Lesson 4: Precipitation
Getting Started
Questions to Explore
- How does the environment affect living things?
- How does the weather in the environment affect people, plants, and animals?
Facts and Definitions
- Precipitation is rain, snow, hail, sleet, or any form of water that falls from the sky.
- A rain gauge measures the amount of rainfall.
- Rain, snow, hail, and sleet are all forms of precipitation.
Skills
- Describe weather using quantitative measures of temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and precipitation. (S)
- Identify and use common tools to measure weather: wind vane (wind direction), anemometer (wind velocity), thermometer, and rain gauge. (S)
- Give examples of ways living organisms depend on their environments. (S)
Materials
- The Kids' Book of Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen and Kathleen Friestad
- chalk* (optional)
- fabric scraps
- felt-tip pens
- journal
- marshmallows
- pan with metal lid* (optional)
- small twigs
- toothpicks
* - denotes an optional material that may or may not be needed
Introduction
Ask your child to describe what he has seen falling from the sky — rain, snow, sleet (tiny ice pellets), hail (lumps of ice that fall during some warm-weather thunderstorms). Explain that these are examples of precipitation.
Reminder
Reminder
- Fill out your weather log each day as outlined in Lesson 1.
- Take four temperature readings during the day for the daily temperature experiment outlined in Lesson 2.
- Record the speed and direction of wind as outlined in Lesson 3.