6 Groundhog’s Day Activities for Elementary Teachers and Homeschool Groups [Ep. 35]

Groundhog’s Day activities

Groundhog’s Day is an underrated holiday with tremendous potential for both fun and the integration of science curriculum. Not only can you talk about weather forecasting, but you can also discuss shadows, hibernation, and squirrels in engaging and meaningful ways.

In this episode, we’ll talk about 6 Groundhog’s activities that are paired with Next Generation Science Standards for grades K-5. I’ll share the standard that inspired the activity, how the activity relates to Groundhog’s Day and descriptions of how to use the activity in your classroom or at home.

The following standards are paired with Groundhog’s Day activities in the episode:

Kindergarten: K-ESS2-1: Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
1st Grade: 1-PS4-3: Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.
2nd Grade: 2-PS1-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
3rd Grade: 3-ESS2-2: Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
4th Grade: 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
5th Grade: 5-ESS1-2: Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.

Nature Note 🌱

Did you know that Groundhogs are the same animal as Woodchucks? They are also called Whistlepigs and marmots depending on the region you’re from. They are also part of the squirrel family; they are a kind of ground squirrel like chipmunks. Groundhogs are also true hibernators meaning that they enter a sleep-like state from fall until spring in order to survive winter.