Year 1 Science: Observing and recording the weather
Part of the Year 1 Science seasons and weather chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
Observing and recording the weather
Scientists observe the weather. That means they look at it carefully. Then they record it, which means they write it down, so they can compare one day with another.
Ravi looked at the weather every day for one week. He wrote down the weather for each day.
| Day | Weather |
|---|---|
| Monday | sunny |
| Tuesday | rainy |
| Wednesday | cloudy |
| Thursday | sunny |
| Friday | windy |
| Saturday | rainy |
| Sunday | sunny |
Key ideas
- To observe means to look carefully.
- To record means to write down what you see.
- A weather chart shows the weather for each day.
- A bar chart shows how many days had each kind of weather. The taller the bar, the more days.
Key words. A chart shows information in a simple picture or table.
Method. Count the days on Ravi’s chart that had sunny weather.
- Look down the weather column. Find each day that had sunny weather.Monday, Thursday, Sunday
- Count those days. Count each day once.3 days
- Write the answer. 3
Check. Add all the counts: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7 days. ✓
Watch out. A day with no weather of this kind counts as zero, not as a missing day.
Method. Count each kind of weather, then find the biggest number.
- Count each kind of weather. Use Ravi’s chart.sunny 3, cloudy 1, rainy 2, windy 1, snowy 0
- Find the biggest number. The most days is the biggest number.3 is the biggest
- Write the answer. sunny
Check. The other kinds have fewer days than 3. ✓
Watch out. The tallest bar on the chart shows the weather that happened most.
Method. Count the groups of five first. Then add the marks that are left over.
- Count the groups of five. Each group has four lines and one line across them.1 group of 5 = 5
- Count the marks left over. These are not in a full group of five.2 left over
- Add them together. The total is the number of days.5 + 2 = 7
Check. Count one mark at a time from the start to check: you get 7. ✓
Watch out. Count the groups of five first, so you do not count a mark twice.
Watch out
Watch out: a tally group has five marks. Four lines go up, and one line goes across them. Count the full groups of five first, then add the marks that are left over.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Keep a weather chart on the fridge for one week. Your child can draw a symbol for each day, then count the days at the end. Ask: “Which weather happened the most?”
Try it at home
- Each morning, look out of the window with a grown-up. Draw the symbol for the weather.
- At the end of the week, count how many days had each kind of weather.
- Use tally marks, or draw a bar chart, to show your count.
Exercise 9E Recording and reading the weather
Key words. A chart shows information in a simple picture or table.
Method. Count the days on Ravi’s chart that had cloudy weather.
- Look down the weather column. Find each day that had cloudy weather.Wednesday
- Count those days. Count each day once.1 day
- Write the answer. 1
Check. Add all the counts: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7 days. ✓
Watch out. A day with no weather of this kind counts as zero, not as a missing day.
Key words. A chart shows information in a simple picture or table.
Method. Count the days on Ravi’s chart that had rainy weather.
- Look down the weather column. Find each day that had rainy weather.Tuesday, Saturday
- Count those days. Count each day once.2 days
- Write the answer. 2
Check. Add all the counts: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7 days. ✓
Watch out. A day with no weather of this kind counts as zero, not as a missing day.
Key words. A chart shows information in a simple picture or table.
Method. Count the days on Ravi’s chart that had snowy weather.
- Look down the weather column. Find each day that had snowy weather.none
- Count those days. Count each day once.0 days
- Write the answer. 0
Check. Add all the counts: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7 days. ✓
Watch out. A day with no weather of this kind counts as zero, not as a missing day.
Method. Count each kind of weather, then find the biggest number.
- Count each kind of weather. Use Ravi’s chart.sunny 3, cloudy 1, rainy 2, windy 1, snowy 0
- Find the biggest number. The most days is the biggest number.3 is the biggest
- Write the answer. sunny
Check. The other kinds have fewer days than 3. ✓
Watch out. The tallest bar on the chart shows the weather that happened most.
Method. Add up the number for each kind of weather.
- Find each number. Use Ravi’s chart.sunny 3, cloudy 1, rainy 2, windy 1, snowy 0
- Add them together. Add all five numbers to find the number of days.3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7
- Write the answer. 7 days
Check. The week has seven days, Monday to Sunday. ✓
Watch out. Every day should be counted exactly once.
Method. Count the groups of five first. Then add the marks that are left over.
- Count the groups of five. Each group has four lines and one line across them.1 group of 5 = 5
- Count the marks left over. These are not in a full group of five.3 left over
- Add them together. The total is the number of days.5 + 3 = 8
Check. Count one mark at a time from the start to check: you get 8. ✓
Watch out. Count the groups of five first, so you do not count a mark twice.
Key words. A chart shows information in a simple picture or table.
Method. Count the days on Ravi’s chart that had sunny weather.
- Look down the weather column. Find each day that had sunny weather.Monday, Thursday, Sunday
- Count those days. Count each day once.3 days
- Write the answer. 3
Check. Add all the counts: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7 days. ✓
Watch out. A day with no weather of this kind counts as zero, not as a missing day.
Key words. A chart shows information in a simple picture or table.
Method. Count the days on Ravi’s chart that had cloudy weather.
- Look down the weather column. Find each day that had cloudy weather.Wednesday
- Count those days. Count each day once.1 day
- Write the answer. 1
Check. Add all the counts: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7 days. ✓
Watch out. A day with no weather of this kind counts as zero, not as a missing day.
Key words. A chart shows information in a simple picture or table.
Method. Count the days on Ravi’s chart that had rainy weather.
- Look down the weather column. Find each day that had rainy weather.Tuesday, Saturday
- Count those days. Count each day once.2 days
- Write the answer. 2
Check. Add all the counts: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7 days. ✓
Watch out. A day with no weather of this kind counts as zero, not as a missing day.
Key words. A chart shows information in a simple picture or table.
Method. Count the days on Ravi’s chart that had windy weather.
- Look down the weather column. Find each day that had windy weather.Friday
- Count those days. Count each day once.1 day
- Write the answer. 1
Check. Add all the counts: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 7 days. ✓
Watch out. A day with no weather of this kind counts as zero, not as a missing day.
Method. Find the number of sunny days and the number of rainy days.
- Find the sunny days. Ravi had 3 sunny days.3 sunny
- Find the rainy days. Ravi had 2 rainy days.2 rainy
- Work out how many more. Take the smaller number away from the bigger one.3 − 2 = 1
- Write the answer. 1 more sunny day
Check. Add them back: 2 + 1 = 3, the number of sunny days. ✓
Watch out. Compare the two numbers, then take the smaller from the bigger.
Method. Add the sunny days from this week to the sunny days next week.
- Find the sunny days this week. Ravi had 3 sunny days.3 sunny
- Add the sunny days next week. Next week there are 4 sunny days.3 + 4
- Write the answer. 7 sunny days in both weeks
Check. Count on from 3: 4, 5, 6, 7. ✓
Watch out. Add the two numbers together, not the number of days in the week.
Method. Count the sunny days, then count all the other days.
- Count the sunny days. Ravi had 3 sunny days.3 sunny
- Count all the other days. Add the cloudy, rainy, windy and snowy days.1 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 4
- Compare the two numbers. For Ravi to be right, the sunny days would need to be more than 4.3 is less than 4
- Write the answer. No. There were 3 sunny days and 4 other days.
Check. 3 is less than 4, so sunny days were not more than all the others. ✓
Watch out. Add up all the other days before you compare.
Method. Plan a fair test with a chart for each season.
- Choose what to measure. We want to count the windy days.count windy days
- Record for each season. Record every day for several weeks, in autumn and in summer.several weeks each season
- Compare the charts. Count the windy days on each chart, then compare the two numbers.compare the counts
- Write the answer. Record every day for several weeks, then compare the windy days.
Check. Use the same method each time, so the test is fair. ✓
Watch out. A short record of one or two days is not enough to compare two seasons.