Grade by Grade
Strand B: Problem Solving and Innovating · Wonder, Explore, Build and Create

Our Natural World and the Four Seasons

B13.1 B13.3 B12.2 D23.3About 20 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can name the four seasons in order.
  • I can tell what the weather and nature are like in each season.
  • I can find patterns in nature and in buildings.
  • I can draw and record the weather.
  • I can tell ways to take care of nature.

Words to know

season
A part of the year. The four seasons are spring, summer, fall (autumn) and winter.
weather
What it is like outside today: sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, windy, hot or cold.
pattern
Something that repeats over and over, like day and night, or stripes.
nature
Everything outside that people did not make: trees, animals, rocks, water, sky.
hibernate
To have a long, deep sleep through the winter. Groundhogs hibernate.

What is it like outside today?

(Grown-up: read aloud.)

Let's look out the window. Is it sunny ☀️? Cloudy ☁️? Rainy 🌧️? Snowy ❄️? Windy 🌬️?

What it is like outside is called the weather. The weather can change every day!

The four seasons

In Canada, the year has four seasons. They always come in the same order, around and around like a circle:

🌷 Spring → ☀️ Summer → 🍁 Fall → ❄️ Winter → and back to 🌷 Spring!

That repeating order is a pattern.

A big maple tree with bright red and orange leaves in a park, with fallen leaves on the grass.
This is fall in Canada! The leaves turn red and orange, then fall to the ground. Which season comes next? AI-generated image
SpringSummerFallWinteraround andaround!
The four seasons go around in the same order every year: spring, summer, fall, winter, then spring again.
SeasonWeatherWhat we see in natureWhat we wear
🌷 Springwarmer, rainysnow melts, buds and flowers grow, birds come back and build nestsrain boots, raincoat
☀️ Summerhot, sunnygreen leaves, lots of flowers, bugs and butterfliesshorts, sun hat, sunscreen
🍁 Fallcooler, windyleaves turn red, orange and yellow and fall; geese fly south; squirrels hide nutssweater, jacket
❄️ Wintercold, snowysnow and ice, bare trees; some animals hibernatesnowsuit, toque, mittens, boots
The four seasons in Ontario.
SpringSummerFallWinter
The same tree all year: buds in spring, lots of green leaves in summer, leaves falling in fall, and bare branches with snow in winter.
Worked example

Let's be season detectives

Listen to the clues and figure out the season: "The leaves are turning red and orange. They are falling to the ground. Geese are flying south. I need a sweater." 🍂

  1. Clue 1: leaves turn red and orange and fall. That happens in fall.
  2. Clue 2: geese fly south to warmer places before winter comes. That happens in fall.
  3. Clue 3: it is cool enough for a sweater, but not a snowsuit.
  4. All the clues match the same season.

It is fall (also called autumn)! 🍁

Patterns in nature and in buildings

A pattern repeats. Look for patterns everywhere!

  • Day ☀️ and night 🌙 repeat every day.
  • The seasons repeat every year.
  • A zebra 🦓 has stripes. A pinecone has a pattern of scales. Many flowers have petals all around the middle. 🌼

People make patterns too: bricks on a wall 🧱, tiles on a floor, fences, and the windows on a tall building 🏢.

Maple syrup time

In late winter and early spring, the days get warmer while the nights are still cold. That is when the sap runs in maple trees 🍁. First Nations peoples were making maple sugar from maple sap long before settlers came to this land, and they shared that knowledge. Today many families in Ontario still visit a sugar bush in spring.

Taking care of nature

Nature gives us clean air, water, food and beautiful places to play. We can take care of it!

  • Put garbage in the garbage can and recycling in the recycling bin. ♻️
  • Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. 🚰
  • Leave wildflowers and bird nests where they are, so others can enjoy them.
  • Be gentle with plants and animals.
Hands-on activity

Weather watcher chart

You need: paper, crayons, and a window.

  1. Your grown-up draws a chart with 5 boxes, one for each day (Monday to Friday).
  2. Every day, look outside. Draw the weather in that day's box: a sun ☀️, a cloud ☁️, raindrops 🌧️, or snowflakes ❄️.
  3. Your grown-up can write the word under your picture, like sunny.
  4. At the end of the week, count: How many sunny days? How many cloudy days? Which weather did we have the most?
  5. Predict: What will the weather be tomorrow? Check tomorrow!

Extra: go on a pattern hunt inside and outside. Find 3 patterns (stripes on a shirt, bricks, leaves on a stem).

Just for fun

What does a cloud wear under its raincoat?

Thunderwear! ⛈️

Your turn

1

❄️ In which season do we build snowmen?

2

Say the four seasons in order, starting with spring.

3

🌷 Flowers start to grow and snow melts. Which season is it?

4

Look outside right now. Tell what the weather is.

5

🦓 What pattern does a zebra have?

6

Tell one way you can take care of nature.

More practice: warm-up

1

☀️ Is it hot or cold in summer?

2

🧤 When do we wear mittens and a toque?

3

What comes after day: night 🌙 or lunch?

4

🍁 In which season do leaves fall off the trees?

5

Point: which picture shows rain? ☀️ 🌧️ ❄️

More practice: on your own

1

What comes after winter?

2

Why do some birds, like Canada geese, fly south in the fall?

3

Find a pattern in your home made by people. Show your grown-up.

4

🎒 It is a hot, sunny summer day. Pick what to wear: a snowsuit, or a sun hat and shorts?

5

Our weather chart had ☀️☀️☁️☀️🌧️. How many sunny days?

Challenge

1

Spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, ... What comes next?

2

A groundhog sleeps all winter long. What is that called? Why do you think it does that?

3

Predict: if it is a sunny day and you leave a snowman in the sun in spring, what will happen to it? Why?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which season comes after summer?

2.

In which season do we see the most snow in Ontario?

3.

Which one is a pattern?

4.

What is a good way to care for nature?

5.

Leaves turn red and fall. Geese fly south. What season is it?

For parents and teachers

What this lesson is about. Children ask questions about and describe natural events (weather, seasonal change), notice and compare patterns in the natural and built environment, record observations with drawings and labels, and learn simple ways to care for the environment.

How to help at home:

  • Make weather talk a daily habit: "What will we need to wear today? How do you know?"
  • Take the same walk in each season and notice what changes: the same tree in spring, summer, fall and winter. Taking a photo each time makes a great seasonal book.
  • Go on pattern hunts: tiles, fences, brick walls, leaves, pinecones, sunflower centres.
  • Model caring for the environment: recycling, composting, turning off lights and taps.

Common difficulties:

  • Remembering the order of the seasons takes time. Singing the order or using a circle drawing helps.
  • Children may think the weather is the same everywhere or every day. Comparing different days on the weather chart helps.
  • Weather is different across Canada (and from year to year). If your local weather does not match the chart exactly, talk about what your seasons are like.