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The earth's atmosphere is about 430 miles thick. Without this layer of gases to protect us, we could not live. We would be scorched by the sun during the day and frozen at night. Most of the atmosphere is a thin mix of gases that is calm and unchanging. But the lowest 7 miles--the layer in which we live and breathe--contains all the weather we experience, and is thick with gases, water, and dust. As the sun warms the land and sea beneath it, the heat keeps this lower 7 miles swirling and churning. It is the constant swirling of this lowest layer, called the troposphere, that gives us everything we call weather--from the gentle showers to raging hurricanes and tornadoes.
The earth has a clear pattern of wind circulation that results from the effect of the earth's rotation and the way that the heat of the sun is distributed. It has become easier to view these cycles and patterns because of photos that can now be taken from satellites orbiting the earth. These global patterns cause weather to occur in cycles--the typhoons that are generated from the China Sea and affect southeast Asia--the hurricanes that begin in the Caribbean and affect the southeastern United States and Central America--the tornadoes that travel through the American midwest.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about seasonal cycles of the earth.
Places To Go 
People
To See Things To Do Teacher
Resources Bibliography
Places To GoThe following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out about seasonal cycles of the earth.
Explore a temperate deciduous forest. This particular biome exhibits all 4 of earth's seasons. Find out how the animals of this biome adapt to its seasonal changes.
Visit schools around the United States as they participate in the Globe program. Globe is a worldwide network of students, teachers, and scientists working together to study and understand the global environment.
In the past, the natural flooding of the Colorado River was part of the shaping of the Grand Canyon. Today, these natural flood cycles have been eliminated by the building of dams and the control of the river's natural flow.
The National Weather Service is THE place to go to find out about weather and its cycles.
Visit a floodplain. The seasonal cycle of rivers flooding is a normal part of nature and is part of the way that fertile soil builds itself up. In fact, the ancient Egyptians used to refer to the annual flooding of the Nile as the "gift of the Nile" and they welcomed the benefits that it brought. In modern times, problems arise when humans build cities and homes in floodplains and try to rechannel rivers to avoid flooding.
Check out states' highest recorded temperatures. Check out state's lowest recorded temperature. Find out which U.S. cities have the most days per year of temperatures over 90 degrees. Find out which U.S. cities have the most days per year of temperatures below 32 degrees. Here's a handy temperature calculator if you need to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius.
Travel to the hottest and coldest places on the planet. You may not recognize the place where the lowest temperature ever recorded in Utah occurred. Use the Utah Collections Multimedia Encyclopedia and find out what county this place is in.
People To SeeChat with Al Roker. He knows all about weather cycles and can tell you your local weather forecast.
Visit with some real hurricane hunters. These Air Force men and women fly airplanes right into the eye of hurricanes to gather data.
Things To DoStudy climate of the past. It can help us understand earth's climate of today as well as that of the future.
Check out global climate highlights and anomalies. Sometimes weather cycles go awry.
El Niño is a weather condition where a warm ocean current that is normally situated off Australia's coast moves east toward the coasts of Equador and Peru. La Niña is kind of like the opposite of El Niño. Its cycle involves strong trade winds and cooler Pacific waters. From NOAA, check out these FAQs about El Niño and La Niña.
Find out the difference between a solstice and an equinox.
Find out about the economic losses that arise from floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Select "Flood" and then look at Utah's data.
The greenhouse effect is an increase in the temperature of a planet as heat energy from sunlight is trapped by the gaseous atmosphere. Check out this chart of the greenhouse effect and this one.
The tilt of the earth is 23 ½ degrees. Discover what this has to do with the seasonal cycles of the earth.
Virtually thumb through the old Farmer's Almanac. It has been around since 1792! It has everything you ever wanted to know about planting cycles, weather cycles, and more.
Find out what would happen to our seasons if the tilt of the earth's axis was 0°. (Hint: You would never need your woolen mittens or Bermuda shorts).
Learn more about the seasons of the earth. This information is part of the excellent Weather Dude site. From the same source, find out why the sun is the source of all the weather on the earth--its even responsible for the wind!
Find out what the weather cycles are that produce tornadoes more often at certain times of the year.
Teacher Resources
Bibliography- Frandon, John. How the Earth Works. Reader's Digest: Pleasantville, New York, 1992.
- Farndon, John. Weather. New York: DK Pub., 1998.
- Kahl, Jonathan D.Weather Watch: Forecasting the Weather: Minneapolis : Lerner Publications, c1996.
- Kerrod, Robin. Weather. New York: Lorenz Books, 1997.
- Llamas Ruiz, Andres. Seasons. New York: Sterling Pub., 1996.
- Llewellyn, Claire. Wild Wet and Windy. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 1997.
- Malam, John. Wacky Weather. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1998.