Standard 2.6The student will investigate and understand basic types, changes, and patterns ofweather. Key concepts include
a) temperature, wind, precipitation, drought, flood, and storms; andb) the uses and importance of measuring and recording weather data.
Essential Questions
1. How does weather impact our daily lives?
2. What are the characteristics of each season?
3. How do you measure weather?
4. Why is weather important to our Earth?
Overarching goals
1. The student will be able to explain how weather impacts our daily lives.
2. The student will understand the seasons.
3. The student will understand why weather is important to our Earth.
4. The student will understand the different ways that weather is measured.
Desired Student Outcomes:
1) observe and describe types of precipitation, including rain, snow, and ice (sleetand hail).
2) observe and describe precipitation in terms of evaporation and condensation ofwater.
3) observe and record daily weather conditions, such as sunny, cloudy, windy,rainy, or snowy.
4) describe weather in terms of temperature, wind, and precipitation.
5) measure and record weather data, using weather instruments, including athermometer, rain gauge, and weather vane (standard English and metricmeasures).
6) record and interpret daily temperature, using a graph with numbered axes.
7) observe and describe seasonal weather patterns and local variations.
8) identify common types of storms. Examples include hurricanes, tornadoes,blizzards, and thunderstorms.
9) compare and contrast droughts and floods.
10) evaluate the influence of daily weather conditions on personal activities and dress.
Functional goals
1. A weather unit is extremely functional. Learning about how weather impacts our
daily lives provides life skills training.
2. The students will be able to see how weather impacts the clothes they choose to
wear.
3. The students will be able to see how weather impacts the activities they can do (ie.
Skiing, picnics, swimming, etc.)
EVALUATION
Acceptable Evidence of meeting UNIT outcomes
1) Daily informal check of understanding through questioning during class
2) Daily Weather Journalo Each day, the students will record the daily weather conditions in their journal for
two weeks. They will record, at minimum, the following items:
o Temperature (once learned)
o Wind- yes or no (once learned they can add the direction)
o Rainy/snowy/sunny/cloudy/windy
o Describe what kinds of clothing you can wear that day
o Could we have recess in this weather? Yes or no
3) Graph of temperatures for that week
o Students will record the temperature each day for a week. Then they will make a
line graph showing their data. Students will be graded on the accuracy of their
line graph.
4) Story- “On a snowy day, I…”
o Students will write a story about what they would do if they woke up and found
that they were snowed in and school was cancelled. They will use the three
sentence rules (1. Capital letter at the beginning of the sentence, 2. The sentence
makes sense, 3. Correct punctuation at the end.) Each student will write a rough
draft, and then publish their story and include an illustration.
5) 3 Quizzes -
a) Water cycle picture
b) Recording weather data
c) What would you wear?
6) Unit Test (12/4)- Included in appendix
JUSTIFICATION OF ASSESSMENT TYPES:
I have chosen several different types of assessments so that I can appeal to all
learners. I will be continuously checking for understanding informally, so that every
child has a chance to succeed. I will incorporate several ‘every person responds’
activities, where students can show me what they know.
I have included a non-traditional assessment piece where the students have to
complete a daily weather log. This will give students who are good scientists a chance to
have fun and be weather detectives. All students should be successful since they
experience weather each day of their lives.
The graphing assessment will test the knowledge of all students, but it will
especially stretch the students who understand the depth of graphs and how they can use
them in various ways. This project will be completed by all students, whether they have
special needs or not, but students with higher level intelligences will benefit the greatest
from this project.
The writing assessment piece is excellent for students who can share their
knowledge in a narrative form, rather than in a multiple choice test form. Students with a
love for writing will be able to express much of what they understand about winter in this
story. Students who are artistic will love illustrating their stories. Those students with a
flare for acting will enjoy sharing their stories with the class. Students with disabilities
will be given a chance to express thoughts either through pen and paper, or through
dictation taken by the teacher.
I will also be using quizzes that are not multiple choice. I chose a non-multiple
choice assessment piece, so that students who have trouble succeeding with multiple
choice tests will have a chance to show me what they are understanding on a more non-
traditional quiz. I have chosen to use this format with the entire second grade class, so
that students with special needs do not feel ostracized by having to take a “different test
than the other kids.” These quizzes will be read aloud to all students. Modifications may
be made if necessary.
The Unit Test will be in a multiple choice format. This is to prepare the students
for taking the SOL tests next year in third grade. There is a study guide that will be
completed before the test. The test will be read aloud to those students with disabilities.
This will be done in the resource room, with just the students who are in special
education. The test will also be read aloud in the general ed. classroom. Pulling the
students into the resource room will allow for a slower pace (if needed), and for
clarification of directions. This will also cut down on distractions. Modifications may be
made to this test, if necessary. Modifications can include a lower number of questions.
o What is Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter like in Williamsburg?
o What do you wear in the Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter?
o What kinds of activities do you do in Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter
o Fill out sense chart or ice cream cone chart or describing wheel for each season
o Play with the “Classifying with Seasons” deck from Super Duper Publications
o Start the “On a snowy day…” stories
DAY 11:
o Review Seasons
o Talk about the different kinds of storms we have
o Hurricanes
o Tornados
o Thunderstorms
o Blizzards
o Talk about what to do if any of those even threaten our area
o If you had to pack a bag with the most important items to take with you to
a hurricane shelter, what would you take?
o Work on the “On a snowy day…” stories
DAY 12:
o Review seasons and storms
o “What Do I Wear?” QUIZ
o Talk about floods and droughts.
o Ask the students if any of them know what either of those words mean
o Fill out “The 5 W’s and How” chart together for floods and droughts
o Have a discussion about how they compare and how they contrast
o Have published copy of their “On a snowy day…” stories
December 3: Test Review
December 4: Unit Test
CHOICE CENTER #1: Make a Wind Vane
STANDARDS: 2.6a, b- measure and record weather data, using weather instruments,including a thermometer, rain gauge, and weather vane (standard English and metricmeasures).
CONTENT: In this center, students will make a wind vane to use when collecting datafor their “Daily Weather Journals”.
WHO: Groups of 5 students or less
MATERIALS1. straws2. straight pins3. index cards4. pencils with erasers5. tape
ACTIVITIES
1. Cut the point and tail of an arrow out ofindex cards (patterns will be provided)
2. Tape them onto the ends of the straw3. Push the pin through the middle of the
straw4. Stick the pin into the eraser of the pencil.
Make sure the straw can turn freely.
(www.galaxy.net/~k12/weather/makevane.shtml)
MODIFICATIONS
Pre-cut arrow pieces; arrow piecesdrawn onto index cards; helpassembling the wind vane
ASSESSMENT
1. Does the wind vane work?2. Can you tell me the direction that the
wind is blowing from?
TEACHER REFLECTIONS
CHOICE CENTER #2: Make a Rain Gauge
STANDARDS: 2.6a, b- measure and record weather data, using weather instruments,including a thermometer, rain gauge, and weather vane (standard English and metricmeasures).
CONTENT: In this center, students will make a wind vane to use when collecting datafor their “Daily Weather Journals”.
1. Is the ruler in the correct position tomeasure ALL of the rain captured in thegauge?
2. Is it assembled correctly?
TEACHER REFLECTIONS
CHOICE CENTER #3: “Classifying with Seasons” FunDeckSTANDARDS: Observe and describe seasonal changes and local variations
CONTENT: The students will practice putting activities, clothing, temperature,precipitation with the correct season
WHO: 2-3 students
MATERIALS
1. One deck of Super DuperPublications “Classifying withSeasons” cards
2. Classifying chart (optional)
ACTIVITIES
Students can choose a game:
1. Seasonal sort: put deck face down; draw one card at a time; place in correct pile
2. Tell Me about it! Each person gets one card face up in
front of them; players take turnsdescribing the card in as many detailsas possible.
3. Name Something ElsePlayer one draws a card, then namessomething else to belongs in thatseaons
MODIFICATIONS
Students with cognitive disabilities can justname the season represented on the card;the amount of cards can be lessened for astudent easily overwhelmed by a largegroup of items
ASSESSMENT
1. Informal check of their classifications
TEACHER REFLECTIONS
PRE-REQUISITE SKILLS/ MODIFICATIONS/ IMPACT ON STUDENTS WITHDISABLITIES
Pre-requisites:
1. Students will need to have a general understanding of the world around them, and
that the weather fluctuates from day-to-day.
2. Students will need to know how brainstorm ideas and write them on paper
3. Students will need to know how to share ideas with peers in an appropriate
manner
Impact on Students with disabilities:
Students with learning disabilities may have trouble with the memorization piece
of this unit. There are a lot of interconnecting pieces in this weather unit. Students with
poor memory skills may find the amount of material challenging. Students with poor
higher level thinking skills may not even see that there are connections.
Students with autism may not be aware of the world around them, therefore, they
do not make the connection that weather impacts their lives. This can also be true of a
student with an emotion disturbance. They may have such a sever disability, that they are
unaware of their surroundings.
Students with ADD/ADHD may have trouble staying on task while brainstorming
ideas about certain weather related topics. They may also experience problems when it
comes to sharing their ideas with peers. They may act impulsively and turn off the
person they are working with.
Students with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities may not understand all of the
inner workings of the weather, but they should be able to see that the world around them
changes and they can see that it does. They should not have trouble grasping the
concepts, just committing them to memory.
Possible Modifications:
1. The teacher can choose to lesson the amount of questions on the test if the student
is overwhelmed and cannot be successful.
2. The teacher can read the test aloud (an accommodation)
3. The teacher can pull students into a small group to provide more individualized
instruction on complex topics such as the water cycle and evaporation vs.
condensation.
Possible Challenges:
1. Keeping students with attention difficulties focused on the lesson
2. Students with disabilities not being able to commit the information to memory
3. The quizzes and test being too overwhelming to students who have trouble taking
What should we do if there is a really bad storm coming our way? (All Students)
How do you identify each of the different types of storms? (Most Students)
What causes each of the different types of storms? (Some Students)
Key Skill:
Recognize when you are in danger and need to seek shelter (All Students)
Identify the severity of the storm (Some Students)
FOCUS: 5 minutes
Play a tape recording of storm sounds. Ex. Thunderstorm, wind blowing, rain
Can anyone name the type of storm you are hearing?
Today we are going to be talking about four different types of storms that happen
in our area. The four storms are hurricanes, tornados, blizzards and
thunderstorms.
Everyone has experienced some of these storms. Does anyone remember a
hurricane happening in our area? How about a snow storm?
Not only are we going to learn how to identify each of these storms, but we are
also going to learn how to be safe during storms.
METHODS AND MATERIALS FOR INSTRUCTION
Explanation of Key Vocabulary
Materials: White board, markers, Pie Chart for each student, pencils
First, we are going to learn how to spell the storms names, and work on mapping outwhat each storm looks like.
The first storm is HURRICANE.
A hurricane is a storm that happens in the Atlantic Ocean. Where again is the AtlanticOcean? (Previous lesson). It is a large swirling storm that has thunder, lighting and rainin it. Sometimes it hits the land. That’s when we have trouble. Can anyone tell me whathappens when a hurricane hits land?
- trees fall down (onto houses, into the road, etc)- power goes out- too much rain causes flooding
Draw a hurricane on the board (in the chart of all the storms)Direct students to label one of their Pie Slices: HURRICANE
We’ll come back to how to be safe during a hurricane in a minute.
The second storm is TORNADO.
A tornado is a violent whirling wind that is shaped like a funnel and travels a smallnarrow path on the ground. It is very dangerous if it runs over anything.Has anyone ever seen a movie or TV show that showed a tornado?
Draw a picture of a tornado on the chart.Direct students to label another pie piece: TORNADO
The third storm is a BLIZZARD.
A blizzard is a long, severe snow storm. A snow storm is called a blizzard when there isA LOT of snow on the ground. Sometimes blizzards close schools and businesses. We’lltalk more about how to be safe during a blizzard.
Draw a blizzard on the board.Direct students to label another pie piece: BLIZZARD.
The last storm we’re going to talk about is a THUNDERSTORM. This is the one thateveryone knows about. We have lots of thunderstorms. Many people are afraid ofthunderstorms. Is anyone in here afraid? What exactly are you afraid of? Can youdescribe it? Thunderstorms usually have lighting and rain along with the claps of thunder.
Draw a thunderstorm on the board.Direct students to write THUNDERSTORM on a pie piece.
Group activity
Now, in your groups, come up with describing words about the storm your table is
