Jersey City Public Schools

Early Childhood Department

“Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand.”

STEAM: INQUIRY BASED LEARNING

Unit of Study: Weather

By: Lidia De Los Santos

Public School 6

Index It all started when…

Teacher Preparation

Resource Hunt

Study Web

K-W-L Chart

Small Group Activities

Call It A Rap

Photo Opportunity/Documentation Panel

Indoor/Outdoor Activities

Connections

Teachers Helpful Hints

It all started when a child asked a

question or made a statement….

In the box below, please state originating idea and the anecdote to go along with it.

During arrival Maxine said, “It’s raining

outside.”

T: ”Yes it is raining outside.”

M: ”Why does it rain?”

T: ”The weather changes all the time.”

M: ”Why?”

T: ”How about we investigate the weather?”

M: ”Yes, like a scientist.”

TEACHER PREPERATION Materials that are within the classroom:

thermometer

books about weather

cotton

straws

internet access

plates

paper

pencil

crayons

milk carton

construction paper

paint

glue

droppers

Materials that need to be borrowed or bought: Jars

Food coloring

Cotton

Ice

Books

Balloons

RESOURCE HUNT Books

Clouds by Ted O’Hare, copyright 2003 e.guides

It looks like spilt milk by Charles G. Shaw

Weather by John Woodward, copyright 2007

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs by Judy Barret copyright 1978

Eyewitness Hurricane and Tornado, published by DK Publishing Inc. copyright

2000, 2004 Eyewitness Weather, published by DK Publishing, Inc. copyright

1991, 2004, Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll by Franklyn M. Branley, copyright

1964, 1985

Little Cloud by Eric Carle, coyright 1996

The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane, by Joanna Cole, copyright 1995

The Man Who Named the Clouds by Julie Hannah and Joan Holub, copyright

2006 Pickles to Pittsburgh by Judi Barrett, copyright 1997 Rain and Hail by

Franklyn M. Branley, copyright 1963,

Weather and Climate by Rebecca L. Johnson

1983 Storms! By the editors of TIME For Kids, copyright 2006

The Weather Sky by Bruce McMillan copyright 1991

Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons, copyright 1990 What a

Wonderful Day to Be a Cow by Carolyn Lesser, copyright 1995

What Will the Weather Be? By Lynda DeWitt, copyright 1991

Why Is It Windy? By Judith Williams, copyright 2005 Enslow Publishers

The Wind Blew, by: Pat Hutchins

Weather, by: Dona Herwek Rice

Websites

www.cidthesciencekid.org

www.weatherwizkids.com

www.kids.discover.com

http://www.chaseday.com/lightning.htm

http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/ (web weather for kids) Songs

Sun, Rain, Wind, and Snow

The wind blows

Stormy weather

Wind

How’s the weather?

Videos

Weather, Different Seasons, Learn About Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer,

Preschool Activity

Sid the Science Kid on wind

Caillou and the Weather

Bill Nye (The science guy on weather)

Poems

March Wind

Rain Rain

Rainbow Song

The Fog

Thunder and Lightning

Clouds are Floating

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Mr. Sun Parents

www.informedfamilies.org

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/cold-

weather-experiments

Study Web

Creating clouds

Rainbow patterns

Thermometer

experiment

Measuring rain drops

Evaporation

Sorting

Prediction

Rainbows in a room

Making it Rain

Flying kites

Moving like leaves

Cloud Hunt

Wind Parade

Footprints in the snow

Weather

“Will it move?”

“What cloud are you?”

“How’s the weather outside?”

“From solid to liquid to solid”

New words: Climate, Cumulus,

Stratus, Cirrus,

Meteorologist, expand, axis,

prism…

Musical Rainbow Colors

Moving scarves like the wind

Tornado Spins

The wind blows reenactment

Ice skating using wax paper

Small Group

Indoor/Outdoor

Large Group

Message Board

K What do you KNOW?

Camila said, “The weather

mean is cold outside.”

Alexis said, “The weather is

really cold because is windy”

Maxine said, “You need clouds

for it to rain.”

Joshua said, “I know that the

bad wolf blow wind from his

mouth like the weather, and

blew down the straw house,

but not the brick”.

Kendell said, “If the weather

is hot the fan has cold wind.”

Sofia said, “I see rainbows”

Gadiel said, “The sun always

help to grow the plants.”

Harley said, “It’s hot and cold

then a tornado comes.”

W What do you WANT to

know?

“How does this work?”

(pointing at class

thermometer) asked Angelica

“Why does the sun go down?”

asked Jaeliss

“How does the sun shine and

why is it hot?” asked Sofia

“Are clouds made of snow?”

asked Justin

“Why can’t I see rainbows

everyday!” asked Harley

“Where does the water go?”

asked Shreyas

“I wonder why it rains?” said

Maxine

Aubrey asked, “How come the

leaves blow away?”

L What did you LEARN?

“The thermometer is like

magic, it goes up when is hot

and back down when is cold.”

Said Angelica

“Because it spins around the

axis and its night time, then it

comes back and it’s daytime.”

“The sun is a ball of hot gas!”

said Sofia “That’s why is hot,

you can’t touch it!”

“The cloud is made of rain”

said Justin

“I learned how to make a

rainbow in my room by putting

water in a glass and getting

the sun to shine through it in

the window.” Said Harley

I learned that the water go

back up to the cloud it get full

of water, we made it rain in

the classroom because the

cloud got heavy and the rain

went down.” Said Joaquin

“I learned the new words like

climate and meteorologist”

said Maxine

“I learned how to make a kite

fly high! With air pockets!”

said Aubrey

Connections Unit

Study

Standards, COR, and KDI’s that apply

throughout the study Standards 5.1. Children develop inquiry skills

5.2 Children observe and investigate matter and energy

5.3 Children observe and investigate living things.

5.5 Children gain experience in using technology.

RL.PK.1-10 English Language Arts

W.PK.1 Writing

COR BB. Observing and classifying

CC. Experimenting, predicting, and drawing conclusion

DD. Natural and physical world

EE. Tools and technology

W. Data analysis

M. Listening and comprehension

Q. Book enjoyment and knowledge

R. Writing

KDI’s Approaches to learning

Initiative: Children demonstrate initiative as they explore their world.

Planning: Children make plans and follow through on their intentions.

Engagement: Children focus on activities that interest them.

Problem solving: Children solve problems encountered in play.

Use of resources: Children gather information and formulate ideas about their

world.

Reflection: Children reflect on their experiences

Social and Emotional Development

Sense of competence: Children feel they are competent.

Building relationships: Children build relationships with other children and

adults.

Physical Development and Health

Gross-motor skills: Children demonstrate strength, flexibility, balance, and

timing in using their large muscles.

Language, Literacy, and Communication

Comprehension: Children understand language.

Speaking: Children express themselves using language.

Vocabulary: Children understand and use a variety of words and phrases.

Writing: Children write for many different purposes.

English language learning: Children use English and their home language(s)

Mathematics

Measuring: Children measure to describe, compare, and order things.

Unit: Children understand and use the concept of unit.

Data analysis: Children use information about quantity to draw conclusions,

make decisions, and solve problems.

Creative Arts

Art: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel

through two- and three-dimensional art.

Movement: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine,

and feel through movement.

.Science and Technology

Observing: Children observe the materials and processes in their environment.

Classifying: Children classify materials, actions, people, and events.

Experimenting: Children experiment to test their ideas.

Predicting: Children predict what they expect will happen.

Drawing conclusions: Children draw conclusions based on their experiences and

observations.

Communicating ideas: Children communicate their ideas about the

characteristics of things and how they work.

Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and

physical world.

Tools and technology: Children explore and use tools and technology.

Social Studies

Decision making: Children participate in making classroom decisions.

Geography: Children recognize and interpret features and locations in their

environment.

History: Children understand past, present, and future.

Ecology: Children understand the importance of taking care of their

environment.

Small Group: Activity One

How does a thermometer work

Investigate Materials

Objective: 5.4.3 Observe and record weather (e.g., chart temperatures)

5.1.4 Communicate with other children and adults to share observations, pursue

questions, make predictions, and/or conclusions

Materials: Individual thermometers, paper, pencil/crayons

Beginning: The children have their individual materials in bags to work with during

small group (thermometers, writing materials, paper, magnifying glass)

Middle: Using their personal thermometers, teacher will ask children to look for

the number the red line is on and will have them to write their observations on

paper. Teacher will then bring inside the thermometer left outside and walk around

each group and ask the same question. “What number is the red line on?” while

children write findings on paper.

End: Teacher and children will converse about the results. Teacher asks, “What

was the temperature outside? Inside? What was the difference?”

Originating Idea: During work time in the discovery area A. asked, “What is this?” holding a

thermometer T.”It’s called a thermometer.” A.”What is a thermometer?” T.”It tells

the temperature.” A.”What is that red liquid in there.” While pointing. T.”How about

we investigate together?” A.”Yeah!”

Child’s Anecdotes: 1. “The red line is up to top, number seven and zero”

2. “It’s moving, the red liquid is moving up.”

Higher Order Questions to Ask: “Why do you think the red line is moving?”

“How can we make it go down?”

“What’s the temperature like outside the classroom?”

“Why is the temperature different outside than inside?”

Outcome of lesson: Children were able to compare the temperature outside and inside the

classroom.

Children learned how a thermometer works.

Children understand the importance of measuring tools.

Children learned that the weather changes all the time and that we have

four seasons in Jersey City.

Children learned words like “Climate” and understood the job of a

meteorologist.

REFLECTION/SUGGESTIONS:

How to create a thermometer.

First you get a glass jar, preferably a tall

and skinny one.

Then you add water and red food coloring.

Next you make a hole on the top of the lid

and seal the straw with bubble gum. (It’s

cheaper)

Last you place the jar in a bowl of hot water

and watch the red liquid rise to the top of

the straw! (when you remove the jar from

the hot water the red liquid goes back down

the straw) This explains how heat expands

and that’s how the liquid rises.

Children enjoy and learn through visuals

New vocabulary to introduce

Temperature

Barometer

Thermometer

Degrees

Fahrenheit

Celsius

Small Group:Activity Two

3-Dimensional Constructions

Materials Used: book: “The Three Little Pigs” by James Marshall

Empty milk cartons, glue, sticks, straws and brick like paper.

Beginning: Have the students choose which house they would like to build

Have the materials chosen prepared for small group prior to lesson

Children begin building their structures using glue to put together straw,

sticks or bricks.

Middle: Have extra materials in middle of table for children that want to

explore different materials than the one chosen. (Children sometimes change

their minds) Continue to ask questions during the construction time.

Have legos or building blocks available for children having difficulty

constructing their homes.T. asks, “Do you think the wind will blow your home?”

“Why or why not?” as the children build their structures.

End: Children will make predictions as to which home will blow away. Children

will test their constructions by blowing each other’s homes. T. will provide

the blow dryer to continue further testing and using new words such as

“force” Children will then create a chart with the results.

Objective: 4.4.3 (b) Manipulate, compare and discuss the attributes of: three-dimensional

shapes by building with blocks and with other materials having height, width and

depth (e.g., unit blocks, hollow blocks, attribute blocks, boxes, empty food

containers, plastic pipe).

Originating Idea: During arrival, J. brought the book, The Three Little Pigs, and asked, “Can you

read this to me, I love this book.” T.”What part do you love about it?” J.”The

house blowing away, but I make a brick cause it don’t blow you know?”

Child Anecdotes: 1. “I blew the straw real hard and it moved.”

2. “I pick the brick because I know it won’t blow away”

Higher Order Questions to ask: “Which house do you think will blow away?”

“Which house do you think will not blow away?”

“Why didn’t the brick house blow away?”

”What are you using?”

“How high is your structure?”

Outcome of lesson:

Children were able to compare and discuss the attributes of each

other’s structure.

Children were able to make predictions, test them and converse about

the results.

New vocabulary to introduce

Pressure

Force

Tornado

Hurricane

Breeze

Reflections/Suggestions

Milk cartons should be rinsed

and let dry prior to lesson.

Some students chose cereal

bowls for their structures.

Teacher used a blow dryer to

make stronger wind to explore

which houses would blow away

Small Group

Activity Three

Materials Used:

pencils, crayons, rocks, coins, blocks (anything in the classroom was a choice)

Objective:

5.2.4 Investigate how and why things move

Prior to Small Group: Have the students choose objects from the

classroom to investigate what items can move if blown with air. Place

objects in individual bags along with straws of different sizes and paper

and pencil ready for small group prior to activity.

Beginning: Review the items in the bag. State the objective of the lesson.

First the children took the items out of the bag and made predictions. “I

can move the coin.” “The rock is not going to blow.” Children then began

blowing items.

Middle: Allow children to test their predictions. Children said, “Hey, my

rock didn’t move, I was right.” “My pencil rolled” “My coin was sliding, not

rolling.

End: Children drew the items that moved on a chart paper with a happy

face and items that didn’t move on the side that had a sad face. Children

shared and compared each other’s results.

Originating Idea: After testing their homes, J. was in the discovery area during Work Time

using a straw blowing acorns. J.”I can blow the acorns down!” T.”Let’s

investigate what other things we can blow” T. gave children baggies to collect

things found in the room.

Outcome of lesson: Students were able to investigate why and how things moved. Children

made predictions and were able to see the results by experimenting

with movement.

Students created a journal with results of their experiments.

Child Anecdote: 1. “I can blow real hard like the big bad wolf; my rock is going to move.”

2. “Well my crayon is going to move too, it’s going to roll off.”

Reflections/Suggestions

Have different size straws to

compare the air that comes out

the other end.

Choose different size objects

(flat, round, square) to try to

move

New vocabulary to introduce

Whirlwind

Headwind

Higher Order Questions to Ask: “Do you think it will move?”

“Will it slide or roll?”

“Why did it move?”

“Why didn’t it move?”

“How can we make it move?”

Indoor/Outdoor Activities

Activity One: Flying kites

Objective: 5.4.3 Observe and record weather (e.g., chart temperatures or represent

levels of wind by waving scarves outdoors)

5.1.4 Communicate with other children and adults to share observations,

pursue questions, make predictions, and/or conclusions

Materials Used: Tissue paper, Craft sticks, Glue, String or yarn,

Prior to the activity: First the children watched a video on how to make

a paper kite

Beginning: Children had all the materials needed to create their own kites

(see materials used). Review the internet video and the steps on how

kites are made and fly.

Middle: Children are given the opportunity to use the materials to create

their own kites. Remind the children that the kites need air in their air

pockets to fly

End: After making predictions “Will your kite fly?” Model running while

holding the string to the kite. Remind the children to be aware of each

other as to not tangle the kites. The children took their kites out for a

test. Children ran in the playground and watched their kites fly high or

low. When we returned to the classroom, children had discussions of what

they observed and T asked, “Did your kite fly?” If the responses were

“no”, T and S would investigate what went wrong and children were

allowed to make corrections and test their kites the next day.

Originating Idea: While investigating the wind on the internet, the children watched a video by,

Gene Shaw, on how kites fly and A. said, “Oooo can we make a kite fly like a

leaf?”

Outcome of lesson: Students were able to comprehend levels of wind when flying their

kites

Students were able to construct kites for their experiment

Children made predictions and were able to see the results by

experimenting with their kites.

Students were able to understand the importance of “air pockets” in

kites, the air will get stuck in the pocket and make the kite fly higher.

Reflections/Suggestions

Show how the kites are constructed

by using the video found on the

internet

Remind students to make their air

pockets for the kites to fly…the

bigger the air pocket the higher the

kite will fly

New Vocabulary to

introduce

Air pockets

Construct

Hot air balloon

Prediction

Higher Order Questions to ask: “Did your kite fly?”

“How high did it go?”

“Do you need wind for the kite to move?”

“Did your kite go fast or slow?”

Child Anecdotes: 1. “I made a letter x just like the computer guy, it’s gonna work!”

2. “My kite has a air pocket, that means it going to fly high.”

Indoor/Outdoor Activities

Activity Two

Objective: 2.4.1 Develop and refine gross-motor skills (e.g., hopping, galloping, jumping)

4.1.6 Compare groups of up to 5 objects (e.g., beginning to use terms such as

more, less, same).

Materials Used: Different color leaves, paper bags, chart paper

Children will be able to collect materials to prepare for their lesson

Beginning: Children will be given brown bags to collect different color

leaves. Children collected leaves outside.

Middle: Back in the classroom, baskets were placed on the tables.

Children were able to sort their leaves into the baskets according to the

different colors.

End: The teacher created a graph chart where children began placing the

leaves found according to its color. T. asked questions like “Which color

leaf has more, less, same?” at the end of the sorting.

Originating Idea: During arrival, R. walked in and said, “Look, I found a leaf.” T.”Wow, what

color is your leaf?” R.”Yellow” other children began to say, “I want to get a

leaf to!” T.”How about we go collect leaves during small group?” Children

responded, “Yeah!”

Higher Order Questions to ask: “How are you moving?”

“How do leaves move?”

“What sound does the wind make?”

“Which color leaves has more? Less? Is the same?”

“Can you sort them out?”

Reflections/Suggestions

Have a large paper with lines

ready to sort out the leaves

You can use color bean bags

or color construction paper

to sort the leaves

Have children sort the leaves

out in a basket in the

classroom

Then call out the color and

have children lay the leaves

under each column

Children will then count each

column and answer the

questions, “Which color leave

has more, less or is the

same?”

New Vocabulary to introduce

Compare groups

More

Less

Same

Chart

Graph

Child Anecdotes: 1. “I found three yellow leaves and one green, it’s more than the green one”

2. “I counted four red leaves when I was outside”

3. “I was flying like the leaves around and around outside”

PHOTO OP

Watching the red liquid move up the straw was

very exciting for the children to see!

“Will it move?” “I can blow it” were some of the

conversations the children had. “I’m the big bad

wolf and I’ll blow this rock.” This anecdote

brought us into the story of the three little pigs.

The students walked around the room finding

things to blow away after small group.

It was a lot of fun.

Building structures made for a lot of good

problem solving moments.

The internet is a very good resource for

creating more learning opportunities.

Our kites are very for flight!

Outdoor time was especially fun today

because we tested our kites. Did they fly?

This is the graph the children used to sort the

leaves and compare and contrast.

They enjoy collecting data for their research

Outdoor time was especially fun when pretending

to be leaves.

Numbers Plus has a lot of great math activities

This lesson was amended by having students circle 10

drops, and then we learned how to count by ten!

We created an indoor cloud and made it rain

by adding drops of water and asking, “How

many drops will make your cloud rain?”

We brought snow in and measured it, then

watched it melt away from solid to liquid.

During Work Time, the students enjoyed feeling the

snow in the water table creating “Ephemeral Art”

Even when it stopped snowing outside, we made

snow inside!

Project Supplies for a Single Batch of Play Snow:

2 – 16 oz. boxes of Cornstarch

1 can of shaving cream

Silver Glitter (optional)

Water Cycle in a bag

Getting Ready I grabbed a Ziploc sandwich bag and used a black Sharpie to draw

a sun, cloud and water. Then I filled a small measuring cup with 1/4

cup of water and pulled out blue food coloring.

The Science Behind It Since the Earth has a limited amount of water, it has to

change around and around in something called the water

cycle.

Over the next few days, the children saw the water warm in

the sunlight and evaporate into vapor. As that vapor

cooled, it began changing back into

liquid {condensating} just like a cloud. And when enough

water condensated, the air couldn’t hold it anymore and

the water fell down in the form of precipitation.

In the real water cycle, rain, sleet or snow might land in a

body of water like a river or ocean. But it also might fall on

dirt where it soaks into the soil and either becomes ground

water that animals and plants drink or it runs over the soil

and falls into rivers, oceans or lakes {aka collection}

Using a Prism to create indoor rainbows

During work time the children continued learning and talking about the

weather. Here, two of my students made rainbows using table toys.

Call It A Rap!

Students First Name Students Response (KWL)

1. Angelica “The thermometer has a seed and makes it grow up.”

2. Jacob “Why does the red thing go back down?”

3.Christopher “I saw the red liquid go up when it was in the hot

water.”

4. David “The clouds are made of fluffy stuff.”

5.Brandon “Why do clouds turn dark?”

6.Maxine “I learned that the fluffy cloud is called Cumulus and it

is full of water, that’s why it rains sometimes.”

7.Sofia “The rain goes to the oceans and the beach”

8. Brian “Rainbows hide and go away.”

9.Elani “What are all the rainbow colors?”

10.Wilfri “Why can’t I touch a rainbow?”

11.Ayush “When the rain comes down the colors come out.”

12.Maui “We made a rainbow in the classroom with a prism, I

saw it in the ceiling.”

13.Joaquin “Mrs. De Los Santos has a rainbow doll called Roy G. Biv

that’s the colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow,

green, blue, indigo and violet!”

14.Isaac “The snow felt really cold that’s why you need gloves.”

15.Harley “Clouds are very fluffy, I made my favorite cloud with

cotton balls is the cumulus cloud.”

Teacher’s Helpful Hints

To all my colleagues reading this unit, you will see a lot of

helpful hints throughout the study and attached to the photos.

I would also advise you to go on to “Google Plus” where you

will find more helpful lessons and great activities from other

colleagues and internet resources.

I especially love creating hands on activities where the

students feel like inventors, builders, scientist and explorers. This

study continued throughout the year and the weather is such

a great interest.

Last, let’s not forget “Powerful Interactions” Be present,

connect with the children, this allows them to feel safe and

open to learning. Also, extend learning, make use of the

connections with your students and this will stretch their

thinking skills and language just a little bit more. If you have

any questions or would like help with some of the lessons shown

here or any ideas please feel free to contact me @

prek4teacher@gmail.com

Thank you and enjoy!