Group items tagged

This is a video of a "weather rap" that reviews weather for kids by asking a question and pausing for students to come up with the answer. The answer then pops up on the screen so students know if they were correct or not. I would use this in my classroom as a review before a test for a fun way to help the students remember.

I will use this information for planning my lesson on lightning and Benjamin Franklin's invention of the lightning rod. This web page on The Franklin Institute's webpage explains Benjamin Franklin's fascination of weather, particularly lightning, and why he invented the lightning rod. This website also provides other information about Benjamin Franklin that I may find helpful in planning my lesson.

This field trip opportunity takes us to the St. Louis Science Center! Students will be engaged in a live science (weather) demonstration given by Ira and Judy Gall. After enjoying the demonstration, students can explore the rest of the science center and all it has to offer. Other opportunities to learn about weather include an erosion table and tornado formation exhibit. I chose this as a field trip because the Science Center has so much to offer. It's definitely an opportunity to expand upon what we have learned in the classroom.

This video/song on YouTube is about the different choices in weather. It explores sunny, cloudy, rainy, windy, and snowy. Set to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle I believe it would capture the attention of students and be a song they could sing daily. I could play this video during our calendar time as a fun way to introduce the weather each morning. I selected it because it provides a different way of learning, it's colorful, and catchy. It also includes some words with the music. These words could easily be integrated into my word wall.

This is a really cool activity that could be used in a unit about weather. The students create a "cloud" inside a mason jar and watch as the food coloring "rains" down through the cloud. I could see myself creating a lesson very similar to the lesson depicted on this page. The students read a story about clouds and rain and then did this activity following the reading. Although this activity was done with pre-school children, I think it would be appropriate for first through third grade. I might use this at the beginning of a unit on weather. This could also be a cool center activity for a center day. All the centers could have a weather theme. Or I could also see this activity being useful when discussing the water cycle. Students would be able to see how the "cloud" holds the water for a short time but then releases it. I really can't wait to use this one!

In this game, students are separated into teams. Each team is given a block of Legos. Students must then take turns crab-walking from one side of the room to the other. Once the student reaches the other side, they are to break off one Lego from their block, set it on the floor, then pass the remaining piece to the next classmate in line. This game is a fun and easy way of explaining the process of the weathering away of a rock through the effects of erosion and deposition. I chose this resource because I thought it was a great way for students to become actively involved in the process of erosion, while allowing them to be active and work with their classmates. I would use this game in my classroom as a conclusion to a lesson on weathering, erosion, and deposition.

This resource houses a view of the perfect meteorology field-trip for students. The location is The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. The exhibit gives loads of visuals of and scientific background for a variety of storms. The link attached is about the whole exhibit, as you click on what you would more directly want to study the website shows you how students can explore. The exhibit doesn't just cover storms, it also covers atoms and ways to harness energy. If you explore the tornado section you will get to see and manipulate a giant tornado. You also get to make your own table top tornado to explore farther. Finally they have wind tunnels you can get inside to feel the force of the wind. In the lightning section they explore charge. Not only do they get to see and hear a lightning storm inside, but they also get to experiment with magnets and levitation! There is a ton of information on fires including how some fires in nature aren't so bad. Students even get to use reactions with fire to create a fireworks display. The list of fun goes on and on! In the sunlight section solar power is discussed. Students can even watch a tsunami in a tank, and an avalanche in a disk. The exhibit is completely educational and makes many connections to the real world. I would use this to close a year in science, probably right after a unit on weather where students have studied all of the aspects of weather for at least one month. The exhibit is an awesome way for them to see what changes in weather and climate can do, and how exactly they do it. Some parts of the exhibit put a student in they eye of the storm! I had never heard of this place before but I would love to go! .

In this activity, students create a nonfiction windsock about rain (or anything, really!). First, students draw a diagram of rain. Then, because nonfiction text includes labels, students label 3 different colored strips of streamer paper with facts about rain. On the fourth label, they write a story about rain from their lives, on the fifth strip they write about how rain affects the environment, and on the sixth they write about a nonfiction book they have recently read. I love this activity because each child makes his/her own windsock and it is a cross-curricular activity....weather and nonfiction! I would use this activity in my class as a cross-curricular activity to teach about nonfiction and weather.

This page is interactive. The students can learn more about the weather topics they would like to know more about. It is user friendly and colorful.

This resource gives a thorough description how clouds are formed and gives details and pictures about the many different kinds there are. I chose this resource because it is colorful and attentive as well as using appropriate vocabulary, which makes it valuable. I envision using this resource as the basis for an online scavenger hunt where students would learn more about clouds.

This page is easy to navigate and could be used the first day of the lesson to get students interested in the topic. It briefly covers the basics of weather.

This website is an interactive website that looks at climate through videos, games and articles. It focuses on how climate and weather affect land, water, and animals. I chose this website because there were a lot of cool pictures and activities I thought would be fun for my students. It also has a section that helps educators build lesson plans that align with NGSS, which I think is a valuable asset. It stated that it was geared toward upper elementary, but while looking through it I felt any student, Kindergarten and up, would benefit.

Pinterest is a wonderful blog site for almost anything, including future teachers. This is a weather experiment that has students understand how rain comes through a cloud. Fill the cup with water. Put shaving cream on top for a cloud. Explain that when clouds get really heavy with water, it rains! Then put blue food coloring on top of the cloud, and watch it rain. Students would enjoy this hands-on experiment and help them to raise questions about weather.

Students will conduct a series of experiments in pairs through which they will explore the processes and effects of weathering and erosion. Using the results from these explorations, they will design and conduct an experiment comparing the rate of erosion in different biomes. This activity not only allows students to learn about weathering and erosion, but also illustrates how scientists often use the results of one experiment to inspire another and/or use initial observations to inform a hypothesis. I think that students would enjoy this quality lesson.

Students will make their own weather station, consisting of several home-made versions of real weather measurement equipment and use that equipment to make observations about the local weather. This is activity is good for the students to gather data and use that data to reach a conclusion.

This page is not for student use, it is simply ideas for field trips dealing with weather. I personally like the visiting a new station one. It is practical application

This website provides procedures for creating static electricity using a variety of materials. The lesson also provides objectives and suggestions for "gearing up." The procedures are geared towards 6th and 8th graders but I can do the challenging demonstrations and just have my students observe. I like this lesson because it provides a variety of activities to show students how static electricity is made. There are activities provided in this lesson that would be appropriate for elementary students, and I will modify this lesson for my elementary students accordingly.

This site provides everything from objectives to assessment strategies and also lists related books and links for more information.

Karen Pavlik discusses an inquiry-based lesson for an elementary weather unit. The students will predict which thermometer will have a higher temperature, one in a white sleeve or one in a black sleeve, and record their findings. I like this experiment because something is being tested, yet it has such a simple design. If I were to give this lesson, I would do a single experiment as a class, with one thermometer in a white sleeve and one in a black sleeve. I would allow students to write down their individual predictions beforehand regarding which, if either, would show a higher temperature after being left in the sun. I still remember a similar scenario from my early childhood years. One of my "alternate conceptions" was that darker would be cooler because shade is cooler. This lesson opens the door for further student inquiry and extensions to the lesson, such as testing different colors beyond just black and white.

As technology in schools continues to advance, teachers must be on the lookout for ways to integrate new technology into the classroom. This website overviews 30 science apps for IPad covering topics such as physics, chemistry, anatomy, geology, weather and the solar system among many others. Most are free, but some charge a small fee and would be suited to many grade levels, at least grades 3-12. I would use to introduce or supplement a lesson, but could also see this as a treat for kids ready to work ahead.

summary, evaluation, potential use