| Making
weather stations |
 |
| Type
of Submission: |
|
This
idea is a submission for:
X A curriculum idea
__Cool things to do
__A special issue
|
|
| Age
group for whom this activity is appropriate: |
4-7
year olds
| Brief
description of activity: |
Creating
our own weather instruments that replicate the weather instruments
in the Weather Machine activity in Sammy’s Science House
| What
I did to set this up and how I followed through: |
| I
got this idea from the Edmark Teachers’ Guide. It is
fully described on p. 44, 48 and 49 of the Sammy’s Science
House learning guide. |
| Materials
used: |
| Sammy's
Science House |
| What
the children had to do and what I wanted them to learn: |
- The instructions
for making the wind indicator and rain gauge were very clear
and easy to follow.
- We created
a weather station in our classroom with the daily task of
recording weather information on to our calendar.
| Background:
How I got the idea: |
In
our morning meetings, we always talk about and record information
about the weather. We can tell if it’s sunny or cloudy
but we can’t really "see" if it’s windy
or how much rain there is.
The Weather Machine activity in Sammy is a popular one. I like
how it makes the weather concepts real for kids by combining
them into a weather report that they can watch. I thought that
the idea of measuring wind and rain would also appeal to the
kids. |
|
| Analysis:
How the kids and/or parents responded: |
| The
kids really liked making the instruments for our weather station.
Some kids wanted to make their own at home. I sent home the instructions
that call for very simple materials. The parents reported that it
was a fun activity to do together and that they used their instruments. |
| Extension |
|
If you have
a video camera, you can make a weather show with kids taking turns
being the weather person and giving weather information.
|
| CLICK
HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN PROMISING PRACTICE |
