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This site explains thunderstorms and elements related to thunderstorms in a kid-friendly way. I would use this site in my classroom to enhance understanding about storms, especially if I taught in this area where thunderstorms are so prominent.

This is a fun activity that will show students the process of rain. They will take a glass of water, place shaving cream on top to represent the clouds, and drop food coloring through the "clouds" to depict rain. The lesson is also partnered with a book about clouds that describes each different type of cloud. I chose this resource because it will be something the students can get excited about while also being able to watch exactly what it looks like when rain comes out of the clouds. I would use this resource when introducing photosynthesis.

This is a quick and easy science experiment on what happens when it rains. This would be a good experiment to do after a lesson or two on rain or clouds. It shows how the "clouds" (shaving cream) get heavy with water and causes "rain" (blue food coloring) to fall. I would use this in my classroom because it's cheap, quick, and easy. Shaving cream is always a big hit in the elementary classroom!!

This is an experiment for younger students to help get an understanding of how and why it rains. In this experiment, by using a glass jar, hot water, a bowl with holes, and ice, students will be able to visually see the process of rain. I chose this experiment because students will be able to form their own ideas by watching the "rain" before we have a whole group discussion. I will use this in the classroom while teaching the students about weather, specifically rain.

Join the Saint Louis Astronomical Society as the host public star parties at the Science Center on the first Friday of each Month! This resource is an excellent, not-to-mention free, field trip opportunity for students to get up close and personal with our solar system. This weather permitting event is open to the public and allows the student to visually explore the stars through telescopes while also having the opportunity to ask the St. Louis Astronomical Society any questions they may have. This field trip opportunity, if not allowed to travel as a class, is a great resource to share with parents to extend their students learning process. In addition, this website includes nightly sky updates that can be shown via a projector in class, as well as, Astronomy facts of the day.The Saint Louis Science Center would prove to be a great field trip experience during my planet or constellation lessons.

This is a diagram that explains the water cycle and gives definitions on words pertaining to the water cycle. I would use this in my future classroom to give my students a visual to help better their understanding.

This activity shows how a cloud makes rain. For this activity you fill up a jar most of the way with water. Top the water with shaving cream. Drip food coloring into the shaving cream until eventually it fills up and starts dripping through the shaving cream. I chose this activity because there are a few simple items needed, shaving cream, water, jar, food coloring which could be found around the home and would be interesting for children. This would help simplify the understanding of clouds producing rain for young children. This activity can be used during the studying clouds/weather I would use during the lesson while explaining how clouds make rain for a visual.

This lesson is so simple and adorable! It's about teaching students the types of clouds and precipitation. It gives a very simple and eye friendly teacher outline for the types of clouds and directions for a demonstration. I think this project could be taken down or up a few notches to match the age group someone was teaching. It's a very wonderful lesson for active and visual learners. It provides a bit of hands on involvement and visual demonstrations about rain fall. I would use this lesson to teach to my class as a whole, but I would love to put my student's into groups to do the experiment. I think it would be a good time for them to practice the scientific process that we would've previously discussed, by allowing them to think critically and predict what would happen to the food coloring droplets and so on.

This activity is a great introduction or addition to learning about the rock cycle. By using chocolate, you can show students the difference between weathered, heated, cooled, and compressed rock. The students can use bars of chocolate to create "sedimentary," "metamorphic," and "igneous" chocolate. This is a simple way to effectively show students the difference between the types of rock. The hands-on approach will aid in the students seeing firsthand what the differences look like. It aligns with NGSS focused on the rock formation and cycle, as well as, the geosphere.

How sweet is this activity? It's an introduction to the rock cycle using chocolate! Chocolate can be ground into small particles (weathered), heated, cooled, and compressed - just like rocks. Unlike rocks, chocolate can undergo these processes safely and at reasonable temperatures. Use your chocolate to create "sedimentary," "metamorphic," and "igneous" chocolate. I chose this lesson because it is a great way to get the class focused during a not so exciting topic, not to mention chocolate is my favorite thing on the entire world. I think the chocolate creations are perfect representations of the changing rock, and would allow students to understand the rock changing process easily by using visuals. I would introduce this lesson in an earth science unit as a good tool to show the three stages of rock, and to get the class hooked and ready to discuss the different phases. I would also enjoy making these three phases at home because I am sure there would be lots of left overs!

In this activity you need a flashlight, A transparent container with flat parallel sides, and 250 milliliters (1 cup) of milk. There will be water in the container. Gradually as you experiment you will add more milk to the water. The water acts as the day time sky, the milk acts as the clouds, and the flashlight is the sun. As you add more milk it gives of the appearance of a more cloudy sky. The cloudier you make it the more orange the light will get. Basically the sun sets as you fill the container with more and more milk. I think this is an awesome idea. I have never seen this done before but I would have been amassed as a student to see this. it fits great with a weather lesson, a light lesson, or a lesson about clouds and cloud types. Depending on have advanced your students are you could probably ask them to give you examples of the cloud cover that might be present as you continue to pour in the milk. This is another good observation and journal point in class. Maybe you don't tell them right away what it is supposed to look like and you have them tell you instead. You could discuss how as clouds get thicker less light passes through and introduce terms such as transparent and translucent. Whether you tell them what it is or not it is a great connection to make with students. This is something that literally happens every day in their own lives. maybe you could have them go home with journals and compare the real sunset to the one you made in class today.

I found this and thought it would pair well with the Clouds in Jars I posted earlier. Both these activities could be used as part of a center day during a unit about weather. This page includes two experiments on how to create lightning. The first one sounds kind of involved and from what I read it did not have great results. I would probably used the second one. All the students would need would be a balloon and a metal spoon and, depending on the age of the students, they would only need minimal supervision. The students would be creating static electricity by rubbing the balloon on their hair and then touching the spoon to the balloon. This is really cool and really simple. This could also serve as a filler activity on a day when you need something quick to fill up some time. I could also see this activity being used during a unit on electricity as well. I would probably use this activity with students between kindergarten and third grade.

For this activity, ask the students what they think will happen if you heat a bar of ivory soap in the microwave. Make a graph of their predictions on the smartboard. Then heat the bar of ivory soap in the microwave for one minute. After you show the students what happened to the soap. Allow them to hold pieces of the "cloud" and make observations about texture and why they think the soap formed into a cloud. I chose this activity because this teacher also has a unit on weather connected to this activity that includes daily weather observations, non-fiction passages and writing organizers.

Who knew!? Very cool and surprising outcome. I am a little concerned that this activity might lead students away from true understanding of the formation of clouds, though. What do you think?

This is the type of lesson I would do with my students before we take a field trip to the zoo. I would have them describe different animals. Do they have two or four feet, do they fly, and do they prefer cold or warm weather. I would have my students have group discussions and write down our thoughts. After our field trip, we would come back to the thoughts we wrote down and compare them to what we thought. We can then go deeper into the study and find if certain animals are carnivores or herbivores and where animals such as a zebra or giraffe might be found.

This video was a very child friendly video explaining why we have seasons. This video would be a great resource for the students. I could show the students this video after we have discussed what the four seasons are and the characteristics of each. This would be a great lead in to explaining why we have seasons. I could show this to the students as a whole class or make this another center. The video also has a quiz, questions, and a section to learn more about the seasons at the end of it. This makes this video even better.

I found this while I was looking for a suitable experiment that might involve snacks. This activity has students constructing a "solar oven" out of an old pizza box, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and newspaper. The idea behind this is that students can harness the ultraviolet energy provided by the sun to make an oven that will cook food. The experiment had the students cook s'mores, but it is also possible to cook a hot dog. I selected this resource because I was looking for a fun but relevant activity that would include snacks; this way, students can learn a lesson about the sun and the energy it provides while staying engaged with the promise of a snack afterward. I would use this as part of a lesson on the sun and energy, and would probably use it closer to the end of the school year, as the weather warms up and students are looking forward to summer activities.

This is an interactive website that explains in a kid-friendly way what causes the seasons and how we measure temperature. There are also related games on the website for students to play. I would use this website in my future classroom to explain how seasons work and reinforce those concepts through the games provided.

This is a lesson plan over clouds and what they are made of. It involves activities for the students during the lesson and includes a worksheet that also incorporates math. I would use this lesson in my classroom as an introduction lesson to clouds because I feel that it would really grab the students' attention and curiosity.

I will use this video in my lesson about lightning and static electricity. I really like this video because a meteorologist answers questions asked by elementary students about lightning. I think my elementary students will enjoy it because young students like themselves are featured in the video.

This hand-on activity is great for opening up discussion about snow, where it comes from, and what it is. The teacher will put various ingredients in a jar and then add an alma-seltzer tablet to "start the storm." Students will love watching the storm and their minds will be engaged for discussion. I would use this in my class as a "mind-engager" and as a discussion opener.

In this activity, students completely build a habitat. They choose the weather, who lives there, vegetation, etc. The game has a compatibility meter that tells them how close they are to building the perfect habitat. I chose this resource because the game tells the student when they are doing well, or if the conditions are not working together. I would use this as a part of a lesson about biology and wildlife.

This resource describes how to make a rain gauge. This resource is valuable because it is a hands-on activity that will help students not only observe rain patterns, but will also help them to chart them. I would have my students make these in groups and we would then chart the rain fall over the course of the unit.

This is an experiment for students to make their own rain gauge. I would use this in my classroom by having each student make their own rain gauge and them placing them in their yards at home. I would try to do this during the spring and rainy season and have students record their measurements after each rain. Students would then compare their measurements with their classmates and determine where the most rain fell.