Weather is the seventh unit in the Earth & Space course. In this unit you will learn what causes rain, wind, and storms. You will also learn how to measure and record the weather with scientific instruments as well as how weather is forecasted. This unit has sections on:
- Recording & Forecasting
- Precipitation
- Storms
- Special Effects
This is an activity based curriculum, where you learn by doing. Here are a few of the activities to choose from in this unit:
- Keep a weather log, recording each day’s precipitation, wind, clouds, and temperature
- Learn to measure snowfall
- Make a wind detector and measure wind with the Beaufort scale
- Make a barometer to measure air pressure and predict a coming storm
- Learn to classify clouds and predict the weather based on which clouds you see
- Make a model warm and cold front colliding
- Create a storm in a jar
- Make a rainbow spinner to see how colorful rainbows are made from white light
- And so much more!
Each Layers of Learning Science unit includes library lists of books, a family read-aloud suggestion, hands-on activities, printables and paper crafts, sidebars for extra learning, and tools to help you assess student’s progress and mastery. You can learn more about how Layers of Learning works in the Curriculum Guide. You may also want to purchase the Science Guidebook for even more information on how to teach and learn with Layers of Learning Science.
See Inside
Here is a two page spread from Weather:
Sidebars with extra learning ideas and facts line the center section of lesson plans and hands-on activities. This is a pick-and-choose curriculum so you decide on the things that will fit your interest and needs. Along with your hands-on activities you will be reading books from the Library List. The reading serves as the lecture and the activities serve as hooks to make learning deeper and memorable . . . not to mention fun.
Flexibility
This unit was written to be used for a month but contains plenty of content for many more weeks of learning if you choose. This is a pick-and-choose curriculum, meant to be cycled back to in the future when your child is older. As such, it intentionally includes far more material than you can possibly cover in a month.
Weather is also part of the overall Earth & Space course, the first Year of the four year Layers of Learning Science cycle. If you use the program in order, it will take you though the four branches of science from Earth & Space to Biology to Chemistry to Physics in a logical progression where skills are learned and then practiced and used. However, each unit stands alone and can be used independently of any other unit and in any order.
Printable Pack
This unit comes with a downloadable Printable Pack that includes all the student worksheets. The printables can be copied as many times as needed for your family or class.
You can download the Printable Pack from your receipt or from your account at Layers of Learning.
Extra Resources
This unit comes with extra weblinks and a YouTube video playlist on the Earth & Space Resources page.
Chantelle Grubbs –
This has been our favorite unit from the Earth and Space curriculum. There are so MANY wonderful activities and explorations. It was very hard for me to narrow down the ones we wanted to do and we still spent 6 weeks on this unit! The book selections and video list were very engaging for my children, as well!