The Psychology of Weather

Objectives
Students will
Gain an understanding of the notion that what is around us can affect or change our
attitudes and emotions
Gain self-awareness by exploring their own emotions and attitudes
Strengthen science skills by using the scientific method to experiment with and document
the weather daily
Strengthen their math skills by creating a graph of their data
Understand that while some change is uncontrollable (for example, the weather), other
change is controllable (for example, how we respond to the weather)
Gain a sense of personal responsibility and unity within the school community by sharing
their knowledge through a school-wide display of posters
Rationale
Not only does this lesson aid in learning many aspects of the curriculum, more importantly,
students gain real life lessons. They will understand the importance of self-awareness and be able
to come up with alternatives to negative attitudes. This can lead to meaningful learning as this
concept can be tailored to many aspects of their lives. This lesson also builds a sense of
community within the classroom and school by encouraging the children to share their newfound
knowledge, which makes the overall environment of the school a more enjoyable place to learn.
Materials
Class Calendar (To keep track of the weather)
Large Bulletin Board
Construction Paper
Ruler
Markers
Weather Icons (Sunny, Partly Sunny, Rainy, Cloudy, Snowy, Foggy, Icy, etc.)
Glue
Individual Calendars (To keep track of emotions)
Construction Paper
Ruler
Markers
Emotion Icons (Happy, Sad, Excited, Angry, Nervous, Gloomy, etc.)
Glue
Journal Work
Composition Books (one for each child)
Pencils (one for each child)
Bar Graph
Large Sheet of Paper
Ruler
Construction Paper
Markers

Posters
Construction Paper
Poster Board
Art Materials (Crayons, Markers, Paint, Glitter, Feathers, Buttons, etc.)
Timeframe
Five Weeks
Introduction
Have students
Participate in a discussion about how weather affects various characters within The
Secret Garden, and then compare this idea to their own lives
As a class, brainstorm different types of weather and different emotions and attitudes
(these will eventually become the weather icons and emotions icons)
Procedures
Day 1 Introduction (see above), Make individual and class calendars
Next Four Weeks
Each day, document the weather as a group and attitudes individually, occasionally have students
journal about their attitude that day
Fifth Week
Day 1 Create class bar graph that summarizes data (Illustrates the daily weather and
how many students were feeling a particular emotion on that day), post it in the hallway
for other students to see
Day 2 Individual journal work to come to conclusions about effect of the weather on
attitude, class discussion to compare conclusions
Day 3 Class discussion (talk about uncontrollable change versus controllable change,
talk about ways we can control some aspects of life, but others cannot be controlled),
discuss the benefits of having a positive attitude (how it can change us)
Day 4 Brainstorm ways we can change the effect that the weather has on our emotions
and attitudes (i.e. fun games to play inside when it is raining outside, etc.)
Day 5 Give students the option of working with other students or individually to make
posters that illustrate the ideas we brainstormed, hang them around the school
Assessment
Ensure that all students have completed their individual calendar work
Read journals to ensure work is completed, look for evidence of an understanding of the
relationship between weather and attitude
Monitor participation in class discussions, look for notable contributions about the idea of
change
Review posters that students create, look for logical and creative examples of how we can take
control of our own attitude and outlook in life
The assessment for this unit will be rather informal. Rather than assigning a letter grade to
students for each step, we are more interested in continued participation by each child, and

evidence that the children gain an understanding of the concept of change, and our ability to
control our own attitudes. If students do this, they will receive a good grade in this unit.
Adaptations
If students do not seem interested or engaged by the long process of recording the weather and
their attitudes for several weeks, perhaps this time frame could be shortened in order to get to the
meat of the unit (the last week).
Advanced learners who are not completely challenged with this unit could research one aspect of
it in much more depth, such as investigating the scientific method, writing a short paper about
weather, or further examining the relationship between weather and the characters attitudes in
The Secret Garden.
If students are having difficulty with the concept of change in our class discussions, we may have
to help them with ideas by providing examples from our own lives.
As journal work is a large part of this project, students who have difficulty writing on their own
may need a teacher, other adult or student in the class help them with this task.