Lesson Title: Our Wonderful Weather
By: Georgianna Hardin
Instructional Coach: Chris Gibler
Description: Our Wonderful Weather is a series of lesson introduces first grade students
to the concept of weather and how it is formed. Students will extend their thinking by
exploring the water cycle and learning how clouds are formed. The topic of weather was
chosen because it so easily leads into other concepts that will be taught throughout the
school. Weather can easily lead into migration and the study of animal life cycles. A
study of their migration can lead to the discovery of the sun’s movement around the
earth, which then can lead into a study of the solar system. The topic of weather is a good
beginning to the first grade science curriculum.
Grade Level: 1st
Essential Questions:
How does the weather affect our daily lives?
How can understanding the weather help you plan a vacation?
Can the weather help you decide where to live?
Student Learner Objectives:
 The students will be able to explain (in words, writing, and/or drawings) what
makes up weather and how it changes from day to day using academic vocabulary
in the correct context.
 The students will be able to describe weather by the form and amount of
precipitation.
Grade Level Expectations:
Strand 7: Scientific Inquiry
A. Scientific inquiry includes the ability of students to formulate a testable question
and explanation, and to select appropriate investigative methods in order to obtain
evidence relevant to the explanation.
a. Pose questions about objects, materials, organisms, and events in the
environment.
b. Plan and conduct a simple investigation (fair test) to answer a question.
B. Scientific inquiry relies upon gathering evidence from qualitative and quantitative
observations.
a. Make qualitative observations using the five senses.
b. Make observations using simple tools.
Featured Scott Foresman's Text:
Volume 1 of the First Grade Science Series, and class set of science books (pages
numbers are listed in the lessons)
Featured Picture Books:
Come on Rain by Karen Hesse
Where Does Rain Come From? by David Kegley
Shapes in the Sky: A Book About Clouds by Josepha Sherman
Snowflake: The Story of the Water Cycle by Neil Waldman
Time Needed:
4 days, 30 minutes sessions
Academic Vocabulary:
weather - what it is like outside
thermometer - a tool used to measure temperature
temperature - how hot or cold something is
water vapor - a form of water in the air
clouds - form when water vapor cools, made with tiny drops of water or pieces of ice
sleet - frozen rain
season - a time of year, four seasons are summer, winter, fall, and spring
condensation – when gas or vapor changes into a liquid
evaporation – when a liquid changes into a gas or vapor
precipitation – any form of water such as rain, sleet or snow that falls to the earth’s
surface
Materials Needed for Activities and Experiments:
 Cloud in a Bottle - plastic bottle, 1 ice cube, warm water (per pair of students),
data collection sheet (per student)
 Predict My Weather - blue construction paper (1 per student), cotton balls (6 per
student), white glue
 Water Cycle Game – game pieces (can be downloaded from
http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/watercyclegame)

water cycle diagram – (can be downloaded from
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclematsmallpage.html)
Day 1: (5 E's Lesson)
Engage - The lesson will begin with Come on Rain. While reading, ask the students to be
looking for any signs of weather in the pictures or any words that make them think of
weather in the story. At the end of the story, chart the pictures and words the children
detected. Ask the students what type of weather the author wrote about. Once rain is
identified, ask the students to think about where rain comes and chart those ideas.
Students will be asked to keep these ideas in mind during the next activity. (Keep charts
to refer to in other lessons.)
Explore - Students will make a cloud in a plastic bottle. They will fill a plastic bottle half
full with warm water and place an ice cube over the mouth of the bottle. The students will
wait a few minutes and then observe what happens inside the bottle. They will draw a
picture of what they see on page 84 from the science series, "How can you make a
cloud?" The expectation is for a cloud or fog to form in the bottle after the ice cube cools
the air in the bottle. Water droplets may begin to collect around the bottle. The teacher
will then ask students if they can explain where rain comes from based upon what they
experienced.
Elaborate - Read Chapter 14 of Where Does Rain Come From?, "How Do Clouds Make
Rain?" After the reading, students will turn and talk about what they heard from the
reading and answer, where does the rain come from. Students will then share their
findings from the reading that rain comes from the clouds.
Day 2:
Extend - Have students recall details from the story, Come on Rain, and review where
rain comes from. The students will then be given an anticipation guide, "How do clouds
form?" They will answer the before questions and then read lesson two in small groups
from the science text. (Be sure to use scaffolding questions and teach points in the teacher
guide to add new learning and facilitate discussion.) After the reading, lead the class
through the second half of the anticipation guide, the after reading questions and talk
about new learning. Highlight the page that show different cloud shapes and help students
identify them as cirrus, cumulus, and cumulonimbus clouds.
Evaluate - Students will then choose what type of cloud to make in the Predict My
Weather activity. The students will use six cotton balls to make one of the three clouds
they learned about. Once the students use their cotton balls to make their chosen clouds,
they must label them and find a friend to predict the weather they were thinking about
when they completed the project using page 83 from the science series, "What do
different clouds look like?" The lesson can be ended with the book, Shapes in the Sky: A
Book About Clouds. Students will enjoy finding the clouds they created in the book.
Day 3: Tell students there are other types of wet weather besides rain. Set the purpose for
reading by telling students they are going to find out what those other types are. As a
class (or in small groups) read chapter three in the science series, "What are some kinds
of wet weather." Have students complete the lesson checkpoint, page 61 to check for
understanding. (Be sure to use scaffolding questions and teach points in the teacher guide
to add new learning and facilitate discussion.) After completing the reading, ask students
where the snow goes when it melts. Chart the ideas. Read, The Snowflake: A Water
Cycle Story. After reading, chart new ideas on what happens to snow. Introduce the water
cycle to the class and show the diagram. Complete worksheet in the Wacky Weather
Packet.
Day 4:
Review the water cycle diagram. Teach and play the water cycle game. Have student
keep track of where they visited as a water droplet with tally marks. In math, students can
make a bar graph of their journey. In Writer’s Workshop, the can create a story of their
life as a water molecule.