The Weather Project

The Weather ProjectAndromahi HarrisonKara EllenbergDecember-March

Catalytic EventThe children began to talk about weather related items in the classroom and started to get interested in looking at weather pictures including those online and in books. They would often ask to look up the temperature on our computer and then would begin to ask questions about other information the website would display.

Experiencing our first snowfall

Documenting our Weather Experiences

Investigating the thermometer

The children investigated the new thermometer donated to our classroom. The children began by asking how to identify the numbers and then began to create a list of which were the cold temperatures and which were the hot temperatures.

Investigating Snow

Sharing pictures of weather pictures

Aidan (5.7) shares pictures with Claire about several weather phenomena's including hail, high winds, and damage from those storms.

How to make iceBrayden (4.9) creates his idea of how ice would be made. He believes ice can be made only if snow is outside and in “quick time.”

Leaving water outside

Brayden (4.9) wonders if snow makes ice. He asks to put a bucket of water outside one morning as it is snowing. He asks to set the bucket of water in the snow and asks to set the timer. He sets the timer and carries it around. When it beeps, he gathers friends to see the progress. A friend who observed the water documents their findings on a chart.

Experiments At snack, Mahi had brought

over her water cup which had a chunk of ice on the top of the cup.

Eamon (5. 3) began to question Mahi about where her cup was before she brought it to school.

Eamon and several other children sitting at snack found out that Mahi had her cup in the back of her fridge.

He then wondered if we could try to make water, milk, and juice freeze.

We filled each cup and then Eamon decided the freezer would be the best place for each of those items.

Ice experiment continued

After the weekend, the children explored the items that we had brought out of the freezer. The children determined that water and milk freeze well. Juice freezes more like slushy then a ice.

Outdoors Ice Experiment Claire (4.9) and Addison (3.11)

add pieces of ice to cold water on the Beehive.

The girls predict that the ice will melt because it is in water.

In the afternoon, the girls check and the piece of ice are still in the water.

“Maybe it is because the water was cold and it is cold outside.” Claire shares.

Grace (5.3) checks the ice the next day. “It’s all frozen!” she exclaims. She tells friends, “I think it got really cold at night. Like under 32 and that is why everything made ice.”

Weather Comments

While looking at a bobble head of Terry Swails, Graham (3.2) says, “Hey, this is a meteorologist.”

Keegan (4.8) tells a teacher, “It is foggy outside. I think I learned that means the clouds are lower today. Let’s look that up to make sure.”

Terryn (4. 5) shares with friends at group, “Ice crystals are when it gets cold in the sky.”

Eamon (5.3) shares, “Isn’t 32 the temperature when we get freezing rain?”

Laura (the Bluebird Teacher) asks the children at what temperature does it snow, sleet, and rain. Keegan and Claire (4.8) put their hands up and tell Laura. “This degree is 32. All under it is snow, all over it is rain, and all the same is sleet.”

Drake (4.4) listens as Mahi reads a book about clouds. Mahi reads the explanation of the cloud and Drake says, “I know that cloud! It’s a nimbus cloud. The other one is a status cloud!”

Weather Representations

Fluffy, Flat, and Wet

After reading one of our texts, Fluffy, Flat, and Wet the children wanted to write down all we knew from the text.