Weather Unit Study | Homeschooling on a Shoestring

The information here is for a wide range of ages, grades K-12, depending on which objectives and activities are selected, so please check first to make sure your choices are appropriate for your own family. New information will be added as time allows. Links to lesson plans and activities here represent materials that can be printed and added to your notebook for this unit.

Learning Objectives:

Many parents and teachers will need to create their own goals. You can compare the goals at these sites to create your own goals depending on how stringent your requirements need to be. All links have several suggested activities for different ages.

Basic Course structure https://www.worldbook.com/free-educational-resources#tcos
Michigan Department of Education https://www.michigan.gov/mde/services/academic-standards
Maine as an example of state level requirements https://www.maine.gov/doe/ela/standards/index.html
California state level requirements https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/
https://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/ National Level
Ontario Canada K-8 Expectations https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/curriculum#elementary
Abeka Scope and Sequence https://www.abeka.com/HomeSchool/ScopeAndSequence.aspx
The series of books called “What your nth Grader needs to know” May also be helpful nth representing the grade your child is in. This series only Goes to grade 8

Appreciate the importance of weather to our daily lives.
Create and present national weather maps showing different conditions.
Create their own terrarium to connect concepts of precipitation, condensation, and evaporation.
Demonstrate ways to avoid injury when conducting science activities.
Explain that water on earth moves in a continuous cycle.
Identify and explain natural cycles of the Earth’s land, water and atmospheric systems (e.g., rock cycle, Water cycle, weather patterns).
Learn about different types of weather maps.
Name and explain the stages of the water cycle.
Understand basic information about weather.

Ask and respond to questions related to oral presentations and messages in small and large group settings.
Become familiar with terms and procedures related to topic.
Create a notebook to demonstrate organizational skills.
Develop listening skills and demonstrate these skills.
Dramatize information learned about topic.
Evaluate information based on prior experiences and newly acquired knowledge.
Exercise critical thinking skills.
Learn to gather and use research information.
Research a variety of documents to obtain knowledge.
Research to come up with a list specific to your child

Bible References:

Look up and compare scriptures at the sites below. In your journal note how the different translations and versions help you to have a fuller understanding of the text.

American Standard Version https://ebible.org/asv/
King James Bible in Mp3 https://www.audiotreasure.com/indexKJV.htm
World English Bible in Mp3 https://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
World Wide Study Bible https://www.ccel.org/wwsb
Free software that will allow you to compare many translations at the same time https://www.e-sword.net/
New World Translation https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/

Write out each scripture in your Journal then comment on how it relates to the unit and what it teaches you.

Psalm 50:3
Matthew 16:2-3
Job 36:29
Ecclesiastes 1:6
Deuteronomy 11:14
1 Samuel 12:18
Jonah 1:4
Mark 4:39

Read in the Bible the story of Noah and the Ark

Blue letter Bible search of “weather” occurs 4 times in 4 verses in the KJV
Page 1 / 1 (Job 37:22 – Mat 16:3)
Job 37:22 Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God [is] terrible majesty.
Pro 25:20 [As] he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, [and as] vinegar upon nitre, so [is] he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
Mat 16:2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, [It will be] fair weather: for the sky is red.
Mat 16:3 And in the morning, [It will be] foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O [ye] hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not [discern] the signs of the times?

Timeline

Important people in Weather research listed by year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorology

Create a Timeline of location and damage of all significant storms.

Vocabulary

cold	warm	front
storm	blizzard	hurricane
tornado	twister	atmospheric pressure
meteorology	atmosphere	flood
drought	water cycle	barometer
anemometer	wind vane	hygrometer
thermometer	cloud	rainbow
rain	lightning	thunder
fog	cirrus	volcano
forecast	nimbus	monsoon
snow	cumulus	avalanche
precipitation	stratus	barometric pressure
condensation

Write the words and their definition on a sheet of paper. Put this paper in your 3 Ring Binder.

Book Resources

Weather on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather Primary text for research. You will also want to use it for creating worksheets with MS-Word and Teachers Pet. Teacher’s Pet is a free download from https://www.teachers-pet.org/.

Weather and the Bible by Donald B. DeYoung

The Handy Weather Answer Book. Walter A. Lyons

Weather Watch Forecasting the Weather by Jonathan D.W. Kahl

Can It Really Rain Frogs? The World’s Strangest Weather Events by Spencer Christian and Antonia Felix

Discovery Channel Weather An Explore Your World Handbook by H. Michael Mogil

Floods by Michael Allaby

How the Earth Works by John Farndon

The Eyewitness Visual Dictionary of the Earth by Martyn Bramwell

Earth Science for Every Kid by Janice VanCleave

Kipper’s Book of Weather by Mick Inkpen https://www.amazon.com/dp/0152022953/?tag=homeschooon08-20

Rain by Robert Kalan https://www.amazon.com/dp/0688104797/?tag=homeschooon08-20

Weather Games With Blue (Blue’s Clues) by Deborah Reber https://www.amazon.com/dp/0689829493/?tag=homeschooon08-20

A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno https://www.amazon.com/dp/1930900201/?tag=homeschooon08-20

Kids Learn About Weather

Poetry + Music

Carl Sandburg wrote a poem about “Fog” comparing it to a cat…creeping in unnoticed. This poem can be copied into your journal and decorated.
https://poemanalysis.com/carl-sandburg/fog/

If All the Raindrops Song with lyrics Barney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ma4xu0zLD8

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down words and music by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Rain,_Rain,_Rain_Came_Down,_Down,_Down

Little Black Rain Cloud Winnie the Pooh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYqA58N3sEE

You Are My Sunshine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Are_My_Sunshine
Sung with lyrics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cBzMSPYKas

Whistle Down the Wind by Andrew Lloyd Webber https://genius.com/Andrew-lloyd-webber-whistle-down-the-wind-lyrics

“In the Good Old Summer Time” is an American Tin Pan Alley song first published in 1902 with music by George Evans and lyrics by Ren Shields https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Good_Old_Summer_Time

Singing Science Records scroll down to the list of song for weather.
https://www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/

Online activity book for Don’t Get Scared, Just Get Prepared includes song lyrics http://wxdude.com/stormsafety/index.html

Video and Software Resources

The Wrath of God Disasters in America
Torrents of Death examines some of the most famous floods in American history, including the killer 1889 Johnstown Flood.
https://web.archive.org/web/20040206150140/http://www.historychannel.com/classroom/admin/study_guide/archives/thc_guide.0240.html

PBS Learning Weather and Climate
https://dptv.pbslearningmedia.org/subjects/science/earth-and-space-science/weather-and-climate/?rank_by=recency

Perspectives on Ocean Science: California’s Climate and its Effects on Energy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBD1Q6A7Ua4

Newton’s Apple episodes on Hypothermia and Rainbows https://www.tpt.org/newtons-apple/

CNN has on demand weather reports
https://www.cnn.com/

Great Lakes Regional Meteorology An Exploration of the Great Lakes
The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the relationship that the Great Lakes have with the weather and climate of the Great Lakes region.
https://dptv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/1284482e-2bfc-4dcb-8b11-38155fd5e4b8/great-lakes-regional-meteorology-the-geography-of-the-great-lakes/

What’s The Weather
Learn about meteorology and weather changes, and discuss how weather affects daily life.
https://dptv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.watcyc.lp_whatweather/whats-the-weather/

Clouds

Do a narrative of the life of a cloud.

Send In the Clouds (clouds) is the 8th episode of the 2nd season of The Magic School Bus Rides Again

Worksheet for The Magic School Bus Rides Again Send in the Clouds video https://www.starmaterials.com/VideoGuide/MSB/MSB_Rides_Again/NMSB_0208_Clouds/gf.htm

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/Sciencecloudslesson.htm cloud formation

Cdntennial of Flight Cloud CLues Flight and Clouds https://www.centennialofflight.net/2003FF/clues/index.html

Identifying Clouds types of clouds, predicting weather by observing cloudshttps://web.archive.org/web/20050115085045/http://www.challenge.state.la.us/edres/lessons/elementary/lesson4.htm

Erosion

The Magic School Bus S03E12 Rocks and Rolls (Water Erosion)

http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/games/teacher/erosion/index.htm erosion
https://www.portviewpreparatory.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Friday-only-page-6.pdf

Worksheet for The Magic School Bus Rocks and Rolls Episode Differentiated Worksheet Video Guide https://www.starmaterials.com/VideoGuide/MSB/MSB_Earth/Rock_Roll_0312/index.htm

Forecasting

The Weather Forecast A to Z Teacher Stuff
Instead of just graphing daily temperatures, try this activity. They soon see that weather forecasting is not exact.
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/pages/516.shtml

Hurricane

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/ragingplanet-hurricane lesson on hurricanes
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/trythis/tryfun3.html stir up a hurricane
http://www.hurricanehunters.com Hurricane Hunters

National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurrigan Center https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

The Wrath of God Disasters in America examines the deadly force of the hurricane https://web.archive.org/web/20060314213714/http://www.historychannel.com/classroom/admin/study_guide/archives/thc_guide.0376.html

Snow

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Snow It’s a wild ride when Ms. Frizzle and the kids travel north to learn how water freezes into ice and how snowflakes are made.

Preserve a Snowflake https://eeinwisconsin.org/core/item/page.aspx?s=140288.0.0.2209

Snowflake border about halfway down will make nice Journal pages https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/browse/free?search=snowflake%20lined%20paper

Avalanches

The Wrath of God Disasters in America
This episode of The Wrath of God examines the deadly power of snow. https://web.archive.org/web/20040604220218/http://www.historychannel.com/classroom/admin/study_guide/archives/thc_guide.0517.html

Recipes

Snowman Smoothies https://www.eatsamazing.co.uk/family-friendly-recipes/drinks/easy-snowman-smoothies-recipe
Banana Snowman https://www.pre-kpages.com/classroom-recipes-banana-snowman/
Rainbow recipes https://www.eatsamazing.co.uk/category/rainbow-food
Sky Jello with Fluffy Clouds https://onelittleproject.com/sky-jello-with-fluffy-clouds/

Field Trips

Walk your neighborhood in all types of weather. Use caution for traffic on darker days.

Go sliding in winter

Beach on sunny days or at least once during each season.

Connect with the National NWS/Virtual Field Trips
https://www.weather.gov/education/local-office

NOAA in your backyard
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Get connected to NOAA guest speakers, field trips, and professional development in your area.
https://www.noaa.gov/education/noaa-in-your-backyard

Call or go talk to the local television station. They give lots of information. You might also be able to look at the things they have there and see how it’s done.

Art and Craft Ideas

Observations on Clouds. Draw or write about what you see. Include this in your three-ring binder.

Another globe https://web.archive.org/web/20080220134031/http://cp.c-ij.com/english/3D-papercraft/science/globe_e.html

Coloring pages
https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/students/
https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/weather-coloring/3

Clip Art

Weather Photos and Pictures https://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Weather

https://www.aperfectworld.org/weather.htm

Worksheets:

Make your own worksheets with these worksheet creation tools:

SchoolHouseTech http://www.schoolhousetech.com This company gives away two free software worksheet factories one for Basic math and one for wordsearch utility that will make wonderful complements to this unit when you include the clipart listed in the clipart section.
Start Write – This program makes nice reports and handwriting worksheets for the unit. https://www.startwrite.com/
Teacher’s Pet will turn any text into a worksheet I like to use it with the Wikipedia text or texts from Project Gutenberg. Open up a Microsoft Word “New” and then open the template and add ins’ for Teacher’s Pet and add one paragraph at a time and click the appropriate tab for the type of question you want. https://www.teachers-pet.org/
TeachNology has several online worksheet makers and a ton of Rubric makers. Rubrics work great with Homeschool Tracker because they give you total points and you count up exactly how many points your child gets. https://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/
Online Crossword Puzzle Maker to use with your vocabulary words or locations or even dated from the timeline. https://www.happychild.org.uk/wks/english/ssm/crosswords01.htm

Worksheets, Activities, and complete units

Kids can put sun, rain, cloud, snow, etc. stickers on the calendar each day for a month and also record the temperature. It gives you lots of opportunities for bar graphs, averages, etc. at the end of the month.

Play a weather predicting game from the book, “The Red Clogs”. The little girl in Japan kicked their shoes off and predicted the weather based on how they landed. Try that with your sandals and record your predictions and checked to see if they were accurate. They might not be but this can lead into a good discussion on how the National Weather Service really predicts the weather.
A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno https://www.amazon.com/dp/1930900201/?tag=homeschooon08-20

6 tools our meteorologists use to forecast the weather https://www.noaa.gov/stories/6-tools-our-meteorologists-use-to-forecast-weather

How to Make a Simple Weather Barometer step-by-step with photos https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Simple-Weather-Barometer

Enchanted Learning Weather-Related Activities https://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/weather.shtml

Discovery School Stormy Lesson https://web.archive.org/web/20070211121709/http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/lightning/

Sky Diary Kidstorm
Facts about tornadoes, lightning, hurricanes and storm chasing
https://www.chriskridler.com/skydiary/kids/

NOAA Education Weather and atmosphere https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/weather-atmosphere

The weather education site especially for students, parents, kids and teachers from national TV meteorologist Nick Walker http://www.wxdude.com

Home Science Tools Science Lessons https://learning-center.homesciencetools.com/teaching-resources-guides/science-lessons/

EPA Water Topics https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/water-topics

First-School.ws Weather Theme Preschool Activities and Crafts
Make a kite and learn about the wind. You can talk a bit about Ben Franklin. The kite can be math because you are working on shapes too.
https://www.first-school.ws/theme/climate.htm

Understanding How The Weather Works https://www.weatherworks.com/

Thought Company Weather Printables https://www.thoughtco.com/weather-printables-free-1832478

Classroom Meteorologists: An Experiential Approach to Learning about Seasons and Weather https://web.archive.org/web/20070218115940/http://www.ckcolorado.org/units/Kindergarten/K_ClassroomMeteorologists.pdf

The Seasonal Cycle https://web.archive.org/web/20070218150131/http://www.ckcolorado.org/units/2nd_grade/2_TheSeasonalCycle.pdf

Four Seasons with Charlottes Web https://web.archive.org/web/20070218115720/http://www.ckcolorado.org/units/2nd_grade/2_FourSeasonswithCharlottesWeb.pdf

Make a book about weather

Weather Wiz Kids learn more about the fascinating world of weather. Common weather and natural disaster questions.
https://www.weatherwizkids.com/

Storms and Other Weather
Discover the weather conditions necessary for blizzards, tornados, hurricanes, and more
https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/storms

Do a mini-study of stormy weather.

Graphing Data
https://web.archive.org/web/20091026093911/http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/SCOOL/lesson_plans/Graphing_Grade_7.html

Sunny Shady Math https://www.nctm.org/Classroom-Resources/Illuminations/Lessons/Sunny-Shady-Math/

National Geographic MapMaker Maps to practice Forecasting with.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/education-resources/mapmaker-launch-guide/

National Geographic Society Kids https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/ these change often so I am putting in the main link not to specific activities.

Climate Change

The Tales Glaciers Tell (Climate Change) is the 10th episode of the 1st season of The Magic School Bus Rides Again. It first released on Netflix worldwide on September 29, 2017. It is the eighth episode in production order for Season 1.

Scholastic Activity Packet https://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbuswebcast/activities.pdf

Climate Change: A Wisconsin Activity Guide https://eeinwisconsin.org/core/item/page.aspx?s=140967.0.0.2209

Information and General Resources

National Weather Service https://www.weather.gov/

Wunderground https://www.wunderground.com/

AccuWeather https://www.accuweather.com/

Evaluation Ideas:

Assemble a three ring binder and please include:

A copy of this unit
Course Description (Highschool Students)
Write a summary about books read for the unit
Your Lapbook created for the unit (K-8 Students)
Any worksheets or activity books created with Teachers Pet https://www.teachers-pet.org/ or the SchoolhouseTech Software https://www.schoolhousetech.com/
Your journal and its contents
Your Log of activities from Homeschool Tracker https://www.homeschooltracker.com/free-homeschool-tracker-basic-edition Its Free!
Your Timeline