Global Wind Patterns
Explain that unequal solar heating drives large-scale atmospheric circulation: Hadley cells (0-30°), Ferrel cells (30-60°), and polar cells (60-90°) produce the trade winds, westerlies, and polar easterlies; describe how the Coriolis effect from Earth's rotation deflects winds rightward in the Northern Hemisphere; explain the jet stream as a fast high-altitude wind that steers weather systems; connect jet stream waviness and Arctic amplification to prolonged extreme weather
Lesson
Set out your lesson
“Unequal solar heating supplies energy for large-scale circulation. Earth’s rotation deflects moving air rightward relative to its motion in the Northern Hemisphere, leftward in the Southern Hemisphere. Three-cell diagrams are averages, not fixed walls. A fast upper-level jet stream helps steer weather. Links from amplified Arctic warming to particular persistent extremes remain complex and uncertain. Safety: Paper model only; no storm watching or safety decisions. Stop: Stop after the average-pattern explanation. No live weather analysis, fan experiment, or prediction of an extreme event.”
Bring to the table
- Paper
- Pencil
- Ruler
Extra for the adult
Worked example. At 45° N, surface westerlies generally blow from west toward east. Answer: a northeast-pointing surface arrow fits this simplified belt because it includes eastward motion. Rightward Coriolis deflection means right of the moving air’s direction, not always east on a page.
Optional challenge. Explain how shifting circulation belts could change a place’s seasonal weather without making boundaries fixed.
What to notice. Keep all sketches and the B justification. Note supplied labels, compass help, or adult drawing.
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Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
NASA Climate Kids · Practice link — not the full lesson
Weather and Climate
Before you open · source notes
Weather and Climate supports Global Wind Patterns. An adult previews and guides; this is a learning page, not a scored quiz.
Free educational page, no sign-in required for the tested path.
Before you openAsk the learner one fact they learned and one question they still have.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public NASA Climate Kids page. An anonymous GET on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt for this URL. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. An adult should preview and guide the learner.
NASA Climate Kids. “Weather and Climate.” External page; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute materials.
Unknown — link only
Check understanding
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“Can your child explain why the UK tends to get wet weather arriving from the west — what global pattern of winds is steering weather systems, and how does Earth's rotation contribute to this?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Weather & Climate
- Age range
- Ages 11–13