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Earth / Space Science Kit Resources Vancouver School District
· Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons.
It builds on children's observational capabilities by introducing
them gradually to specific weather features. As these features
are presented, Precipitation becomes the focus of study in the next three lessons. In Lesson 10, students construct their third scale, a rain gauge, and practice measuring rainfall. An experiment in Lesson 12 provides an opportunity for students to learn about appropriate clothing for rainy weather. In Lessons 13 and 14, students turn their attention to the fascinating diversity of cloud appearances, categorizing an assortment of cloud photographs in different ways on the basis of their observations. By the completion of the above lessons, students have become more experienced at measuring and recording their weather observations. They are ready to summarize the data they have collected over the course of the unit. In Lesson 15, they compare an actual weather forecast with their own data. Essential Lessons: 1, 2 , 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 In doing each of the essential lessons, all content and performance standards will be met for the Washington State EALR's and Benchmarks. The lessons can be done in clusters or combined grouping. To ease Kit usage the following lessons should be done in the above sequence. The instructional approach to enhance student inquiry and discovery is to combine the lessons in clusters (1, 2) , ( 5, 7, 8) , (10, 12) , (13, 14) and then to lesson 15 to culminate the unit by comparing actual weather forecasts with their own data. The grayed lessons should be done if time is available. This will assure that you will be able to accommodate all EALR and WASL requirements. If time is not available the grayed lessons could be eliminated, but this means that you will need to assure that the remaining lessons are done in breadth and depth. By the end of the unit, children will have approached weather phenomena both in ways that were already familiar to them, by using their senses, and in new ways, by using the tools of science to measure weather features and record data. Their new scientific and practical knowledge will have contributed to their understanding of weather and the way it affects their lives.
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This STC Unit introduces students
to the concept of weather and how it affects their lives. Using
a variety of tools, students observe, discuss, measure, and record
data on cloud cover, precipitation, wind, and temperature. They
learn how to read a thermometer and construct a rain gauge to
measure precipitation. They also study cloud formations and develop
classification schemes used to organize and sort their cloud
observations. To apply their new skills and knowledge, students
compare their own weather predictions with an actual weather
forecast and use the weather data they have collected to form
generalizations about the weather in their own neighborhoods.