Last week Why Are There Clouds? was one of the most popular posts on the Free Tech for Teachers Facebook page. A good follow-up to that lesson is found in Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? Produced by It’s Okay to Be Smart, Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? explains why we sometimes think we smell rain before a thunderstorm. Through the video we also learn about the role of petrichor in the lives of some animals.

It’s Okay to Be Smart includes a list of references with each video. Open the description below the video on YouTube to find links to the references.

Applications for Education

At this time of year in the northern hemisphere we start to have more thunderstorms and large rain storms. This lesson is one that students can share with friends and family when they say, “it smells like rain.”

To use this video as part of a flipped lesson, try one of these six good tools for creating flipped video lessons.