Unit Plan 13 (Grade K Social Studies): Weather and the World Around Us
Weather unit for kindergarten where children observe daily conditions, explore local features, and learn how weather affects clothing, activities, and caring for places.
Focus: Help children notice and describe weather in their world and talk about how it changes from day to day and across seasons. Students explore local physical features (trees, playground, puddles, hills) and how weather affects what they wear, what they do, and how they care for places.
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Subject Area: Social Studies (Geography)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 20–30 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, children become “weather watchers” who look closely at the sky, the ground, and the world around them each day. They learn simple ways to describe weather (sunny, rainy, cloudy, snowy, windy) and connect it to nearby physical features like trees, puddles, and hills. Students also discuss how weather affects their clothes, play, and how they take care of places (e.g., staying out of puddles, picking up litter so it doesn’t blow away). By the end of the week, children can describe weather patterns and name basic ways people adapt to and care for their environment.
Essential Questions
- What is the weather like today, and how can we tell?
- How do physical features (trees, hills, playground) look or feel in different weather?
- How does weather change what we wear and what we do each day?
- How can we care for our world in all kinds of weather?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Use simple words to describe today’s weather (e.g., sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, windy).
- Point out local physical features (trees, grass, playground, puddles, hills) and describe how weather affects them.
- Explain in simple language how they change clothes or activities to match different weather (e.g., “We wear coats when it’s cold”).
- Give at least one example of how people care for places in different weather (e.g., picking up litter, staying on the sidewalk when it’s muddy).
- Help create a class weather chart or poster that shows weather words, pictures, and ways we adapt and care for our environment.
Standards Alignment — Kindergarten (C3-based custom)
- K.C3.Geo.3 — Describe local physical features and weather patterns.
- K.C3.Geo.5 — Explain how people adapt to and care for places.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can say if today is sunny, cloudy, rainy, windy, or snowy.
- I can name at least one physical feature near our school (tree, hill, playground, puddle).
- I can say how the weather changes what we wear or do.
- I can tell one way to care for our world in different weather.
- I can help make a weather chart or poster that shows weather and how we adapt.