Teaching Cloud Cover

"I'm walking in a cloud!"

I once had a teacher write me about a student of hers who realized fog was a cloud of sorts and during a class walk around the schoolyard, made that lovely comment.

She also loved the Cloud Cover Simulation Activity that is on my Weather page. Her kids had a great time tearing up pieces of paper to represent the various percentages of cloud cover.

Basically, you give each group of students a blue piece of paper. Then they get all or part of a white piece of paper. It's a good idea to have very small groups so you can double up on the cloud cover assignments.

For example: The group doing Overcast (100%) gets the total piece of white paper; the group doing Partly Cloudy gets half (50%) of the white paper. And so on...

They are instructed to rip the paper up into small pieces, all greater than a postage stamp, of course, and then glue the pieces onto the blue paper.

The blue papers with the white clouds are put up for display. The class then gets to guess which paper represents which type of cloud cover. After they are all recorded, the teacher puts them in the correct order. (Code the backs of the blue papers, maybe?)

The kids then sketch the appropriate types of cloud cover on their paper and add the Cloud Cover Symbols.

The next time you have your kids look out the window to assess the cloud type and cloud cover for the Weather Observations Activity, they should have a much better idea as to what 50% cloud cover really looks like!

CONSIDER THIS: Add a Cloud Cover Simulation Activity to your Weather unit!

FUN LINK: From the University of Illinois.

Cloud Flashcards to make.

MiddleSchoolScience.com

I just got an email from my friend, Liz, over at MiddleSchoolScience.com. She's taken a few years off from teaching to raise her kids. She kept her website up and going while she was away. Now I'm happy to report she's back! And her site has been upgraded!

Glad to see you back, Liz! Your new and improved website is fun to visit! It gave me inspiration during my own teaching years and I know will continue to give encouragement to anyone who visits your site.

Liz emailed me about my posts about puzzles and BONUS work for kids. She has signed up for the Highlights Magazine Picture Find service and wanted to share the link with me.

Do you remember Highlights? I do! It's been around for 60 years so most of us have seen this wonderful magazine. Check out the Highlights website. Obviously, they have kept up with the times. Great website! Even has a Science Corner.

Back to the hidden picture link. Click here for the parents' email link. Click on and off what you would like to receive.

To quote Liz:

"You get a pdf and it's two pages, so great to make copies front and back, picture takes up most of the front page."

"I have challenge puzzles, and my 5th graders LOVE the Highlights Magazine picture finds. I get one emailed to me each month and I have been saving them, and I put out new ones as the old ones are snatched up! I think it's GREAT for making observations and using both sides of their brains. Both boys and girls love them. They can work on them when they are done with their labs/activities."

Be sure to visit Liz' site. I have had a link on my website for years. She's the teacher website on the Internet that originally inspired me to start my own. Be sure to visit her planbook and lab journal pages.

Thank you, Liz! And welcome back! You are one of those special teachers who I wish had been just down the hall from me!

Building Polyhedrons

I loved to put out polyhedrons for BONUS points.

I tried to keep kids busy at all times, right up to the bell. If kids were done with their homework, I would let them get out homework from another class. Or I would encourage them to get a BONUS PAGE from my class to do.

I've already talked about putting out Coloring Sheets for BONUS points.

Now here's another idea! Run some patterns off on colored paper! Put out one or two sheets per week and watch them get snatched up! Especially if you make a couple yourself and hang them from the ceiling over the Pick-Up Table.

Pick-Up Table: I always had a table set up by my door with all the work for the day ready to be picked up by the students as they walked in the room. This saved lots of class time for me. More on the Pick-Up Table another day!

I always had a couple of new BONUS pages on the top of the table EVERY DAY! They are easy to do. Make a new crisscross puzzle on Discovery.com's Puzzlemaker site. Find fun pages in some of the old workbooks sitting on your shelf. Surf the net for fun ideas.

CONSIDER THIS: In Science class, anything that exercises the mind of your students is good for BONUS!

KEWL IDEA: Before you run off, add some words for direction. Check out this example!

FUN LINKS: Several Patterns from Duke University.
Lotsa Paper Models of Polyhedrons!

We have a WINNER!

A FREE beta copy of my Teaching Plate Tectonics Packet goes to Cadena of South Dakota.

CONGRATULATIONS, CADENA!

I will be mailing a beta copy of the new Teaching Plate Tectonics Packet to you ASAP. I have just a couple more things I want to add to the Packet and then I will mail it off to you!

For everyone one else, be sure to keep checking my store page for the inaguration of the Plate Tectonics Packet. I also have three Mini-Packets just about ready to go, including Goodies for Teachers.

FUN LINK: Marcia's Science Teaching Ideas Store.

What Causes the Seasons?

From an Astronomy point-of-view, teaching what causes the seasons is an important teacher goal.

I always found at least half of each class still held on to the thought that we are closer to the sun in the summer and farther away in the winter. Once they understand it's the angle of sunlight and that we are closer in the winter, kick it up a notch by having them go home and check out what their parents think!

My most favorite unit I've always called the "Skittles Lesson" because Skittles candies are used as units of heat. My students seemed to stay focused for the most part, especially since they knew they got to eat the candy when they had completed the worksheet!

Since it's such a complicated lesson (the first time), I've written a "How to Teach" handout so you can see what worked for me in getting across this concept.

CONSIDER THIS: Teach the Seasons using Skittles!
Click here for the Skittles Activity, the directions, and also a couple of other active learning activities for teaching "Reasons for the Seasons."

FUN LINKS: Tons of other kewl ideas!

The Perfect Animation for the Skittles Activity: Click here!