Have students try these games and activities on Weather to expand their knowledge and interest in earth science.
Geography, Science
Have students locate on a map or globe the places mentioned in The Causes of Weather. Ask students to create an appropriate symbol to use to mark the hottest, coldest, wettest, snowiest, driest, and windiest places in the United States. Ask questions based on the marked locations: Which place is closest to the equator? Are any of the places in our state? In which time zone is each location? Which two record-setting locations are closest to each other?
Language Arts, Art
Introduce the opening lines of Helen Hunt Jackson’s poem, “October’s Bright Blue Weather”:
O suns and skies and clouds of June, And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour October’s bright blue weather.
Ask students to give their interpretation of the poem and tell whether they agree with the poem and why. Let students discuss which season of the year they most enjoy and why. Have students write their own weather poems that invite readers to smell, hear, feel, see, and taste the season. Encourage students to create art pieces using materials from nature, if possible, to accompany their poems.
Science, Language Arts
Have students imagine what it must be like to live through a particularly damaging hurricane, like Hurricane Andrew, which devastated parts of Florida and Louisiana in 1992. (Other types of damaging storms can be found in the topic The Greatest Storms on Earth.) Have students write diary entries telling how they feel after losing their homes and all their possessions and being forced to sleep in makeshift tents until relief arrives.
Language Arts
Ask students to think of common expressions and phrases that contain words that refer to the weather. List these phrases on the board. Ask volunteers to explain what the expressions mean and describe a situation when the phrase could be used. Some sample phrases are:
have one’s head in the clouds be under a cloud
be on cloud nine
be under the weather
take by storm
take a rain check
do a snow job
rain on someone’s parade
Science, Language Arts
Have students pretend they are news reporters who are reporting from an area the day after a tornado, hurricane, or flood. In addition to reporting on damage and the path of the storm, students should interview “local people” (other classmates) to get reactions to the storm.
