Aiken County Public Schools
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Unit 5: Changing Seasons
Kindergarten Science
Unit Overview
This spiraling unit of instruction serves to build upon students’ prior knowledge of daily weather phenomenon. The year-end learning goal for
kindergarten is for students to understand the daily changes of weather and how those changes occur in patterns that we call seasons. The
indicators for standard K.E.3, Weather, have been intentionally spiraled throughout the school year to ensure that students have repeated
opportunities to gradually construct a conceptual understanding of the seasonal patterns of weather.
In unit 1 of this school year, Introduction to Weather, students gained a foundational understanding of the different forms of weather. Learning
focused on the basic concept of weather. Students’ prior knowledge should include the ability to explain that weather changes daily and recognize
different weather conditions (including sunny, rainy, stormy, cloudy, windy, hot, or cold).
This current unit serves to deepen students’ understanding of weather phenomenon by providing targeted learning experiences that focus on the
variations of weather conditions that can occur. It is essential for students to be actively engaged in making observations of how clouds, rain, and
wind vary from day to day. Recommended instruction includes, but is not limited to, students making and recording (in the form of drawing
models) observations of clouds on multiple days. Students should have opportunities to compare the types of clouds observed. It is not essential,
nor appropriate, for students to classify clouds by scientific names. However, students should discuss how the clouds differ in color, shape,
quantity, and thickness. Integrating science into the literacy block might include stations requiring students to add adjective labels to their models
or construct simple sentences about wind. Guiding students in making observations of how clouds move across the sky would provide further
evidence for how weather changes, and offer connections to windy weather conditions.
While the concept of wind as weather is a year-end learning goal of this Kindergarten standard, the timing of this unit may or may not provide
optimal opportunities for students to investigate wind. If weather conditions allow, additional instruction should include chances for students to
refine their understanding of wind by observing and comparing wind conditions on multiple days and/or weeks. Instruction should guide students
in recognizing that wind is created by moving air and that wind is responsible for moving clouds as well as other objects (such as flags, trees,
leaves, hair, and pinwheels). Students at this age may struggle with the abstract concept of air. Therefore, scaffolded instruction that includes
experiences for students to observe and discuss air in balloons or bags will aid students in building their understanding. Structured investigations
and simulations (using fans) should require students to develop models and make predictions about how different strengths of wind effect
different objects. Students will have additional opportunities to experience the phenomenon of wind in units 8 and 10 of this school year. To
reinforce science, literacy stations could require students to develop rhyming words with “wind”, label drawings, or produce simple sentences
about wind.
District Purpose
The mission of the Aiken County Public School District is to create in students a passion for learning and achievement that will serve them as they compete
and contribute in a global society.
MT
Aiken County Public Schools
Division of Instruction and Accountability
Version 1.0
Rain as a weather condition is also included in this unit. As with wind, students’ experiences with different forms of precipitation are dependent
on actual weather conditions. However, students should have opportunities to read about, view videos or simulations about, write about, develop
models of, and discuss rain. Targeted instruction on snow, sleet, and ice storms will occur during unit 8, Weather Problems, of this school year.
However, if weather conditions provide opportunities for students to experience this phenomenon, teachers are encouraged to take advantage of
a teachable moment.
While it is not required for students to measure weather, it is important for teachers to model measuring weather and guide students in collecting
and recording weather data in the form of pictorial symbols. This should include using data collecting over multiple days to create charts and
graphs as a class. These charts and graphs could demonstrate the occurrence of one specific form of weather (such as wind, rain, or clouds), or it
could include displaying multiple forms of weather on one chart or graph. Teachers should guide students, through whole group instruction, in
analyzing this data to identify patterns and/or changes. Opportunities for students to experience discussions about temperature would provide
extended learning.
In addition to students gaining an understanding of daily changes of weather, year-end learning for this indicator requires students to develop a
conceptual understanding of the seasonal patterns of weather changes. The timing of this spiraling unit lends itself to a focus on changes from
summer to fall. Students should be actively engaged in reading about, writing about, and discussing how weather conditions of Summer and Fall
differ and how those changes impact plants, animals, and humans. This should include, but is not limited to, students making and recording
observations of how leaves on trees and flowers on plants change. Students should develop models (in the form of drawings or collages) that
demonstrate visible signs of Fall (including weather conditions and impact on plants, animals, and humans). Requiring students to analyze and
interpret illustrations/pictures to identify evidence of Fall would further demonstrate students’ conceptual understanding. Opportunities for
integrating science in the literacy model might include stations requiring students to develop or expand sentences that describe Fall weather
conditions, produce rhyming words, or label models.
In addition to the specific literacy integration activities recommended above, teachers could laminate weather poems and create a station where
students highlight adjectives that describe weather conditions. The literacy resources included in the resources section of this document provide
suggested texts that can be used for read-alouds or mini-lessons on describing connections between words and pictures. Stations requiring
students to match weather words with illustrations or pictures would also be appropriate.
As with instruction of all science content, students should be provided with opportunities to act like scientists. This includes encouraging students
to extend their learning by asking and answering their own questions, developing and using models, conducting structured investigations,
analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking, engaging in argument from evidence, obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information, constructing explanations, and designing solutions.
District Purpose
The mission of the Aiken County Public School District is to create in students a passion for learning and achievement that will serve them as they compete
and contribute in a global society.
Aiken County Public Schools
Division of Instruction and Accountability
Version 1.0
2014 SC Academic Standards
K.E.3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of daily and seasonal weather patterns.
Targeted Learning Indicators
K.E.3A.2: Develop and use models to predict seasonal weather patterns and changes.
K.E.3A.3: Obtain and communicate information to support claims about how changes in seasons affect plants and animals.
Recurring Learning Indicators
K.E.3A.1: Analyze and interpret local weather condition data (including precipitation, wind, temperature, and cloud cover) to describe weather
patterns that occur from day to day, using simple graphs and pictorial weather symbols.
What students must know, understand, and do
Know
Understand
Do
 Weather changes on a daily
basis.
 Weather is the outside
conditions on Earth.
 There are many different
types of weather conditions,
for example, sunny, rainy,
stormy, snowy, cloudy,
windy, hot, wet, or cold.
 Domain specific vocabulary.
 Weather changes follow a pattern called
seasons.
 There are four different seasons that occur
in a repeating pattern.
 The seasons are fall (autumn), winter,
spring, and summer.
 Seasons affect plant and animals.
 Examples of ways seasons affect plants are
as follows:
o Some trees will stay green all year
(evergreens) and some trees lose their
leaves each autumn/fall and grow them
back in the spring.
o Some leaves change color and fall off
during the autumn/fall season.
o Some plants form leaf buds and flower
buds and bloom in the spring season.
o Some plants, like trees, have full grown
green leaves during the summer.
 Examples of ways seasons affect animals
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Recognize different types of weather conditions.
Discuss daily weather conditions.
Ask and answer questions about weather conditions
Make observations about weather conditions
Use pictorial symbols to represent daily weather conditions.
Make observations of clouds over a short time period (3-8
minutes).
With guidance, record and organize weather data (using
pictorial symbols) on graphs and charts.
With guidance, analyze and interpret weather data (using
pictorial symbols) to identify patterns and changes.
Use adjectives (orally and in writing) to describe types of
weather conditions (cloudy, windy, sunny, rainy, cold, or
hot).
Make observations of clouds over several days.
Compare the shape, size, color, and thickness of clouds.
Observe and discuss cloud movement.
Develop and label (with adjectives) models of clouds.
Make observations of wind or wind simulations.
District Purpose
The mission of the Aiken County Public School District is to create in students a passion for learning and achievement that will serve them as they compete
and contribute in a global society.
Aiken County Public Schools
Division of Instruction and Accountability
Version 1.0
are as follows:
 Describe (orally or in writing) wind strength using the terms
o Some animals, like squirrels, store food
strong wind, light wind, or no wind.
for the winter season.
 Investigate how different winds (or wind simulations) affect
o Some animals grow warm winter coats
different objects.
and shed that fur when the
 Develop and label models (drawings) of wind affecting
temperatures warm up.
objects.
o Some birds fly to a warmer place before  Create models (drawings, dramatizations, or collages) of
the winter season and return in the
Fall/Autumn weather conditions.
spring.
 Compare the weather conditions for Summer and Fall.
o Some animals, like bears, go to sleep for  Construct explanations (oral or written) to describe how Fall
a long time during winter (hibernation)
weather conditions affect plants and animals (including
 Weather has an effect on human activities.
hibernation, leaves falling, birds flying South).
 Some examples of weather effecting
 Read about daily weather conditions.
human activity include:
 Make predictions about weather conditions based on
o Farming (lack of/surplus of rain affects
observations.
crops)
 Ask and answer questions about fall weather conditions and
o Selecting clothes (shorts or pants, short
how it impacts plants, animals, and humans.
sleeve shirt or long sleeve shirt, coats,
hat; thinner fabrics {tshirt} or thicker
fabrics {sweater})
o Rain/storms (use of umbrella, rain coat,
rain boots)
o Vacations (planning for the appropriate
seasons).
Enduring Understanding
Overarching Essential Questions
Weather is a combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and
The overarching questions are based on the targeted learning indicators for
temperature in a particular region at a particular time. Scientists
this unit. Students should be able to answer these questions by the end of this
measure weather conditions to describe and record the weather
instructional unit.
and to notice patterns over time. Plants and animals (including
Overarching Questions:
humans) respond to different weather conditions in different
How can we describe the weather conditions?
ways.
District Purpose
The mission of the Aiken County Public School District is to create in students a passion for learning and achievement that will serve them as they compete
and contribute in a global society.
Aiken County Public Schools
Division of Instruction and Accountability
Version 1.0
weather
hot
cloudy
sunny
summer
hibernation
light
conditions
cold
cloud
seasons
winter
patterns
How do plants, animals, and humans respond to weather conditions?
Domain - Specific Vocabulary
rain
sun
snowy
rainy
wind
windy
fall
autumn
spring
evergreens
observation
strong
Cross Cutting Concepts (CCCs)
Cross Cutting Concepts (CCCs) are reoccurring themes that are evident in all domains of science and engineering. They transcend the
boundaries of disciplines and serve to help students create a framework for connecting knowledge across disciplines. Instruction of CCCs
should not be isolated, but rather teachers must plan to include intentional references to the CCCs within their science instruction.
The following Cross Cutting Concepts and a description of their relevance to this unit of study have been identified:
Patterns: Daily weather conditions occur in patterns overtime that make up seasons. Changes in the weather and seasons can cause
predictable changes in animals and plants.
Cause and Effect: Weather conditions can cause changes to animal behaviors, plant growth and processes, and human activities.
Stability and Change: Weather conditions change in predictable patterns as the seasons change. These changes cause animals and plants to
respond on predictable patterns.
* Other CCCs are intentionally omitted from this unit.
Resources
Content Resources:
Weather Window (Drawing and writing about weather)
Weather Poems (Poems about weather)
Cloud Observations (Make observations and develop models of clouds)
Rain Song (Song/poem about rain)
Sid the Science Kid: Wind (video: 0:01:00)
District Purpose
The mission of the Aiken County Public School District is to create in students a passion for learning and achievement that will serve them as they compete
and contribute in a global society.
Aiken County Public Schools
Division of Instruction and Accountability
Version 1.0
Cloud Shapes (images of clouds)
Gerald’s Weather Wheel (interactive simulation)
Sid the Science Kid: Wind Power (video 0:01:34)
Sid the Science Kid: Rain, Rain Don’t Go Away (video 0:01:34)
Dr. Seuss Weather Transformer (interactive weather simulation)
Trade Books:
Barrett, Judi. (2011). Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
ISBN: N/A
Lexile: 730L
The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch
and dinner. But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like
mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers. Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for
the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. Something has to be done in Chewandswallow...and in a hurry.
Cobb, Vicki. (2003). I Face the Wind. HarperCollins.
ISBN: 978-0688178406
Lexile: 540L
Encourages children to observe, experiment, and learn about wind and air.
Dodds, Dayle Ann.(2005). Hello Sun. Dial.
ISBN: 978-0803728950
Lexile: 340L
Celebration of weather and seasonal clothing.
de Paul, Tomia. (1984). The Cloud Book. Holiday House.
ISBN: 978-0823405312
Lexile: 680L
Introduces the ten most common types of clouds, the myths that have been inspired by their shapes, and what they can tell about coming weather
changes.
Hall, Donald. (1983). The Oxcart Man. Puffin Books.
District Purpose
The mission of the Aiken County Public School District is to create in students a passion for learning and achievement that will serve them as they compete
and contribute in a global society.
Aiken County Public Schools
Division of Instruction and Accountability
Version 1.0
ISBN:978-0140504415
Lexile: 1130L
A poetic journey through the changing seasons of a New England family.
Hutchins, Pat. (1993) The Wind Blew. Aladdin.
ISBN: 978-0689717444
Lexile: 50L
Uses rhyming verse and illustrations to describe the cheerful chase for objects blown by the wind.
Rabe, Tish and Ruiz, Aristides.(2004) Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today?: All About Weather (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library).
Random House Books for Young Kids.
ISBN: 978-0375822766
Lexile: 0700
Grade Level: PK-3
The Cat and company travel by hot air balloon up and into various weather phenomena including rain, snow, thunder, tornadoes, and (yikes!) even
hurricanes!
Rockwell, Anne. (2008) Clouds. Harper Collins.
ISBN: 978-0064452205
Lexile: N/A
Grade Level: PK-1
Illustrations offer opportunities to make connections with texts and discuss the type of weather conditions associated with clouds.
Rogers, Paul. (2005) What Will the Weather Be Like Today?. Harcourt School Publishers.
ISBN: 978-0153524615
Lexile: N/A
Grade Level: K-up
Experience weather conditions around the world through rhyming text.
Ross, Fiona. (2011). Chilly Milly Moo. Candlewick.
ISBN: 978-0763656935
Lexile: N/A
Grade level: PK-2
District Purpose
The mission of the Aiken County Public School District is to create in students a passion for learning and achievement that will serve them as they compete
and contribute in a global society.
Aiken County Public Schools
Division of Instruction and Accountability
Version 1.0
Enjoy the silly that reinforces the idea of hot and cold as weather conditions.
Career Connections
Atmospheric Scientist
Atmospheric science is the study of the physics and chemistry of gases, clouds, and aerosols that surround the planetary bodies of the solar
system. An atmospheric scientist may study the atmosphere of different planets or may focus on Earth’s atmosphere. Atmospheric scientists may
work in the following areas: field research, laboratory studies and/or computer analysis and modeling. Good communication skills (oral and
written) are necessary as they are involved in carrying out research and reporting it out. Most atmospheric scientists in the United States work for
the Federal Government and branches of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or may work for private weather services.
Meteorologist
Meteorologist forecast weather. They compare temperature readings, winds, atmospheric pressure, precipitation patterns, and other variable to
form an accurate picture of climate. They are able to draw conclusions to make predictions, develop computer models and carry out basic
research to help understand how the atmosphere works so they can predict how it behaves.
Storm Chasers
Storm chasers are scientists who follow tornadoes to study them. They try to drop weather instruments into the paths of tornadoes to measure
the air temperature, air pressure, wind speed, and wind direction inside a tornado. This can be a difficult and dangerous career. Storm chasers
rely heavily on meteorologists who predict the storms and then guide them to the most promising systems.
Climatologist
Climatologists study climate change, climate variability, and the effects of climate on the biosphere. They use computers to predict the effect of
weather or climate on the growth and development of grain, vegetables, fruit, and other crops. Climatologists work for state and federal
governments as weather station network supervisors, computer programmers, and supervisors of climate data publications.
Ecologist
Ecologists study the relationship between living things and the environment. They conduct research outdoors and in the laboratory. They apply
ecological knowledge to solve environmental problems and help manage natural resources.
District Purpose
The mission of the Aiken County Public School District is to create in students a passion for learning and achievement that will serve them as they compete
and contribute in a global society.