Lesson Plans

Birthday Season Weather Report

Summary

Grade Range

Kindergarten

Group Size

2-3 students

Active Time

1 hour

Total Time

1 hour

Area of Science

Weather & Atmosphere

Key Concepts

Weather, Seasons

Credits

Svenja Lohner, PhD, Science Buddies Alumni

Science Buddies is committed to creating content authored by scientists and educators. Learn more about our process and how we use AI.

Image Credit: Svenja Lohner, Science Buddies / Science Buddies

Overview

In this lesson, students will create weather report cards of their birthday seasons and analyze them to identify differences and similarities between them. Based on their observations, they will explain how weather conditions change between seasons and discuss how we adapt to seasonal changes.

Learning Objectives

Name the four seasons.
Describe how weather patterns change with the seasons.
Explain how living things adapt to the different seasons

NGSS Alignment

This lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations:

K-ESS2-1. Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.

This lesson focuses on these aspects of NGSS Three Dimensional Learning:

Science & Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data. Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the natural world in order to answer scientific questions.

Engaging in Argument from Evidence. Construct an argument with evidence to support a claim.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions. Use information from observations (firsthand and from media) to construct an evidence-based account for natural phenomena.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ESS2.D: Weather and Climate. Weather is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region at a particular time. People measure these conditions to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time.

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns. Patterns in the natural world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence.

Materials

Image Credit: Svenja Lohner, Science Buddies / Science Buddies

For each student group:

Coloring pencils
Pencils
Printed weather report card

For the teacher:

Printed season wheel (northern hemisphere or southern hemisphere)
Board or poster sheet
Markers

Background Information for Teachers

This section contains a quick review for teachers of the science and concepts covered in this lesson.

Every place on Earth experiences different seasons over the course of a year. The mid-latitudes in the Northern and Southern hemispheres experience the classic four seasons that we call spring, summer, fall, and winter. Each of the four seasons is usually characterized by special weather conditions such as precipitation, sunlight, or temperature patterns that repeat every year. As the weather changes, living things such as plants change along with it, and animals, including humans, change their behavior to adapt to the varying conditions.

There are lots of animals that exhibit distinct behaviors during each season. For example, animals usually produce offspring in spring, either gather food for the winter or migrate to warmer places in fall, or hibernate in winter. An annual plant's life cycle follows a pattern that is dependent on the weather conditions in each season. They go dormant over the winter to survive the cold and come back to life in spring when the temperatures become warmer and the days become longer. They grow their flowers and fruit over the summer, so they are ready for harvest in fall. Once they have set their seeds, they are ready to go dormant for winter and the cycle starts again.

The table below shows some typical characteristics of each of the seasons in the mid-latitudes. Depending on the specific location on Earth, these characteristics might vary.

Swipe left to see more

Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
Temperatures become warmer Usually more precipitation Weather can be variable Days are becoming longer (more sunlight) Flowers start to bloom Trees start growing new leaves Animals become more active (wake up from hibernation) Many animals start breeding Migrating animals start their journeys	Temperatures can become very hot Usually less precipitation Weather is more stable and warmer Days are the longest in summer Some plants become brown in the heat Some plants go dormant to survive the dry weather Animals are less active on hot days Animals find less water People wear light clothing, sunglasses, and sunscreen	Temperatures start becoming cooler Usually more precipitation Weather can be variable Days are becoming shorter (less sunlight) Many plants are finished making their fruits, which can be harvested Leaves of trees change colors Trees start to lose their leaves Animals prepare for winter and store food Some animals migrate to warmer places	Temperatures can become very cold Usually more precipitation, including snow Weather is more stable and colder Days are getting very short Many plants go dormant to survive Many trees lose or have lost their leaves Animals hide in their nests, burrows, caves, etc. to stay warm Some animals hibernate Animals cannot find much food People wear many layers of clothes to keep warm

In this lesson, students will investigate the classic four seasons by creating weather report cards of their birthday season and analyzing them to identify differences and similarities between them. Based on their observations, they will explain how weather conditions change between seasons and discuss how we adapt to seasonal changes.

Additional Background Links

Spring, summer, autumn and winter - why do we have seasons?, from ABC
Seasons and the Sun: Crash Course Kids 11.1, from Crash Course Kids at YouTube
Trees Through the Seasons, from Limbwalker
What causes the seasons?, from NASA

Prep Work (15 minutes)

Print one copy of the season wheel (northern hemisphere or southern hemisphere)
Print one weather report card for each student.

Teacher Tool Box

Related Lessons

What Season Is This?

Engage (15 minutes)

Tell your students that today they will investigate the different seasons. Ask,

Does anybody know what season we have right now? How can you tell?

Have students share their thoughts. Then tell them that in many places in the world each year is divided into four different seasons.

Continue the discussion.

What are the names of the four seasons?

As students mention the four seasons, write the names of the seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) on the board (next to each other) or a sheet of paper for everyone to see. Use a different sheet of paper for each season.

How would you describe each of the seasons?

Can you name three things that come into your mind for each season?

Prompt students to think about some typical characteristics of each season. This can include the weather, how things (for example trees) look, or activities that we do during each season. Write the words that students come up with on each of the season sheets. Collect at least three characteristics for each season. Then hang the season sheets up on the wall or the board for everyone to see.

Show students the appropriate season wheel (northern hemisphere or southern hemisphere) image. Point out how the year is divided into the four seasons. Have students name each month of the year and show where each month is on the season wheel. Note: Use the Southern or Northern hemisphere season wheel depending on where you are located.
Emphasize that each season has three months. Let students repeat the names of the months for each season.
Then show students the "Four Seasons Song" video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iisj2kTZIFs

Create Assignment

Embed Link

Google Classroom

Microsoft Teams

Canvas

Schoology

Other

Link copied to clipboard.

Explore (30 minutes)

Explain to students that in the following activity each one of them will investigate their birthday season in more detail. Sort students by birthday. Assign a specific location inside the classroom for each season and have students move to the specific area based on their birthdays. If they have difficulties finding the right spot, show them the season wheel again.
Note: To avoid too many transitions, you can also split students into season groups without having them relocate in the classroom. For example, you could color-code them according to their season using stickers or wrist bands.
Ask students to find a partner within their season group. Explain that each pair needs to prepare a weather report for their birthday. Show the weather report card to your students and briefly go through each section, so students know what to do. Emphasize that their weather report card asks them about the weather conditions during their season, which includes information about sunlight, wind, snow, rain, or temperature. The report also asks them to make recommendations for what to wear and what to do during their birthday season.
Point out the season sheets that you made earlier and mention that they should use these lists as well as the information from the "Four Seasons Song" video to fill out their weather report cards.
Hand out a weather report card, coloring pencils, and pencils to each student and give each group 15 minutes to fill out their weather report cards (multiple selections for each answer are allowed). Ask students to discuss the following questions within their group:

What is the weather like during your birthday season?

Does it usually rain or snow on your birthday?

How does the sky look? Is it usually cloudy or sunny?

How cold or warm is it? What do you usually wear outside?

What are typical outdoor activities that you can do?
Once all groups have finished their weather report card, ask one or two groups from each season to present their weather report cards. Have each group explain why they chose each of their answers. Ask the other students from the same season group if they agree with the presented weather reports and then discuss potential discrepancies.
Hang one or two representative weather report cards for each season up on the board or wall for everyone to see.

Reflect (15 minutes)

Gather students in front of the different weather report cards. Discuss the similarities and differences as a group and together try to identify any weather patterns from the weather report cards.

What differences or similarities do you see between the different season reports?

How does the weather, temperature, or precipitation change from season to season?

Can you see any patterns?

Have students share their ideas. Use their responses to point out that temperatures are usually highest in summer and lowest in winter. This means that the summers are also mostly dry whereas there is more precipitation in winter, fall or spring. Tell students that these are seasonal weather patterns that repeat every year.

Focus students' attention on the last two sections of their weather report cards. Encourage students to find evidence on the weather report cards that supports the claim that people change their behavior from season to season.

Can you find evidence that shows how we change our behavior from season to season?

How do we dress differently?

How do our outdoor activities change?

Listen to students' arguments. Guide them to conclude that we dress warmer in winter to stay warm in the cold, and are more likely to do outdoor activities such as swimming, going to the beach, or going to the playground in summer when it is warm. Emphasize that this is how we adapt to seasonal weather changes.

Continue the discussion by asking the following questions.

Can you think of other things that we do to adapt to seasonal changes?

Encourage students to share other examples of how we change our behavior from season to season.
Optional: Finish the activity by making a "student season wheel". Show the season wheel image again and this time ask students to arrange themselves into a circle based on their birthday months to mimic the season wheel. Then ask them what they have learned about how weather patterns change from season to season and how living things adapt their behaviors to adapt to seasonal changes.

Make Career Connections

Discussing or reading about these careers can help students make important connections between the in-class lesson and STEM job opportunities in the real world.

Meteorologist

Career Profile

Meteorologists observe and measure the weather. They measure things like temperature, rain, and wind speed. They use their observations to help predict what the weather will be in the future. Read more

Climate Change Analyst

Career Profile

While meteorologists try to predict what the weather will be like tomorrow or next week, Climate Change Analysts measure and predict how patterns in weather change over much longer periods of time, such as hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years. They study how human activity can cause changes in the climate and what we can do to prevent unwanted changes. Read more

Lesson Plan Variations

Point out that not every part of the world experiences four seasons. For example, in the tropics there are only two seasons (wet and dry). Show students a world map that shows how the seasons world map that shows how the seasons differ between the polar, mid-latitude, and tropical regions.
Explore with your students why we have four different seasons. The explanation is provided in the additional background resources additional background resources.
Have students present their weather report as if they were presenting a weather forecast on TV.
Look at real weather reports or temperature and precipitation charts for your location. How do these numbers change over the course of a year?

Explore Our Science Videos

Can you solve this air pressure puzzle? | STEM Activity

Paper Speaker Troubleshooting

LED Circuit Design: Power and Efficiency