Search lesson plans:

Rafe Esquith: Five Tips to Help Children Develop Their Natural Gifts

#1376. Weather Graphing

Science, level: Pre-School
Posted Sun Oct 31 16:17:48 PST 1999 by Debby Klein (hashemozer@bigfoot.com).
Action Nursery, Brooklyn, USA
Materials Required: butcher block paper, markers.
Activity Time: 3 minutes
Concepts Taught: Weather- science, Graphing- math, opposites

In my class, we chart the weather everyday. I ask one student to tell me the weather and he/she puts the arrow on the correct place on the weather chart. After we decide on the weather, we graph the weather. I make a graph on butcher block paper with four columns- sunny, windy, rainy, snowy. Instead of writing the words, I draw a sun, a windy tree, an umbrella, and a snowman, so that my 4 year olds will know where the correct column is. Then we draw a picture in the correct column. For example if it is sunny, we will draw a sun in the sun column. Each day, I ask my class which column has more? less? the most? the least? and many other questions that promote the children to count the columns before they respond. This proves to be an excellent science/math activity as the children learn to graph the weather. At the end of the month, we see which weather pattern has the most, and the children all yell Hurray! for the winner!