Exploring the Seasons

Dr. Shadman
Geology 3
Monday/Wednesday 10:40am-12:00pm
Fall 2011
Grade: Kindergarten

Standard 3: Earth is composed of land, air, and water. As a basis

for understanding this concept:
Standard 3B: Students know changes in weather occur from day
to day and across the seasons affecting the earth and its
inhabitants.

Lesson Summary:
Introduce the four seasons to the students. Talk about each one in detail.
Then the students will follow oral, step by step, directions on creating a
Seasonal Tree Mobile. They will identify what the tree looks like during each
season. Does it have leaves? If it does what color are they? What is on the
ground during this season? What happens with the weather?
Key Concepts:

Summer: The season where the trees are filled with leaves usually
green and it is very hot outside. There is no school and we can go
swimming or to the beach.
Fall: The season where the trees leaves are changing color and falling
off. Leaves change from green to orange, yellow, brown, and red. It is
very windy. We can jump in a pile of leaves. Pumpkins are ready to be
picked.
Winter: The season where the trees are bare and it is cold, rainy, and
snowy. We can play in the snow and drink hot chocolate to keep warm.
Spring: the season where the trees are starting to grow new leaves and
flower buds. It is cool and rainy. We use umbrellas and rain boots in
the rain.
The seasons happen once a year and the cycle repeats itself every
year.

Vocabulary:
Tree trunk: the main part of the tree, keeps the tree standing, wood
Branch: grows from the trunk, thinner pieces of wood
Leaves: green, flat, grows on the tree branches, sometimes changes
colors during fall.
Flower Buds: flowers that are starting to grow, hasnt opened up yet,
baby flower
Autumn: Another name for fall
Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall (Definitions same as above)

Materials:

Tree Handout (4)

Sun Handout (1)
Markers
Crayons
Wipes
Scissors
Yarn/Ribbon
Hanger
Tape
Pencil
Glue
Construction Paper

Classroom set-up:
Students will work at a table with their classmates and teacher will walk
around, assist when needed, and give directions.
Introduction:

Talk about todays weather using the weather calendar/pocket chart

which has been used daily in the classroom. Is it
cold/hot/sunny/cloudy/Rainy/Snowy/Foggy/Windy? Use the appropriate
weather card to insert into the Weather Pocket chart for the
appropriate date. According to the weather what season are we in
today? Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall (Summer) Why? Because it is sunny
and hot and soon we will be out of school.
Review the seasons already discussed in class throughout the year. Fall
winter and Spring. Using the key concepts as a guide. Use the blank
trees, and weather cards as a way to explain what it looks like outside
during the different seasons. Show an example of your fingerprint leaf
with the appropriate tree. Fall: Red, brown, yellow, and brown finger
prints. Winter: No prints Spring: Purple or Red prints to use as flower
buds. Summer: Green finger prints And Explain Summer in more detail
(using key concept for summer) Teacher will write the names of the
seasons at the bottom of the tree and later the children will copy them
onto their papers.
Talk about the type of clothing one may wear during the different
seasons using the Wilber the cat chart.
Summer: It is hot outside so we wear: Shorts, T-shirt, Cap, Sandals
Fall: It is windy and cool outside so we wear: Long-Sleeve Shirt,
Sweater, Long Pants, Tennis Shoes
Winter: It is very cold outside maybe snowing so we wear: Beanie,
Thick Jacket, Gloves, Scarf, Long Pants, Boots.
Spring: It is cool and Raining outside so we wear: Rain Jacket, Rain
Boots, Long Pants, Long-Sleeve T-Shirt, use an umbrella.
Read the book Round and Round the Seasons Go By: Rozanne Lanczak
Williams this will help the students visually with the differences of the
seasons. Talk about what season we are in today. (Summer)
Making Mobile:
Color
Mark finger prints for leaves
Cut tree
glue on construction paper (for sturdiness)
Each student will be given their four trees to color for the appropriate
season. Finger prints will be colored with washable marker to demonstrate
the leaves on the tree. (See sample) Give the children a wipe to clean their

fingers in between colors. This will be a two day project. Fingerprints and
coloring the first day. (Make sure the students write their name on the back
of each paper in pencil as to not lose their papers.) The second day will be
cutting, gluing and copying the names of the seasons on the bottom of each
tree. The teacher will attaching to the mobile and hang in the classroom.

Assessment:
Handout on all four seasons. Matching pictures of the fun things to do during
the different seasons from the left to the pictures on the right of the paper.
Review the different things to do during the four seasons without revealing
the season. (See sample for picture descriptions.)
Resources:

The little Hands Nature Book (Earth, Sky, Critter and more)
By: Nancy F. Castaldo, Williamson Little Hands Books
Mailbox October/November 2003 The education Center Inc., Teachers
Friend, A scholastic Company
Mailbox Summer Idea Book 2003, Teachers Friend, A scholastic
company
The Four Seasons By: Rozanne Lanczak Williams, Creative teaching
press, 1994
Round and Round The Seasons Go By: Rozanne Lanzac Williams,
Creative Teaching Press 1994
Weekly Calendar with weather pocket chart and Wilber the Cat
dressing for the seasons, Carson-Deliosa Publishing, CD-5636
http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/the-four-seasons/
http://www.preparingyourchildforpreschool.com/Seasons-PreschoolWorksheets.html

Handout For Mobile:

Trees with leaves- Spring and Summer (Will keep birds for a later project)
Trees without leaves- Winter and Fall

Sun- for top of the mobile

The Four Seasons Paper- So students can write their name

Handout for Assessment:

Matching the Seasons
Review Paper
Answer Key
Original
Student Papers Corrected

Potential Student Questions:

1) Why do leaves fall off in the winter?

Actually, leaves start falling off in the fall. But they are all gone in the winter
because during the spring, summer, and fall the leaves help make food for
the tree to help it grow. When it is winter it does not need a lot of food so the
tree doesnt need the leaves anymore. There are some trees whose leaves
never fall off.

2) Why do we have to wear jackets when its cold?

We need to wear jackets when it is cold so we can keep our bodies warm. If
our bodies are too cold we can get sick.

3) Why doesnt it snow here?

It doesnt snow here in Los Angeles because we live close to the ocean. The
ocean helps keep out temperatures warmer. But we can go up into the
mountains where we are further away from the ocean and we can find snow
there.

4) Where does snow come from?

Snow comes from the clouds. Just like rain. But it gets very cold and the rain
is frozen and changes into snow.

5) How many times do the seasons come in a year?

Each season come one time each year. So we only have one winter, one
spring, one summer and one fall every year. The next year we have the
seasons again.

6) What season lasts the longest?

All the seasons last the same amount of time. About three months or 91
days.

7) Where does the sun go for the rest of the seasons? Does it stay
in the same place?

The sun is always in the same place during all the seasons. The sun doesnt
ever go away.

8) Why is there only turkey during the fall?

We can have turkey during any of the seasons. Like a turkey sandwich when
we go to the beach, during the summer, or have a picnic, during the spring.
But, during the fall, we sometimes see a lot of turkey because when we
celebrate thanksgiving we eat turkey dinner with our families.

Self Evaluation:
1) How did you feel right before the presentation?

I was very nervous before the presentation. Doing a lesson in front of

your peers is kind of scary. I think I would have rather been in a room with
kindergarten students.

2) How did you feel after the presentation was completed?

After the presentation I felt confident that what I presented was good but
still nervous that my peers would be evaluating me and not knowing what
they thought was nerve racking.

3) Describe the parts of your lesson that went well including

why they went well.

I think that part that went the best was the Introduction. It was the part
that I could most prepare for and I was very confident that my thumb
print leaves presentation would go well and it did.

4) Describe the parts of your lesson that did not go particularly

well, including what you could do in the future to make that
part more successful.
The part of the lesson that did not go so well was the coloring of the
project. I was expecting for the PCC students to work much faster on their
coloring than they did and I presented it to them thinking they would
finish everything as a one day project because they are older. I think that I
should have presented it as day one of the two-day project just as I would
have in the kindergarten class.

5) Did anything surprising/unexpected happen during your

lesson? How did you handle it?

Just the timing with the coloring was unexpected. But I stopped them
explaining that it would be a two-day project in the actual classroom.

6) If you were to use this lesson with an actual elementary

school class, what would you do to improve upon what you
did for your PCC classmates?

I think that I was organized for not having an actual classroom of

kindergartners but I definitely think that in a class organization is key and
having all supplies ready before class will lead to a successful lesson with
the children.

7) List any useful information made by your classmates.

The only thing we talked about was how this is definitely a two day lesson
as well as year round discussing the seasons.

8) Was the development and demonstration of a science lesson

in this class a worthwhile activity? What would improve it?

Yes it was definitely worthwhile If you took advantage of actually doing the
work. Some students in my group didnt seem to take it seriously and did
not have a lot of content in their presentations. For me personally, the
people that did their work I learned a lot and I dont think anything needs
to be improved but for the people that did not do the work I think the only
way to make sure they work would be to make it worth more of your
grade.

9) Did preparing for your lesson help you better understand

the contents (i.e.: earth science topic)? Explain

Preparing for my topic I was pretty much sure of the content that I was
teaching because it is kindergarten. Being able to do vocabulary in a way
for kindergarten students to understand was hard. But, when answering
the student questions I did not realize how much more there is to learn
about my lesson and I would need to be prepared for these actual
questions in a classroom environment.

10)
Did preparing your lesson help you better understand
where to find teaching resources? Explain what you found.

Yes, there are so many websites with teacher lessons and Ideas that can
be found. As well as stores like lakeshore, although expensive, has a lot of
Ideas and you can make some of these charts or projects at home. It helps
to spark ideas of your own by seeing how others make or create
something similar to what you want to do.

11)

Other comments or thoughts you would like to include.

I thought this was a great way to prepare me for the real world of
teaching. There is so much preparation that goes in to just one single
lesson. I also loved seeing other students lessons I will definitely keep
them in the back of my mind for the future.