What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate?

Earth Science Communications Team, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; California Institute of Technology

This video, video transcript, and accompanying poster, go beyond a description of weather and climate to highlight how NASA tracks the changes in climate and why it matters. Students will leave the video with the important sense of why data (in this case, gathered by satellites) is helping all of us monitor sea level, clouds, and to know that the earth's climate is getting warmer.

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Notes from our reviewers

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This video can be used to introduce these scientific concepts. It would work well being incorporated into a larger activity/lesson on weather vs. climate or climate change. Students can be assigned different links to explore off of this page and then report back to their class or small group about what they learned. Teachers can take the larger question: "Why is the data showing our planet is warming" and lead to a larger discussion of human's impact on greenhouse gas emissions in an age appropriate way.
This video briefly introduces the difference between weather and climate, then it addresses that the climate is warming. It states that as an indication of climate change the sea level is rising. They know this because NASA is observing sea level rise through the use of their satellites. It also states that satellites monitoring changes in clouds can help understand changes in earth's climate. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
The video can stand alone. There are multiple links on the same page in this NASA Climate Kids resource to help students and teachers integrate this information into a larger context. There are several opportunities to stop the video and discuss the concepts in greater depth. NASA Climate Kids supports the user through multiple entry points into climate education. This video incorporates plain language and uses simple cartoon visuals. It includes information about NASA and what NASA is doing for climate research.