2nd Grade Weather
Classroom Demonstration Kits
Book Title
Synopsis
Suggested Activity
The Sky-Watchers
Two unlikely children become friends as they learn about observing
the weather and reading weather tools to predict the weather.
Weather Stations
Inflating Balloon
Seasons
Set *
Four individual books…one for each season.
Each book uses simple text, basic vocabulary, and beautiful
pictures to show the changes that take place during each season.
KWL Chart
Discussion
Graphic Organizer
Storms
Set
Three individual books: Tornados, Thunderstorms, Hurricanes
Takes young reading inside one of nature’s most powerful events.
Learn how the storms form and what they look like. See photos and
find out how people protect themselves from danger.
Tornado Tube
Tornado Simulator
(only portions)
Cloud in a Bottle
Painting Clouds
Cloud Viewing
Cloud Mini-Book
Cloud in a Bottle
Painting Clouds
Cloud Viewing
Cloud Mini-Book
It Looked Like
Spilt Milk *
A fun book about the shapes clouds make.
Clouds *
An informative book about how clouds form.
Snowstorms
&
Blizzards
Information and pictures of snow and blizzards.
Insta-Snow
Down Comes the Rain
After rain comes down, the sun comes out and dries the puddles.
But the water isn’t gone! It has evaporated. Read to find out all
the ups and downpours of the water cycle.
Flour Raindrops
Activity Name
Tornado Tube
Cloud
in a
Bottle **
Cloud
Mini-Book #
Materials
Instructions
Scientific Explanation
(2) 2L Bottles
Water
Tornado Tube
Beads (opt.)
Fill one bottle ¾ full of water.
Add beads if desired.
Connect Tornado Tube to both
bottles.
Over turn to let the water flow into the
empty bottle.
Hold the top of the bottle and swirl to
create a funnel.
In our Tornado Tube, heavy water is
above the much lighter air. The air needs
some way to get up to the top bottle and
the water needs some way to get down
to the bottom bottle. The fastest way is a
funnel. This is also called a vortex.
(1) 2L Bottle
Foot Pump
w/ Cork
Rubbing Alcohol
Copies
Scissors
Tape
Crayons
Place a small amount of alcohol in
the bottle.
Swirl to coat sides of bottle.
Insert cork (which is attached to the
pump) into mouth of bottle.
Pump up bottle about 7-8 times.
Remove cork.
A cloud will appear in the bottle.
Cut out the pieces.
Tape in the appropriate places.
Fold and staple the book.
Even though we don't see them, water
molecules are in the air all around us.
These airborne water molecules are
called water vapor. When the molecules
are bouncing around in the atmosphere,
they don't normally stick together.
Pumping the bottle forces the molecules
to squeeze together or compress.
Releasing the pressure allows the air to
expand, and in doing so, the temperature
of the air becomes cooler. This cooling
process allows the molecules to stick
together - or condense - more easily,
forming tiny droplets. Clouds are nothing
more than groups of tiny water droplets!
Painting Clouds
Cloud Viewing
Inflating
Balloon ***
Blue Construction
Paper
White Water
Based Paint
Coffee Stirrers
Baby Wipes
Mix paint with a little bit of water to
make easier to spread.
Each student gets paper, stirrer, and a
small amount of paint placed in the
middle of the paper.
Options:
1. Spread the paint around with the
stirrer and then fold paper in half to
make “spilt milk” cloud.
2. Have students gently blow paint
with stirrer to try and make a
specifically shaped cloud.
Blanket/Towel
Paper
Clip Board
Take the students outside to view the
clouds.
Draw pictures of the clouds they see.
Identify the type of cloud.
(1) 2L Bottle
Balloon
Water Kettle
Sauce Pot
Place a balloon over the top of the
bottle.
Pour hot water into the pot.
Place the bottle into the pot.
Observe the balloon as it begins to
rise.
Take the bottle out of the pot.
Observe as the balloon returns limp.
Clouds on Earth form when warm air rises
and its pressure is reduced. The air
expands and cools and clouds form as
the temperature drops below the dew
point. Invisible particles in the air in the
form of pollution, smoke, dust or even tiny
particles of dirt help form a nucleus on
which the water molecules can attach.
This activity demonstrates that the air
inside the soda bottle expands when
heated causing the air molecules to
move faster and get farther apart. This is
what causes the balloon to inflate. Warm
air is less dense than cold. Since warm air
takes up more space than the same
amount of cold air it makes the balloon
inflate.
Insta-Snow
Insta-Snow
Powder
Blue Scoop
Small 2oz Cup
Water
Clear Cup
Flour Raindrops
Shallow Container
Baking Flour
Dropper
Water
Container for
Water
Place one level scoop of the InstaSnow Powder into the larger clear
cup.
Add 2 oz of tap water to the powder.
Ta-Da! Snow!!
Add about ½ inch of flour to the
bottom of the container.
Level the flour so the surface is
smooth. Using the dropper make it
rain on the flour. The flour will coat
the water droplets and you will be
able to “see” a whole rain drop!
Snow forms in clouds when the air
temperature up there gets below
freezing. Water molecules come out of
the air and stick together in special
patterns of little ice crystals. Then the ice
crystals keep getting bigger or tangle up
in little clumps to form snowflakes.
Snowflakes have very intricate crystal
patterns. There was a scientist who
learned how to catch snowflakes and
keep them cold long enough to take
photographs. He photographed more
than a thousand snowflakes without
finding any two that were exactly alike.
The scientist was called "Snowflake"
Bentley.
When water becomes warm enough, it
evaporates as vapor into the air. When a
mass of air quickly cools to its saturation
point, the water vapor condenses into
clusters of tiny water droplets and frozen
water crystals. We call these clusters
clouds. Over time, the droplets and
crystals that make up a cloud can attract
more water to themselves. When water
droplets grow heavy enough, gravity pulls
them down as raindrops. If the air is cold
enough, the ice crystals can remain
frozen and grow large enough to fall as
snow, sleet, freezing rain or hail.
KWL Chart
Discussion
Seasons
Graphic
Organizer #
Something to
write on and with.
Handout
Pencils
Crayons
Weather
Stations
K – What I Already Know
W – What I Want to Know
L – What I Learned
Make a chart with a column for each
letter. Before you read the story
complete the K and W sections. After
reading review the W section and
complete the L section.
Students decorate the tree and the
surrounding landscape with things
that represent each season.
Seasons are caused because of the
Earth's changing relationship to the sun.
The Earth travels around the sun, called
an orbit, once a year or every 365 days.
As the Earth orbits the sun the amount of
sunlight each place on the planet gets
every day changes slightly. This change
causes the seasons.
Already built in the Science Lab
Basic
Website: http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/weatherMatching.htm
Weather
Promethean Board
Vocabulary
Online
Game
Weather
Memory
Website
Weather
Wiz
Kids
All Things
Weather
Website: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/
Has weather information, games, etc.
Website
Tree House
Weather
All Things
Weather
Website: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treehouse/
Information and Activities for Weather
Website
Web
Weather for
Kids
All Things
Weather
Website: http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/index.html
Clouds, Hurricanes, Blizzards, Thunderstorms
Website
Discovery
Kids
All Things
Weather
Weather: http://kids.discovery.com/tell-me/curiosity-corner/weather
Website
Weather
for Kids
NOAA
All Things
Weather
Weather: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/gid/?n=weatherforkids
Video
You Tube
Seasons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Jzw1hjOv4&feature=emshare_video_user
Video
You Tube
Clouds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ6aeSv8xIU&feature=emshare_video_user
Video
You Tube
Clouds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZEETyzql0Q&feature=emshare_video_user
Video
You Tube
Clouds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pV4hcZgklE&feature=emshare_video_user
How do hurricanes see?
With One Eye
Other
Weather
Jokes
What does a cloud wear under his raincoat?
Thunderwear!
Misc.
What type of lightning likes to play sports?
Ball Lightning
What type of cloud is so lazy it will never get up?
Fog
What did the lightning bolt say to the other lightning bolt?
You are shocking!
Books
Assortment of books related to weather.
* I only have 1 copy of these books. However, you may find another copy in the media center.
** I only have 1 bicycle pump with the cork attachment.
*** I only have 1 water kettle. However, many of the teachers have their own which you could use.
# You will need to make the copies for these activities.