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Where's the best place to build a snow fort?

Where's the best place to build a snow fort?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
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DISCUSS:

How do you know it’s winter where you live?

What changes do you notice?

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DISCUSS:
What temperature does the thermometer show here?
Do you see any OTHER clues that tell you if this temperature is hot or cold?
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DISCUSS: How do you think this place will change if the temperature stays ABOVE 32 degrees Fahrenheit for a long time? What will look different here?
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DISCUSS:
Will the weather be good for building a snow fort where you live next winter?
How do you know?
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DISCUSS:

Suppose you wanted to find a great spot to build a snow fort next December.

What kinds of data could you collect to find a place with great weather for snow fort building?

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Step
01/18
For this activity, you’ll work with a partner. Once you have a partner,
decide who will be Snowball and who will be Icicle.
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Step
02/18
You’re going to hear about the three different towns that want to
have the festival. But first, get your supplies.
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03/18
Jacki is here to tell you about her hometown, Madison, Wisconsin.
You’ll look at the data from this town first. Icicle: Get your What’s
the Weather? chart and write “Madison, Wisconsin” beside Town #1.
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Step
04/18
Get your Thermometers worksheet. Look at the thermometers for
Madison. Discuss with your partner:
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Step
05/18
Snowball: On the Thermometers worksheet, find each day in Madison
where the temperature was ABOVE 32°F. In red, cross those days
off. Icicle: Count the number of days that are crossed off.
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Step
06/18
Get your Weather chart. Icicle: In the chart, find the row where you
wrote “Madison, Wisconsin.” Find the column for Too Hot days. Write
down the number of Too Hot days in Madison.
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07/18
Snowball: Find days in Madison where the temperature was BELOW
25°F. In blue, cross off each Too Cold day. Icicle: Write the number of
Too Cold days in Madison’s row under Too Cold days.
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Step
08/18
Any day that doesn’t have an X was just right—not too hot and not
too cold. Snowball: Circle those days. Icicle: Count the Just Right
days and write that number in Madison’s row under Just Right days.
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09/18
Think about the weather in Madison.
Discuss:
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10/18
Deniki is here to tell you about his hometown, Fairbanks, Alaska.
You’re going to look at the data for Fairbanks next. Icicle: Get your
Weather chart and write “Fairbanks, Alaska” beside Town #2.
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11/18
Snowball and Icicle: Switch jobs. Snowball: Mark Too Hot days, Too
Cold days, and Just Right days for Fairbanks. Icicle: Write the number
of each kind of day in the Fairbanks row on your chart.
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12/18
Compare Madison and Fairbanks.
Discuss with your partner:
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13/18
José is here to tell you about his hometown, Truckee, California. You’ll
look at the data from this town next. Icicle: Get your Weather chart
and write “Truckee, California” beside Town #3.
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14/18
Snowball and Icicle: Switch jobs. Snowball: Mark Too Hot days, Too
Cold days, and Just Right days for Truckee. Icicle: Count the number
of each kind of day. Write those numbers in the row for Truckee.
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15/18
Compare Madison, Fairbanks, and Truckee.
Discuss:
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16/18
So far, you have only looked at the temperature in these towns.
Discuss:
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Step
17/18
Icicle: Write “Snowstorms” in the box that says “More Data.”
Snowball: Count the snowflakes for each town. Icicle: Write the
number of snowflakes for each town under Snowstorms.
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18/18
Think about how snowstorms might affect your Snow Fort Festival.
Discuss:
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DISCUSS:

What’s the point of making predictions about the weather if we know that at least some of them will be wrong?

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season


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a time of year with specific weather that repeats every year
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summer


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one of the four seasons, the warmest season in some places
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winter


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one of the four seasons, the coldest season in some places
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measure


4 of 18

to describe something using numbers that can be compared
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temperature


5 of 18

how hot or cold something is
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thermometer


6 of 18

a tool that measures temperature
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Fahrenheit


7 of 18

one way to measure temperature; water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit
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Celsius


8 of 18

one way to measure temperature; water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius
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degree


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a unit of measurement, such as for temperature
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freeze


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when a liquid turns into a solid, such as when water turns to ice
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freezing point


11 of 18

the temperature when water starts to turn from liquid water into solid ice
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weather


12 of 18

what the air is like in a particular time and place, including things like temperature, wind, and rain
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storm


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weather that usually includes strong wind and rain or snow
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snow


14 of 18

solid water that falls from the sky when it's very cold outside
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snowstorm


15 of 18

a storm with lots of snow and usually strong winds
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predict


16 of 18

to guess what will happen based on things you know
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pattern


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something that happens again and again and again in a way that can be predicted
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data


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recorded measurements or observations
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Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students explore seasonal weather conditions across different regions. They investigate how weather patterns can be used to make predictions about future weather. In the activity, Snow Fort Weather, students organize daily temperature data from three snowy towns into a table so that they can compare weather conditions and predict which town is most likely to have the best weather for a snow fort festival next year.

Preview activity
Number of students:

I have a Mystery Pack

Thermometers (Fahrenheit) worksheet
Alternatively, you can print our Celsius Thermometers version. 		1 per pair
What's the Weather Answer Key teacher-only resource 1 per class
What's the Weather Chart worksheet 1 per pair
Crayons
We suggest each pair of students use one red crayon and one blue crayon, but other colors can also work.
Details
2 crayons per pair
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Teacher Background

In this lesson, we discuss both the Celsius scale and Fahrenheit scale for measuring temperature. We mainly focus on Fahrenheit because students in the United States are more familiar with this temperature scale. We have Celsius worksheets available for the activity if you would like to use that temperature scale instead.

Exploration

20 mins

Hands-On Activity

30 mins

Wrap-Up

10 mins

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Unit Reading

Writing

Activity

Activity

Mini-lessons

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