Whole School Weather Activity Day

These resources provide ideas and materials to support a themed whole primary school day on the weather. It includes activities for seven groups, from pre-school to eleven year olds. This provides an opportunity to focus on the weather and enjoy cross-curricular activities that are pleasant and educational.

Each year group works on a different type of weather reading and researches the weather in a different location. These activities are designed to show progression through the age groups.

The day culminates in a whole school presentation where the various classes show their work and feedback on their research. There are common activities which give the presentation continuity. It should make for a colourful fun show which parents might be invited to. The image shows a Y6 child giving a researched weather forecast for their allocated location. Y1 had simpler weather data to research for their location. (If time permits the temperature data from each group can be recorded onto a summary sheet.)

The resources are supported by links to many websites, which are gratefully used. All files are linked on the right.

Objectives

To further an interest in the weather
To learn about some key points essential to the understanding of weather data recording
To use mathematical, geographical, scientific and creative skills in a practical learning experience

Preparation
The necessary materials will need to be obtained. It will help if each group has a map of the region they are forecasting for. Full details are included in the Organiser's Task List.
The staff will need to read through the notes well before the day and check up on anything they are unsure of. They especially need to look at the key learning points for their year group.
Check all URL and replace any that are no longer functioning. Remember to check them close to the time they are being used – websites have been known to be replaced with unsuitable sites.
This version uses three locations all called Tamworth. If your location has matching locations of the same name in North America and Australasia you could replace the Tamworth locations with these.

Weather Day Organiser's Tasks

This is a detailed checklist of things that need to be done in advance.

A large rainbow made by the youngest children. It is front of the stage ready for their presentation.

Weather Day Briefing Sheets

Print these out and laminate them. Each year group will need their copy. They are meant to be used with the children, and have been made clear and colourful.

The example on the right is for year 1. Similar pages are provided for each year group.

Detailed Summary

This is both for the organiser and for the various teachers. Teachers will be able to look at their own activities, and look at those for other year groups in case they can help out with resources. It will also make the progression clear. Distribute a digital copy as well as a printout as there are many hyperlinks to use. These links could be bookmarked ready for use on the day.

This model barometer was made by Y6. they used it in the end of day presentation to show what a barometer is like. Other year groups made similar oversize examples that would be able to be seen by a large audience.

Weather data sheets

Each group researches the weather in its allocated location. The data is recorded on these sheets. Guidance is included as to which aspects of the weather are to be recorded by each age group. If there are children who are able to, there is nothing to stop extra data being recorded. These are left in Word format so that they can be edited.

Photographs of examples

These include example models etc.. These give an idea of what the finished items might look like.

The example on the right is a weather vane with streamers. A compass must be used to point it in the right direction before the reading can be taken.

Has the school got a compass painted onto the playground? This can be very useful.

Summary record sheet

This is a recoding sheet for the temperatures from the different locations. This could be recorded during the presentation when the weather reports are given. This will enable comparison of the temperature round the world. A map of the world could be put up so that the temperature could be shown in the various locations.

This document is left in MS Word format so that it can be edited.

(The image on the right is an example of a cloud mobile made by the year group researching cloud cover.)

File for digital recording of Temperatures

this is a MS Excel sheet for recording the temperatures of the various locations. This will automatically graph the data as it is entered.

Weather Station

If the school has not got a weather station, this might be a good time to set one up. Having an ‘open day’ at the weather station will increase all pupils awareness of what happens when the weather readings are taken each day. See the guidance on setting up a weather station.
This weather station was situated in a courtyard. Although not an ideal site, it was safe from vandalism. Poor data is better than no data at all.

Weather for Schools