House Made of Snow! Lesson Plan

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Academic Standards

 

Reading Objective:

Learn how the Inuit build igloos from snow and the steps involved.

 

Reading Level: 

Lexile: 480L; GRL: K

 

Next Generation Science Standards:

K-2 ETS1: Engineering Design

2-PS1: Structure and Properties of Matter

 

Vocabulary:

igloo, Inuit, elders, insulation

Use these questions to check students’ understanding and stimulate discussion:

 

1. What is an igloo? (a house made of snow)

2. Where do the Inuit people live and what is it like there? (Near the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole. It is freezing cold there.)

3. What do you call it when the walls of an igloo trap heat inside? (insulation)

4. What would you do inside an igloo? (Answers will vary.)

 

Go online to print or project the Reading Checkpoint.

 

  • The word igloo comes from the Inuit word for “shelter” or “house.”
  • Traditionally, Inuit people did not live in igloos as their permanent homes. They built igloos to keep them warm during hunting trips.
  • An Inuit person who is skilled at making igloos can build one in under two hours!

Materials: kids’ own jackets; pencils, copies of the skill sheet

Overview: Kids put on their own jackets and observe how insulation keeps them warm.. 

Directions:

  1. Before the lesson, ask students to grab their jackets and have them ready to put on..
  2. Start by reminding students that igloos keep people warm through insulation. Tell them they’re going to investigate insulation using jackets instead of igloos.
  3. Give each student a copy of the skill sheet. Before kids put on their jackets, ask them to record how their bodies feel without one.
  4. Kids can now put on their jackets. Wait 2-3 minutes for their bodies to warm up. Do their bodies feel warmer? What happens when kids unzip their jackets? (Make sure kids take off jackets so they don’t overheat.)
  5. Ask: How does a jacket keep us warm? Does it make its own heat? (No, it holds in/traps heat from our bodies.) Insulation can also keep cold in. Can kids think of examples? (lunch box, thermos) Record answers on