Weather and Climate (3-5)
Overview
This elementary storyline developed for remote and hybrid teaching was made available through the Growing Elementary Science Project a part of the Washington State ClimeTime initiative.
This storyline is developed for 3-5 grade students and presents a weather phenomena in the form of a annual precipitation map from Washington State. Students analyze and interprete the graphical representation and ask questions about the difference between weather and climate.
The storyline builds interest and student engagement through an interesting phenomena and then supprorts investigation to consider what is weather and what is climate.
Overview
This sequence of instruction was developed to help elementary teachers who are working remotely. We developed a short science storyline that ties together a few sessions to help explore a specific concept. We included some activities that honored and included the student’s family and experience, and some that included the potential for ELA learning goals.
"Weather and Climate" is designed around students making observations of precipitation data in Washington State through analysis of a color coded annual prrecipitation map for Washington. Students then investigate the weather patterns over time in their specific city looking for rainfall and termpature on their birthday for their city.
This resource was developed as part of Clime Time - a collaboration among all nine Educational Service Districts (ESDs) in Washington and many Community Partners to provide programs for science teacher training around Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and climate science. Thanks to the money made available to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) by Governor Inslee and the Washington State Legislature for ClimeTime programing.
Storyline
- Growing Elementary Science Distance Learning Storyline - | ||||
| Ask and Explore
Introduce Phenomena or Problem | Carrying Out an Investigation
Investigation – discussion questions- support student use of three-dimensions | Read, Write, Make Sense Discuss Results- Read to gather information- Make Sense of our Ideas | Putting the Pieces Together Bring together evidence from activities-synthesize- extending the learning based on student interest |
Engaging Students in Practices | Explore WA State map with graphical representation of precipitationIdentify where you live- pin it using annotate feature in ZoomIntroduce colored WA mapDiscuss patterns on the mapNotice and WonderIntroduce precipitation keyClarify terms: precipitation; weather vs climatehttps://bit.ly/2VIcoM0What causes these strange patterns of precipitation here in WA State?Breakout rooms for groups to consider the question and spend further time observing and providing inferences for the causes of the patterns.Session Padlet:https://bit.ly/2VLxhWQ | Investigate the Weather on Your BirthdayStudents research the weather on the day they were born and each day for the 10-11 years they have been alive. The class data is plotted on a provided graphBecoming a Meteorologist- Career Connectionshttps://bit.ly/3xMtlStWhat was the weather yesterday?Investigating the weather on your birthday.How do we gather weather data?What was the weather like on the day that you were born?What was the weather like on your birthday for the last 10 years?Investigation Documents:
| Read-aloud:“On the Same Day in March”See the Read-aloud Guide for options on ways to access this book and options for student interaction with the book.Optional Student Home-Fun: Career ConnectionsNewsELA ArticlesNote: You may wish to assign this work any time throughout the learning arc.https://bit.ly/3CNgvqX | Choice Board Activities include:Weather Hazards and My FamilyMy Washington WeatherWeather Activism and COCORAHSWashington State Mountains and RainshadowsOn the Same Day in March (Option 1 and 2)https://tinyurl.com/trrcdmaw |
Family and Community Connections | Family weather storiesWhat are some memorable weather stories you and your family have experienced? | Exploring weather patterns over time (precipitation and temperature) to develop data tables and interpret information about the climate. | ||
Technology Considerations | Jamboard for modeling for sensemaking & Notice and Wonderhttps://bit.ly/2VIcoM0 | Exploring historical weather data usinghttps://bit.ly/3CNgvqX | ||
Storyline Launch → Investigating → Sensemaking ⇢ |