NASA
Nasa: Global Wind Patterns
This site from NASA lists and defines global wind patterns. It features a graphic of these patterns and a self-test with answers.
NASA
El Nino: Making Sense of the Weather: Global Wind Patterns
This is an educational site offered by NASA that has information on global winds, including prevailing westerlies, with illustrations. Included is a short activity to illustrate the winds.
Read Works
Read Works: Weather: Air Patterns
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about wind patterns and how they relate to clouds, storms, and lightning. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Water Vapor Circulation on Earth
This simulation from the National Center for Atmospheric Research portrays annual patterns in water vapor and precipitation across the globe, illustrating general circulation patterns as well as seasonal and regional variation. [4:52]
South Carolina Educational Television
Etv: Nasa Online: Light: Atmosphere
An interactive look at our atmosphere and factors which affect planet Earth. NASA measurements of volcanic eruptions, toxic emissions, aerosols, and wind patterns are all graphically displayed. Basic text plus bold visuals make this...
Other
Kites as Education: Wind Origins
This "kite science" site offers information on wind and the atmospheric conditions that cause it. From "Principles of Aeronautics."
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Local Winds
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Descriptions of various types of local wind patterns.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Surface Ocean Currents
Describes how wind patterns and other factors cause ocean surface currents. [Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.]
Weather Wiz Kids
Weather Wiz Kids: Wind
Wind is air in motion. It is produced by the uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun. Since the earth's surface is made of various land and water formations, it absorbs the sun's radiation unevenly. Two factors are necessary to...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: The Wind Swe Home Page
This is a technical site from MIT. It provides data and information from satellites which observe solar winds. Provide 3-D models of the heliosphere and uptodate plots of solar wind data.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Ocean Currents
Young scholars map the patterns of the major ocean currents, and learn about the influences of wind, water temperature, landmasses, and water density on currents.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Analyzing Hurricanes Using Web and Desktop Gis
In this activity, students research hurricane data to discover their behavior and patterns. They map them across decades to see whether their frequency is increasing. They study Hurricane Andrew and investigate the relationship between...
Other
Digital Library for Earth System Education: Teaching Box: Essentials of Weather
A suite of lessons focusing on the basic elements of climate and weather. Inquiry-based exploration of extreme weather events and the factors of weather including clouds, wind, air pressure, temperature, and the water cycle.
Curated OER
Global Wind Pattern on the Earth Without an Ocean, Axiz Tilt, and Rotation.
Global wind pattern on the earth without an ocean, axiz tilt, and rotation.
Other
The Virtual Sun: Between the Sun & Earth
The Virtual Sun by Michiel Berger provides a very brief overview of solar wind.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Surface Ocean Currents
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes how wind patterns and other factors cause ocean surface currents.
NOAA
Noaa: Weather Systems and Patterns
Imagine our weather if Earth were completely motionless, had a flat dry landscape and an un-tilted axis. This, of course, is not the case; if it were, the weather would be much different. The local weather that impacts our daily lives...
South Carolina Educational Television
Know It All: Atmosphere | Nasa Online
The Earth is surrounded by a thin envelope of gases called the atmosphere. More than 500 active volcanoes erupt around the world affecting the Earth's atmosphere and global climate.
Idaho State University
Global Wind Systems [Pdf]
A great description of the global scale circulation and heat energy. Discusses a single-cell model, a three-cell model, jet streams and more.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Build an Anemometer
Students create their own anemometers which are instruments for measuring wind speed. They see how an anemometer measures wind speed by taking measurements at various school locations. They also learn about different types of...
National Weather Service
National Weather Service: Jet Stream: The Jet Stream
The concept of jet streams is explained on this site. Read about why jet stream winds blow from west to east, what the polar jet and subtropical jet are, the role that the rotation of the Earth plays, etc.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Lab 5: It's All Connected: Global Circulation
An investigation that is part of a series of lab lessons that expose students to Earth Systems through research, data, and visualizations. During this lab, students will focus on the pathways of wind and water to and from their location...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Global Weather Machine
In this illustrated essay from NOVA Online, explore the cyclical process of weather creation and the effects of El Nino on the global weather system.