Objective

Students will search the study area for nature items associated with or affected by the weather and describe several ways weather affects plants, soil, animals and people.

Materials

• Weather Clue Search sheets
• Clipboards
• Unlined white poster paper

Procedure

1. Begin with a discussion about what students already know about how weather affects the environment. What are some clues that the environment gives us about what kind of weather is being experienced?
2. Divide students into teams, giving each team a clue sheet and a clipboard.
3. Explain to the students that they are going to search the study area for weather clues. When they locate an item for each clue, they should draw and describe what they see on the clue sheet. For example: A place where icicles form — draw a tree branch, etc.
4. Allow 20-30 minutes for teams to complete the weather clue search.
5. Back in class, instruct each student to write a descriptive paragraph about the weather clues they found and what the clues tell them about how weather affects the environment. The paragraph may include details about the search itself, such as the hardest item to find, the easiest item to find, etc., but the main purpose of the paragraph should be to describe ways the weather affects plants, trees, soil, animals and people in the environment.
6. The paragraph should follow proper paragraph structure with an introductory sentence, body sentences and a concluding sentence. A total of 5-7 sentences and proper editing techniques should be required for this descriptive paragraph.
7. Once paragraphs are complete, have students transfer them onto unlined white poster paper and illustrate them by redrawing items from the Weather Clue search sheets.

Download the Weather Clue Search worksheet