Have you even seen this beautiful Wind Map? When I taught 6th grade science a few years back, it served as a useful tool in getting students to understand how our local weather connects to larger weather systems.

There are many ways for teachers to tie their curriculum to their schoolyards, and though it may take a little adjusting, I found that discipline problems plummet when you get kids engaged in the outdoors.

So if you have a weather curriculum to cover and you’re itching to get the kids outside, start with the wind map, then take your kids out to the schoolyard and have them work in groups to build their own weather stations, observe the wind conditions in their schoolyard, and compare it with the online data from the wind map.

We’d love to hear about other ways you’ve connected lessons to the outdoors!