Every fact in the three weather lessons is listed here with where it comes from. The numbers in [brackets] on the lesson pages link to this list.
Wikipedia was not used as a source. Numbers are rounded (for example 9.8 m/s² for Earth's gravity). The text was drafted with help from AI (Claude) and then checked against these sources. Corrections: hello@echoesof.science.
Where the lessons simplify: 'high pressure brings clear skies' and 'low pressure brings wind and unsettled weather' are rules of thumb (SciJinks, NOAA); they do not hold everywhere, and in the tropics the pressure changes little from day to day. The lessons say wind blows from high to low pressure; on a large scale the Earth's rotation turns the wind so that it blows partly around highs and lows, which the lessons leave out. Home-made rain gauges and phone pressure sensors are much less precise than the Met Office's instruments, so pupils' readings will differ from official ones. The 'divide by 3' rule for the distance to lightning gives an estimate in kilometres, not an exact value.
Type: Space agency education page
Weather and climate are closely related but not the same; the difference is a matter of time; weather refers to the short-term conditions of the atmosphere, while climate describes the average weather conditions over a long period of time.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (quiz); Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 6–7 (text)
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/05/What_is_the_difference_between_weather_and_climate
Type: National weather service education page
Weather occurs over hours or days; climate is the general weather over a long period; a region's climate is usually defined over a period of 30 years and can include rainfall, temperature, snow or any other weather condition, for example how often the temperature exceeds 30 °C in a place.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (quiz); Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 6–7 (text)
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/climate-explained/what-is-climate
Type: National weather service education page (for schools)
Temperature is measured with a thermometer kept in a Stevenson screen; humidity is shown as a percentage; wind direction with a weather vane, given as the direction the wind comes from; wind speed with an anemometer mounted 10 m above the ground; cloud cover by dividing the sky into eight equal parts (oktas); rain with rain gauges and radar; snow depth with a ruler; pressure with a barometer; lightning distance in km is estimated by counting the seconds between the flash and the thunder and dividing by 3.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (experiment); Ages 10–11 (quiz); Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 15–16 (quiz); Ages 15–16 (text); Ages 6–7 (quiz); Ages 6–7 (text)
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/weather-for-kids/how-to-measure-the-weather
Type: National weather service guide
A rain gauge has a circular collector and a funnel that channels the rain into a measuring mechanism; the storage gauge has a sharp rim 5 inches (127 mm) across, set 30 cm above the ground; the observer empties the rain into a graduated glass measure each day; a tipping-bucket gauge records each 0.2 mm of rain.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (experiment); Ages 15–16 (experiment); Ages 15–16 (text); Ages 6–7 (experiment); Ages 6–7 (quiz)
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/guides/observations/how-we-measure-rainfall
Type: Government science agency education page
Precipitation is water released from clouds as rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow or hail; clouds contain water vapour and cloud droplets, small drops of condensed water too small to fall; droplets first condense on tiny dust, salt or smoke particles and grow by collisions; millions of cloud droplets are needed for a single raindrop.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 15–16 (text); Ages 6–7 (experiment); Ages 6–7 (quiz); Ages 6–7 (text)
https://www.usgs.gov/water-science-school/science/precipitation-and-water-cycle
Type: National weather service education page
Weather can change on a daily basis, especially at middle to high latitudes; clouds form when moist air is cooled so much that it becomes saturated.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 15–16 (text)
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/weather-for-kids/understanding-weather
Type: Government weather-satellite education site
The Sun heats the Earth unevenly; warm air expands and rises, leaving lower pressure; colder air sinks, giving higher pressure; gases move from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas; the bigger the pressure difference, the faster the air moves.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (quiz); Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 15–16 (text); Ages 6–7 (quiz); Ages 6–7 (text)
https://scijinks.gov/about/k-12-education/atmosphere/why-does-wind-blow
Type: Government weather-satellite education site
Air presses on us; high-pressure systems have more air pressure than their surroundings and are often associated with clear blue skies; low-pressure systems have less pressure, pull air in, and generally create winds and undesirable weather.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (quiz); Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 15–16 (experiment); Ages 15–16 (text)
Type: Government weather service education page
Air pressure is the force of gas molecules colliding with a surface; standard sea-level pressure is 1013.25 millibars (mb) = 1013.25 hectopascals (hPa) = 29.92 inches of mercury; half of the air molecules in the atmosphere are within the first 5.6 km (18,000 ft); larger pressure changes come from moving weather systems, marked H and L on weather maps; the tropics see little day-to-day pressure change except in tropical cyclones.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 15–16 (experiment); Ages 15–16 (quiz); Ages 15–16 (text)
Type: National weather service education page
Weather fronts are the boundaries where two different air masses meet, often with significant changes in weather; at a cold front, cold dense air pushes under warmer air (map symbol: blue line with triangles); at a warm front, warm lighter air rises over colder air (red line with semicircles); an occluded front (purple) forms when a cold front catches up with a warm front.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (quiz); Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 15–16 (quiz); Ages 15–16 (text)
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/weather/atmosphere/weather-fronts
Type: National weather service education page
Weather centres worldwide collect millions of observations every day from satellites, land instruments, marine sensors, upper-air devices, radar and thunderstorm locators; supercomputers use them as starting conditions to run equations that simulate the atmosphere; data assimilation fills gaps; meteorologists interpret the model output, consider local factors and update forecasts.
Used in: Ages 10–11 (experiment); Ages 10–11 (text); Ages 15–16 (quiz); Ages 15–16 (text); Ages 6–7 (quiz); Ages 6–7 (text)
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/how-forecasts-are-made
Type: National weather service guide
Force 0 calm (<1 knot); force 2 light breeze (4–6 knots, 2–3 m/s); force 4 moderate breeze (11–16 knots, 6–8 m/s); force 6 strong breeze (22–27 knots, 11–14 m/s); force 8 gale (34–40 knots, 17–21 m/s); force 10 storm (48–55 knots, 25–28 m/s); force 12 hurricane (64+ knots, 33+ m/s); to convert knots to mph multiply by 1.15.
Used in: Ages 15–16 (quiz); Ages 15–16 (text)
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/guides/coast-and-sea/beaufort-scale