CKSci Unit 4: Weather Patterns
Focus:
In this unit, students learn about daily, weekly, and seasonal weather and how weather occurs in patterns that can be used to plan activities. Students learn about severe weather conditions and how to collect information related to severe weather. Students will investigate what types of severe weather may occur in their area and how people communicate warnings related to severe weather. Students then develop plans to prepare for severe weather emergencies.
Students will further investigate weather, and how different regions experience weather in Grade 3 Unit 4 Weather and Climate. Students will further investigate weather interactions with the earth in Grade 5 Unit 3 Modeling Earth’s Systems.
Students explore concepts that include the following:
- Sunlight from the sun warms the earth’s surface. Different earth materials warm differently due to sunlight. Areas covered by shade created by shadows are cooler than areas in direct sunlight.
- The effects of sunlight on materials can be reduced by creating shade. Engineers build and test models to find out if their designs will work in the real world.
- Data can be collected and analyzed as part of the testing process. Other engineers can help identify the strengths and weaknesses of a design.
- Weather observations recorded over time can be analyzed and used to notice patterns in the weather. Weather data can be observed, collected, and analyzed over months and seasons for use in predicting monthly and seasonal patterns. Daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal weather patterns can be used to forecast weather.
- Weather can be severe. People can respond to severe weather warnings and plan accordingly in the event of severe weather.
Number of Lessons: 4 (Each lesson is divided into three to four lesson segments.)
Instruction Time:
- Each Lesson may be divided into Lesson Segments.
- Each Lesson Segment is designed to be completed in one 30–45-minute class period.
- Some single-day activities and performance tasks might require setting aside a longer block of time.
- This Unit should be completed between 24–36 classroom days.
- A Pacing Guide Template is provided within the Teacher Guide so teachers can map out customized instructional days for this unit.
- A complete list of Materials needed to complete the unit is provided in Online Resources.
Additional Search Terms:
weather • measure • data • sunlight • temperature • shade • flood • melt • cloudy • rainy • windy • snowy • blizzard • heat wave • hurricane • tornado • severe weather • meteorologist • hurricane hunter • nonfiction • informational text
