Here is a list of the students' questions:
Where does the weather come from?
How does it get cold?
How does a rain storm get here?
Where do thunderstorms come from?
What does hail feel like?
Where does the sun come from?
What is the sun made of?
Where do clouds come from?
What is the Earth made out of?
Where does the rain come from?
While we didn't answer every question, we did have the opportunity to discuss several. Over the course of a few weeks the children learned about clouds, rain, the water cycle, wind, and snow.
First we discussed what we observed about the clouds outside. I read a book describing that clouds are made of tiny water droplets. The children made each of three cloud types; cirrus, cumulus and stratus, out of cotton balls. We then read the book Little Cloud by Eric Carle and discussed how sometimes when we look up at clouds they might remind us of something else. The children then took white paint, put it on blue construction paper and folded the paper in half. Upon opening the paper, the children described what their paint or "cloud" looked like.
We next discussed the water cycle. We first talked about where water can be found (oceans, lakes, rivers, streams). Then I read a book describing how clouds are formed from tiny droplets of water. The book went on to explain that when clouds get too heavy with water they rain, snow, sleet or hail and this water goes back into the oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. The children conducted an experiment in which I filled a jar halfway with water and then put shaving cream on top. The water represented the sky while the shaving cream was a cloud. The children then used droppers to add colored water to the cloud until it became so heavy that it rained into the jar.
The students created rain paintings using spray bottles and paint.
At the sensory table students investigated different materials to make rain such as sponges, watering cans, containers with holes, pipettess, turkey basters, and strainers.
The children used playdoh to create different types of weather.
One of our games to practice number recognition and counting was Weather Stew. The children took a recipe card and added the correct number of ingredients (rain drops, suns, clouds, lightening) to their bowl and then stirred the stew.
Another game practiced turn taking skills and weather identification.
In the dramatic play area students pretended to conduct a weather forecast. Roles included camera person, meteorologist and newscasters. The newscasters introduced the meteorologist who then reported the seven day forecast. Newscasters also suggested types of clothing for the weather and sometimes dressed in the attire suitable for the forecasted weather.
Our study of wind included two activities. The first was a science investigation called "What Does the Wind Blow"? The children tested different classroom items to determine if they would blow in the wind. After making a prediction, the children attempted to blow each item across the table.
Next, we created paper bag kites. The children decorated their kites and then we attempted to fly them on a not-so-windy day.
We said goodbye to Miss Melissa this month. While everyone was sad to see her go, we are excited for her and her growing family.
Our all-school assembly was fantastic! There were songs all about kindness, even one written by Memorial's first graders. The children were engaged and many of them volunteered to dance in front of the audience.
Academic skills that were integrated into our Weather study included syllables, shapes, sharing, letter writing, counting, and number recognition.
