The Weather Lesson

Standard/Benchmark	Learning Goal	Formative Assessment	Learning Performances
Content Standard K-4 Earth and Space Science Content Standard D Benchmark: Weather Changes from day to day and over the seasons.	Students understand that weather changes from day to day. Weather is affected by different factors/conditions (humidity, air pressure, wind, temperature) There can be several different conditions for particular temperature.	Students know that 90F in one place means it is hot there but they also know that hot weather can also have other weather conditions, probably from previous life experience.	I will divide the class into several groups. Students will make their own weather station that will consist of actual and simplified weather equipment: barometer, hygrometer, anemometer, wind vane, rain gauge, and thermometer. Students will measure temperature, humidity, wind speed, precipitation, and air pressure in their city/town like meteorologists. They will record their data and make observations about local weather.  After they complete that they will research other sources of information about weathers. They will go  on the web site of Weather channel and look for the map of the national weather forecast.  Once they see the map of the national weather forecast they can choose the state with highest temperatures and chose the weather forecast for two states or two different cities in the US. Doing the search for the current weather forecast of two particular cities of their choice they could look for the temperatures, humidity, wind speed, pressure and precipitation (if any) in those cities.

 1. My learning performance will help students learn about different weather conditions. My creating their weather stations and recording different weather conditions represented through temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed and air pressure students will learn that there more weather conditions that describe weather.  They will see in the data they recorded by measuring local weather conditions or from the Weather channel for different cities that certain temperature can be associated with different weather conditions.  One city can have high temperature but at the same time have high humidity, or strong wind.  Another city with low temperature can have sunny weather but high humidity, or it can have strong wind.etc. 

2. Engage: I would engage students with question of how weather conditions affect temperature in different places.

Evidence: By measuring different conditions in their place, or by exploring different weather conditions for other parts of the US on the weather channel they would gather the data that will represent evidence for their inquiry.

Explain: By collecting evidence from their measurements of local weather, students will be able to give their own explanation to the question I posed at the beginning.

Evaluate: By exploring other sources from the Weather channel on the weather conditions of various places in the US, they will compare that data with the data they recorded by measuring local weather in the their weather station.  Through comparison of those data students will be able to better understand the weather conditions to form their explanations.

Communicate:  Students will share their explanations with the whole class and give arguments  that support those explanations.