The Water Cycle and Weather Patterns Science Games

In this series of games, your students will learn about the movement of water and air in the atmosphere and how this movement causes changes in the weather. The Water Cycle and Weather Patterns learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research.

Scroll down for a preview of this learning objective’s games and the concepts they drive home.

Concepts Covered

Weather encompasses the atmospheric conditions of temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind occurring at a given place and time. These are mostly the result of water moving through the atmosphere in the water cycle.

Water evaporates and is transported through the atmosphere, then the vapor condenses into droplets and crystals in clouds and eventually precipitates as rain, snow, hail, or sleet. In the meantime, air masses of different temperatures and humidity levels interact and move around, altering the weather.

This movement of air masses and water vapor is driven by several factors. Increased volumes of water vapor makes the air more humid and less dense, causing it to rise. Nearby oceans and their currents cause changes in the temperature and humidity. Landforms like mountains cause air masses to rise and cool, making vapor condense and turn into precipitation. And air masses move from high- to low-pressure areas, producing wind.

A preview of each game in the learning objective is found below.

You can access all of the games on Legends of Learning for free, forever, with a teacher account. A free teacher account also allows you to create playlists of games and assignments for students and track class progress. Sign up for free today!