Materials
- Cardboard
- Markers
- Chart paper
- Bowl of very warm water
- Bowl of cold water with ice cubes in it
- Two thermometers
- Pictures of clothing for different seasons
- Glue or tape
What to do
1. In advance, make a large cardboard thermometer but leave the area that represents the mercury white. Allow enough room on each side of the thermometer to affix the pictures of clothing.
2. Ask the children if they can define the word weather for you. You might say weather is a word we use to describe what it's like outside. Have the children describe different types of weather. Record their responses.
3. Ask if they know what the weather is like today without going outside. Tell them that a thermometer can be used to find out what the weather is like.
4. Show the cardboard thermometer and explain it can be used to find out the weather. Ask, "If the mercury (red liquid) in the thermometer is near the bottom, what do you think it's like outside? Is it hot or cold?" After allowing the children to make several guesses, tell them that you have a way of answering the question. Show the children the real thermometers and the two bowls of water.
5. Have a volunteer measure the temperature of the two bowls by placing one or more fingers in each. Ask the volunteer to describe the different temperatures.
6. Place one thermometer in each bowl and agree upon the amount of time they should be left in. When the time is up, remove the thermometers and examine them with the children. Record the temperature registered on each one. Point out that the mercury in the thermometer from the bowl of hot water is near the top and the mercury from the thermometer in the cold water is near the bottom.
7. Ask the children the question from step four again. Now they should conclude that when the mercury is near the bottom of the thermometer, it is cold outside.
8. Ask the children what type of clothes they should wear when going outside in the cold. Explain that there are different types of clothes for all weather conditions. Distribute the clothing cutouts to the children.
9. Point to different levels on the cardboard thermometer. Ask the children to tell what type of clothing could be worn if it were that temperature outside. Allow the child holding the appropriate type of clothing to come up and glue or tape the cutout to the spot on the cardboard thermometer.
10. Continue until all the cutouts are affixed to the thermometer.
More to do
- Language: Read It's Raining Cats and Dogs by Franklyn Mansfield Branley and make your own outlandish weather book. Have the children dictate what they would like to see raining down from the heavens and make illustrations for them. Create a cover and a title for the book and bind the pages together.
-Virginia Jean Herrod, Columbia, SC
