|
Weather studies
are a way to focus student observations on temperature, plant, and animal
changes beginning with the first time students are outside in the spring.
We teach the weather or temperature lesson in April, but we start collecting air
and soil temperatures in March when we take students outside to plant.
Our gardens
have rain gauges and thermometers for reading by all students. Our
coordinators carry compost thermometers to take the temperature of the first six
inches or so of soil. One garden area also has a barometer and hygrometer
for fourth grade students to study weather instruments and conditions in greater
depth.
We start in
March by making observations about plant growth around us - where is it green -
in the trees or on the ground, about garden animals - what do and don't we see,
about temperature changes in the soil and in the air. The goal is to show
that living things follow different life cycles that depend on soil and air
temperature and the availability of food. Second and fourth grades wrap up
their observations with a graphing activity to answer questions about changes in
soil and air temperature over time.
|
Related lesson plans |
Grade |
When in Our Garden
Cycle |
|
Tracking Animals in Spring -
Students use
animal and temperature observations to understand animal
behavior
as winter changes to spring. |
1 |
March, April |
|
Tracking Temperature and Animals in Spring - Students
collect information about observed animals and temperature to
understand animal
adaptations in different garden
habitats as winter changes to spring.
|
2 |
March, April |
|
Graphing Soil and Air Temperature in Spring - Students use
temperature data collected in spring to create a graph and
answer questions about the data. |
2 |
April |
|
Tracking Animals in Spring - Classification -
Students collect information about
observed
animals and temperature to understand animal
adaptations as winter changes to spring and how scientists
classify animals. |
3 |
March, April |
|
Tracking Weather and Animals in Spring - Students use
weather instruments in our outdoor weather station to take
readings and understand what they mean. Students record
weather, temperature, plant, and garden animal observations to
understand the
impact of weather conditions on plants and animals
as winter changes to spring.
|
4 |
March, April |
|
Weather Forecasting - Students graph temperatures taken in
the spring and use weather instruments to understand forecasting
and to reach conclusions about spring weather.
|
4 |
April |
|
.jpg)