Weather & NatureNGSS* K-ESS2-110–15 min

Weather Watchers

A month of weather, a picture graph, and morning vs. afternoon. A narrated earth science lab for kindergarten.

Open the lab Try the free lab

“Weather Watchers! Watch the weather change for a whole month.”

A school playground under a sunny sky with a cloud and a windsock

In the lab

What your child does

Watches the weather change; records each school day for a month on a calendar; counts each kind of weather into a picture graph and compares the columns; reads a thermometer (no numbers) each morning and afternoon for three days and finds the pattern.

1
Wonder
A sunny playground. Tap the sky: clouds roll in, it rains (puddles form), then the sun comes back.
2
Guess
Is it usually warmer in the morning or the afternoon? (Checked in step 5.)
3
Weather month
Each day of the first school week, look outside and tap the weather: sunny, cloudy, rainy or windy. The windsock shows the wind. A wrong tap gets "look again". The other 15 school days then play fast and fill the calendar.
4
Count and graph
Tap each column to count its days into a picture graph (9, 5, 4, 2). Which did we have most? More rainy or windy days?
5
Morning vs afternoon
For three days, tap the thermometer in the morning (the sun is low) and the afternoon (the sun is high). The chart shows the pattern: mornings are cooler.
Badge
The big ideas in a sentence, a badge, and a printable lab record.

Rain falling on a school playground — Wonder: tap the sky and the weather changes

A month-long weather calendar of sunny, cloudy, rainy and windy days — A month of weather on a calendar

A picture graph of 9 sunny, 5 cloudy, 4 rainy and 2 windy days — Count and graph: which weather did we have most?

Thermometers for three mornings and afternoons — Morning or afternoon: when is it warmer?

The standard

K-ESS2-1*

Children use and share observations of local weather to describe patterns over time, such as counting sunny, cloudy, rainy and windy days, or noticing that mornings are usually cooler than afternoons. Counts are whole numbers; temperature is only warmer or cooler.

Core idea: Earth's Systems
Science practice: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Grade: Kindergarten (ages 5–6)

Read K-ESS2-1 on nextgenscience.org

For grown-ups

Talk about it

"What's the weather today? How do you know?"
"Which weather did we have most?"
"Why might it be warmer in the afternoon?"

Try it for real

Keep a weather calendar on the fridge for a month, drawing a sun, cloud, raindrops or wind lines each day, and count them at the end. Put an outdoor thermometer by a window and compare breakfast time with after school.

Weather & Nature