This video explains major wind systems across the globe and how the rotation and shape of the Earth affect them.
Students will learn how wind patterns form and how they have impacted human activities, from European colonization to modern air travel and wind energy production.
Teaching Tips
Positives
It is an accessible introduction to wind formation and major wind systems and uses simple graphics to support student understanding.
It ends with an acknowledgment of the harms caused to Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples, along with a recommendation to learn more by reaching out to local Indigenous groups.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should have an understanding of basic map skills and terminology.
Differentiation
This video includes several diagrams and maps where teachers can pause to check for understanding and reteach when necessary.
There are many topics covered in this video that could be used in a history class, making connections between regional climates, weather patterns, and historical events.
This resource from Crash Course excellently and accessibly explains where the major wind patterns on the globe come from. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Science and Engineering
ESS2: Earth’s Systems
MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.
MS-ESS2-6 Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
Social Studies
Geography
Geography 2 (D1): Students understand geographic aspects of unity and diversity in Maine, the United States, and various world cultures, including Maine Native Americans, by summarizing and interpreting the relationship between geographic features and cultures of Maine Native Americans, and historical and recent immigrant groups in Maine, the United States, and the world.
Geography 1 (D2): Students understand the geography of the United States and various regions of the world and the effect of geographic influences on decisions about the present and future by using inquiry to predict and evaluate consequences of geographic influences.
