Record their forecast and post it on your classroom website or send it to their family to share! 9 ~ Cloud Watching Have your students give their forecast during the morning meeting after they’ve prepared and practiced. Pop a microphone in their hand and a map of your state on your interactive television, projector or draw a map on poster board. Kids can explore some of the tools and instruments a meteorologist might use, track and record the weather (using this free printable from PBS) and then give a weather forecast (they can even compare their observations with this kid-friendly – aka – no reading required – weather report website!). Not every meteorologist is a weather forecaster and not every weather forecaster is a meteorologist, but it is one of the more visible careers for a meteorologist. Having them create their own water cycle will help them understand the process so much better than just hearing or reading about it. By placing the vessel in a sunny place, kids will easily see evidence of the water cycle happening before their very eyes. Use a recycled plastic bottle or a plastic sandwich bag with blue-tinted water to build a miniature model of the water cycle. See whose structure protects the ice best and keeps the cube in the solid-state longest! 7 ~ Water Cycle in Action DIY Then, after they have their plan sketched and detailed, have them gather the materials and put their plan in action. Let your students’ creativity run wild with this activity where the sky is the limit for materials to build their shelter. Look at what else is in the water that melts to explore how the snow forms and why you probably shouldn’t eat that snow – no matter how delicious and ice-creamy it looks!Īnother activity related to the Kindergarten ‘Weather and Climate’ NGSS standards is a fun STEM challenge to build a shelter that will protect an ice cube from the sun and keep it as ice longer than anyone else. Do this with multiple kinds of snow (heavy, wet snow compared to wet, fluffy snow for example). Predict how much water you think the snow will melt into and compare your results to the prediction. Then, bring the gauge inside and let the snowmelt. Another fun activity is to leave the gauge out in the winter if you get snow where you are and measure the amount of snow. Kids have a great time tracking the amount of precipitation daily. Making your own rain gauge is super simple using a ruler, marker, and a recycled plastic bottle. Challenge your students to discover how to make this rainbow, move it around, and experiment with other light sources to make a rainbow. There are loads of ways you can make your own rainbow, but one of the coolest is to explore how to make a rainbow using a mirror, a dish of water, and the sunlight. Rainbows are super trendy, colorful and a fascinating science concept. Plus, when you’re making science tools and using ingredients like rubbing alcohol as you will if you build a thermometer, you can wear a lab coat and protective safety gear like safety goggles and gloves – making you feel extra cool. While this thermometer won’t tell you exact temperatures, it will tell you relative temperatures and kids have a blast making and checking the temperature. With just a few simple ingredients, you can make your own thermometer. You can use these in class, as time-fillers when your students line up faster than expected (I know, I know…when does this ever happen?!) or when you’re waiting for a specials class to start. Whip up some of your own or check out these ten free weather riddles for kids. Kids love riddles and they’re a great way to help them learn vocabulary. I can think of no more delicious and engaging way to explore this than by building a simple pizza box solar oven and cooking up a delicious s’more – all with the energy from the sun! Usually, these would accompany a bonfire, but not when you’re learning about the weather! One of the ‘Weather and Climate’ Next Generation Science Standards for Kindergarten is making observations to determine the effect of sunlight on the earth. Try out these 17 weather activities for the primary classroom if you don’t believe us… and watch your students fall in love. Not to mention that teaching science and social studies has been demonstrated to increase reading test scores (and that’s what it is all about, right?). Let’s investigate the answer.”) – which is beneficial for many reasons. Tell the kids when you don’t know the answer (my favorite response is, “That’s a great question! Scientists use their observation and investigation skills. Don’t shy away from them – just find yourself some great resources and dive in. Science can be really intimidating to teach.
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