Indiana Science HS-ENV1-7
The Standard
Observe the difference between weather and climate. Observe how weather can be influenced by global climatic patterns, such as El Niño and La Niña. Use a model or simulation to observe the factors that influence weather and climate, the action of gravitational forces, and the rotation of the Earth.
Indiana Academic Standards for Science (2023) · Environmental Systems
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare daily weather with long-term records. They use a model to see how uneven heating, gravity, and Earth's rotation affect moving air. They connect El Niño and La Niña to changes in regional weather.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can tell a daily forecast from a 30-year climate average. They explain that El Niño changes the odds of certain weather, not what will happen on one day. In a model, they show gravity pulling air toward Earth and rotation bending large wind paths.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat one cold week as proof that climate is cooling. They may think El Niño brings the same weather everywhere. Some think Earth's rotation causes gravity or that gravity pulls wind sideways.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: “Tuesday was rainy. Winter rainfall averaged 8 inches over 30 years. Water in the eastern equatorial Pacific is unusually warm. Which fact describes weather, which describes climate, and what Pacific pattern is likely? What do gravity and Earth's rotation do to air?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Spin a globe while tracing a wind path toward a pole; sketch the curved route and mark gravity arrows toward Earth's center.
Ask, “Does one snowy day show that the climate is cooling? What records would you need to check?”
Give pairs Pacific temperature maps; have them label warm and cool equatorial waters as El Niño or La Niña and explain each choice.
Use a 10-day forecast and local 30-year rainfall averages to pick a field-day date, then explain why neither guarantees dry weather.
Free download
Printable HS-ENV1-7 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to HS-ENV1-7, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetTurn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson