This lesson will take place in a 5th grade science class. The purpose of this lesson is to aid in the inquiry process and collect and analyze data. In this lesson the students will explore US hurricanes and droughts. They will collect information about both instances and organize data to create circle graphs. Once the circle graphs are created for the hurricanes and droughts the students will compare the information found in each. The final product will be to present their findings to the class. The lesson objectives will allow the students to explore both math and science concepts.

The concepts that students must have prior to this unit plan is estimation, place value, constructing fractions, recognizing fractions as parts of a whole, simplifying fractions, creating equivalent fractions, using calculators, constructing circle graph, analyzing basic graph data, gallery, walk and circle in a circle game. These concepts

Differentiation will be supported by including modeling of new concepts, grouping, and hands on approach. For example students will be involved in various group situations. During the lesson in day 1, students will share with shoulder partners to discuss how math relates to weather conditions. The purpose of this discussion is to get students to begin inquiring how math and science can relate to each other. The shoulder partners consist of students who are sitting to the left or right of the student. Students will also work in groups of four to develop math problems by reading information texts. The teacher can support grouping by developing the groups ahead of time and placing students in assigned seats. During the gallery walk the students can also work in groups and share their findings with the class.

On day 1 when students enter the classroom they will write a brief journal of their “crazy” weather experience. Explain to the students that in their journal they will write about a day where they experienced unusual weather. Tell them to explain in as much detail as possible what made the weather unusual. Allow them 5 minutes to write in their journals. After they finished the journal select 2-3 students to share what they wrote. The purpose of this activity is to get the students to begin thinking about weather as it relates to them and their lives. Begin the lesson by having the students make a list of extreme weather conditions, for example hurricanes, tornadoes, and drought. While discussing those conditions ask the students to think about how those conditions could affect them. Have the students share with shoulder partners to discuss how math relates to weather conditions. The purpose of this discussion is to get students to begin inquiring how math and science can relate to each other. The shoulder partners consist of students who are sitting to the left or right of the student. This minimizes interruption to the flow of the lesson. Also students are able share their ideas with each other. As the students are sharing their ideas with the class ask for specific examples of how math can be used, for example students may suggest the costs of damage. Once the discussion is finished, read the article “Furious Floyd” from Time For Kids. When finished, place the students in groups of 4 and have the students search for possible math problems. Have each group write down 4 possible math problem on separate sheets of paper. The class will end by completing a gallery walk of the problems.

Have the students brainstorm different ways information generated from their problems from the previous day be created. Elicit that another type of graph might organize the information in a way that may be easier to understand. Have the students use graph paper to create a bar graph to represent rainfall for select states. Discuss the results. Reveal which states had the most or least amount of rainfall. Ask the students what other information can be gathered from the graph. List the information presented by the students and ask them if two sets of states each have the same amount of rainfall. Ask students to take a Gallery Walk to view the bar graphs.

On day 3 of the lesson the students will review the information presented from the previous day and begin to discuss fraction of the set. This lesson will require the use of snap cubes to represent the fraction sets. The students will use the manipulatives to grasp a better understanding how fraction sets can be represented. The teacher will model how fraction sets are created using the cubes and then the students will work through different tasks. One day 4: • Review fraction of a set concepts from the previous day. Brainstorm about the damage caused by the hurricanes. • Introduce and discuss the damage in dollars caused by the most costly hurricanes in the last forty years. • Introduce and model the activities for several of the hurricanes. Students will compare the size of Hurricane Floyd to Hurricane Andrew. They will complete activities that will help them work through the comparisons. On day 5 the students will learn more about droughts using a newspaper article. The class will discuss the effects of the current drought on our state and country. Then, direct a student or students to the computer to check on updates and report findings. The teacher will introduce the weather map handout and find the fractional part of the United Stated recovering from drought, labeled as a drought area, labeled as but not a “declared” drought area, labeled as a drought watch area, and unaffected by the drought. Using a document camera and colored overlays, demonstrate on the overhead how the teacher can overlay a map and estimate the approximate fractional area covered by the overlay. Answers may vary for each student. Measure each region separately. The teacher may wish to use various measuring manipulatives such as diamond shaped tiles or a centimeter grip overlay paper. Once finished the student will use a Venn diagram, compare and contrast hurricanes and droughts including the results of Student Resource activities.

The assessment will be ongoing. The students will be assessed using the graphs, journal entries, fraction activities, class discussion and participation. The final assessment a rubric based on the final summary that students will create from the Venn diagram.

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Unit Overview
Title /

Wild Wacky Weather

Learning Goal/Objectives
Students will explore U.S. hurricanes and droughts
Student will collect and organize data to create circle graphs.
Students will compare the extreme weather episodes using data in the form of fractions
Students will investigate the trends in their data and report their findings to their peers.
Unit Summary
Students will investigate the differences in effects of hurricanes and droughts.
Subject Area(s)
Math and Science
Grade Level
5
Duration
5 lessons
Standards
NSES
Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations
Design and conduct a scientific investigation
Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data
Global patterns of atmospheric events
NCTM
  • use models, benchmarks, and equivalent forms to judge the size of fractions;
  • recognize and generate equivalent forms of commonly used fractions, decimals, and percents;
  • represent and analyze patterns and functions, using words, tables, and graphs.
  • design investigations to address a question and consider how data-collection methods affect the nature of the data set;
  • collect data using observations, surveys, and experiments;
  • represent data using tables and graphs such as line plots, bar graphs, and line graphs;
  • recognize the differences in representing categorical and numerical data.

Materials
“Furious Floyd” Time for Kids magazine, graph paper, snap cubes, colored overlay, large paper, markers, calculators
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
Collect, organize, and analyze data to create a bar graph and circle graph. • Record locations on a map • Find fractions of a set • Make comparisons using data and fractions of a set • Use manipulatives to find fractional parts • Construct Venn Diagram • Integrate science knowledge with mathematical statistics
Unit Scope and Sequence
Day 1 – hurricanes, math and science integration
Day 2 – graphs
Day 3 fractions
Day 4 hurricanes/fractions
Day 5 – hurricane/drought comparison
Student Assessment
Graph presentations, summary rubric