, this lesson will have students explore the symbiotic relationship that plants and pollinators depend upon to thrive and contemplate what might happen to us if we ever lose them!

Seeds of the Future: Saving, Sowing, and Growing - Unravel the magic of seed saving and the historical significance of the practice. In this toolkit, students will engage in the hands-on nurturing of plants, from seed to sprout, and investigate the cultural significance of some heirloom plant varieties.

Sustaining Our World: Food for Today and Tomorrow - Build the habits of sustainability by studying what it takes to create food systems that take care of our planet! Students will learn how to advocate for food systems that sustain their communities and the planet while learning to prepare simple and fresh recipes right from the garden!

WHAT IS THE BEEYOND HARVESTED DIGITAL TOOL KIT?

Presenting our cutting-edge classroom garden and agriculture program, Beeyond HarvestED, strategically crafted to nurture sustainability-minded perspectives among students in grades K-6. This initiative is aligned with educational standards, specifically emphasizing adherence to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for grades 3-5.

WHAT IS INSIDE THE BEEYOND HARVESTED DIGITAL TOOL KIT?

Beeyond HarvestED showcases asynchronous STEM digital toolkits comprised of five units that can be accessed by educators and learners nationwide at no cost. The toolkit includes engaging instructional videos, interdisciplinary activities, collaborative projects, whole-group lessons, and more, making Beeyond HarvestED an invaluable resource for cultivating future leaders dedicated to championing the health of our planet. It delves into critical topics such as food waste, soil health, sustainable food production, pollinator impact, and more.

MATERIAL GRANT KIT ELIGIBILITY

This grant is open to all educators in the USA!

Material Kits for formal and informal educators in PA, MD, WV, or VA schools are sponsored by The GIANT Company.

Not in these states? You will be put on a waiting list as we consistently seek funding opportunities for our programs, which are accessible to schools nationwide.

Applicants that are not awarded will receive an acknowledgment email with a link to Beeyond HarvestED Digitial Tool Kit and supplies list to purchase supplies or use what they currently have in their classroom.

GRANT PERIOD

This is a rolling grant and will remain open as long as supplies last.

Please feel free to contact us at programs@planetbee.org with any questions or to follow up on your request. We appreciate your support of our program, and thank you for helping to feed the bees!-
All curriculum is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards

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Classroom Garden & Agriculture STEM Program - Planet Bee Foundation

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Our new dynamic asynchronous classroom garden and agriculture program cultivates sustainability through a Soil, Bees, Seeds, and Food Program. It includes Asynchronous Digital STEM Toolkits Units and educational materials grants to schools nationwide.

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This is a collection from the Old Farmer's Almanac of simple garden projects for kids to get students interested in learning more about caring for their environment.

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The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids has planting activities that are easy for any age. Here are six simple family projects to connect with plants and nature!

We all know that nature and plants reduces our stress. Let's make sure you get some fresh air and dirt under your fingernails.

1. Grow a Vegetable Forest!

While it may not be warm enough to start planting outside in some areas, you can start practicing inside. Clear off a surface in your home and Grow a Vegetable Forest.

Click here to see Veggie Forest activity!

2. Storybook Garden

Maybe you don't have a place to grow a garden? That's O.K.! You can read about some stories that took place in the garden and learn fun facts about the vegetables that inspired these classic children's tales in Storybook Garden!

Click here to see the Storybook Garden stories!

3. Welcome a Rabble of Butterflies!

Do you love butterflies like we love butterflies? Do you know how to attract them to your yard and container plants? You need to plant what they like (hint, they look for large blooming flowers) and offer them safe places to land. Come along and Welcome a Rabble of Butterflies (and find out what on Earth a rabble is!).

Click here for the butterfly activity!

4. Plant a Grocery Garden

Maybe you are looking for a fun and easy gardening project? Find out how to grow interesting and unusual houseplants from the seeds and pits of lemons, mangoes, avocados, and more. Then Plant a Grocery Garden!
Click here to see Grocery Garden activity!
5. Grow a Hideaway

Are you in the market for a fort or secret hideaway? A project requiring wood, hammer, and nails may not be something your parents will let you take on, so why don't you grow one instead? You didn't know that was possible? Let us teach you how to Grow a Hideaway.
Click here to see Secret Hideaway activity
6. Get Growing

Who knew gardening could be as easy as buying a sack of soil and seeds? We did! Our gardening techniques are legendary and we'll teach you several hacks to Get Growing.

Click to see the Get Growing activity!

40+ Free Stories and Activties

We've added even free stories and cool activities on our Almanac for Kids site. Check it out here!

New Almanac for Kids Book

Kids, want the book in hand? Don't forget to look inside about our newest (and cutest cover ever) edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids where you will learn about new holidays (National Popcorn Day anyone?), solve weather mysteries like why there is pink snow (and what it smells like), grow rice, train kittens, speak chicken, and make (then throw!) seed balls.

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Fun and easy planting activities to connect with nature! Let's get some fresh air and dirt under your fingernails.

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Actions for Healthy Kids - School Gardens: Here We Grow

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Actions for Healthy Kids - School Gardens: Here We Grow

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This blog post from "Action for Healthy Kids" outlines the benefits of creating school gardens. As the article argues, school gardens are easy to start, they provide hands-on experience in health and nutrition, they offer integration opportunities with a variety of subjects, they teach environmental stewardship, promote community togetherness, and encourage students to try new, healthful foods that they may not have otherwise had access to.

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School gardens are growing in popularity (pun intended), and for several good reasons. They're easy to start. They give kids and adults hands-on learning about real, healthy food and good nutrition. They can be integrated into other subjects such as math, science, health and social studies. They teach kids environmental stewardship. They bring the community together. And, last but certainly not least, kids tend to be more willing to try new foods when they grow those foods themselves.

A school garden takes some planning, but the effort is worth the reward! Use these easy steps to get started:

Grow your team. Tending and caring for a garden isn't a job for one. Brainstorm with your School Health Team, school staff, parents and community members to draw up a vision and seek support for the garden.

Get the buy-in of school administrators by highlighting the crossover with various academic subjects, along with nutrition benefits.

Recruit a small group of adult volunteers to oversee the gardening activities of students.

Let students take part in planning the garden and identifying what must be done to establish and maintain it, such as digging, weeding, watering and harvesting.

Make sure you have a plan for who will take care of the garden while school is out for the summer. You don't want it to become overgrown and an eyesore by the time school starts up again!

Sow a plan. Once your team is in place, turn the vision into life. Think about your space and the type(s) of gardens that would work best. Consider ways it can be used throughout the community, develop a plan for sustainability, and think outside the box for ways to integrate into the classroom.

Identify a location for the garden. If there isn't space available or if you need to take a start-small approach, consider a different type of garden. They're easy to use, portable for summer months, and require very little maintenance (no weeding-woo-hoo!).
Container Garden: Container gardens are enclosed receptacles, often pots or recycled materials like a wooden barrel or pallet.

Pots and assorted containers are great for lettuce and assorted greens, peppers, and summer squash.

Hanging baskets are great for berries, herbs and cherry tomatoes.

Windowsill gardens are smaller versions of container gardens and can be successful in growing edible sprouts, herbs and baby lettuces.

Vertical Garden: Vertical gardens grow up rather than out which make them ideal for small spaces.

Build a trellis garden out of recycled materials or contact your local home improvement or lumber store to see if they have any scrap trellis pieces. Climbing plants such as chayote, beans, grapes and kiwi are best for these gardens.

Hydroponic tower gardens circulate water through a base system and up to the various plants. These allow plants to be grown year-round and do well with leafy greens, spinach and herbs.

Budget for resources (seeds and equipment). School gardens are very attractive to donors, so be sure to look for funding opportunities at local home improvement stores, your PTA/PTO and organizations like National Gardening Association and Action for Healthy Kids.

Harvest fun and learning. Celebrate your new garden by expanding the garden outside of nutrition education, and bring together students, staff, families and other members of the community.

If you can, work with lunchroom staff to incorporate the yummy garden bounty into school meals. If your district or state has a policy against this, there are plenty of other ways to get kids consuming the fruits of their labor, like taste tests and after-school clubs.
Garden to Cafeteria programs and Youth Farmers' Markets make school gardening even more educational and sustainable. To help lighten your load, look for local resources in your area, such as a Slow Food chapter, an urban gardening or farming association, or a university cooperative extension service.

Strive to ensure that students are engaging with the garden at least twice a month, either by being out in the garden or through garden-based lesson plans.
Want to tie it into other subjects? Take a look at some of these ideas.

Math: Practice estimation by estimating the number of crops produced or subtraction by comparing the actual numbers yielded.

Science: Experiment with soil and discuss the properties and its importance in the plant cycle. Hypothesize on what would happen if one part of this cycle was removed - how would the outcomes be different?

Social Studies: Explore agricultural geography by having students research where their crops grow best and draw them on a map (ex. peaches in Georgia or bananas in Ecuador) or learn more about Japanese Zen gardens and create one of your own.

Art: Paint the scrap ends of produce harvested from the garden (celery stalks, potato ends, lettuce heads, etc.) and practice print making or hollow out gourds to create musical instruments.

Promote, promote, promote! Take advantage of PTA meetings, staff meetings, back-to-school packets, morning announcements and flyers and tie in events for the whole community.

Create a neighborhood produce stand and package weekend bags once a month for students to take home to their families or donate to a local charity.

Host a healthy fundraiser with a salad bar stand, healthy cooking competition or garden tool drive.

Organize 'garden days' on the weekends where community members can volunteer to help tend the garden and children garden alongside their families.

Whatever the vision, no matter how large or small, creating a school garden is a step towards the healthier side. In fact, studies show that students who garden through childhood and 8 th grade consume 25% more fruits and vegetables! Explore this hands on approach to nutrition education and begin planting the seeds to a healthier future today.

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School Gardens: Here We Grow - Action for Healthy Kids

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School gardens are growing in popularity (pun intended), and for several good reasons. They're easy to start. They give kids and adults hands-on learning about real, healthy food and good nutrition. They can be integrated into other subjects such as math, science, health and social studies. They teach kids environmental stewardship.

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This website, created by NASA.gov, provides easy-to-understand interactive lessons for kids to learn about climate change.

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We answer some of your biggest questions!

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30 Weather and Climate Activities for Third Graders

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30 Weather and Climate Activities for Third Graders

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This Blog Post from "Around the Kampfire" by Linda Kamp provides 30 sample learning experiences to teah younger students about the concepts of weather and climate.

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Last updated by Linda Kamp on *
Find activities and STEM labs for students to explore:
Learning about weather, and all the fun investigations that come with it, is always a highlight for my students. In this post I'll share some of our favorite third grade weather and climate activities that will spark curiosity in your students and excite their creativity.

Weather instruments and tools

Comparing and graphing weather data

Researching natural weather hazards

Reducing the impact of severe weather

Modeling flood prevention

Designing solutions to weather-related problems

How mountains affect climate

Modeling sea level rise

How sunlight varies on Earth's surface and affects climate

Weather and Climate Activities

Learn the Difference Between Weather and Climate

Weather is what the atmosphere is like at a particular time and place. Climate describes what the weather is like over a long period of time in a specific area. Scientists use averages of temperature and precipitation to classify climates.

Compare Weather Data

Challenge your students to make tools to measure rainfall in a way that can be compared. This simple lab helps students understand these key concepts:

To compare data, the rainfall must be measured in the same way.

If two groups measure in different ways, their data cannot be compared.

Data is observations or measurements recorded in an investigation.

Procedure:
Students work in groups and can use very simple objects like a popsicle stick, connecting cubes, or a pencil, to measure and compare the amount of rain that falls in two different places.

1. Use a small paper cup as the rain cup. Poke small holes in the bottom.

2. Label two 9 oz. clear cups as Cup A and Cup B.

3. Students pour water into the rain cup and move the rain cup back and forth between cup A and cup B so it "rains" in both cups.

Next, students use their materials to devise a way to measure the rainfall in both cups and record their observations. Since they will not have a ruler, their measurements will be untraditional.

Make 3D Precipitation Graphs

Choose a city and research its weather to find the amount of monthly rainfall. Use connecting cubes to build a 3D precipitation graph of its yearly rainfall then to compare the monthly weather data.

Design a hurricane-safe home

Challenge your students to solve weather-related problems and incorporate engineering practices by designing a hurricane-safe house.

Ask students to research hurricanes then use what they learn to design a house that will reduce the impact of a hurricane.

Model Ways to Stop a Flood

Make models to test various materials and their ability to reduce the impact of a flood. Engineers test properties of materials to decide which are best for certain jobs.

This easy to do lab uses dollar store materials and incorporates measurement. Students tape three different materials to the corners of a shallow pan. Next, they pour in water to represent a flood and measure the height of the water in each corner to determine how much water was able to pass through each material.

Write Storm Safety Guides

As students learn about severe weather, have them research ways to reduce the impact of natural hazards.

Students can write storm safety guides about how to prepare for and stay safe during extreme weather events.

This project is a great way to incorporate writing in your science lessons!

Weather and Climate Lesson Plans

Click on the pictures below for complete weather and climate science unit with lesson plans, labs, teaching slides and more!

Learn to Read Thermometers

One of the key concepts students learn is that to compare weather data, it must be measured and recorded in the same way. Students learn to read a thermometer and use this standard tool to measure temperature.

Determine an Average Temperature
Here's how:
Another way to incorporate math skills into a weather science unit is to determine the average temperature of a place. Students use addition and division to determine an average temperature.

1. Record high temperatures each day for one week where you live.

2. Add those numbers together

3. Divide the sum by seven to find the average temperature for the week.

Make Weather Instruments

To predict the weather, scientists use several different tools to gather data. They collect information on temperature, humidity, wind speed, and barometric pressure. Students can easily make simple weather instruments to collect their own data.

Barometer with a Jar

Students can record changes in barometric pressure by making a homemade barometer. This easy to do design requires a jar, a balloon, a rubber band and a toothpick!

DIY Anemometers

Make a simple anemometer to measure wind speed with straws and small paper cups.
Turn a Bottle Into a Rain Gauge

See how to make an anemometer with Science Buddies on YouTube.

Make a Water Thermometer

Learn more about weather instruments on Weather Wiz Kids and National Geographic Kids .

Simulate How Mountains Affect Climate

Climate on a mountain varies depending on what altitude you are up a mountain. Mountains can have a big impact on rainfall. Mountains are natural barriers to the winds that carry moist air over the land. When air reaches a mountain it is forced to go over it.

The side of the mountain the wind reaches first will get plenty of rain. The other side will get little rain. This is because air cools as it moves upward. Students can simulate how mountains affect climate by using a fan and a box to represent wind and a mountain.

Turn on the fan and have students drip cotton balls to simulate the mountain barrier that blocks cool moist air that results in precipitation.

Explore How the Sun Affects Climate

Because the Earth is round, the sun's rays don't fall evenly on the land and oceans. This causes some parts of the Earth to get more of the sun's energy than others.

A location's latitude has a big effect on its climate. Temperatures drop the further an area is from the equator.

Model how areas closest to the equator get the most energy and warmth using a styrofoam ball on a wooden skewer and a flashlight. Demonstrate how the Earth's tilt affects the amount of sunlight different places get.

Add Math to Your Weather Activities

Students analyze data, interpret weather graphs, read thermometers and more.
IXL Weather Games
Play Weather and Climate Games Online

You can only play the games for a short time without creating an account

Weather and Climate Videos

Books About Weather and Climate

Incorporate science in your reading block with informational books about weather and climate. I've collected a range of books on Amazon. Click here to see the list.

Weather Websites for Kids
Visit these posts for more third grade science activities:
Excite your students with these high engagement experiments, project ideas, and weather and climate activities for third grade. Save this post for later so you have it when you plan!

10 Easy Inherited Traits Activities or 3rd Grade
Free Science & Engineering Practice Posters The First Week in Third Grade Science
Force & Motion Activities for Third Grade

Happy teaching!

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30 Weather and Climate Activities for 3rd Grade

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Learning about weather, and all the fun investigations that come with it, is always a highlight for my students. In this post I'll share some of our favorite third grade weather and climate activities that will spark curiosity in your students and excite their creativity.

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The Guardian - "'Food is Finally on the Table': Cop28 Addressed Agriculture in a Real Way"

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The Guardian - "'Food is Finally on the Table': Cop28 Addressed Agriculture in a Real Way"

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This article from The Guardian, a UK-based independent news outlet, reports on the Cop28 UN climate summit in November of 2023. This past year, it reports, the climate summit acknowledged the impact that food systems have on our climate. The report states that food systems are responsible for roughly one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, making sustainable agriculture a necessary addition to an appropriate and effective response to climate change.

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Food systems - what we eat; how we grow, ship and cook it; and how we dispose of (and sometimes waste) it - are responsible for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. But for the better part of three decades, the final agreements that emerge from the UN's yearly climate summits have left out the impact food systems have on our climate.

That changed this year in Dubai. The conference opened with a declaration on sustainable agriculture signed by more than 130 countries. For the first time ever, it featured a whole day devoted to food and agriculture and saw a food systems road map laid out by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Perhaps most strikingly, the final agreement document that was revealed at the end of the conference acknowledged sustainable agriculture as a part of responding appropriately to climate change.

The increased focus on food didn't just draw experts - it also drew big ag lobbyists eager to shape outcomes, and the final language didn't go as far as many sustainability advocates would have liked. But food was undeniably given a more prominent spot at the summit than it has been in years prior.

"It's really exciting that food is finally on the table. Now we have this ability to talk about food systems as a solution to the climate crisis in a way that we haven't ever had the chance to before," said Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank, a non-profit thinktank.

The food system conversations at the climate summit started with a bang as the Cop28 presidency announced the Cop28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, or the declaration for short. Though the declaration is not legally binding, the more than 150 countries that signed on by the end of the conference are essentially announcing their intentions to integrate food and agriculture into their climate plans.

"Countries must put food systems and agriculture at the heart of their climate ambitions, addressing both global emissions and protecting the lives and livelihoods of farmers living on the frontline of climate change," said Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, the UAE minister of climate change and environment and the Cop28 food systems lead.

Next, the FAO unveiled its new road map meant to outline the pathway required to bring the world's food production in line with global climate goals, in something of a parallel to the road map the International Energy Agency laid out for the energy transition in 2021. The FAO pathway emphasizes cutting methane emissions from livestock by 25% and halving food waste emissions by 2030, and recommends growing a more biodiverse range of crops than the world currently relies on.

Beyond the big announcements, the sense on the ground was that food was a bigger deal than ever. As a regular Cop attendee since Cop16 in Cancún, Mexico, in 2010, Nierenberg said she had seen the conversation around food shift significantly. She was particularly encouraged this year to feel like there was more interest in food from those working outside the sector. "I think we broke down some silos. We weren't just preaching to the choir," she said.

Nierenberg said she walked away "encouraged" by the growing attention to food systems at the conference, and she appreciated that food systems were mentioned in the final agreement hammered out at the conference. But she also wished that the language in the final document had gone further.

Yvette Cabrera, a food waste expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, did too. "One thing that a lot of food systems advocates and many of the countries that were behind the declaration wanted to see was some of the text and commitments in the declaration lifted into the final global stocktake language," she said.

Activists protest for equitable global food production on day 11 of Cop28, on 11 December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

That didn't happen. Instead, the final agreement sprinkled small mentions of food systems throughout, and largely couched conversations about food systems in the section focused on adaptation, rather than mitigation. While adaptation is "very important, because we absolutely need to figure out what our future food system looks like, and be ready for that", Cabrera said: "We also need to take steps to mitigate the emissions that are happening now as well."

Others put it more harshly. "The glaring omission of food system transformation and agriculture emissions in the final text is a stark betrayal of urgency ... We cannot afford another lost year for food and climate action," said Emile Frison, an expert speaking on behalf of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food).

The difference in attendees' summaries highlights the particular tightrope that always seems to accompany discussions of Cop - the line between trying to acknowledge progress that has been made, while also being realistic about how far there still is to go.

One barrier to meaningful progress that caused a buzz this year was the overrepresentation of corporate interests at the conference. Much like the fossil fuel lobbyists who argue that the world can't afford to do away with oil and gas if we want energy security, big ag lobbyists defend a current status quo that's actively heating up the planet in the name of food security.

Lobbyists were in full force at the summit in Dubai. Big meat and dairy lobbyists showed up in record numbers, with three times more agribusiness representatives present this year than last. Among their ranks were representatives from the meat supplier JBS, which has been linked to deforestation in the Amazon; the pesticide company Bayer, against the backdrop of lawsuits claiming that its weedkiller Roundup causes cancer; and the fertilizer giant Nutrien, which makes synthetic fertilizers from fossil fuels.

Amid a range of events on financing the regenerative agriculture transition and food waste reduction, there were also gatherings sponsored by the International Dairy Federation and the North American Meat Institute with titles such as How Animal Source Food Nourishes the World in Times of Climate Change.

"They're trying to convince people that, whether it's fertilizer or livestock, they're providing more solutions than they are failures or obstacles," said Nierenberg of agribusiness lobbyists. "That's what the meat institute was doing in a big way - trying to change the narrative that livestock are a big contributor to climate change, even though they are responsible for at least 14% of emissions."

While sustainable food system experts argue that there's an "urgent need for reforms that limit corporate influence at UN climate meetings", many still came away encouraged about the direction Cop is heading when it comes to conversations around food.

Nierenberg noted that the FAO already announced plans to build on its road map over the next two years, culminating at Cop30 in Brazil, which she said "people are looking at as the place where we will make significant headway on how food and agriculture systems are talked about, and what ends up in the final global stocktake document".

Cabrera hopes that the FAO road map, while not binding, might give countries a sense of how to move forward in integrating food systems into their climate goals in the meantime. She also hopes it might unlock more funding for food sector-based solutions, which currently receive only 3% of public climate finance.

For all the progress that still needs to be made, "Frankly, I think it was a success," said Cabrera. "I'm walking away feeling motivated about the final text, and also just the pure energy around food systems at Cop this year."

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'Food is finally on the table': Cop28 addressed agriculture in a real way

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Roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions are due to food systems, but Cop had avoided agreements until now

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Growing Minds, Farm to School: An ASAP Program - Eating in Season Lesson Plan

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Growing Minds, Farm to School: An ASAP Program - Eating in Season Lesson Plan

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This lesson plan for US grades 3 - 5 guides students through the process of scientific inquiry to investigate the quality of and factors in flavor on produce grown locally. This lesson provides students with the opportunity to practice seasonal meal planning, discuss the benefits of eating locally, and get to know what produce is grown in their local environment.

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Guide students in using scientific inquiry to design a seasonal taste test and investigate what produce is grown nearby seasonally, if locally grown foods tastes better, and what other factors might play a role in flavor. Groups will graph and summarize results and the class has the opportunity to discuss benefits of seasonal meal planning and eating locally grown products.

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Guide students in using scientific inquiry to design a seasonal taste test and investigate what produce is grown nearby seasonally, if locally grown foods tastes better, and what other factors might play a role in flavor. Groups will graph and summarize results and the class has the opportunity to discuss benefits of seasonal meal planning and eating locally grown products.

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Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project - Meet Your Farmer: Kituwah Farm

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Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project - Meet Your Farmer: Kituwah Farm

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This video from Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project follows Ty Boyd, David Anderson, and Mike Crowe of Kituwah Farm as they demonstrate and explain ancestral agriculture processes in the Mother Town of the Cherokee people. They tell the history of their people, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, while showcasing how they grow crops like potatoes and curly mustard greens.

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In a post on her blog, dietitian and nutritionist Ellie Krieger suggests having kids create a food map to investigate where food comes from. In this activity, students would research the origin of different foods available in their local supermarket, map out the locations, and calculate how far the food would have traveled to get to them. Students could then participate in a classroom discussion, theorizing how the foods may have been transported to them. This lesson could get kids thinking about the local and practical application of calculating the carbon footprint of their food.

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Teaching kids where food comes from and engaging them in the process of growing and buying it is one of the best ways to put them on track for a lifetime of healthy food choices. Here are 5 fun and easy ways to make that happen:

Planting a seed, nurturing it, and watching it grow is a time-honored way to teach kids where food comes from. Remember that lima bean sprouting in a paper cup you had as a kid? Build on that idea with the children on your life by planting some vegetables and herbs in your yard this spring, or keeping a pot or two on your window sill any time of year. Kids will not only learn some important science, they will be more likely to taste and enjoy food they took part in growing.

What better way to understand how food is grown than to go to the source and head to a farm!? Many farms welcome visitors year-round and some have pick-your-own produce seasonally so you can experience harvesting first hand. It is an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday with the family!

One of the best things about going to a farm or a farmer's market is that you get to know the people who grow your food. Farmers take great pride in the hard work they do and are usually happy talk about their growing practices and even share recipe ideas. Encourage children to ask them questions! Now you can do it on-line too.

One activity that can help kids understand where their food comes from and how it makes its way to the supermarket is to map it. Locate the origin of a food on a map and calculate the miles it would have to travel to get to you. Then talk to your children about how the food might have been transported.

Sure you can get most fruits and vegetable any time of year nowadays, but produce tastes best when it is in peak season, and focusing on seasonal produce insures you get a variety of fruits and vegetable into your life, which means a healthy balance of nutrients as well. Besides, waiting for a fruit or vegetable to be in season creates anticipation and excitement around it. It makes you want to take full advantage and get it while the getting's good!

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5 Fun Ways to Teach Kids Where Food Comes From - Ellie Krieger

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Teaching kids where food comes from and engaging them in the process of growing and buying it is one of the best ways to put them on track for a lifetime of healthy food choices.

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In this lesson plan by foodspan.org, students will explore the question "Where does my food come from, and why does it matter?" After reviewing a list of terms and resources in a food system (using provided connection cards), students will form a circle and make connections through each step of the food system using a ball of string. Stress events can be introduced to the system by tugging on parts of the string web and explaining how each piece of the system may be affected. This lesson helps to explore the complex food production network that carries food to the dinner table and to demonstrate the impact that climate change can have on these systems.