From observing the bright colors of leaves and tracking temperature shifts to investigating the environmental impact of everyday activities, these hands-on lessons and fall science activities help students connect what they are learning to the world around them. Whether drawing leaves like scientists, exploring seasonal patterns, or analyzing local temperature data, this collection makes it easy and fun to bring the science of fall into the classroom.
Fall Science Activities & Lessons for Elementary
Fall Activity Guide
This Fall Activity Guide is full of fun fall activities for kids. Students can try leaf prints, take a sunset sensory walk, listen for owl calls, play glow-in-the-dark games, and enjoy a nature read-aloud. Each activity includes simple instructions, a materials list, and a little background info, making it easy to explore the sights and sounds of fall.
Science Lesson: Hibernation
This hibernation lesson helps students discover how seasonal changes shape animal behaviors and how our environment affects wildlife. Through hands-on exploration and engaging stories, students learn to observe animal adaptations, deepen their understanding of local ecosystems, and consider ways they can support the animals in their community.
Looking Closely at Leaves
In this hands-on lesson for first and second-grade, students will explore the colorful leaves of fall while learning to draw them like scientists. They'll practice making their illustrations big, bright, and full of detail, then test their observation skills in a fun guessing game. Can they match each drawing to the right leaf?
Fall STEM Activities for Secondary
Trees Awake: Climate Change and Phenology
In this phenology for kids video, students will explore how climate change is affecting the seasonal patterns of trees, like when leaves appear in spring and fall. Using graphs and research, the host shows how warmer temperatures in the Northeast are causing these seasonal changes to happen earlier, helping students connect what they see outside with real-world science.
Average Fall Temperature
This interactive resource is one of our go-to fall STEM activities, letting students explore how fall temperatures have changed over time using downloadable graphs of average fall temperature data since 1970. They can download graphs for many U.S. cities and view them in English or Spanish, making it easy to connect seasonal science to real-world data.
Teacher Author
Elizabeth Ward brings more than 12 years of classroom experience to her work in education. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Oklahoma State University and has spent her career teaching across a wide range of subjects and age groups, including English as a Foreign Language, Science, Social Studies, and interdisciplinary curricula. Her teaching background spans kindergarten and third-grade classrooms as well as multi-age learning environments. Elizabeth holds an Oklahoma Elementary and Early Childhood Certification and is also TEFL-certified.
How To Use This Collection
Pick what fits your classroom
Each resource works as a standalone activity, so choose the ones that match your grade level, subject, and the time you have available.
Save it for later
Bookmark this guide so you can come back to it throughout the fall season, or whenever seasonal science fits into your lesson plans.
Standards-aligned and ready to teach
Every resource in this collection is teacher-reviewed, scientist-approved, and aligned to relevant standards, so you can bring it into your classroom with confidence.
Share with your team
Pass this guide along to other teachers in your grade level or building! Many of these activities work well across multiple classrooms.
These fall lessons and activities are just the beginning. Explore the rest of SubjectToClimate's resources, including fall science experiments and more hands-on activities, videos, and guides that make learning about climate and the environment engaging for students of all ages.