1. Our Weather Unit
Lesson and Photos

2. Objectives
• Students will be able to:
1. Identify and label the steps in the water cycle.
2. Explain why the water cycle is important and how it affects our
weather
3. Use online resources like www.wikipedia.com
4. Find a water cycle song through teachertube.com or youtube.com
5. Create a dance or play of the water cycle.
6. Identify and name the 3 different types of clouds.
7. Observe different types of clouds in portraits and photos through an
online museum at:
http://www,artsconnected.org/resource/102521/clouds-and-
weather
8. Keep a weather journal for one week.
9. Create a drawing or model of 4 different clouds

3. Day 1-3: The Water Cycle
• Students will use www.wikipedia.com to
find information and diagrams of the
water cycle. We will discuss vocabulary
and take notes together.
• Students will use www.teachertube.com to
find a song or video of the water cycle to
share with the class.
• Working in a group of 3-4 students will
create a dance or skit of the water cycle
using: kid-made rain sticks, construction
paper, paint, markers, towels, sheets,
pillowcases, cookie sheet, Tupperware,
rice, rocks, pans. (I video taped this to
show, but I could not get it to convert to a
flash file to get it onto my website.)

4. Our Water Cycle Movie

5. Day 4-8: Clouds and Weather
• I will introduce students
to different types of
clouds through
www.wikipedia.com .
• I will read, The Cloud
Book, by Tomie dePaola.
• We will create and model
how to fill out our
Weather Watcher
journals. Students will
watch, document , and
make predictions about
the clouds and weather.

6. Clouds and Weather
• Students will observe and discuss
portraits and photos of clouds
through an online museum that I
previously put together:
http://www.artsconnected.org/re
source/102521/clouds-and-
weather
• Students will create a model or
drawing of four different clouds
using: construction/tissue paper,
paint, salt, rice, cotton balls,
matting, coffee filters, and
markers.
• Students will create a haiku to
describe the clouds.
• Students will be assessed by the
rubric.

7. Rubric
Category 4 Exemplary 3 Proficient 2 Basic 1 Below
Expectation
Participation in class
Works Well With
Others
Understanding of
Content
Kept a daily Weather
Watch Journal
Created a drawing of
Clouds with
understanding
Created Haikus on
Clouds
Reflected on what
was learned

8. Making Our
Weather Watcher Journals

10. Students kept track of the clouds
and Weather for one week in their
Weather Watcher Journals. They
documented the current weather
with pictures and predicted the
weather for the end of the day
based on the clouds they saw in
the morning.

12. Our Cloud Drawings
Students used cotton balls, paint, markers,
tissue paper, construction paper,
glue to create models and drawings of
the different types of clouds: stratus,
cumulus, and cirrus.

14. This student made a diagram of
the water cycle using markers
and construction paper.

15. Cloud Photos
Here are some of the photos the students took
of clouds they saw during the week.

23. We Are Meteorologists
This was a website we visited to learn more about clouds and weather!

24. Overall I feel that I incorporated a lot more of the arts into my weather unit.
Before this I did not have my students create a skit of the water cycle. This was
A favorite part of the students. It was fun to see how they worked together and saw
The water cycle unfold. This also will be helpful when dealing with multiple intelligences.
I also liked the idea of allowing the students to take their own pictures of real clouds
The see. This incorporated a technology component other than just using websites to
Research.
I feel that the students that participated in this project with me will remember the
Different types of clouds and the steps in the water cycle. I did this project with two
Previous students of mine, an upcoming 3rd grader, and my 4 year old daughter. I could
Believe how much the kids remembered and how excited they were to keep the
Journals and take pictures. Even my daughter remembered, “Hey, those are those flat
Clouds, right mom?” This was really neat. I would like to create more rubrics to go along
With the individual assignments.