How’s the weather where you are? Teaching elementary school students about weather can be exciting. As we teach, we also learn. We learn about the students, ourselves and what we are teaching.
Not many people are aware of statistics that may not affect them. Such as, that the lightning capital of the world is in Florida. So, to assist our children in becoming aware of statistics that may affect them now or in the future, we can have them work on a project about statistics.
A large white poster-board could be used to compare the area with the most lightning strikes to the area with the least. On the board, the student could include other important facts. Where are the most tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and other weather related phenomena? Next to each fact for the most, the student could include information on the area of the least activity.
Another area of weather is cloud formations. On any given day, all of us see clouds. But though some of us may know each kind from when we went to school, our students may not. A mobile could be made of construction paper and a clothes hanger. Each kind of cloud would be cut from the paper, labeled and hung with sewing thread or fishing line to the hanger. Some clouds are naturally higher and these could be hung with shorter thread or line. And those clouds that hang low would have longer lines. Coloring could be added for rain in the clouds.
Where does rain begin? And where does snow originate? What’s the difference in snow and sleet? A project could be assigned in which the student would show where each form of precipitation begins, how it’s formed, how it’s different from the others and how weathermen predict it.
We can ask, where is the hottest place on earth? What is the over-all weather there? How does the heat affect the growth of plant life and animals? What is the coldest place on earth? What is the over-all weather there? How does the cold affect the plant and animal life? Again, poster board could be used, along with construction paper to illustrate the extremes in temperature with cut-outs of which animals survive the heat and cold.
These are just a few ideas to make a beginning for the elementary school student in learning about something that effects all of us. And something we all use in conversation every day. So, how’s the weather where you are?
