All About Weather!
Resource:
This year has created various difficulties and challenges for all families due to the Coronavirus. Although we are learning to adjust to these changes, there are positive impacts this pandemic has brought, like spending more time with family, going outside, and finding new hobbies to take up. School has been a major impact this year because we have moved from face-to-face teaching to a hybrid approach of teaching. We want families to have the opportunity to work with their children and teach them important everyday skills they will need. For example, weather has a major impact on our everyday lives and affects how we feel, dress, and go about our daily schedule. Weather also plays a big factor in understanding current events like California winds, heat and wildfires, Hurricane Harvey, and the effects of Global Warming.
Connections spot’s goal is to provide the adequate materials and resources that all families can use to give their child the proper opportunity to explore and learn. We are excited to share these resources with this community toallow children and parents/ guardians to find what interests them about weather. Weather can be taught and understood across all development ages. The great thing about this community is that children are given the freedom to pick and choose what they want to learn about that truly sparks joy and curiosity.
Not only does weather affect each and everyone of us regardless of where we live, but also what weather means within various cultures. Encourage your child to write questions they may have about weather as well as what weather means across different cultures. They may not know much detail about these factors, but this would be a great place to start to see where your child is at and what may interest them before beginning!
Younger children may be interested twoards rainbows, the sun, rain, thunder and lightning, tornadoes, etc. The Weather WizKids is a fantastic place to start to begin researching what excites your child about weather. You and your child have the opportunity to explore this webpage and discover numerous factors of weather. At home, you can create a web graphic organizer to touch base on all the questions you may ask as you explore.
On The Same Day In March is a great book that families can watch at home to explore what weather is like all around the world on the same day and how it varies from what you and I experience. Read and listen to this story together at home or create a Zoom call with other families and friends to listen together!
The website, Education.com has fun ideas to engage children’s learning about weather. These materials can be gathered at home without going out to purchase anything. This website also showcases activities you and your child can do outside in nature. This is a great way to get everyone outside, enjoy the fresh air, and change of scenery.
A fun activity your child can do at home online is, Dress for the Weather. This game allows the child to pick their puppy and dress the puppy based on the given season. It’s bright, colorful, and teaches children to understand how they should dress for the current or upcoming season.
The importance of weather is crucial for everyone to understand because it has an impact on each and every one of us. How are you approaching weather to your family? Comment here or on one of our social media sites.
Ages(s):
- PreK 3-5 Years (preschool)
- 5 to 6 Years (Kindergarten)
Tags:
- Science
- Current Events
Developer:
- Laurissa Witmoyer
Credit:
(n.d.). Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.abcya.com/games/dress_for_the_weather
Singer, M. (2000). On the Same Day in March. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVRqer_kFtk
Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing. (n.d.). Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://zoom.us/
Weather Activities for Kindergarten. (n.d.). Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.education.com/activity/kindergarten/weather-seasons/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2af-BRDzARIsAIVQUOfhSjItabuNSlqS82BzQKPWMRugKYY933ByH_ric2RxZRep5utJU0caAoEmEALw_wcB
Weather Wiz Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.weatherwizkids.com/
Water Cycle in a Bag
Grade: Preschool, Kindergarten
Age: 3-7
Description: This activity is a fun learning experience for children
to understand and learn more about the water cycle and how it works. Children get to see with their own eyes how water can evaporate and form into vapor and form back into a liquid again.
“water drops” by fox_kiyo is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Tools and Materials:
- Ziplock bag
- Black Sharpie
- ¼ Cup of Water
- Blue food coloring
- Tape
Step by Step Instructions:
- Grab a ziplock bag and witha black sharpie, draw a sun in the upper left corner, a cloud on the right side of the bag towards the middle, and draw water at the bottom of the bag.
- Then fill a small measuring cup with ¼ cup of water,
- In the measuring cup, squeeze 4 drops of blue food coloring into the water.
- Next, slowly pour the water in the ziplock bag.
- Make sure the bag is closed and sealed all the way so no water can come out.
- When the ziplock bag is closed, get two pieces of tape to tape the corner of the bags
- Tape the ziplock bag to a window that gets sunlight, and sit back and watch how it works.
Tags:
- Science
Developer:
- Marissa Paciotti
Credits:
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
- https://connectionspot.org/ on 12/04/2020
- https://www.playdoughtoplato.com/water-cycle-bag/
FOG IN A JAR
Grade: Kindergarten
Age: 5-6 years
“false alarm” by Ozyman is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Description:
The purpose of this experiment is to show students how fog is created.
Tools and Materials:
- Glass jar
- Strainer
- Water
- Ice cubes
Step-by-step instructions:
- Have the teacher or parent fill up the jar full of hot water for about one minute.
- Have the teacher or parent pour out the hot water in a sink until there is only a little bitleft in the jar.
- The teacher or parent must do these first two steps so the child does not hurt themselves on the hot water.
- Grab your strainer and place it over the opening of the jar.
- The strainer will act as a separator to keep the hot and cold apart.
- Place 3-4 ice cubes in the strainer.
- After placing the ice cubes in the strainer, watch the magic!
-The warm air from the hot water and the cold air from the ice cubes collide creating moist air causing the water remaining in the bottom of the jar to condense forming a fog.
Tags:
- Science
Developer:
- Morgan Stone
Credit:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
https://www.weatherwizkids.com/experiments-fog.htm
https://connectionspot.org/ on 12/04/2020