This article highlights resources that can be used to supplement lessons on extreme weather, including games and video clips. The article appears in the free, online magazine for K-Grade 5 teachers Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine focuses on the essential principles of climate science.

In a column devoted to interactive resoures for the K-5 classroom, this article features Recycle City, an EPA-produced, student-friendly web site designed to teach students about actions that create a sustainable community. Students will learn about recycling, reducing waste, and using less energy. The column regularly appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on the essential principles of climate literacy.

Three types of climate proxies -- tree rings, fossils, and ice cores -- are the subjects of lessons that will help K-5 students understand that Earth's climate has been different in the past and that scientists can reveal its history. This article is from the science lessons column of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine is structured around the seven essential principles of climate literacy and identifies age-appropriate resources for young learners.

Concepts underlying the first of the Essential Principles of the Climate Sciences are aligned with topics typically taught in the elementary grades. This article identifies lessons that will help elementary students develop an understanding of how Sun's light warms Earth and how variations in daylight hours are associated with seasonal change. This article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle.

In this article, a school librarian looks at ways the elementary teacher can find support in the school library for introducing inquiry-based, technology-enriched science concepts to K-Grade 5 students. She describes the national "@ your library" campaign, which stresses collaboration between school librarians and teachers. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on the seven essential principles of climate science.

With two simple classroom experiments and easy-to-read text, this original story is designed to introduce young learners to the greenhouse effect. The author provides different versions of the story for grades K-2 and 3-5, as well as different formats for differentiated instruction. The free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle focuses on principles of climate literacy that are appropriate for young learners.

This article examines the reading comprehension strategy known as making connections. It involves linking what is being read (the text) to what is already known (schema, or background knowledge). The author provides links to four online resources that will help readers use the strategy in K-5 science and literacy classrooms. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which integrates science and literacy instruction.

This article discusses the reading instruction strategy of predicting and shows how it applies to science learning in the elementary school grades. It appears in the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which provides a first introduction to the Seven Essential Principles of Climate Literacy.

In this activity, students interact with 12 models to observe emergent phenomena as molecules assemble themselves. Investigate the factors that are important to self-assembly, including shape and polarity. Try to assemble a monolayer by "pushing" the molecules to the substrate (it's not easy!). Rotate complex molecules to view their structure. Finally, create your own nanostructures by selecting molecules, adding charges to them, and observing the results of self-assembly.

Study the motion of a toy car on a ramp and use motion sensors to digitally graph the position data and then analyze it. Make predictions about what the graphs will look like, and consider what the corresponding velocity graphs would look like.

What do plants eat? This unit explores plants and how they make food.

Exemplary professional development publications in the areas of general instruction, science education, and literacy instruction in the elementary grades are described in each issue of Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. This free, online magazine is structured around the seven essential principles of climate literacy and emphasizes integrating science and literacy skills in grades K-5.

This column highlights exemplary professional development publications for teachers. The publications are grouped under three headings: general instruction, literacy instruction, and science instruction. The column appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on the seven essential principles of climate science.

This article from Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle provides ideas on how school librarians can work with elementary teachers to teach about the Sun's impact on weather and climate. The author introduces the Standards for the 21st Century Learner, developed by the American Association of School Librarians. The author focuses on Standard 1, which calls for students to inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge through developing and refining questions, investigating answers, seeking divergent perspectives in information, and assessing whether the information found answers the questions posed. The free, online magazine draws its themes from the Seven Essential Principles of Climate Literacy, with each issue focusing on one of the seven principles.

School librarian Marcia Mardis describes what the library can offer to teachers and students who want to produce a focused, engaging, and effective science fair. This article appears in the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which explores the seven essential principles of the climate sciences for K-grade 5 classrooms.

Science and education experts caution that climate-change topics can overwhelm and frighten young children. Science lessons chosen for this article focus on general environmental issues, such as the effects of litter, air pollution, and water pollution. The lessons also include actions and solutions to environmental issues. The free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle focuses on integrating age-appropriate science learning with literacy experiences.

For teachers in K-Grade 5 classrooms, the author of this article reviews the reading comprehension strategies known as Summarizing and Synthesizing. She provides links to web sites and to a book that will provide more background information and lessons. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on the seven essential principles of climate science.

The Take Action column provides resources that help teachers engage students in activities that connect their science learning to their lives. In this article, students are introduced to household appliances and devices, called energy vampires, that continue to draw electrical current even when turned off. The article offers a few simple activities that students can take to reduce the impact of energy vampires. The Take Action column regularly appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which focuses on the essential principles of climate literacy.

In this regular column of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, the author looks at the importance of conserving water and practicing good conservation habits daily. The column is designed for teachers in K-Grade 5 classrooms and presents concepts of climate literacy that are appropriate for young children. Identified online resources provide data collection activities, lessons, and games.

Suggestions are made on how to use the resources featured in the issue of Beyond Weather and the Water Cyle in a unit on the greenhouse effect. Hands-on experiences and nonfiction text are provided to help students answer the question "How is Earth like a greenhouse?" Suggestions are also made for formative and summative assessments.