Whatever the Weather-Mrs. Bee's Busy Classroom!

to Mrs. Bee's Busy Classroom!
Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll whether the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.

MARCH and APRIL would be a nice time to do a weather theme.

Dressing for the WEATHER
When doing this theme, be sure to remind the parents that you and your class may be doing "outside" activities and to be sure to dress their child appropriately for all kinds of weather!
(eg, raincoats, rubber boots, mittens, sunhat, warm jacket,etc.)

March can be used as a weather awareness month
Use the saying "In like a lion, out like a Lamb".During your calendar time decide if it is a "lion"day (snowy, rainy, cold) or a "lamb day" (mild, sunny).A "weather person" makes the final decision and we abide by it. He/she chooses a lion or a lamb to place on the calendar instead of the usual numbers. Then count each day to see if the lions or the lambs are winning
to see if the saying is correct.

Facts about the Wind
~Air cannot be seen but it is all around us.
~Wind is air that is moving fast.
~Wind makes things like windmills, kites, leaves and clouds move around.
~Wind is important to our weather.
~A weather vane shows us which way the wind is blowing.

Facts about the Sun
~The sun is a star. It is our daytime star.
~The sun is very big.
~The sun is far away. It would take 17 years to fly to the sun in a jet plane.
~The sun is very bright. (Warn the children to never look directly at the sun.)
~The sun is hot. Demonstrate how the sun heats up the land and water by placing a cup of soil and a cup of water in the sun and a cup of soil and a cup of water in the shade.
After a few hours feel the water and soil.
(You could talk about sunburn at this point and how important it is to wear suncreen or sunblock.)
~The sun is the center of our solar system. The Earth and other planets orbit around the sun.
We can not feel the Earth moving in its orbit because it moves so slowly.
~It takes a whole year to go around the sun.
~The sun is always shining. We may not be able to see it, but it is always shining. Demonstrate the principle of night and day with a globe and light bulb. Place a small piece of tape on the globe where you live. Rotate the globe slowly in front of the light bulb (sun).

Show pictures and discuss the differences in how people in "rainy" areas of the world
live and the types of houses in which they live.
eg. Junks, stilt houses,etc.

Tape record different sounds of rain and identify various kinds of rain: drizzling, sprinkling,
pouring, misting, raining, thundering, lightening, etc.

Weather Crossword Puzzles
www.puzzlemaker.com -great place to make some weather crossword puzzles!
Here are some words and clues that you could use:
a result of little or no rain-drought
water drops that fall from the sky-rain
opposite of hot-cold
frozen water-ice
a mass of tiny drops of water in the sky-cloud
one tiny piece of snow-snowflake
a huge storm that forms over the ocean-hurricane
a cloud at ground level-fog
light and airy-fluffy
another word for tornado-typhoon
an instrument to measure air pressure-barometer
an instrument to measure wind speed-anemometer
an instrument to measure air moisture-hygrometer
this makes clouds move-wind
sunshine and rain make this beautiful sight-rainbow
this falls from clouds-rain
frozen rain-snow
the metric measurement for temperature-Celcius
severe snowstorm-blizzard
a mixture of smoke and fog-smog
thesse keep your hands warm in cold weather-mittens
these protect your eyes from bright sunlight-sunglasses
carry this on a rainy day-umbrella
these keep your feet dry when it's wet outside-boots
dark clouds that tell it's going to rain-nimbus
high curly, wispy clouds-cirrus
clouds that lie low and cover the sky like a blanket-stratus
white fluffy floating clouds that look like cotton balls-cumulus
word referring to the moon-lunar
moving air-wind
a shaking of the earth-earthquake
lumps of ice that can be as big as a baseball-hail
a very strong, destructive wind-tornado
when this erupts it can change the weather all over the world-volcano
frozen water vapor that falls to earth as flakes-snow
air surrounding the earth-atmosphere
the degree of heat in the atmosphere-temperature
thin beam of light from the sun-ray
what snow does when the temperature rises-melts
a weather report can be heard here-news
this is issued when a tornado has been spotted-warning
safest place to be during a tornado-basement
a bright flash of light during a thunderstorm-lightning
the center of a hurricane-eye

Play some NATURE Cds. There are some really nice CDs with "storm" sounds,for eg.

Weather Forecasting
Do a daily weather forecasting -- Create a mock television set (with a large
cardboard box cut into a t.v. screen) for the students to stand behind each morning and "forecast" the weather. Provide laminated weather symbols the students
can use during their talk of the day's weather.

Brainstorm all the ways that weather can be forecasted or delivered to all people (television, radio, telephone, newspaper). Provide an example of each for the students to see or listen to. Graph which method their families use the most.

Weather and Work
Prepare cards with names of jobs on them, such as:
farmer,truck driver,firefighter,sailor,mail carrier,grocer,gas station attendant, airplane pilot, police officer, doctor, football player, logger, fisher, plumber, construction worker, lifeguard, gardener, road workers,etc.
On another set of cards place weather conditions such as: very windy, very hot, very cold, warm, windy, cool, snowy, thunderstorm, sleet,etc.
Each child can pick one card from each pile and tell how the weather condition on the card will affect the worker of the job picked. For example, how they will dress, whether they can actually do their work in that weather, if the weather will make their job easier or harder, will they need special safety clothes or equipment in this type of weather, etc.
They can also draw a picture of the worker and the weather condition.

Seasons Change, Clothing changes
As the season change, so does your wardrobe.Discuss how their wardrobe changes for each of the 4 seasons.

Summer Dress-Up
Set out a variety of "summer" wear such as: beach hats, sun visors, beach towels, flip-flop shoes, summer sandals, sunglasses, swim fins, shorts, t-shirts.
Talk about the types of clothing we wear in the summer because it is warm/hot outside.

Visit a radio station or tv station and talk to the weatherperson or meteorologist.Set up a field trip so the children can see the radar, weather maps and watch the weather report on the daily news.

Make Your Own Rain Storm
Have children sit in a circle on the floor. This is a round activity. Have each child create the storm doing the following in this order, as they go around the circle:
rub hands
snap fingers
clap hands
slap thighs
When the storm is almost over, finish it by reversing the procedure, until all is quiet.

Weather	Weather Poems	Weather Words	Weather Instruments	Weather Books	Weather Art Activities	Weather Experiments
Weather Chart	Cloud Chart	Weather Songs	Wild Weather	Weather and Math	"Weather" Snacks	Weather Games
Weather and Language/ Literature	Questions for older students to research	Outdoor Activities	to Mrs. Bee's	Somewhere Over the Rainbow	Weather Bulletin Boards	Weather Sayings and Folklore