New York State Academy for Teaching and Learning Experience Information Form (Final)
Title of Learning Experience:WeatherPatterns and the Instruments used to Measure weather
Grade Level: Third Grade
NYS Standard: MST
MST Standard: Science
Performance Indicator:(2.1)Describe the relationship among air, water and land on Earth
Performance Indicator Level Being Assessed:
- Elementary Level
Peer Review Date: March 31st 2011– Midterm
May 5th 2011 – Final
Peer Review Focus Question:How could I include literature within this learning experience?
Purpose/ Rationale:
The purpose of this learning experience is for the students to understand how particular storms are formed, such as a hurricane, tornado, and blizzard. Weather patterns impact what is happening all around us daily. It is critical for students to understand the dangers and risks of each storm for real life situationsand risks in their future, such as where hurricanes,tornado or blizzards occur.
This learning experience was developed as part of a science unit on Weather. During this unit we studied weather instruments, the different types of storms, the different pictures used by meteorologists on a weather map, and proper vocabulary words to talk about the weather.
Enduring Understanding:
- Different types of storms have different characteristics and dangers
Essential Question(s):
- What are the characteristics of storms and the dangers of each type?
- How do you asses risk from a storm?
Guided Question(s):
- What is weather?
- What does a barometer measure?
- What does a hygrometer measure?
- What does a rain gauge measure?
- What is the atmosphere?
- What is a blizzard?
- What is a hurricane?
- What is a tornado?
- What is an anemometer?
- What is a wind vane?
Title of Learning Experience: Weather
Grade Level: Third
Level: Elementary
Learning Standard: MST
MST Standard: Science
Content Standard: Content (4)
Area of Study: Physical Setting
Key Idea: (2) Many of the phenomena that we observe on Earth involve interactions among components of air, water and land.
Performance Indicator: (2.1) Describe the relationship among air, water and land on Earth
Major Understanding: (2.1b) Weather can be described and measured by
- Temperatures
- wind speed and direction
- form and amount of precipitation
- general sky conditions (cloudy, sunny, partly cloudy)
(2.1e) Extreme natural events (floods, fire, earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe storms) may have
positive or negative impacts on living things
Instructional Task / Learning Objectives / Student Work / Assessment ToolDescribe in writing and orallydifferent instruments used to determine; (whole class, small group and independently)
- temperature
- wind speed and direction
- form and amount of precipitation
- hurricane
- tornado
- partly cloudy
- sunny
- rainy
- snowy
With assistance from peers and teacher, the learner will be able to describe the different characteristics of a hurricane vs. tornado with 95% accuracy / Matching the correct weatherinstrument to the definition created as a whole group
(Matching the Instruments /appendix F)
In a group setting fill in the appropriate section of the Venn-diagram comparing a hurricane and tornado (Compare and contrast Venn-diagram/appendix G) / Pre-assessment:
Students will answer multiple choice answers on different weatherinstruments and types of weather
(appendix D)
Post assessment:
The students will complete a matching worksheet on the weather instruments along with a Venn-diagram on hurricane and tornadoes
(appendix I)
A 22 point rubric (Science Unit on Weather)will be used to grade the students on how well they covered the Venn-diagram along with the Instrument Matching
- Venn-diagram
- Weather Instrument Match up
- Short Answer
The class I am currently in is Mrs. Morath’s third grade class at Alexander Hamilton Elementary school. Mrs. Morath’s class consists of 22 students; 11 girls and 11 boys along with an aid, Miss Dawn. Miss Dawn is placed in Mrs. Morath’s class to help one specific student, but she tends to work with another student due to the student’s learning disabilities and frustration level. Miss Dawn is to provide guidance for Josiah, to help him read directions, slow down and to help him with comprehension skills. As for Ryan, who also has a learning disability, Miss Dawn helps him control his frustration and talks out his problems. This group of 22 students has a wide range of learning abilities, but each one puts forth great effort and they all work well together.
Throughout this learning experience, Miss Dawn sat next to the two boys to keep them on track and to help them look back in their “textbooks”. Mrs. Morath and I circled around the room during group discussion along with during class discussion while students filled in the given chart. (Appendix C provides a visual of the classroom layout)
In order to successfully complete this lesson, the students must be able to participate as a whole class along with small group instruction. (See Classroom Rules – Appendix A, and Procedures – Appendix B)
Prior to Implementation
- Able to recognize different weather patterns through the water cycle
- Familiar withhow to fill in a compare and contrast chart
- Working cooperatively in small and whole group
During Implementation
- Describe the difference between a hurricane and a tornado
- Explain what and how each instrument measures weather
- Describe the different types of storms
- Know how to write the main idea through bullets rather than a complete sentence
After Implementation
- A hygrometer measures the air’s water vapor or humidity
- A barometer measures air pressure
- An anemometer measures the wind speed
- An wind vane measures the direction of the wind
- A rain gauge measureshow much rain has fallen
- A tornado is a spinning funnel shaped column of air that touches the ground
- A hurricane is a huge storm that forms over a warm ocean
- A blizzard is a winter storm with cold air, strong winds, and a lot of snow
Atmosphere / The blanket of air that surrounds the Earth
Blizzard / A heavy snowstorm with strong winds and cold temperatures
Hurricane / A huge storm with strong winds and heavy rain that starts over a warm ocean
Tornado / A spinning funnel-shaped column of air that touches the ground
Weather / What the air is like outside
Temperature / Measures thewarmth or coldness of an object or substance with reference to some standard value.
**A thermometer measures the temperature**
Wind speed and Direction / How fast the wind is blowing and in which way the wind may be blowing (North, East, South, West)
** Wind Vane measures the direction of the wind while an anemometer measures the speed of the wind**
Precipitation / rain, sleet, hail, snow and other forms of water falling from the sky
** A rain gauge helps us see how much precipitation has fallen **
Sky Conditions / Cloudy: Full of or covered with clouds; overcast
Sunny: Exposed to or abounding in sunshine
Partly Cloudy: A mix between cloudy and sunny
Anemometer / Tells the wind speed
Wind Vane / Tells the direction of the wind
Hygrometer / Measures the air’s water vapor, or humidity
Barometer / Measures air pressure
Rain Gauge / Shows how much precipitation or rain has fallen
Diagnostic
Prior to implementation of this Learning Experience, the students will be given a pretest. They will be told that it is not for a grade; it is just to see what areas we need to focus on. The pretest will be a section off of their unit test. This section will be eleven multiple choice questions asking about the different storms along with the different weather instruments and what they measure.
Formative
Throughout the lessons, the students will be asked to work in small groups and participate in whole class discussions.
For the small group portion of the lesson, the teacher will walk around to listen to how well students are working together along with how well they are filling in their particular section of the compare and contrast chart. The teacher will pair/group kids to a specific weather pattern and ask the students to fill in characteristics of their given storm. After a couple of minutes within their groups,they will then gather as a whole class to fill in the rest of the chart – given the fact they will need it as a study tool!
As for the whole group portion of the lesson, we will review the different instruments that are used to tell us about our different weather patterns. The students will be given a worksheet that the teacher will fill out on the overhead. We will discuss each instrument and write down what it measures, matching it to the correct picture.
Summative
The students will use the given worksheets as a study tool. They will then be asked on their unit test to compare and contrast a hurricane and tornado, and match the appropriate weather instrument to what the given tool measures, along with 11 multiple choice questions. To have a fair grading system, a rubric (Science Unit on Weather- shown on page 7) was made up for each of the portions of the test.
Science Unit on Weather
Attributes / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1Part A - Multiple choice answers
___/ 11 / 1 point per question (11 pts total)
Venn – Diagram
____/3
*weighed .75* / Compared and contrasted the two given weather patterns listed – three or more important facts about each included along with two facts on how they are similar / Compared and contrasted the two given weather patterns listed – 2 important facts about each included along with onlyone fact on how they are similar / Compared and contrasted the two given weather patterns listed – 1 important fact about each included along with only one fact on how they are similar / Compared and contrasted the two given weather patterns listed – 1 important fact about each included with no similarities
Weather Instrument Match up
____/6
*weighed 1.5* / The student matches all six(6) to five (5) of the weather instruments to the proper purpose / The student matches four (4) to three (3) of the weather instruments to their proper purpose / The student matches two (2) to one (1) of the weather instruments to their proper purpose / The student matches none (0) of the weather instruments to their proper purpose
Short Answer --
Question # 7 on Weather Instruments
____/2
*weighted .5* / The student correctly identified the instrument and explained the purpose of each part and how it works properly / The student correctly identified the weather instrument in the picture but confused the purposes of some part (how it worked) / The student correctly identified the weather instrument in the picture but was unable to explain how it works / The student was unable to correctly identify the weather instrument in the picture and was not able to explain how it works
Total Points:
______/ 22 / Comments:
When/How the assessment plan is used
The given rubric on page 7 (Science Weather Unit) is used for this particular science unit test. Other rubrics can be made to go with other units based off this rubric but it is designed to follow along with this particular unit/test.
Students Role in the assessment process
The students won’t have a checklist due to the fact it is their test and they will be asked to study the material given to them throughout the entire unit. If the students are to review and focus throughout the entire unit they will have their own checklist while taking the test; I did most of the material at one point throughout the unit with them!
Third grade general education classroom:
- 22 students
- 11 girls
- 11 boys
- 3 students with an IEP
- 1 with an in class aid; Miss Dawn
- 22 participated within the entire unit
- Only 20 students were used for the pre and the post test evaluation
***2 students were absent during the pre-test, therefore they were not counted in the overall count***
Classification of student work from the summative assessment on the overall unit test
- Distinguished Students – 100%-86%
- Proficient Students – 82%-73%
- Developing Students – 68% or below
Level / Number of Students / % of students
Distinguished / 14 / 70%
Proficient / 3 / 15%
Developing / 3 / 15%
Day 1: Lesson is taught in a whole class setting; student’s are at their desks
** Pretest is given at the beginning of science time**
Objectives:
1.0 – With assistance from the teacher the learner will be able to orally state the different types of instruments with 95% accuracy.
Active and Assess prior knowledge
- Tell the students that we are going to learn 5 instruments that meteorologists use to measure the weather outside.
- Ask the students if they know any instruments that are used to measure weather.
Anticipatory Set
- We go over our vocabulary words (Listed on page 5and Appendix E)
- I give the definitions and ask the students to raise their hand if they know the vocabulary word being described.
- I ask the students to look outside and describe the weather using words such as partly cloudy, rainy, sunny, ect.
- After discussing our vocabulary and the weather outside, we view a short video clip – The Importance of Weather Forecasting – this further explains the importance of the material we are about to read.
Model/Demonstration
- I model the first paragraph
- To show the students the importance of reading loudly and stopping to take a breath at the end of each sentence and to annunciate the words.
- The students already understand how to highlight, but once we discuss the paragraph we talk as a class about which sentences need to be highlighted.
- I reread the sentence and point out what sentence number needs to be highlighted.
Guided Practice
- After reviewing our vocabulary words, we read in the students' textbooks pages 5-8, as a class.
- Students are called upon to read aloud paragraph by paragraph.
- We discuss what we have read and highlight the important facts.
- After each instrument, we watch a 30 second video clip to give them a picture of the instrument and to hear what it measures.
- The following clips are viewed:
- Thermometers
- Anemometers/Wind Vanes
- Barometers
- Hygrometers
- Radar/Rain gauge
- Weather Instruments
Independent Practice
- Since it is an introduction to different weather instruments, this portion of the lesson is completed through whole group instruction.
Closure
- As a whole class, we fill in a worksheet – Matching the Instruments(appendix F).
- We work as a whole class using our textbooks to fill in the appropriate definition of what each instrument measures and match it to the correct picture.
- After the worksheet is done the teacher asks the students to identify each instrument she is describing!
- The students raise their hands and use their worksheets/textbooks, if needed.
Day 2 – Lessonis taught as a whole group along with small group discussions
Objectives
2.0 - With assistance from peers and teacher, the learner will be able to describe the different characteristics of a hurricane vs. tornado with 95% accuracy.
Activate and Assess Prior Knowledge
- Ask the students to name some of the weather instruments we learned/talked about yesterday and what they measure.
- Ask the students if they know any type of storm (such as a hurricane, tornado, and blizzard).
Anticipatory Set
- We review the different types of weather instruments as a reminder of yesterday’s lesson
- A hygrometer measures the air’s water vapor or humidity
- A barometer measures air pressure
- An anemometer measures the wind speed
- An wind vane measures the direction of the wind
- A rain gauge measureshow much rain has fallen
Model/Demonstration
- I model the first paragraph
- To show the students the importance of reading loudly and stopping to take a breath at the end of each sentence and to annunciate the words.
- The students already understand how to highlight, but once we discuss the paragraph we talk as a class about which sentences need to be highlighted.
- I reread the sentence and point out what sentence number needs to be highlighted.
- Modeling is done on how to bullet information into the compare and contrast chart so no student is copying the entire paragraph out of the textbook.
Guided Practice
- After reviewing our vocabulary words, we read in the textbooks pages 9-15 as a class.
- Students are called upon to read aloud paragraph by paragraph.
- We discuss what we have read and highlight the important facts.
- After reading, we discuss as a class how to summarize the important facts of a passage and the importance of bulleting rather than making complete sentences.
- Example: “A hurricane is a huge storm. It starts out over a warm ocean.”
- The students write:
- Huge storm
- Starts over warm ocean
Independence Practice