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Weather Measurements

Weather Measurements

TEKS Objective

The student is expected to measure, record, and graph weather information, including temperature, wind conditions, precipitation, and cloud coverage, in order to identify patterns in the data.


Essential Understanding

The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among objects in the sky.

Science Background

What are Weather Observations? American Geological Institute (website) - Learn about different elements of weather, how and why we observe and measure weather conditions, and how this information is used to predict the weather. (Follow the arrow.)

What are Weather Observations?
American Geological Institute, K-5 GeoSource, www.k5geosource.org

Temperature: Environmental Literacy Council (website) - Extensive background information on temperature and how it relates to weather.

Environmental Literacy Council
Temperature, www.enviroliteracy.org

Signature Lesson

Weather Experiments: Weather WizKids (website) - Students make and use simple weather instruments (e.g., thermometer, anemometer and windsock) to measure different weather components.

Weather Experiments
Weather WizKids, www.weatherwizkids.com

Supporting Lessons

How to Make an Anemometer: Southeast Regional Climate Center (PDF) - Easy, clear instructions for making an anemometer.

How to Make an Anemometer
Southeast Regional Climate Center, www.sercc.com

Elaboration Lessons and Extensions

Make a Rain Gauge: Weather Wizkids (website) - Simple directions for creating a rain gauge.

Make a Rain Gauge
Weather WizKids, www.weatherwizkids.com

Assessment Ideas

Interactive Weather Forecast: The Weather Channel (website) - Students collect data on precipitation, wind conditions, temperature and cloud conditions for a week and enter their data into the Interactive Weather Forecast site to create a five-day forecast.

Interactive Weather Forecast
The Weather Channel Games, www.theweatherchannelkids.com

Literature Connections

Weather Forecasting. Sievert, Terri (ISBN: 0-736-83739-6)

Reasons for the Seasons. Gibbons, Gail (ISBN: 0-823-41238-5)

Sunshine Makes the Seasons. Branley, Franklyn (ISBN: 0-060-59205-2)

A Tree for all Seasons. Bernard, Robin (ISBN: 0-792-2942-70)

What’s the Weather Today? Fowler, Allan (ISBN: 0-0516-44918-4)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Barrett, Judi (ISBN: 0-689-70749-5)

It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Shaw, Charles (ISBN: 0-064-43159-2)

Weather Words and What They Mean. Gibbons, Gail (ISBN-10: 082340952X)

Who Cares About the Weather? Berger, Melvin and Lunis, Natalie (ISBN-10: 1567840043)

Related Science TEKS

(2.8B) Using Weather and Seasonal Information
The student is expected to identify the importance of weather and seasonal information to make choices in clothing, activities, and transportation.

(2.8C) Water Cycle
The student is expected to explore the processes in the water cycle, including evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, as connected to weather conditions.

Related Math TEKS

2.10A  The student is expected to read a thermometer to gather data.

2.11A  The student is expected to construct picture graphs and bar-type graphs.

2.11B   The student is expected to draw conclusions and answer questions based on picture graphs and bar-type graphs.

2.12A  The student is expected to identify the mathematics in everyday situations.

Additional Resources

National Weather Service: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (website) - Detailed weather information at the local, state and national levels, including warnings and forecasts.

National Weather Service
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, www.noaa.gov

Weather Words: Weather Wiz Kids (website) - More than 150 weather-related words and definitions.

Weather Words
Weather WizKids, www.weatherwizkids.com

What is Weather? BBC Schools (website) - Interactive collection of animated demonstrations showing different weather components.

What is Weather?
BBC Schools, www.bbc.co.uk/schools

Temperature About Weather: BBC Schools (website) – This interactive animation simulates conditions at different temperatures (using Celsius).

Temperature About Weather
BBC Schools, www.bbc.co.uk/schools

Houston Weather: The Weather Channel (website) - Daily weather data for Houston, Texas. (Can be modified to track weather for any city.)

Houston Weather
The Weather Channel, www.weather.com

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