2.7: Weather and seasonal changes affect the growth and behavior of living…
Weather and seasonal changes affect the growth and behavior of living things (a lower-grade match: animals in winter).
The Virginia Science Standards of Learning (2018) outcome 2.7 (Earth and Space Systems) for Grade 2 says: “Weather and seasonal changes affect the growth and behavior of living things (a lower-grade match: animals in winter).” These 2 Fieldbook units teach it hands-on, with everyday materials and a printable teacher guide and student sheet for every lesson. Official wording: Virginia Science Standards of Learning (2018).
Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm Grades 3–5
Why roads get salted, which mitten really works, how a seal stays warm in icy water, and why a mouse is cosier under the snow than on top of it. Four hands-on lessons on ice, heat and insulation.
- What melts ice fastest? 50–60 min
Teams sprinkle salt, sugar and sand on identical ice cubes, leave one plain, and measure the meltwater after 20 minutes. Then they use their evidence to explain why road crews spread salt, and why salted ice actually gets colder.
- Which mitten keeps a hand warmest? 50–60 min
Teams wrap jars of warm water in wool, cotton, foil or nothing, and read a thermometer every 5 minutes to see which loses heat slowest. Then they explain what a mitten really does, and why it doesn't make any heat of its own.
- How do animals stay warm in winter? 50–60 min
Students put a hand into ice water inside a 'blubber glove' made of shortening between two zip bags, measure the difference with thermometers, and compare a lone cup of warm water with a huddle. Then they argue how blubber, fur, feathers and huddling help animals survive the cold.
- Can snow keep things warm? 60–75 min, including about 40 min outdoors
Teams build a 'den' for a jar of warm water, leave one on top of the snow and bury one underneath, and compare temperatures after 30 minutes. They also probe the snow with thermometers, then explain why voles, grouse and bears spend winter under the snow. A no-snow version uses a freezer and a snow stand-in.
Weather Watchers: What Will the Sky Do Today? Grades K–2
Is it sunny, windy or wet today, and how can we tell? Young scientists keep a class weather chart for two weeks, build wind socks to catch the wind and make a rain gauge from a bottle to measure the rain.
- What's the weather like today? 30 min to start, 5 min a day for two weeks, 30 min to graph
Children look at the sky at the same time every school day for two weeks and add a weather picture to a big class chart. Then they count the sunny, cloudy, rainy and snowy days, build a bar graph together and use it to say what kind of weather their two weeks had.
- Which way is the wind blowing? 40–45 min, plus 5 min on two or three other days
Children make a paper-plate wind sock with crepe-paper streamers and take it into the schoolyard to see which way the wind blows and how strong it is. They find out that we can't see wind, but we can see what it does, and they sort days into calm, breezy and windy.
- How much rain fell? 40 min, plus 5 min a day for a week
Teams build a rain gauge from a clear, straight-sided bottle with a ruler taped on, set it outside and measure the rain each day for a week. On a dry week they make a watering-can 'storm' instead, and test what happens when rain lands on grass, soil and pavement.
Compared with NGSS: 2-ESS2-1 (partial).
More Virginia Grade 2 science outcomes we teach
Every Virginia Grade 2 science standards outcome we teach
Every unit matched to Virginia's curriculum · All places and curricula
Three full lessons, free
Make a free account and download any three Fieldbook lessons as printable PDFs. No card needed.