Learning Map Where we’re up to

Thunder & Lightning

Your child knows lightning is a huge spark of electricity in the clouds, and thunder is its sound. We see the flash before the boom because light is faster than sound.

In curriculum terms

Know that thunder and lightning happen during thunderstorms: lightning is a giant spark of electricity that forms in clouds, thunder is the sound the lightning makes, and we see lightning before hearing thunder because light travels faster than sound

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

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Try this together

During a thunderstorm, can your child explain that lightning is electricity in the clouds, thunder is its sound, and that we see the flash before the boom because light is faster than sound?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on
Storm Safetyages 5–7Thunder/lightning science builds on basic storm safety awareness
Cloud Typesages 7–9Lightning forms in clouds; requires understanding cloud formation
Thunder & Lightningthis skill · ages 7–9
Unlocks
Extreme Weather Eventsages 9–11Extreme weather builds on thunderstorm understanding

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1). No NSW K–6 outcome code matched (v0.1). No Victorian Curriculum 2.0 code matched (v0.1).

Nearby on the map

All Weather & Climate skills →