Exploring weather is a perfect springboard for learning about pollution, write Julie Mountain and Felicity Robinson in the last of this series
Outdoors: STEM – jumping in the rain!

key messages

Children need to know about the changing seasons. Weather and climate are not the same thing; we sometimes have the same weather as, for example, a rainforest (rain) or a desert (sunshine), but our climate is very different.

Pollution, and more particularly what young children and their families can do to affect it, is a trickier concept to introduce. The key message is that pollution has a damaging effect on the world, but we can make changes that will have an impact. We can tell children that:

planning ahead – create your own landfill

Talk to children about man-made and natural objects, and examine six to eight items to decide whether they might biodegrade (rot) or not – you could choose a plastic multi-link cube, a piece of paper, a teabag, a small feather, a metal spoon, a bamboo spoon and a china cup from a doll’s tea set. Explain that some objects will rot and disappear into the soil if they were buried; for example, leaves, feathers, wood and paper.

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