How Can Rivers Flow Through the Air?
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 →
Provided by: Science Journal for Kids|Published on: June 3, 2025
Scientific ReportsScientist Reviewed
678910
Scientist Reviewed 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
- Science Journal for Kids provides this student-friendly adaptation of a scientific report detailing a study to learn more about atmospheric river storms.
- The report references extreme storms in California that caused damage and death in 2022 and 2023.
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: Science Journal for Kids
Region: California
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This text does an excellent job of breaking down a complex topic in a way that is easy for learners to understand.
- Students will likely be able to relate to heavy snow or rainfall, making them more engaged in the content of this report.
Prerequisites
- Teachers will need to enter their name, email, and school to access the Teacher's Key.
- Students should understand climate change and its impacts.
Differentiation & Implementation
- To emphasize the connection between atmospheric river storms and climate change, teachers can discuss how a warmer atmosphere can hold more water, leading to heavier rains.
- After reading about atmospheric river clusters, teachers can transition to a discussion about how stormwater runoff from farms and roadways can harm the watershed and the animals that live there. This article can help students explore this topic further.
- Teachers can show news coverage of the atmospheric river storms in California mentioned in the report to give students context for why it is important to learn more about atmospheric river storms.
This resource is an adaptation of a peer-reviewed article on atmospheric rivers made accessible for middle and high school students. The article features clear text and figures, and a link to the original article is included. Several lesson plan ideas are also linked. This resource is grounded in current, high-quality scientific research and is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
Science Journal for Kids
Hundreds of scientific articles. Written for kids. Approved by scientists. Free.
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.
Learn about our review process →
