Climate Map Worksheet

A climate map worksheet helps students see that different parts of our country have very different weather. Climate is the kind of weather a place has year after year, and mapmakers show those patterns with color. Learning to read a climate map builds two skills at once: understanding climate zones, and pulling information out of a map key instead of a paragraph. This 3rd grade climate worksheet gives students a colorful, hands-on place to practice both.

This Climate Map Worksheet is a three-page printable. On page one, students study a full-color climate map of the United States. Every state is filled with the color of its climate zone and labeled with its two-letter postal code, and a key below the map explains what each color stands for. On page two, eight questions send students back to the map again and again: short-answer questions, fill-in-the-bubble questions, and a written response that compares the climate of two different states. Print it, hand it out, and let students work with the map in front of them.

What’s Included

• A full-color climate map of all fifty states, including Alaska and Hawaii
• A five-color map key: Polar, Cold, Mild, Hot and Humid, and Hot and Dry
• Four short-answer questions that practice reading the map key
• Three fill-in-the-bubble questions
• One written response comparing the climate of two states
• A complete answer key

Why Students Love It

First, it turns a big idea into something children can see. Instead of memorizing a definition, students look at a map and notice that the north is one color and the south is another. Second, it practices a skill that shows up on almost every science and social studies test: using a key to read a map. Third, it connects to a child’s own life. Students can find their own state, name its climate, and then compare it to a state a friend or a cousin lives in.

Ideas for Teachers and Parents

Use this climate map worksheet to open a unit on weather and climate, or as a review before a test. Ask students to find their own state first, then trace north to south and describe what changes. Pair students and have each one pick a state for the other to look up. For an extension, have students draw a picture of what they would pack for a trip to a hot and dry state and a trip to a cold state, and explain their choices using the map key. It also works well as a center activity, morning work, or a substitute-teacher day.

Related Resources

• Population Map Worksheet
• US Map Worksheet
• Finding a State on a Map Worksheet
• Weather Song (Animated Music Video)