In this unit, students gather evidence in order to identify daily and seasonal weather patterns. They use those patterns to explain mysteries like why you might lose your jacket during the day or why birds lay their eggs at certain times of the year.
THIS LESSON WAS REVISED ON JULY 1, 2021. Here is a link to the previous version.
In this Read-Along lesson, students listen to an illustrated digital storybook with student participation. If you would prefer to read the book aloud yourself, you can switch to the non-narrated version. In the story, Kevin becomes a weather detective to figure out why he keeps losing his warm clothes.
In the activity, Weather Window, students track the weather over four days.
Students will record the weather each day for four days using the Weather Window worksheet.
Think about:
What time of day do you want students to check the weather? Ideally, it should be about the same time each day.
How many days do you want students to check the weather? The worksheet has space to record weather for 4 days. If you want students to continue beyond 4 days, use the second page of the worksheet with blank day numbers that can be filled in.
Continue Exploring Weather Patterns
It’s fun watching the sky and tracking the weather. But your students probably won’t see dramatic changes in this short time. To make students aware of seasonal changes, we suggest they keep a four-day weather journal EACH SEASON. In other words, have students complete a worksheet in fall, in winter, in spring, and in summer. They should note the season on each worksheet and keep them in their science notebooks.
When they have completed all four seasons, compare the results in a class discussion. Look for patterns or trends in the weather where you live.
THIS LESSON WAS REVISED ON JULY 1, 2021. Here is a link to the previous version.
In this lesson, students use observations of the four classic seasons to spot patterns and thereby determine the seasons’ order. In the activity, Circle of Seasons, students make observations of the four classic seasons of the temperate zone: snowy winter, warm spring, hot summer, and cool autumn with colorful leaves. Students spot patterns and determine the order of the seasons.
We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.
If You Live Somewhere Without Four Seasons (Optional)
If you live somewhere that doesn't experience four seasons, we strongly recommend extending this lesson and discussing the seasonal changes where you live. You can print out a blank “Circle of Seasons” chart and fill this out with your students so that it matches the seasonal weather patterns where you live.
Keep a Weather Journal (Optional)
To make students aware of seasonal changes, we suggest they keep a weather journal for a few days in fall, winter, spring, and summer. (The Weather Window activity in Lesson 1 of this unit offers a simple way to do this.) When students have completed all the seasons, compare the results in a class discussion. Look for patterns or trends in the weather where you live.
In this lesson, students learn why spring is the best time for babies to be born. In the activity, Build A Bird Nest, students make a model of a bird nest and notice how birds can change their environment to meet their needs when they build their nests.
Students will use these to pad their nest.
You can use tissue paper, facial tissues, paper towels, toilet paper, cotton balls, or even scraps of fabric or yarn.
We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.
Get Creative With Materials Distribution (Optional)
Students will be lining their paper bird nests with tissue paper and/or other soft material. If you have a high tolerance for chaos, you can put these materials at different stations around the room — and have your students “fly” to the stations to gather their materials. It’s fun, but chaotic.
We also suggest encouraging students to modify the materials you provide -- tearing and crumpling them to make them fit in their nest. That’s what birds do, after all!
Surprise students with a pompom egg! (Optional)
If you have a supply of pompoms, consider surprising each student with a pompom “egg” for their nest! We think 1-inch pompoms are about the right size for a paper bag nest.
In this mini-lesson, students discover how and why some tree leaves change color when the weather starts to get colder. In the activity, Falling for Leaves, students make crayon rubbings of tree leaves, then take a closer look to observe the characteristics of leaves in their own neighborhood.
Community Tree Branches (Grades 3-5) printout
The template has 2 pages that are the exact same except for orientation of the branches. We suggest giving half your students one template and half the other template so that your final Community Tree will have an equal number of branches on both sides of the trunk.
We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can complete the activity on their own.
Have Students Gather Leaves
We find that fresh, flat leaves work best. After a few days, the leaves dry out and become brittle and difficult to use for leaf rubbings. If students collect their own leaves and bring them into class, we recommend choosing leaves that are smaller than the size of their hand. If you have trouble finding leaves in your area, you can always use lettuce or other leafy greens from the local supermarket.
Prepare Your Community Tree Trunk
Cut out the pieces of the tree by cutting along the dashed lines of the Community Tree Trunk printout.
Arrange the pieces on your wall using tape or sticky dots to hold the paper in place. Watch this video to see how we did it.
Each student will need a piece of tape or sticker to attach their Tree Branch to the Tree Trunk.
A Note on the "Leaves In My Town Guide"
In Grades 2-5, students will try to identify their leaf using the "Leaves In My Town Guide." The guide can help to identify leaves that are collected from trees. The guide focuses on the leaves of deciduous trees so it does not include any evergreen conifers.
Lesson 8: Weather & Seasons
No materials required.
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