SCOOL Lesson Plans Banner

Cloudy Days are for Reading and Writing

Suggested Grade Level:

  • Gifted, Grades 6-8

Objectives:

  • Students will research weather proverbs using the Internet, nonfiction books, ProQuest and other references.
  • Students will determine the scientific validity of three weather proverbs and present the reasoning in essay form.
  • Students will use critical thinking skills of analysis and evaluation.
  • Students will survey elderly people to determine most frequently heard weather proverbs and the proverbs they feel were most scientifically valid.
  • Students will theorize why humans have been so preoccupied over time with the prediction and foretelling of weather.

Estimated Time for Completing Activity:

  • 4-5 hours classroom time
  • 1-1/2 hours @ home

Virginia SOLs:

Earth Science 2 and 13Writing 6.7, 7.8, 7.9, 8.5
Science 6.2Research 6.9, 7.10, 8.4
Oral Language 6.2Computers/Technology 8.1 and 8.4
Reading/Language 6.4, 6.5, 7.5, 7.6

Class of Activity:

  • Extension

Vocabulary:

Proverb Hue Descend Forecast
Validate Precipitation Agriculture Prediction
Theorize Halo Navigation Folklore
Histogram

Materials:

  • Pen and Paper                  Word processing software
  • Earth Science texts           Internet access
  • Nonfiction books on Weather and Weather Proverbs or Folklore as --
    Harrington, Mark W. "Weather Making Ancient and Modern," National Geographic, April 25, 1884.
    Lee, Albert. Weather Wisdom: Facts and Folklore of Weather Forecasting, 1976.
    Ludlum, David. "Weather Lore," Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather, 1996.
    Meider, Wolfgang, "Proverbs," Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather, 1996.
    Sloane, Eric. Folklore of American Weather.
  • Field trip to local public or university library for research

Procedures:

  • Background: Are Some Weather Folktales True?

    Man's preoccupation with weather has been well documented throughout history. We can follow this obsession through our earliest myths and histories into the 20th century in the ways in which humans have sought to understand, predict, and control the weather.

    Each culture has sought to understand weather through stories that explain how the Sun was created, how and why the wind blows, why we have frost and how fire (a means of controlling temperature) came to the world.

    Methods of predicting the weather can be traced back to the ancient Greeks (Aristotle's Meteorological and Theoprastus' On Weather Signs and On Wind). References to weather prediction are also present in the Bible. For example, in Matthew 16:2-3, Jesus says to a group of fishermen, "when it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' and in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' "

    This concept is reflected in the English sailing proverb:

    "Red sky at night, sailor's delight;
    Red sky in morning, sailors take warning." (Schneider, 1996)

    In addition to trying to understand and predict the weather, humans have also tried to control the weather. Native American tribes attempted to bring rain or stop rain from falling and to control the winds, depending on what the situation required. This was achieved through a variety of methods that typically involved prayers or incantations, the smoking or burning of tobacco, using charms, and dancing. (Harrington, 1884)

    Early American scientists also developed theories to influence the weather. One such theory for causing rain involved simultaneously lighting a series of fires that were built with about forty acres of timber and spaced every twenty miles in a 600-700 mile line reaching from the north to the south. Others theorized that shooting explosives into the clouds would cause rain. J. B. Atwater of Chicago designed a box rigged with explosives and mounted on a long pole which, when placed about a mile southwest of the area to be protected, would explode when the high winds of a tornado came and thereby cause the tornado to dissipate. (Harrington, 1884)

    From this history of interest in weather, a body of American folklore or "weather wisdom" has evolved. While some of these may seem silly by modern standards (A green Christmas makes a fat churchyard), others have some basis in scientific theory.

    Take the aforementioned rhyme:

    "Red sky at night, sailor's delight;
    Red sky in morning, sailors take warning."

    A red or pink hue in the evening sky is the result of light interacting with dry dust particles, which indicates dry weather is coming. A gray evening sky means that the atmosphere is heavy with water droplets that will likely fall the following day.

  • Folktale Lesson Activity:

    Below are a series of American Weather Proverbs. Read the proverbs and choose three, one of which must be #5, and thoughtfully consider:

    1. Do you think the proverb has any scientific validity? Cite supporting evidence from your research.
    2. What factors in the environment might play a role in whether or not the proverb is true?
      What type of atmospheric conditions might make the object/animal react in this way?
    3. Were these folk methods useful in the past or just a part of popular culture?
    4. Are they still useful today?

      Please explain your answers in an essay and address each of the above questions. Include at the end of the essay, a bibliography of references that must include an Internet site, magazine article, and one nonfiction book.

      1. Geese
        Geese (and other migrating birds) fly higher in fair weather than in foul.
      2. Sea Gull
        Seagull, sea gull, sits on the sand; it's a sign of a rain when you are at hand.
      3. Cow
        A cow with its tail to the west, makes weather the best; A cow with its tail to the east, makes weather the least.
      4. Corn
        If corn husks are thicker than usual, a cold winter is ahead.
      5. Clouds
        The higher the clouds, the better the weather.
      6. Ants
        When ants travel in a straight line, expect rain; when they scatter, expect fair weather.
      7. Flies
        Flies bite more before a rain.
      8. Halo
        Sun or moon halos indicate a coming rain (or snow): the larger the halo, the nearer the precipitation.
      9. Bees
        Bees will not swarm before a storm.
      10. Crickets
        Crickets are accurate thermometers; they chirp faster when warm and slower when cold.
      11. Leaves
        When leaves show their backs, it will rain.
      12. Ditches
        When the ditch offends the nose, look for rain and stormy blows.
      13. Smoke
        When smoke descends good weather ends.
      14. Squirrels
        When squirrels lay in a big store of nuts, look for a hard winter.

      Conclude your essay with the following:

    5. Based on what you know about human development throughout history, develop a theory of why humans have been preoccupied with understanding, predicting and trying to control the weather. Consider the following areas when developing your theory:

      • the development of shelter/housing
      • life in agricultural societies
      • travel and navigation
      • warfare

    6. Construct a histogram to show the number of people who have heard each proverb.
    7. Construct a histogram to show the number of people who believe each proverb. Color code bars so that true proverbs have green bars, possibly true proverbs have yellow bars, and false proverbs have red bars. (See below for validity.)

Teacher's Notes:

  • Folktale Lesson Solutions

    Here are some hints to the validity of the proverbs, according to Eric Sloane, author of Folklore of American Weather

    1. Geese (True) - Geese (and other migrating birds) fly higher in fair weather than in foul. Because pressure lowers as you ascend, the higher you go, the less pressure you will find. Birds seek height in migration to make use of their ceiling (or altitude limit) is lifted in good-weather, high-pressure air, and lower in low-pressure, stormy air.
    2. Sea Gull (True) - Sea gull, sea gull, sit on the sand; it's a sign of a rain when you are at hand. Generally speaking, birds roost more during low pressure than during high-pressure. Before a hurricane great flock of birds will be seen roosting. Perhaps the lowering of pressure or thinning of air density makes flying so much harder; the lessening of natural updrafts would also account for the birds "resting it out."
    3. Cow (True) - A cow with its tail to the west, makes weather the best; A cow with its tail to the east, makes weather the least. This New England saying has much truth in it, for an animal grazes with its tail to the wind. This is a natural instinct, so the animal may face and see an invader; and invader from the opposite side would carry out its scent to the cow, in the wind. In as much as an east wind is a rain wind and a west wind is a fair wind, the grazing animal's tail becomes a weather sign.
    4. Corn (Possibly) - If corn husks are thicker than usual, a cold winter is ahead. The Pennsylvanians said, "When the corn wears a heavy coat, so must you." A thicker corn husk is the result of a wetter, warmer summer; a swing of the pendulum to a colder, dryer winter would seem in order in this case.
    5. Clouds (True) - The higher the clouds, the better the weather. Higher clouds indicate both dryness of air and higher atmospheric pressure. Both these qualities are present with fair weather.
    6. Ants (False) - When ants travel in a straight line, expect rain; when they scatter, expect fair weather. There seems to be no reason for this to be true, although many people still use it as a weather sign. In the Ozarks they say, "Bugs march when the rain is near," and in Maine there is a saying that "Flies scatter in good weather." The saying that "a straight line of ants brings on a rain" is possibly a combination of those sayings.
    7. Flies (True) - Flies bite more before a rain. This rule does not always apply, but insects do calling more during moist weather, as flying is more difficult. Heat causes human sweating, which makes you a more appetizing target. These two reasons, plus a release of more body odors when atmospheric pressure on your body lowers, will add up to the rule that flies and insects are more bothersome just before a rain than at any other time.
    8. Halo (True) - Sun or moon halos indicate a coming rain (or snow): the larger the halo, the nearer the precipitation. This is more likely to be true during warm weather than during midwinter. You are seeing the sun (or moon) through the high crystals of cirroform clouds. When these cover the whole sky, it is a sign of an approaching warm front when a long, slow rain will occur.
    9. Bees (Possibly) - Bees will not swarm before a storm. All these bee sayings are from observations, and the bee keeper is always a good weather prophet. He will tell you that "a swarm of bees in July, does little more than bring a dry."
    10. Crickets (True) - Crickets are accurate thermometers; they chirp faster when warm and slower when cold. They are extremely accurate. Count their chirps faster for fourteen seconds, then add forty, and you have the temperature of wherever the cricket is.
    11. Leaves (True) - When leaves show their backs, it will rain. When trees grow, their leaves fall into a pattern according to the prevailing wind. Therefore, when a storm wind (which is naturally a non-prevailing one) occurs, the leaves will be ruffled backwards and show their light undersides.
    12. Ditches (True) - When the ditch offends the nose, look for rain and stormy blows. As the weight of high-pressure (fair-weather) atmosphere keeps a certain amount of odors trapped, a lessening of pressure (as before a storm) will release the odors from the walls, swamps, ditches, cellars, etc.
    13. Smoke (True) - When smoke descends, good weather ends. The instability of pre-storm pressures and humidity keeps smoke from chimneys or bonfires from rising quickly, finally to curl downward in the face of a storm wind.
    14. Squirrels (False) - When squirrels lay in a big store of nuts, look for a hard winter. Squirrels just do the best they can, and some years have better nut seasons than others.

Evaluation of Essay Form

NASA Logo
Lesson Plan submitted by Verna Jones, Isle of Wight County Schools, Virginia, USA, for NASA S'COOL Project