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The Four Seasons: How the Year Changes

Students explore the four seasons — spring, summer, fall, and winter — discovering how the weather, the plants, the animals, and even the length of the day change as the year goes around.

Grade 1Weather & Seasons35 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Name the four seasons.
  • ✓Describe the weather in each.
  • ✓Notice changes in plants and animals.
  • ✓Know seasons follow a pattern.
Essential Question

The year goes around and around through four seasons. How is each season different, and what changes from one to the next?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Season Explorer · Interactive

The Season Explorer

Project this and tap each season. Have students learn how the weather, plants, animals, and daylight change through the year.

🌷 Explore the four seasons — tap eachTry it

The Lesson · 5E Model

35 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Round and Round

5 min

What season is it now — and what comes next?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Ask what season it is.
  • Ask what comes next.
  • Set the goal: the seasons.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name the season.
  • Predict the next.
  • Guess the pattern.
2

Explore — Explore the Seasons

10 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to the Season Explorer.
  • Tap each season.
  • Learn what changes.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each season.
  • Note the weather.
  • Note the changes.
3

Explain — The Season Pattern

10 min

Teacher explains.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name spring, summer, fall, winter.
  • Show weather and daylight change.
  • Seasons repeat every year.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name the seasons.
  • Explain changes.
  • See the pattern.
4

Elaborate — Elaborate — Dress for It

10 min

Apply.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Match clothes and activities to seasons.
  • Note what plants/animals do.
  • Compare two seasons.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Match clothes.
  • Note nature’s changes.
  • Compare seasons.
5

Evaluate — Evaluate — Exit Ticket

5 min

Three quick checks.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Hand out the exit ticket.
  • Look for seasons + changes.
  • Collect as formative data.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name a season.
  • Describe it.
  • Give the order.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core literacy. State-standard crosswalks available on request.

NGSS
1-ESS1-2

Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.

NGSS
1-ESS1-1

Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe predictable patterns.

NGSS
K-ESS2-1

Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.

CCSS
RI.1.1

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Season picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “In ___, the weather is ___.”
  • Match clothes to seasons.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with summer and winter.
  • Use clear season pictures.
  • Match one clue to a season.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Put the seasons in order.
  • Explain why some days are longer.
  • Track the weather for a week.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Science notebooks
  • 💻The Season Explorer
  • 🖼️Season picture cards
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

seasonone of the four parts of the yearspringthe season when plants grow and it warms upsummerthe hottest seasonfallthe season when leaves fall (autumn)winterthe coldest seasonweatherwhat it is like outsidedaylightthe hours of sunlightpatternsomething that repeats
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name the four seasons.
Spring, summer, fall, and winter.
QUESTION 2
Which season is the coldest, with the shortest days?
Winter.
QUESTION 3
What happens to many trees’ leaves in fall?
They change color and fall off.

Going deeper? Draw the four seasons.

Have students draw the same tree in all four seasons, showing how it changes across the year. A printable four-seasons page is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 The Four SeasonsFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 The Four SeasonsQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ The Four SeasonsPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: daylight, fall, pattern, season, spring, summer, weather, winter
  1. the hours of sunlight
  2. the coldest season
  3. the hottest season
  4. something that repeats
  5. what it is like outside
  6. the season when plants grow and it warms up
  7. the season when leaves fall (autumn)
  8. one of the four parts of the year

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name the four seasons.
  2. Which season is the coldest, with the shortest days?
  3. What happens to many trees’ leaves in fall?
Answer key — Part A: 1) daylight · 2) winter · 3) summer · 4) pattern · 5) weather · 6) spring · 7) fall · 8) season
Part B: 1) Spring, summer, fall, and winter. 2) Winter. 3) They change color and fall off.