Feel a bit frightened when the tornado siren sounds in the summer? That's perfectly logical-I get nervous too! Let's take a deeper dive into what makes a tornado and see if knowing more will help ease those fears.
Weather Wiz Kids has lots of tornado facts, figures, pictures, and experiments for you to use. Scholastic Weather Watch has a great explanation of the tornado grading scale along with some really snazzy diagrams to show you the parts and pieces inside a tornado funnel. Of course, if you're in the mood to spend time in the kitchen, you can always make this Texas Tornado Cake recipe from A Family Feast. Thunder and lightning aren't so frightening when you learn more about them! Check out these flashy resources to help better understand these staples of summer storms.
Nat Geo has a great basic guide to lightning along with some beautiful pictures to study. Or maybe Scholastic's interview with a meteorologist is more your style, he even talks about the possibility of lightning in space. It's easy to do a bit of experimenting at home with electricity with the two simple experiments on Sciencing. Personally, I did the mint experiment with a group of summer school students a few years ago and it was a big hit! Water, water, everywhere but how much is ok to drink? Today's brain break book highlighted some of the many ways we interact with water every day, but there's always more to explore and learn about this super important resource!
The EPA has lots of great ideas (and games) to help discuss water conservation. NASA knows how important water is! Check out some of the amazing facts this space agency has put together about this wet resource! Water even has it's own educational society! The Water Education Foundation has tons of fact, figures, and fun to teach kids about everything from the water cycle to the difference between surface and ground water (great for those of us who have wells). Puffy, fluffy, and white or low, gray, and hazy, clouds are a common sight in the sky, but what can they tell us about the weather? Let's dig a bit deeper to find out more!
Weather Wiz Kids has a great basic cloud guide along with pictures of some of the most common cloud types. The University of Illinois has a bit more of a basic cloud guide for younger and beginning weather watchers. PBS has a fun video and activity combo for students learning the basics of weather as well! Thunderstorms are a common summer occurrence where we live during the summer months, much to the dismay of many children. A fear of storms is pretty common for many people (kids and adults alike) but perhaps some of these resources will help take the edge off the fear.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has some nice diagrams and info on how thunderstorms form and their basic life cycle. The National Severe Storms Labratory created their Severe Weather 101 series to give you the basics on dangerous weather of all kinds, including thunderstorms. The Young Meteorologist Program is a fun, interactive way for kids to learn all about weather of many types! What are some good ways to let those around us know how we feel? Niko uses his art to show others how he feels about his world, but there are many ways to express feelings in a positive healthy way (yep, even those negative feelings!)
Teaching kids to recognize and name their emotions is often the first step in helping them work through their feelings. The Anxiety Relief Project has a great article full of ideas to help give young students and their caregivers what they need to work through feelings big and small. For more tools, check out The Pragmatic Parent. Younger students may also enjoy these terrific tools featuring a favorite PBS character, Daniel Tiger, as he works through a variety of feelings with his friends in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. TeensHealth by Nemours has some tools to help older children and teens navigate their emotions. With teacher appreciation week coming to a close, let's take a look at some of the folks who make learning possible at our schools and teach students in many ways. Everyone in a school community can be a teacher!
Lerner Books (the publisher of this book series) has some fun activities and lessons on each of the titles in the Off to School series-most of which can be read on Epic! If you feel like being an author illustrator, how about writing a book about our school? School Helpers has a great (free) book template to get you started or you could use BookCreator to build a book online! |
AuthorHi, Resplendent Reader! I'm Mrs. Bendorf, Shullsburg School Librarian, StuCo Advisor, Sophomore Class Advisor, National Honor's Society advisor, and all around niffty person. Here you will find interesting library tidbits, book reviews, and other interesting items that I find and witness here at the Shullsburg School Library and in the world at large, Archives
January 2021
Categories |