Nephelococcygia--Cloud Watching.

As part of the 2nd grade science objectives dealing with weather, students will learn the various types of clouds as well as the term and the act of nephelococcygia -- cloud watching.

A lesson plan for grade 2 Science

By Kelley James

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• learn about the formation of clouds and their influence on weather.
• identify the four main cloud formations: cirrus, stratus, cumulus, and nimbus.
• collect data by charting the types of cloud coverage each day for five days.
• learn and practice nephelococcygia.
• create, using technology, cloud pictures for display on a class website.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

3-5 days

Materials/resources

Books:

• The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola, Holiday House, NY: 1975
• Little Cloud by Eric Carle, Puffin Books, NY: 2001.
• It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Green Shaw, Harper Collins, NY: 1991.

These books can be found at http://www.titlewave.com or by contacting Follett Publishing Co. at 1.888.511.5114

construction paper (light and dark blue)
white chalk
white tempera or finger paint
Acceptable Use Policy regarding children’s work being used on the Internet (i.e., classroom webpages, multimedia projects, etc.).

Technology resources

• Microsoft Paint
• Computer
• Printer
• Smart TV or another projection device (optional)
• Graph Club computer software by Tom Snyder
• Productions (or other available graphing program)
• Digital Camera
• Internet access

Pre-activities

The students will need to have know basic weather concepts and vocabulary (i.e., windy, cloudy, sunny, rainy, winter, summer, fall, spring).

The students will also need to know basic graphing concepts such as collecting data over a period of time.

The students will also need to be comfortable with the “Paint” program.

Activities

Daily activity (school days):Observe and graph what types of clouds are in the sky daily. See attached form for use or adaptation.

Day 1: Access prior knowledge of weather and clouds by creating and filling in the K-W portion of a K-W-L (what you Know, what you Want to know, what you Learned). (Observe and record cloud formations) See attached KWL chart.

Day 2: (Observe and record cloud formations) Read The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola. After reading the book, have the children make cloud books of their own using light blue construction paper and white chalk. Fold construction paper in half length-wise (hotdog fold), then accordian fold into four sections. Have children illustrate and label the four major cloud formations (cirrus, cumulus, stratus, and nimbus) using chalk and/or pencil.

Day 3: (Observe and record cloud formations) Read It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Green Shaw. Distribute sheets of dark or royal blue construction paper. Have children fold in half width-wise (hamburger fold). Open paper and drop a small amount of white paint. Refold, pressing paper so that paint spreads out. Open the paper. Do you see anything in your “cloud”? (Let paint dry). Using a strip of paper (see attached) finish sentence “It looked like ________.” Paste onto construction paper under the cloud the child made. Compile as a class book. At this point, introduce the word “nephelococcygia” (ne-fee’-lu-koe’-ku-jee’-u) as the scientific terminology for “cloud watching” or “seeing pictures in the clouds.”

Day 4: (Observe and record cloud formations) Read Little Cloud by Eric Carle. Writing activity: If you were Little Cloud, what shape would you become and why? Draw a picture of your shape to illustrate your writing.

Weather permitting, give the children the opportunity to personally observe clouds to see if they see any pictures in them. This will give the children the real experience of cloud watching. This is the optimal condition for relaying the idea of cloud watching. If not possible, access relevant websites (as listed) for children to see. By using a Smart TV more children will be able to see the various formations available on the websites.

Day 5: Using the “Paint” program in the accessories section of the computer, have students create a landscape picture depicting clouds that look like something else.

As a culminating activity for observing and recording cloud formations, use “The Graph Club” or another graphing program to create a graph depicting their observations over the course of the school week. If you use the “Graph Club,” it can be printed out in Big Book or poster size for display. Using higher order questioning, discuss and compare data gathered.

Assessment

• The students will finish the K-W-L chart filling in the section on what they have learned regarding clouds and cloud watching.
• The Paint activity can also serve as an assessment tool with the children demonstrating their understanding of “nephelococcygia.”

Supplemental information

Attachments:

• KWL: doc | rtf
• It Looked Like: doc | rtf
• Record Sheet: doc | rtf

Related websites

http://www.weatherworks.com/monthly/activities/nephelococcygia.html
http://www.cloudgazing.com
http://www.learnnc.org
http://www.cloudman.com
http://pals.agron.iastate.edu/carlson
http://www.weather.com

Comments

The concept of nephelococcygia was first introduced to me through a science workshop I attended at Appalachian State University through the Science and Math Department. It was at that point I made the connection with Children’s Literature and started to create a lesson around it. Children love BIG words. They do not forget nephelococcygia.