(playful music) - Hello scientists and welcome back to room nine, our region's largest classroom.

My name is Mrs.Stobbs and I teach kindergarten in the Maplewood Richmond Heights school district right here in St. Louis.

And today I'll be teaching a science lesson for kindergartners and for preschoolers but of course learners of all ages are welcome to join me.

So let's get started.

All right my friends.

I am outside on this beautiful day and I want you to use your sense of sight and observe what you see around me.

And I want you to figure out if you can see what season it is.

Can you look around me?

What do you see?

What do you see on the tree behind me?

Are the leaves green?

No, they are a beautiful yellow.

I guess there is a little bit of green, but they're yellow.

They're turning color.

And also there are lots of leaves on the ground.

Okay.

So what am I wearing?

Am I wearing shorts?

No.

Am I wearing a heavy coat and gloves?

No, I just have a light little jacket and a scarf and I have on long pants.

So that must mean that the weather's a little chilly, but it's not too chilly.

So what season do you think it is?

If you think it is winter, can you reach out to the sky.

If you think it's summer, fun yourself.

Ooh, hot.

Hm.

I don't see many people doing that.

If you think it's spring, touch the ground.

Didn't see many of you do that.

If you think it's autumn jump up and down.

I see a lot of you jumping up and down.

You're right.

It is autumn right now.

And another word for autumn is, fall.

You may have heard the season called fall.

So we have four seasons in our world.

We have spring, summer, fall, and winter.

What season do you like best?

My favorite season is actually fall.

What it is right now.

Because I love that it's a little bit chilly outside.

I love the beautiful leaves.

And I also love all of the decorations people start to put out.

You'll see lots of people put out maple leaves, you'll see pumpkins and scarecrows and people are getting ready for more our holidays, like Halloween or Thanksgiving.

So I love fall because it's usually the perfect temperature.

It's not too hot, not too cold, but it's beautiful to be outside.

However, different people have different favorite seasons.

What season do you like?

If you like winter, when it's really, really cold and there are holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah.

Can you throw a snowball at me?

Oh my goodness.

(screams) I really like winter too.

It's one of my favorite seasons after fall.

So if you like winter, through a snowball.

If you really like spring, whenever there are lots of flowers growing and baby animals start to appear.

Can you pretend to flack a flower and give it a sniff?

If you really like summer, getting out whenever it's really hot and you have a break from school, can you pretend to go swimming?

Yeah, a lot of people like summer.

And if you are like me and you really like fall, pretend to pick up some leaves and throw them in the air.

Ready?

Do you remember that video from last semester?

What season was it?

It was fall, but look around me now.

What season is it?

Is it still fall?

No way.

It is now winter time.

Do you like winter time?

What do you like to do in the winter time?

Do you like to stay in and snuggle?

What about whenever it snows?

What do you like to do in the snow?

I love the snow.

Do you like to have snowball fights?

Do you like to go sledding?

If you look behind me, there are so many people sledding.

That is so much fun to do on a snowy day in the winter time.

Well my friends today, we are going to learn about how people and animals adapt to different seasons.

Because sometimes, like in the winter time, it is so cold outside and it might be hard to live.

If you were an animal, it might be hard to live outside because it's so cold.

So what do you think animals do to stay safe in the winter time?

What do people do?

Well friends today, we're going to talk about that.

We're going to talk about how people and animals adapt to the different seasons.

And before we go on, do you guys remember what the seasons are?

They are spring, summer, fall and winter.

And like I said, right now, we are in winter time.

I love the winter weather.

So friends let's go back to our classroom and learn about how people and animals adapt to the different seasons.

Brr.

It was cold out there.

But I'm nice and warm in my classroom now.

Oh boy.

But you know what?

I sure do love the snow.

Do you think animals love the snow?

Oh, wait, are you thinking polar bears and penguins?

Yeah, you're right.

I bet polar bears and penguins do like the snow because where they live, it's cold all the time.

But what about animals here in St. Louis?

In St. Louis, sometimes it's really hot but sometimes it's really cold.

So what do you think about those animals?

Hm, I'm thinking, whenever it is warm outside, like in the summertime, there are a lot of animals in my backyard.

I have lots of birds.

I have a lots of squirrels.

I have lots of bugs.

I even have a snake that I see in my backyard sometimes.

I know it's kind of cool.

Sometimes it's a little creepy too, but it's also very cool.

But in the winter time, I don't see those animals.

I don't see many bugs.

I never see that snake.

And I don't see quite as many birds.

I do have a bird feeder in my backyard.

And in the winter time I feed the birds.

So I still do see some birds, but not as many as in the summer and the squirrels too.

I sometimes see them outside, but not as much as I do in the winter.

So I wonder, do you think animals like the winter as much as the summer?

Hmm.

And how do you think animals change during the summertime and in the winter time?

I mean how do you think their behaviors change?

What they do?

Do you think they do different things in the summertime than they do in the winter time?

I think those are some good questions.

And do you know what today, we're going to read a book to see, how do animals adapt.

Remember I said that that was that big word where you're going to learn.

Adapt.

Can you say it?

Adapt.

Can you say to it in a high voice?

Adapt.

Can you say you it in a low voice?

Adapt.

♪ Can you say it in a sing song voice ♪ ♪ Adapt.

Good job.

And adapt means, how we figure out how to live.

What we do to keep ourselves alive.

So we're going to read this book.

It's called, The four seasons.

And in this book, this book will teach us just about the four seasons, but it will also teach us what animals do and what people do in the different seasons.

So let's read The four seasons.

It's by Crystal Sikkens.

The four seasons.

Do you see the four seasons on the book?

I see winter, spring, summer and fall.

So fun.

I love the seasons.

And I love living in a city that has all four seasons.

Four seasons.

Most places have four seasons each year.

The seasons follow a cycle.

A cycle is a set of events that repeat in the same order.

So the seasons repeat over and over and over again.

It always goes spring, summer, fall, winter.

Spring, summer, fall, winter.

Spring, summer, fall, winter.

It never goes spring, fall, winter, spring, fall, winter, spring, winter, spring, winter, summer.

No, it always goes in that same cycle.

Each season has different weather.

Weather is what it is like outside.

It can be cold, warm, or hot.

It can be rainy or snowy.

The weather is often rainy and warm in the spring.

You might need your umbrella in the spring time.

The weather is often snowy and cold in the winter time.

Just like what we saw, what's outside right now.

Around the sun.

We have seasons because of the way the earth moves around the sun.

It takes one year for the earth to move around the sun.

So the sun always stays in the middle of the solar system.

And the earth orbits around it.

That means it travels in kind of an oval shape around it.

Earth is tilted as it moves.

That means parts of the earth get more or less direct sunlight at different times of the year.

More sunlight means warmer weather.

So friends whenever the earth is going around the sun, it's not standing up straight and tall like this.

It kind of tilts.

Can you tilt over?

Whoa.

Don't fall over though.

And that helps us.

That's the reason why we have different seasons and different weather.

So in the spring, our part of the earth begins to be tilted toward the sun.

And then at summer, we have summer when our part of the earth is tilted toward the sun.

It gets more direct sunlight.

In fall, our part of the earth begins to be tilted away from the sun.

And in the winter time, our part of the earth is tilted away from the sun and it gets less direct sunlight.

Hours of daylight.

When the sun shines during the day, it is called daylight.

More sunlight means more hours of daylight too.

There are more hours of daylight in summer when earth is tilted toward the sun.

There are fewer hours of daylight in winter, when earth is tilted away from the sun.

And I bet you've noticed that before.

I bet that sometimes, especially in the summertime, you might go to bed whenever there's still a little bit of light outside.

But in the winter time, it gets dark even before dinner.

Crazy.

It's really neat how our world works.

Changing with the seasons.

Plants and animals change with the seasons.

And that means that they have to adapt.

Some plants grow fruit, such as peaches in the summer.

Most plants do not grow in the winter.

Some die but some will grow again in the spring.

So some plants completely die in the winter time, but some of them just kind of go to sleep, like trees whenever they lose all their leaves.

And they're still alive but it's kind of like they're (snoring) they're sleeping.

And then they'll wake back up in the spring time.

And animals change to help survive.

Or animals change to help them survive in all types of weather.

And this is where we're going to talk about our question.

How do animals adapt?

As we read these next few pages, we're going to add some words to our chart.

So let's read to see how animals adapt in the different seasons.

Some animals such as this moose grow more fur, to stay warm in the winter.

That's one thing animals do.

Did you know that animals growth fur in the winter time?

And that keeps them nice and cozy.

So I'm going to write, grow fur.

And I'm going to draw a picture of maybe a dog.

Here's his nose.

This is just a quick sketch.

And I'm going to add lots of fur.

Look at his thick, thick, thick, thick fur.

Now some animals, they change the color of their fur in different seasons.

The snowshoe rabbit, in the summertime where it lives, there are some grassy spots, and so it's brown.

But do you see what's happening to it's for right now?

It's changing to white because in the winter time it's completely white.

Why do you think that happens?

Why do you think?

Well, in the summertime or the spring time, where this animal lives is brown.

Look behind it.

And so it can blend in whenever it's fur brown, but in the winter time, whenever it's really snowy, the rabbit needs to be white, just like the snow.

So that it can hide and stay away from predators.

So it doesn't get eaten.

And you know what?

There are other animals that this happens to too.

Like the Arctic Fox.

In the winter time, there fur is a really white, but in the summertime, they're fur changes to brown.

So animals fur changes.

That's a way that animals adapt in the winter time.

They're fur changes.

It either gets thicker or it might change colors.

Okay, let's keep reading.

Animals need to stay cool in the summertime.

Frogs stay cool by covering themselves in mud.

Oh my goodness.

That reminds me of a few weeks ago, whenever we were talking about shade structures.

So sometimes animals need to find a cool place to be.

So they might need to, find a cool, I'm also going to say or warm place.

Because in the summertime or sorry, in the winter time, it might be so cold, that an animal goes out on a rock and suns itself.

So it can be nice and warm.

It wants to be in the sunshine.

But sometimes the animal wants to be out of the sun 'cause it's too hot.

And so they go someplace where there's not as much sun.

So I'm going to show, I'm going to draw a picture of a sun here.

And then I'm going to draw a picture of a sun here.

And kind of put an X over it, because sometimes they don't want that sunshine.

Sometimes they want it to be a little bit cooler.

All right, let's keep reading.

Ready for winter.

Winter is the coldest season.

It comes after fall.

We do not see many plants outside in the winter.

It is too cold for them to grow.

Food is hard for animals to find in the winter.

Some animals move to warmer places, where there is more food.

Some animals such as bears, sleep through the winter.

So these barn swallows, fly to warmer places in winter.

Do you know what that's called?

When an animal moves from someplace to another for more food, or maybe for warmer weather?

Birds do this and butterflies do this.

It starts with an M. M migrate.

Migrate.

So some animals migrate.

So whenever it starts to get cold up here, they go where it's warmer.

And then whenever it starts to get too warm down there, they come back where it's cooler.

So sometimes you might see geese and I even have a picture of this.

A geese flying through the sky.

Especially in the fall you might see this.

And the birds are going someplace a little warmer.

So I'm going to write migrate and I'm going to draw lots of birds, simple little sketchy birds.

They kinda look like M's don't they?

Okay, let's see what else they do.

Now groundhogs, sleep in boroughs in the winter.

They eat a lot of food in the fall and the extra food helps them survive.

Do you know what it's called when an animal goes to sleep all winter long?

I have a picture of a little chipmunk that sleeping.

It's called hi b hibernate.

Hibernate.

So I'm going to write that.

Hi ber nate.

And I'm just going to draw a little animal with his eyes closed and writing Z.

That kinda thing kind means that we're sleeping.

(snoring) Can you pretend like you're hibernating?

(snoring) Good job.

Set for spring.

Spring is the season after winter.

The weather gets warmer.

There's more sunlight.

This helps trees and plants start to grow again.

Some plants start to grow flowers in the spring.

In spring animals wake up or return from their winter homes.

Food is easier for them to find.

Black bears sleep in dens during the winter.

In spring, they wake up and leave their dens.

They look for foods such as grass and other plants.

So bears definitely hibernate too.

The summer sun.

Summer comes after spring.

It is the hottest season.

Trees have many green leaves in summer.

Flowers grow in all different colors and animals change to stay cool in the summer.

Some spend their time in the shade, like we talked about.

Snakes find shade under rocks and some animals like red foxes, lose some of their fur in the summer.

This helps them stay cool.

Oh my goodness friends.

We said at the beginning that animals grow fur in the winter to stay warm, but in the summertime they lose fur.

And I have a picture of a camel.

Do you see the fur coming off of that camel?

Yeah, this must be springtime.

And that candle is getting so hot that it's losing its heavy winter fur.

If you've ever go to the zoo, in the spring time, you might see the camels that we have at the zoo losing their fur.

Do you know what it's called when an animal loses its fur?

It's called shedding, shedding and maybe your dog or cat might shed and get for everywhere, that happens sometimes.

So let's write lose fur.

Lose fur.

And I'm just going to draw all this for flying in the wind.

It gets pretty messy whenever animals start to lose their fur.

All right, let's keep reading.

Time for fall.

Fall is the season after summer.

It is also the season before winter.

The weather starts to get cool.

The leaves on some tree change color and fall off.

In fall, animals spend all their time getting ready for winter.

Some animals gather food to eat in the winter time, and other animals start to move to warmer places.

Like we talked about, some migrate and some like this chipmunk, are gathering food.

Now some animals gather food and just eat it all in the fall.

So then they can sleep all winter long, but some animals like squirrels, they gather food and they put it someplace safe.

And then throughout the winter, they know where to go to eat that food.

Maybe you've seen squirrels hiding food before.

They sometimes do that in my garden.

And you know one of my favorite things about squirrels, is that sometimes they forget where they buried their seeds.

And then in the spring, a new plant grows.

And so it was kind of like squirrels are little gardeners.

Because they're trying to save seeds for themselves, but then they forget where the seeds are.

So silly.

Ooh, human changes.

People change with the seasons too.

They wear different clothes.

They do different outdoor activities.

So in the spring, you might wear these clothes.

In the summer, you might wear those clothes.

And then you also might do different activities.

Look, they're building a snowman.

And in the fall, you might rake leaves.

So even people do different things in the different seasons.

So you know what friends, that's the end of that book.

So I'm actually going to write down at the very bottom, people wear different clothes because that's what we do.

We wear different clothes and we do different activities.

And sometimes we even eat different foods.

You might eat more fresh fruits and vegetables in the summer whenever you have a garden to pick them from.

And then in the summertime, maybe you want lots of hot soup or warm sandwiches or pasta, stuff that's very warm and warms you up.

But in the summertime, you might just want some ice cream because it's so hot.

So I'm going to draw a little picture right here for the different clothes.

Maybe there's a short sleeve shirt, and then there's a long sleeve shirt.

Can you see that?

Oh, I don't know if you can see that.

Let me move it over just a little bit.

There you go.

Wow.

So we learned a lot about different seasons and how people and animals change during those different seasons.

We learned that some animals change their behavior and still live in the same place, but some even leave.

Some animals don't want to stay where it's cold and they want to go someplace different.

So my friends, what we're going to do next, we're going to do an art project about the different seasons and how animals change during the different seasons.

So if you want to join me, get a piece of paper, some crayons, a pencil, anything that you want to draw with or write with, and then meet me back right here.

All right, friends.

So are you ready to do a fun art project with me?

Like I said, all you need is a piece of paper and some things to draw with.

I have some markers here, but you can draw with whatever you like.

So we're going to pick a season and draw a picture of all the animals, doing different things in it.

To show how they adapt.

Now look at the picture behind me.

What season do you think I'm going to draw about today?

I see a tree that's turning red and orange.

What season is it whenever the leaves start to change>?

It's fall.

So I'm gonna write way up here.

I'm going to write fall.

But if you want to do this activity and you want to draw a spring picture or a winter picture or a summer picture, you can of course do that.

But I'm gonna think about the fall.

And I picked this one because animals do a lot of interesting things in the fall to adapt and survive and get ready for the winter.

So I'm going to think about what all sorts of animals do in the fall.

And I'm going to draw a picture.

And you can see, I've even added some kind of missing parts to my picture.

So this first thing over here, is a cave.

Who do you think might go into a cave?

In the fall, to sleep there all winter long.

It's a bear.

So I'm going to draw a bear getting ready.

He's not in the cave yet, but he's getting everything ready to go into the cave to sleep all winter long.

So I'm Gonna draw the bear here.

Let me draw his big feet.

Bears have big backs.

And his ears and his nose and his eyes.

And I'm gonna kinda color him in like this.

And I forgot his little tail.

And I'm going to write an H over the bear because he's getting ready to hibernate.

Hibernate.

Now, there's another hole down here in the ground.

Who else do you think might hibernate during the winter?

An animal that gets ready to hibernate in the fall so that they can hibernate all winter long.

I have one in my backyard.

Do you remember?

It's one that's kind of creepy, but kind of cool too.

A snake.

So I'm going to draw a snake in here.

And I'm gonna have it all curled up.

And the snake is getting ready to hibernate throughout the winter.

So in the fall he's getting ready.

So again, I'm gonna put an H here.

Okay.

Now what about here?

What animal do you think might go here?

Maybe a squirrel now.

Now squirrels don't always hibernate through the winter but remember, they collect a lot of nuts.

They gather food for the winter.

In the fall, they gather food for the winter.

So I'm gonna put lots of nuts right here.

And then I'm also going to draw a little squirrel and here's his big, bushy tail, little ears, little legs, little nose.

There's the little squirrel.

And he starting to gather nuts all winter long.

I might even put him down here too or maybe right over here.

You know what?

Sometimes squirrels bury nuts in the fall so that during the winter time they can come back and eat them.

So I'm going to draw a little squirrel right here.

With his big, bushy tail, and his ears.

And I'm gonna have his little legs like this.

And they're pretty cute whenever they vary nuts, they kind of go, and then they push it back down, and then they dig up, and then they push it back down.

And remember I said sometimes they even forget where they buried their seeds and plants grow.

So that's pretty funny.

So squirrel sometimes bury their nuts, different places or they might take them home to their home.

Either in a hole in a tree or sometimes in a nest.

Okay.

What's the something else I said that animals do in the fall?

Especially birds or maybe some sorts of bugs.

They fly away.

They migrate.

So I'm just going to draw lots of birds up here in the sky and they're going to migrate and I'm going to put an M up here for migrate.

Oh my goodness, those birds.

Goodbye birds.

See you in the spring.

Oh boy.

All right.

Now friends, I wanted to add one more picture.

I wanted to add a picture of a person.

What do you like to do in the fall?

I love to jump in the leaves.

So I'm gonna draw it just a little stick figure right here, jumping in the leaves.

And we have fun in the fall, right?

Luckily we don't have to gather food and we don't have to migrate, but we can adjust and enjoy the fall weather.

So my friends, like I said, you can do this for fall, or you can choose to do it for spring or summer or winter.

And as you draw, draw detailed drawings and maybe even label your picture to show how animals and people adapt to the different seasons.

Wow.

You did some great learning today and you know what?

I'll see you next week right here on room nine.

Bye.

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