Weather

3rd Grade – Science (Italian educational system)

reci-1031x445

Materials for lesson

White cardboard, markers, map of Italy or another nation, paper scotch,A4 sheets, pens, copy of weather forecasting of the city, colored cardboard 100×70, clothespin.

Layout of the classroom

Classroom with desks divided into groups

Phase 1

Teacher explains to the class that during the lesson they will talk about the weather. Start a discussion with the children to understand what is their basic knowledge about the subject. Have you ever seen the weather forecast on the news? On the Internet? Can anyone describe the time that has been observed today? All information is written on the blackboard, especially the words of the time (e.g. cloudy, sunny, damp, rainy …)

Phase 2

Teacher divides the class into small groups. Each group is assigned two cities and a print of the predicted weather forecasts during those days.  Some small white cards are handed down to each group on which children will draw pictures that describe the weather. Thunderstorms = Dark Clouds with Lightning, Rainy = Dark Clouds with Drops of Water, Partly Cloudy = Sunny Clouds, Sunny = Cloudless Sun, Cloudy = Cloudy Clouds, Snow = Light Clouds with Snowballs. Each group will draw different types of pictures on the cards according to the time provided in the assigned cities.

Phase 3

Each group will have to prepare a speech on the weather forecast on the two assigned cities (some children can prepare for one city and the rest on the other). During the preparation of their speech, students will pay attention to various factors of time: temperature, wind, how the sky looks, phenomena such as rain-snow-fog are predicted. When each group has prepared their own speech, the teacher will invite them to present the weather of the city to the rest of the class. Children in the group will have a map of Italy or another country available and cards with the graphic symbols of the time that can be attached with scotch on the map. During the presentation each group will have to try to use the words related to weather and the various features that characterize it. The activity ends when all the groups presented their work.

Phase 4

Teacher retraces the experience with the students. You can create a poster with the days of the week in which to stick the cards made in second, according to weather conditions observed.