We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work alone.

Figure Out Which Direction Weather is Coming From

The wind blows the clouds around. To see what clouds (and possible storms) are coming your way, you need to look into the wind.

On this world map, arrows show which way the prevailing winds blow in different parts of the world. In the continental United States, winds blow from west to east — so we look to the West to see the weather that’s coming our way. Which way does the wind blow where you live?

Label the Cardinal Directions

Once you know which direction you want to look, use a compass, a compass app on a smartphone, or Google maps to figure out the cardinal directions. Label your classroom walls North, East, South, and West. Find a landmark that will help your students remember which way to look. (Here in San Francisco, we look toward the ocean, which is to our west.)

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Prep Supplies for Distribution

Students first need one paper clip and two dot stickers to build their paper house model. For the second part of the activity, each pair will need a blank sheet of paper, six toothpicks, four paper clips, and two dot stickers to design a solution that prevents their house from blowing over in the wind. You may want to separate the supplies for these two parts of the activity for ease of classroom distribution.