The Difference Between Weather and Climate Change
Provided by: The Kid Should See This|Published on: April 27, 2021|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Articles/Websites
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: The Kid Should See This, National Geographic
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this video, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the difference between weather and climate and discusses the global forces driving climate change.
- The resource includes a short article with links to helpful information.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The video uses a helpful metaphor of a man walking a dog to illustrate fluctuations and trends in weather data.
- The video provides a concise introduction to weather and climate.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with the terms dire, meandering, and fluctuating.
Differentiation
- Math classes could use this video as a real-world example of trendlines and data variability. Teachers could use the data in this interactive chart, which shows global average temperature anomalies, to discuss how fluctuations in weather do not directly correspond to the long-term changes in climate.
- This video pairs well with this SubjectToClimate lesson plan that uses temperature data to teach trends and variability.
- Other resources on this topic include this CK-12 video and activity on weather and climate, this NASA article on weather and climate change, this Crash Course video on weather patterns and climate trends, and this Hot Mess video on the real reason people confuse weather and climate.
This resource consists of a video with an accompanying text that presents an easy-to-understand metaphor for understanding the difference between weather and climate. While walking with a dog on a beach in a straight line, the path of a human is straight and represents the long-term trend that is our climate. The chaotic meandering of a curious dog zigs and zags all over the place and represents the short-term fluctuations in weather. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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