Summary Activities including a mix of weather phenomena and how weather is measured. A good selection for younger primaries. Science content Chemistry: States of Matter, Properties of Materials (K-7) Earth/Space: Weather, Seasons, Climate Change (K, 1, 4, 7) Activities in this lesson Temperature measurement Heat sensitive sheets Anemometer Rainbows from light with a CD/prism/cut glass/scratched plastic Tornado in a bottle Wind vane Frost and dew Static electricity sparks and lightning model Procedure Choose three or four activities to do in turn as a class, or as stations. Start by brainstorming different kinds of weather and write on a board. Then tell students they will be exploring some of them, and explain the stations to them before they are split into groups. About 6 minutes at each station works well for Ks and grade 1s. Return to the group to review once the stations are complete, and to show photos. My preferred combination for younger primaries: 1. Measuring temperature or heat sensitive sheets. For Ks, sheets are best. They can use their hands to heat it up, and classroom objects to cool it down and make a print. For using thermometers, set up tubs with different water temperatures: hot water, iced water, room temperature water. Students can also measure the air temperature if they are using thermometers. Before using thermometers, practice at the carpet to make sure students find the top of the red line. Kindergarteners watch for whether the red line of the thermometer goes up or down, to state whether what they are measuring is hotter or colder. Older students can read off a number, or approximate number. Discussion: the sheets show whether something is hot or cold - show Ks a thermometer. A thermometer tells us the temperature of something - we use celcius units. We can use tools to measure temperature. 2. Anemometer (measuring wind speed) Students can blow to make them turn, as well as holding them up in a wind. During discussion show a picture of a real anemometer. The faster it turns, the harder the wind is blowing. Real anemometer image: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/anemometer/https://as1.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/04/19/71/50/1000_F_419715035_4BITf2VEDIuUM… 3. Making rainbows Students use the room lights/sun and scratched plastic/DVDs to make a rainbow. During discussion, show images of real rainbows. Real rainbows are made from the sun and drops of rain. Both the plastic (in this activity) and raindrops separate the sun's light into the colours that make up the white light. 4. Tornadoes Use water in plastic bottles to make a pretend tornado. During discussion, show a picture of a real tornado. In a real tornado the wind spins upwards, whereas in the activity the water spins downwards. Tornado image (Manitoba in 2007):https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/F5_tornado_Elie_Man… See other lesson plans focused on Weather phenomena (Kinds of Weather) or Measuring Weather for more ideas. Notes The lightning model only works reliably inside where the air is dry and heated. Grades taught Gr K Gr 1
