Name: Lynn Jones and Liz Prater
Standard: E.ES.01.22 Describe and compare weather related to the four seasons in terms of temperature, cloud cover, precipitation and wind.
Grade Level: 1st
Objectives:
1) Students will learn to read a thermometer to measure the temperature of air throughout the seasons.
2) Students will learn the four vocabulary words defining clouds (cirrus, cloud, cumulus and stratus) and identify their seasonal characteristics through pictures.
3) Students will learn changes in precipitation and wind throughout the seasons by measuring and collecting data in their science notebooks.
4) Students will learn the vocabulary words defining precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, and hail).
Engage: Windy the weather witch will recite a poem on weather. Then the students will be given a thinking map to write eight words that they associate with the weather. Asking questions are ways to assess the students’ prior knowledge and focus them on the topic of weather.
Explore: In the explore stage the students have the opportunity to get directly involved with the materials and work together in teams to build a base of common experience with weather. This helps them develop their skills in sharing and communicating. The teacher acts as a facilitator to provide materials and guide the students’ focus.
Lesson: Measuring Temperature
Objective: Students will learn to read a thermometer in order to measure the temperature of air and water throughout the seasons.
Explain: Have you seen these could shapes? The teacher shows the students pictures (on a power point slide) of the following cloud types with explanations:
CIRRUS-WHISPY CLOUDS (It was probably mostly clear with a blue sky!
If these clouds get thick and gray it usually means that rain is coming.
CUMULUS-PUFFY CLOUDS (It was probably warm and sunny and in the summer.)
If these clouds get thick and gray it usually means that rain is coming.
STRATUS-FLAT SHEETS (It was probably an overcast day, perhaps with rain or snow.)
The students then create an art project of the different types of clouds and discuss their projects with the class.
Elaborate: The student will learn the following vocabulary words:
Precipitation – Rain, snow, hail and other forms of condensation that form in clouds and fall to the ground.
Rain – Liquid water that falls from the clouds (Spring, Fall, Summer).
Snow – Crystals of ice that form in freezing clouds when droplets condense onto particles (Winter).
Hail – Icy balls that form when cloud droplets are carried into freezing air at high altitudes with Cumulonimbus.
Sleet – Rain that freezes when it falls.
The teacher will then conduct an experiment that simulates rain to help the students elaborate on their understanding of the concept.
Evaluate: The teacher will assess the students’ understanding of the lesson using the following criterion:
1) WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE CHILDREN DURING INTRODUCTORY
DISCUSSIONS
2) NOTE THE STRATEGIES USED TO TRANSFER INFORMATION
FROM THE WEATHER CALENDAR TO THEIR NOTEBOOKS
3) SEE HOW EFFECTIVELY THEY CONSTRUCT BAR GRAPHS
4) LISTEN TO THEIR INTERPRETATIONS OF THE WEATHER
INFORMATION THEY RECORD AND SYNTHESIZE
5) EXAMINE A PIECE OF WRITING ABOUT WEATHER
6) ASK THEM TO INTERPRET THEIR ART PROJECT ON CLOUDS
7) ASK THEM WAYS THAT THEY COULD MEASURE WIND.
References: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/temperature.htm
http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/first/EyeontheSkyWeatherJournal/
The Science Companion Science Curriculum on Weather
Teacher Lesson Manual and Student Science Notebook
Pearson Scott Foresman 2004