Kindergarten Science Lesson

What is the Weather?

82°F | °C

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Partly Cloudy

Wind: W at 12 mph

Humidity: 54%

88°

66°

86°

70°

86°

73°

84°

66°

 

Objective 

At the end of this lesson the students will be able to:  

Communicate how weather affects people.

Classify objects according to how they are used.

Observe and record weather data using symbols.

Materials 

Copy of the book What Will the Weather Be Like Today? by: Paul Rogers

A bulletin board display upon which weather data may be recorded

A collection of seasonal objects such as mittens, sandals, boots, a raincoat, a beach ball, sunglasses, an umbrella, a scarf, a swimsuit, etc.

One piece of drawing paper for each student

Crayons 

The Lesson

• Engage the children in a discussion of ways in which the weather influences their lives. Ask specific questions that address common weather phenomena of New York, such as: What do you do when it gets cold outside? Do you do different things in winter than in summer? What do you do during a thunderstorm (snowstorm, rainy afternoon)?

• Say: Weather is what the air outside is like; it is always changing.

• Ask: What kind of weather do you like best? (Allow several children to respond. Ask why they like that particular kind of weather.)

• Following the discussion, read What Will the Weather Be Like Today? Discuss how the weather in the book affected the people or animals of the story. Guide children to conclude that weather affects people.

• Display the collection of seasonal items. Hold up each item in turn, and ask the children to identify it. Ask the children to help you categorize the items into different groups. Put all the items used on warm, sunny days in one group. Put all the items used on a cold day in another group. Put all the items used on rainy days in the last group. Discuss how the weather affects the items people use and the clothes they wear.

• Draw the students' attention to the bulletin board you have set up. Explain the symbols you have chosen to represent the daily weather. Select a student to record today's weather on the bulletin board. Explain that just as the weather changes daily, the bulletin board must be changed daily. Tell the children that you will select another student to record the weather for tomorrow. 

The Wrap Up 

Distribute drawing paper to the children. Instruct them to draw a picture of themselves dressed appropriately for warm and sunny weather and performing a warm-weather activity. On the other side of the paper, children should draw a picture of themselves dressed appropriately for cold weather and performing a cold-weather activity. 

Learning Strategies 

The strategies used in this lesson are cooperative and individual. This lesson as a group lets children grasp the idea of the lesson then when they draw the picture how they look in different seasons show if they understand by themselves. 

Resource

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cstone.net/~bcp/K/KMrSci.htm 

Rogers, Paul. What Will the Weather Be Like Today? New York: Greenwillow, 1990.