Sky Scouts, the club for young weather explorers — home
About SkyScouts Club

Learn about the weather. Practice science at home.

Sky Scouts began with young students observing daily weather through low-cost backyard stations. SkyScouts Club builds on that hands-on learning to connect weather science, environmental awareness and youth-led community action.

Explore, protect, lead

Explore

Ask a better question

Discover weather and climate through hands-on observations, weather journals and science at home or school.

Protect

Make a local difference

Care for habitats, reduce waste and plan supervised projects that help your neighborhood.

Lead

Let young voices lead

Students propose ideas, share findings and organize activities with support from adult advisors.

Two backyards, a shared curiosity

The original project placed low-cost weather stations with students in Illinois and Colorado, monitoring weather conditions and indoor and outdoor air quality. Students recorded daily changes through handwritten notes, drawings and photos, and shared their reflections with classmates.

Poster chart: hourly temperature at Ishika’s weather station compared with HRRR, August to December 2024, with an average difference of 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit
Poster figure Ishika’s station, Illinois, August–December 2024.
Poster chart: hourly temperature at Ansh’s weather station compared with HRRR, August to December 2024, with an average difference of 0.93 degrees Fahrenheit
Poster figure Ansh’s station, Colorado, August–December 2024.

These are pictures of charts from the Sky Scouts poster, not live readings. The differences they show are not a general accuracy guarantee for the stations. The weather explorer pages have the archived daily readings behind each station.

Science has room for imagination

Alongside the measurements, students kept weather journals, made drawings and took photos. One drawing from the poster contrasts two visions of our planet: a green Earth, and an Earth affected by heat and pollution.

Observe. Record. Reflect. Share. The poster describes hands-on learning that encourages curiosity and connects everyday experiences with environmental questions. Its next steps include growing K–12 participation and strengthening STEM learning.

Round student drawing split in two: a green Earth with a fruit tree, and a hot orange Earth with factories and a bare tree
Student artwork from the Sky Scouts poster.

Program roots

The Sky Scouts poster identifies the original program as an initiative of DPI’s Climate R&D Hub, part of the University of Illinois System. It credits student observations and collaboration among DPI and NSF NCAR researchers.

SkyScouts Club builds on that program’s documented, hands-on approach to learning about weather.