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What is wind?

Whether it's blowing a gale or just a gentle breeze, we've all felt the wind. Wind can come from different places, which can impact the weather we experience.

In this article you can learn:

  • What wind is
  • How to measure wind direction
  • What Earth's atmosphere is
  • High and low air pressure

This resource is suitable for weather topics for primary school learners.

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Video - What is wind?

Watch this video to learn about air pressure and wind direction.

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Where does wind come from?

  1. The Earth has a layer of air around it called the atmosphere.
  2. The atmosphere isn't evenly spread.
  3. In some places the air squeezes together over the ground. We call this high pressure.
  4. In other places there is less air that is more spread out. This makes the atmosphere thinner. We call this low pressure.
  5. The air moves from places with high pressure to places with low pressure. We call this moving air wind.
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Windy weather

Click through this slideshow to learn about different parts of windy weather from weather vanes to wind in the Antarctic.

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 6, A weather vane , Wind direction A weather vane shows wind direction. The top turns to face the wind. You can compare this with the points of the compass, N for north, E for east, W for west and S for south. The cockerel on this weather vane shows the wind is coming from the south.
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How to measure wind direction

Video - Measuring wind direction

With help from 大象传媒 Weather's Kawser Quamer, learn:

  • Why it is important to measure wind direction
  • How we measure wind direction
  • What a weather vane is
  • What a wind sock is

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Key words

Key words about wind and air pressure

  • wind - Air which moves in a particular direction.
  • atmosphere - A layer of air which surrounds the Earth.
  • high air pressure - The atmosphere is thicker with more air squeezed in over the ground.
  • low air pressure - The atmosphere is thinner with less air taking up the same space.
  • northerlies - Cold winds which come from the Arctic.
  • southerlies - Warm winds which bring air from southern Europe and Africa.
  • westerlies - Moist winds which bring rain from the Atlantic.
  • easterlies - Winds from Eastern Europe which bring drier air.
  • friction - A force that slows down objects that rub up against each other.
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Test your knowledge

Quiz

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Challenge

Challenge

Write a poem about a windy day.

Now you know a lot more about wind, why not try writing a poem about a windy day?

Windy Day Poems

Some poems about windy days.

Windy Day Poems

How to write poetry. revision-guide

Learn how to get your ideas from your head and into your poem.

How to write poetry
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