Let’s be honest: Teaching wind can be a little… tricky. It’s invisible, it’s abstract, and unlike a rock or a plant, you can’t exactly pass it around the classroom for students to observe.
We throw around terms like “Polar Easterlies,” “Trade Winds,” and “Sea Breezes,” but for many students, these are just arrows on a map. How do we turn these abstract atmospheric concepts into something concrete and memorable? How do we help them visualize the massive movement of air across our planet?
If you are looking for ways to make your weather unit stick, here are three of my favorite strategies for teaching global and local winds!
1. The Global & Local Winds Foldable
When students are struggling to keep all the different wind types straight, structure is key. I love using interactive notebooks because they give students a tactile way to organize their learning.
I recently started using this Global & Local Winds Foldable, and it has been a fantastic addition to my unit.
Here is why it works: It takes the chaos of atmospheric circulation and breaks it down into manageable flaps. Students create a foldable that organizes:
- Global Winds: Polar Easterlies, Westerlies, and Trade Winds.
- Local Winds: Sea Breezes and Land Breezes.
It is completely no-prep for you (which we all love!) and includes optional task cards, so students can work independently or in centers. By the time they are done cutting, folding, and writing, they have a study tool they can actually use. Plus, it gives them creative freedom to diagram how the winds blow and why.
You can grab the Global & Local Winds Foldable here!
2. The “Coriolis Effect” Spin
You can’t teach global winds without tackling the Coriolis Effect. But explaining it is hard—showing it is easy.
The Demo: Give each pair of students a paper plate and a marker.
- Have one student slowly spin the plate (representing the Earth rotating).
- Have the other student try to draw a straight line from the center to the edge while the plate is spinning.
The line will naturally curve! It is the perfect, low-cost way to demonstrate why winds don’t just blow in a straight line from high to low pressure.
3. The “Sea Breeze” Sensory Station
Local winds are all about specific heat—land heating up faster than water. To make this “click,” engage their senses.
The Setup: Place a cup of sand and a cup of water under a heat lamp (or just in direct sunlight) for 15 minutes.
- Have students touch the sand and then the water. The sand will be significantly hotter!
- Explain that the hot air over the sand rises (low pressure), and the cooler air over the water rushes in to replace it.
It connects the science directly to their experience at the beach.
Making the Invisible Visible
Whether you are spinning paper plates, feeling hot sand, or organizing concepts with a hands-on foldable, the goal is to make the invisible forces of nature feel real.