TOPIC The Changing Weather

SKILL FOCUS • Identify various kinds of weather

• Describe the role of the wind in determining weather

• Describe some of the changes that can occur from day to day in the
weather

CROSS- CURRICULAR Developing thinking

COMPETENCIES
• thinking and learning contextually
• thinking and learning creatively
• thinking and learning critically
Developing literacies

• constructing knowledge related to various literacies

• exploring and interpreting the world through various literacies
expressing understanding and communicating meaning using various
literacies
OUTCOMES DS1.1 Compare and represent daily and seasonal changes of natural
phenomena through observing, measuring, sequencing, and recording.

INDICATORS • Pose questions about changes in natural phenomena (e.g., sunlight,

temperature, humidity, and cloud cover) in their environment over the
course of a day and a year.
• Sequence or group objects, materials, and events according to one or more
attributes related to daily and/or seasonal changes (e.g., group pictures by
season, sequence activities according to time of day, group clothing items
by season, and sequence stages of garden growth).

MATERIALS • Chalkboard or chart paper

• Chalk or marker
• Seasonal weather pictures (cold winter day, rainy summer day, etc.)
• Sorting chart
• Sorting pictures (weather, and weather related items)
• Glue
• Colouring materials
GRADE LEVEL One

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION DURATION

Set • List the following words on the chalkboard: clear, gusty, freezing, 10 minutes
foggy, drizzle, gloomy, bright, and gray.

• Read the words aloud with the children.

• Tell them that these words describe different kinds of weather.

• Ask: What kind of day does each of these words describe?

• Go through each word and write the students ideas on the board with
each focus word.

Development • Read: There are many kinds of weather. Weather is always 15 minutes
changing. It can be warm or cold. It can be wet or dry.
 Weather Sorting Chart

Rainy Sunny Snowy

TOPIC The Changing Weather II
SKILL FOCUS • Identify various kinds of weather

• Describe the role of the wind in determining weather

• Describe some of the changes that can occur from day to day in the
weather

CROSS- CURRICULAR Developing thinking

COMPETENCIES
• thinking and learning contextually
• thinking and learning creatively
• thinking and learning critically
Developing literacies

• constructing knowledge related to various literacies

• exploring and interpreting the world through various literacies
expressing understanding and communicating meaning using various
literacies
OUTCOMES DS1.1 Compare and represent daily and seasonal changes of natural
phenomena through observing, measuring, sequencing, and recording.

INDICATORS • Pose questions about changes in natural phenomena (e.g., sunlight,

temperature, humidity, and cloud cover) in their environment over the
course of a day and a year.
• Use a variety of tools (e.g., rain gauge, thermometer, and wind vane) and
techniques (e.g., chart, diagram, and table) to record changes in weather
conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, wind direction and strength, and
amount and type of precipitation) that occur in daily and seasonal cycles.
• Communicate observations about daily and seasonal changes using
vocabulary such as days of the week, seasons of the year, today, tomorrow,
tonight, morning, afternoon, evening, and night.

MATERIALS • Chalkboard or chart paper

• Chalk or marker
• Paper plates
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Paper arrow
• Brass split tack/brad
• Colouring materials
GRADE LEVEL One

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION DURATION

Set • Review different words to describe weather (from previous lesson). 10 minutes

• Write these words on the board.

• Ask: What is the weather like today?

• Ask: Do you think we can predict the weather for tomorrow?

How?

Development • Have the students make a weather clock. 30 minutes

• Ask the students to go to their desks where the will find a paper
plate.
 Weather Clock Example

“Our Daily Weather” Chart

Day Morning Afternoon

Monday
 Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Ask: What kind of weather occurred most often? On what did the weather change? Did one kind
of weather usually follow another?
TOPIC Weather Changes with the Seasons
SKILL FOCUS • Describe the weather changes associated with each season

• Compare seasonal changes in the growing cycle of plants and animals

• Classify objects by season

CROSS- CURRICULAR Developing thinking

COMPETENCIES
• thinking and learning contextually
• thinking and learning creatively
• thinking and learning critically
Developing literacies

• constructing knowledge related to various literacies

• exploring and interpreting the world through various literacies
expressing understanding and communicating meaning using various
literacies
Developing interdependence

•understanding and valuing social, economic, and environmental

interdependence sustainability
OUTCOMES DS1.1 Compare and represent daily and seasonal changes of natural
phenomena through observing, measuring, sequencing, and recording.

DS1.2 Inquire into the ways in which plants, animals, and humans adapt to
daily and seasonal changes by changing their appearance, behaviour, and/or
location.
INDICATORS • Create visual or physical representations of differences in natural
phenomena at different times of the day and/or different times of the year.

• Make predictions about plant, animal, and human adaptations to daily and
seasonal changes based on observed patterns (e.g., some animals will
migrate at particular times of the year, humans will wear mitts and scarves
in winter, and some birds will disappear in winter).

• Pose new questions based on what was learned about plant, animal, and
human adaptations to daily and seasonal changes.

MATERIALS • Chalkboard or chart paper

• Chalk or marker
• Globe worksheets
• Pencil or marker
• Globe
• Flashlight
• Large enough space for class circle

GRADE LEVEL One

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION DURATION

Set • Read: “The Reasons for the Seasons” by Gail Gibbons 10 minutes

• Ask: Why do the seasons? What else changes with the seasons?
(weather, temperature)

• Conduct an activity with the students to show how the seasons

change and why the weather changes with the seasons.

• Arrange students into a large circle.

Introduction Activity Diagram
TOPIC How the Seasons Affect People’s Lives
SKILL FOCUS • Identify the different kinds of clothing that people wear in different
seasons.

• Identify different kinds of activities that people do in different seasons.

• Compare the weather in the same season in a place where there are
great seasonal differences with the weather in a place where there are
few seasonal differences.

CROSS- CURRICULAR Developing thinking

COMPETENCIES
• thinking and learning contextually
• thinking and learning creatively
• thinking and learning critically
Developing literacies

• constructing knowledge related to various literacies

• exploring and interpreting the world through various literacies
expressing understanding and communicating meaning using various
literacies
Developing interdependence

• understanding and valuing social, economic, and environmental

interdependence sustainability
OUTCOMES DS1.2 Inquire into the ways in which plants, animals, and humans adapt to
daily and seasonal changes by changing their appearance, behaviour, and/or
location.

INDICATORS • Describe ways in which humans prepare to adapt to daily and seasonal
changes (e.g., characteristics of clothing worn in different seasons,
movement patterns of First Nations to follow animal migration, and
features of buildings that keep people warm and dry).

• Construct representations of plant, animal, and human adaptations to daily

and seasonal changes (e.g., humans wear different clothes, some plants
lose their leaves in winter, some animals change colour, and some birds
migrate).

MATERIALS • Story book

• Pictures

• Hangers

• String

• Crayons

• Construction paper

• Seasonal items/pictures

• Tape

GRADE LEVEL One

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION DURATION

Set • Read: “All Around the Seasons” by Barney Saltzberg 20 minutes

• Have the students describe some of the things they like to do in each
season.

• Ask: What season do you like best? Why?

• Show the students picture of people in different clothing. (dressing

for the seasons)

• Ask: What clothing are the children wearing in each picture?

What activities are the children doing in each picture? How do
their clothes and activities give you clues as to what season it is?
(we choose our clothes and activities so that they are suited to the
 season and the weather of that season).

Development • Have the students make season hangers/mobiles. 20 minutes

• Have pictures/items of types of clothing, activities, and weather for

the students to choose to hang from their project.

• Assign each student a different season

• One hanger with their name, season, and 3 strings tied to it will be
given to each child.

• Allow time to work. Assist with hanging the items onto the mobile.

Closure • When the children are finished, have them present their season 10 minutes
hangers.

• Allow them time to explain their season and why they have chosen to
put each specific item onto their hanger.

• Review the differences between the seasons in weather, activities,

clothing, etc.

ASSESSMENT Observation checklist. Are the students interested in the topic? Are they able
to choose seasonal objects? Do they understand the difference between the
seasons?

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

REFLECTION
NOTES
COMMENTS
TOPIC States: Liquid to Solid
SKILL FOCUS • Observe the change in state from liquid to solid.

• Observe and learn the affects temperature has on materials.

CROSS- CURRICULAR Developing thinking

COMPETENCIES
• thinking and learning contextually
• thinking and learning creatively
• thinking and learning critically
Developing literacies

• constructing knowledge related to various literacies

• exploring and interpreting the world through various literacies
• expressing understanding and communicating meaning using various
literacies
Developing interdependence

• understanding and valuing social, economic, and environmental

interdependence sustainability
OUTCOMES OM1.1 Investigate observable characteristics and uses of natural and constructed
objects and materials in their environment.
DS1.1 Compare and represent daily and seasonal changes of natural phenomena
through observing, measuring, sequencing, and recording.
INDICATORS • Compare the properties (e.g., texture, colour, smell, hardness, and lustre) of
materials that appear in familiar natural (e.g., tree, lawn, rock, and creek)
and constructed (e.g., clothing, toys, electronics, furniture, and buildings)
objects.

• Pose questions about changes in natural phenomena (e.g., sunlight,

temperature, humidity, and cloud cover) in their environment over the
course of a day and a year.
MATERIALS • Half and half

• Sugar

• Vanilla extract

• Ice

• Rock salt

• Large zip-lock freezer bags and small sandwich bags

• Measuring utensils

• Plastic spoons

GRADE LEVEL One

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION DURATION

Set • Discuss each students’ favourite ice cream. 10 minutes

• What is ice cream like? What is the texture like?
• What happens to ice cream when it gets warm?
• Discuss the science behind ice cream. (When the
molecules get warm their spread apart and the ice cream
melts. When things freeze, the molecules get really
close together and move real slow).
• Ask: Do you think we can make our own ice cream?
How long do you think it will take?

Development • Fill the large freezer bag with ice. 30 minutes

• Add a couple tablespoons of rock salt.

• In the small sandwich bag, put one cup of half and half, 4
teaspoons of sugar and a dash of vanilla.

• Seal the small bag and place it inside of the larger bag.

• Seal the large bag.

• For about 10 minutes shake and mix around the cream inside
of the ice and salt mixture.

• Ice cream should form after about 10-15 minutes.

 Closure • Review observations of the cream. What happened to it?

• Discuss why we were able to create ice cream in such a short

period. Discuss what the salt does.

ASSESSMENT Observe the students’ participation during discussion and activity. Can the
students use utensils to measure properly? Are the students making discoveries
and observations?

SAFETY
CONSIDERATIONS

REFLECTION
NOTES
COMMENTS