Groundhog's Day is a perfect time to explore and play with science, math, and literacy concepts. For nearly 20 years, I've built my preschool and elementary groundhog curriculum around a plucky groundhog named PHYLLIS (Thank you, Susanna Leonard Hill)! Here are a few ideas you can use to make this day fun.
"Weather" or Not The Groundhog Sees Her Shadow
Use Groundhog's Day (and the weeks following) as an opportunity to pay attention to the weather. Introduce specific weather related words (sunny, windy, foggy, rainy, snowy, cloudy). Graph patterns. Give students experience comparing and contrasting different types of weather and looking at trends over time. Here's a video to help explain the weather!
The Pressure Is On
You could also use this as an opportunity to explore the concept of air pressure. Steve Spangler has done an amazing job of introducing this concept.
Science Experiment: Will the Groundhog See Her Shadow?
Frank Ache’s Moonbear's Shadow is a great book to use for helping young learners understand the concept of shadows. NISENet created a wonderful activity as part of their Explore Science: Earth and Space 2020 kit! To make a shadow you need a source of light, an object to block the light, and a surface for the shadow to fall upon.
For this activity, you can use:
Legos or blocks to make your trees
A small plastic action figure, Legos, or blocks to be your “Groundhog”
A flashlight to be your “Sun”
Directions:
Use the flashlight to try to cast shadows around your “Groundhog”
Try to make Groundhog’s shadow in front of him.
Try to make Groundhog’s shadow behind him.
Try to make Groundhog’s shadow long.
Try to make Groundhog’s shadow short.
Shine the sun straight down on Groundhog from above his head. Where is his shadow?
Physical Activity
Go outside and run around the yard. The sun (like your flashlight) is a source of light. When your body blocks the path of light, your body casts a shadow.
Questions to think about:
When do you see your own shadow?
Do you see your shadow on a cloudy day?
Does your shadow always look the same?
Why do you think your shadow changes?
And finally, my favorite Groundhog's Day song, just for you, inspired by Susanna Leonard Hill.
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