Do You Hear the Weather? Lesson Plan

What We Are Learning

 

Science Focus:

weather

 

Theme Vocabulary Words:

cumulus, cirrus, stratus

 

Movement:

gross motor skills


Social and Emotional Learning:

responsible decision making

  • Rain! by Linda Ashman and Christian Robinson is about a young boy and an old man who experience a rainy day differently. Talk about how the weather can affect people’s feelings. Ask children what weather makes them happy. How does rain make them feel? text pairing

Science: Sensing the Weather

Materials: chart paper, marker

  • A simple walk with your students can bring about a lot of weather observations!
  • Tell children that they can listen to the weather. But they can see, feel and smell it too!
  • On your walk, stop in a safe place. Ask children what they see, hear, feel, and smell that tells them about the weather. 
  • When you come back to the classroom, children can review what their senses told them about the weather. Record their responses on chart paper. Talk about which senses were most helpful and why.
  • Repeat the activity on a day that the weather is different and see how their responses change! observation
A jar filled with water and a stack of colored cubes beside it

Materials: clear jar, permanent marker, Unifix Cubes

  • Here’s a super-simple way to make a rain gauge using nonstandard measurement.
  • Hold a stack of Unifix Cubes against a clear jar and, from the bottom up, make a mark for each cube. Now you have a “Unifix ruler” on your jar!
  • Leave the jar outdoors. After it rains, bring it indoors and have kids help measure the water level with Unifix Cubes. Record the date and the measurement.
  • Pour the water out and leave the jar outdoors again. Then, the next time it rains, measure the level again. Compare it with the level you recorded earlier. Did it rain more last time or this time? You can keep tracking the rain for as long as you like. Just repeat the activity each time it rains! observation and recording/measurement