Weather or Climate? is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on telling one day's weather from a region's climate over many years, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 3-ESS2-2. It prints 3 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
1.Sort each one: Weather: what the air is doing on one day or Climate: what it is usually like over many years?
Sort: Yesterday afternoon was very windy, Over thirty years, July has been the warmest month here, The desert gets almost no rain in most years, A thunderstorm hit the coast on Tuesday
Weather: what the air is doing on one dayClimate: what it is usually like over many years
2.Sort each one: Weather: what the air is doing on one day or Climate: what it is usually like over many years?
Sort: This coast gets rain in every season of the year, It is raining in town this morning, It reached 31 degrees in the city today, Most years, the first frost here comes in October
Weather: what the air is doing on one dayClimate: what it is usually like over many years
3.Sort each one: Weather: what the air is doing on one day or Climate: what it is usually like over many years?
Sort: Snow fell on Saturday, Summers here are usually hot and dry, Tonight will be frosty, Winters in the far north are long and very cold
Weather: what the air is doing on one dayClimate: what it is usually like over many years
LessonPrint · 3-ESS2-2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Weather or Climate?
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. A thunderstorm hit the coast on Tuesday — Weather: what the air is doing on one day 2. Over thirty years, July has been the warmest month here — Climate: what it is usually like over many years 3. The desert gets almost no rain in most years — Climate: what it is usually like over many years 4. Yesterday afternoon was very windy — Weather: what the air is doing on one day
2.1. It is raining in town this morning — Weather: what the air is doing on one day 2. It reached 31 degrees in the city today — Weather: what the air is doing on one day 3. Most years, the first frost here comes in October — Climate: what it is usually like over many years 4. This coast gets rain in every season of the year — Climate: what it is usually like over many years
3.1. Snow fell on Saturday — Weather: what the air is doing on one day 2. Summers here are usually hot and dry — Climate: what it is usually like over many years 3. Tonight will be frosty — Weather: what the air is doing on one day 4. Winters in the far north are long and very cold — Climate: what it is usually like over many years
Questions about Weather or Climate?
What does the Weather or Climate? worksheet cover?
It practices telling one day's weather from a region's climate over many years — 3 questions for Grade 3, all on NGSS 3-ESS2-2: Gather information to describe climates in different parts of the world. The instruction to students is “Sort each sentence into weather or climate”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which NGSS performance expectation does Weather or Climate? practice?
3-ESS2-2, under Earth and Space Science for Grade 3. The published performance expectation reads: “Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.” The worksheet assesses that performance expectation rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Weather or Climate? is written for Grade 3, typically ages 8-9. It is one of the sheets on 3-ESS2-2, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Weather or Climate? come with an answer key?
Yes. All 3 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Weather or Climate? can I print?
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is Weather or Climate? free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Weather or Climate?, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
More practice for 3-ESS2-2
Gather information to describe climates in different parts of the world.