Blizzard BINGO

Objective: Students will become familiar with weather terminology.

Materials: Blizzard Bingo game cards (card 1, card 2, card 3, card 4, card 5, card 6, card 7, card
8, card 9, card 10, card 11, card 12, card 13, card 14, card 15, card 16, card 17, card 18, card
19, card 20, card 21, card 22, card 23, card 24, card 25, card 26, card 27), waterbased markers
(such as overhead projector pens, optional), Blizzard Bingo answer blocks

Background: Weather is the condition of the air at a specific time and place. Air is always
moving, so the weather is always changing. Air can be cold or hot. It can blow hard or be still.
Whatever the air carries - snow, dust, moisture - is also part of the weather.

The typical weather conditions in a region over an extended period of time are called the
climate. Florida, for example, has a warm, humid climate. The climate in Alaska, on the other
hand, is cold and dry.

Procedure:
The game is played just like "Bingo". Teacher will need to make copies of Blizzard Bingo cards
or laminate the set to be used again. If cards are laminated, students can use a water-based
marker for keeping score on their card.

Teacher should cut apart all the blocks from the four answer key pages and put in a container
from which to draw later.

Distribute a Blizzard Bingo card to each student. Instruct the class that the game is played with
the same rules as Bingo, in that you are a winner when you have marked off a line of blocks
either up and down (in the same row), horizontally or diagonally across the card. Please make a
note of the "Weatherman" space as their "free" space.

Teacher will draw from the container and call out the first answer block. Remember to read the
entire block, as it is important to note which category the weather word is listed under.

The student who gets five in a row first wins. (Note: another suggested play would be to have
students fill up their entire card - making a BLIZZARD - first one to do so, wins!)

Have student read back their winning row and double check against your record.

Extensions:
Make a weather wheel. Cut out a large circle of fairly stiff cardboard. Divide it into 8 sections
and glue a picture of a weather clue on each section. For example, the wheel might have a sun, a
cloud, snow, rain, a lightning bolt, wind, something hot and something cold. Cut 2 pointers out
of stiff cardboard and fasten them to the center of the dial with a big paper fastener. Use the
wheels to predict the weather for each following day. Give a sticker to each child that correctly
predicts the weather each day.

Take your class on a wind walk. Once you have the class outside in the breeze, ask them how
they can tell it's a windy day. Have them look for clues like blowing leaves, swirling dust,
swaying branches, waving flags, and other windblown things. Have the class lie on their backs in
the grass and look up at the sky to look at the clouds - have them try to identify what kinds of
clouds are blowing through the sky. End the walk by having the kids blow bubbles and watch
which way the wind takes them.