Changing Seasons

Lesson Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, students will be able to:

  • Explain why seasons happen in a pattern that repeats every year

  • Make predictions about the types of weather that occur each season, and understand those predictions may not always be correct

Essential Questions:

  • How does the amount of sunlight Earth receives change through the seasons?

  • What patterns can we predict about the sun, moon, and stars? What patterns can we predict about the seasons?

  • What changes do we see in nature as the seasons change?

  • How can we dress to be comfortable in different seasons?


Explore our resources

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Take-Home Guide

Information for parents & legal guardians (available in English and Spanish).

Información para padres de familia y tutores legales (disponible en Inglés y Español).

Standards Alignments

Explore the ways our program aligns with CCSS + NGSS standards.

Vocabulary

Explore relevant vocabulary related to the CiS workshop.

 

Patterns Activity

Students explore weather patterns and make predictions at school.

Seasons Coloring page

Color and label the trees during the different seasons!

Social Emotional Learning

Read-along with CiS Educator, Kylie, who is reading Do I Have to Wear a Coat?

 

Reading Resources

Explore our staff picks for your students!

FPC Reading List Picks

Read these FPC picks + complete reflection activities with your students!

Read-Along

Read-Along with CiS Educator Maddi as she reads Green on Green.

 

Challenge Guide

Completing this challenge will help your school become a CiS Certified Sustainable School!

Challenge Video

Watch this video with your students to complete their challenge.

Lesson Reflection

Print and send home this reflection activity to show families what their student learned.

 

Background Information

As we move through the year, the world around us undergoes a dramatic transformation, known as the changing seasons. Each season brings its own unique characteristics, from the warm breezes of summer to the icy snows of winter. In other locations around the world, seasonal changes cause shifts in wet and dry weather. No matter where you are on the planet, these changes are caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis and the way it orbits the sun.

When our hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, we experience summer. When we are tilted away, we experience winter. While the tilt of the Earth and its orbit are unchanging, we may experience a shift in the way seasons occur, such as less snow in winter or hotter days in summer, due to climate change and the impact of humans on our planet.