All lessons

Spin the Earth and see how the weather works. Each lesson is a few short steps on a 3D globe. Free, for kids 10 and up.

🌊 Sea

🔥 El Niño: What is El Niño?
Why a warm patch of Pacific Ocean changes the weather everywhere.
🌊 The Gulf Stream: What is the Gulf Stream?
A warm river in the sea, and why Britain is milder than Canada.
🍾 Ocean garbage patches: What are ocean garbage patches?
Drop a bottle in the sea and see where the currents take it.
🦣 Ice age seas: How low was the sea in the ice age?
When the sea was 120 m lower, and you could walk from Asia to America.
🧊 Sea ice: Why does the sea freeze at the poles?
The sea round the poles freezes every winter. What happens when it melts?
🌕 Tides and the Moon: What causes the tides?
Why the sea comes up the beach and goes back out twice a day: the Moon is pulling it.
💧 A drop of water’s journey: How does the water cycle work?
Be a drop of water: up from the sea, into a cloud, down as rain or snow, and back again.
🌊 The 2004 tsunami: How did the 2004 tsunami cross the Indian Ocean?
An earthquake under the sea sent waves right across the Indian Ocean in a few hours.

🏔️ Himalayas & the monsoon: How do the Himalayas make the monsoon?
How the tallest mountains on Earth make rain, and keep India warm.
🌋 Ring of Fire: What is the Ring of Fire?
Why Japan, Chile and Alaska all shake: a ring of volcanoes and earthquakes round the Pacific.
🏜️ Deserts and rainforests: Why are there deserts and rainforests?
Why rainforests hug the equator and deserts sit in two dry stripes.
🌾 The Nile’s flood: Why does the Nile flood?
Why the first big cities grew by rivers, and where the Nile’s summer flood comes from.
🥶 A volcano cools the world: How can a volcano cool the world?
How one eruption can make the whole planet colder, and the year summer never came.
🦛 The green Sahara: Was the Sahara once green?
When the biggest hot desert had lakes, hippos and crocodiles, and why it dried up.
🧩 Drifting continents: Why do South America and Africa fit together?
South America and Africa fit like puzzle pieces. Slide back in time and join them up.
💎 How diamonds form: How do diamonds form?
A diamond grows 150 km under your feet. Dig down, then ride a volcano back up with it.
🌃 Earth at night: What does the Earth look like at night from space?
City lights seen from space show where people live: along coasts and rivers, and hardly at all in deserts and ice.

🌗 Day, night and seasons: Why do we have day, night and seasons?
Why it’s night in Australia when it’s day here, and why Christmas is in summer there.
📅 The International Date Line: What is the International Date Line?
Where tomorrow starts, and why two islands 4 km apart are almost a day apart.
🌐 Latitude and longitude: What are latitude and longitude?
Every place on Earth has an address made of just two numbers.
🌌 Northern and southern lights: What causes the northern lights?
Why the sky glows green near the poles, and how a solar storm makes the ring grow.
🌓 Why the Moon changes shape: Why does the Moon change shape?
Round, half, a thin curve, then gone. Slide the Moon round the Earth and see why its shape changes every night.
🌘 Make an eclipse: What causes a solar eclipse?
Line up the Sun, Moon and Earth, and make the Moon’s shadow land on the Earth. Why doesn’t it happen every month?
🌡️ A warming world: Is the Earth getting warmer?
How much warmer the Earth has got, and why the Arctic warms fastest.

💨 The jet stream: What is the jet stream?
A river of fast wind high in the sky, and why flying east is quicker.
🌀 Hurricanes: How do hurricanes form?
Why giant storms start over warm sea, and why they spin.
💨 Sahara dust feeds the Amazon: How does Sahara dust feed the Amazon?
How the biggest hot desert helps the biggest rainforest grow.
⛵ Trade winds and sailing ships: What are the trade winds?
Why Columbus sailed south to go west, and how the winds make a giant loop.
🌧️ Monsoons around the world: What is a monsoon, and where do they happen?
The wind that changes sides, and brings the rain to India, Africa, Australia and Arizona.

The globe pictures are simplified to show the idea. Earth images: NASA Blue Marble (public domain).