South Dakota Science K-ESS2-1

ScienceKindergartenEarth and Space Science

The Standard

Plan and carry out observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time. (SEP: 4; DCI: ESS2.D; CCC: Patterns)

South Dakota Science Standards (2024) · Earth’s Systems

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students choose what weather to check and when to check it. They record what they see each day, then look for weather that happens more than once.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student checks the sky at the same time each day and adds a matching picture to a class chart. After several days, they can point to the pictures and say which kind of weather happened most.
Common Misconceptions: Students may call every warm day sunny or record what a forecast says instead of what they see. They may call one rainy day a pattern without looking at the other days.
How to Assess It: Show a chart with sun, rain, sun, sun, and rain across five days. Ask, "Which weather happened most? How do you know? What will you check tomorrow?"

Lesson moves

Check the sky outside at morning meeting for five days, then add a sun, cloud, or rain picture to a class chart.
Show the class chart and ask, "Which weather happened more than once? Point to the days that show it."
Give pairs five weather picture cards and have them sort, count, and name the weather shown most often.
Before recess, check for rain or wind at the window and ask students which coat or jacket they would choose.

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