Running head: UNIT PLAN 1

Annotated Unit Plan and Lesson Series

Stephanie Simmens

EDTP 600 9040

Professor Rosario Fazio

University of Maryland Global Campus

April 6, 2020
UNIT PLAN 2

Unit Overview

Name: Stephanie Simmens Course: Earth/Space Science

Grade Level: 8th Unit Title: Weather and Climate

Unit Rationale/Context:

This unit will fall into the first section of the 8th grade NGSS science course overview for
Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) (2019). In this unit, students will learn about the
difference between weather and climate, how carbon dioxide (CO2) can contribute to climate
change through determining their carbon footprint, and about extreme weather events that can be
caused through human activities.

Relevance to Students:

This unit uses different activities and platforms to teach the students in a relevant way. In
lesson 1, students learn through a kinesthetic activity that allow them to visually and tangibly
represent how weather effects them on a short-term basis and how climate can influence where
you live. In lesson 2, students are able to analyze their own impact on climate change by
calculating their household’s carbon footprint using a computer program. This helps students
understand that they can individually do things to help reduce their carbon footprint, thus
reducing their carbon emissions. In lesson 3, students work together in pairs to create a concept
map on extreme weather and climate change, thus teaching that human activities can impact
weather systems on the Earth.

Standards Addressed:

MS-ESS2-5.
Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air
masses result in changes in weather conditions. 

MS-ESS3-2.
Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform
the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

MS-ESS3-3.
Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on
the environment.

MS-ESS3-5.
Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global
temperatures over the past century.
 
RST.6-8.1
UNIT PLAN 3

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts. 

RST.6-8.9
Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or
multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic. 

RST.6-8.7
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that
information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

Unit Objective(s)/Big Idea(s)/Key Learning(s):

Students will distinguish the difference in weather and climate. (DOK-2, Bloom’s Taxonomy-
Understand)

Students will analyze how human activities can impact the weather and climate. (DOK-4,
Bloom’s Taxonomy- Analyzing)

Summative Assessments:

The summative quiz will constitute as the summative assessment for this three-lesson
unit, which will demonstrate the students’ proficiency in meeting the unit objective and
understanding the topic. This quiz consists of 12 questions that are summative of all three lessons
in this unit. Each lesson has four corresponding questions. The first four questions relate to
lesson 1, the next four questions relate to lesson 2, and the last four questions relate to lesson 3.
This quiz will be taken at the end of the third lesson of this unit and tell more about the level of
understanding by the students of the subject and if any re-teaching is necessary. The key to this
quiz is included at the end of the quiz at the end of this unit plan.
UNIT PLAN 4

Lesson 1

Course Title: Earth/Space Science Unit Title: Weather and Climate

Grade Level: 8th Grade Time Required: 50 minutes

Lesson Title: Weather Vs. Climate

Context for Learning:

Students will have an understanding of the water cycle and basic background knowledge
of some weather terminology. Some of the lesson’s vocabulary will be a recall of information for
some students. Students are now beginning to learn about climate change. This is the first unit
introducing climate change, so it is important that students are able to distinguish climate from
weather.

Standards Addressed:

MS-ESS2-5. Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of
air masses result in changes in weather conditions. 

RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations,
video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same
topic. 

Objectives (observable and measurable):

 Students will demonstrate the differences between weather and climate. (DOK-2,
Bloom’s Taxonomy- Apply) [Observable Objective]
 Students will categorize different phenomena as either weather specific or climate
specific using a graphic organizer. (DOK-3, Bloom’s Taxonomy- Analysis) [Measurable
Objective]

Materials:

● Bellringer activity sheets

Online stopwatch: https://www.online-stopwatch.com/countdown/
 Video: https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/00000144-0a2c-d3cb-a96c-
7b2d3e210000
 100 M&Ms of different colors (red, orange, green, blue, brown).
 Six paper bags (for a class of 24)
 Science journals
 PowerPoint presentation
 Graphic organizer hand-outs
UNIT PLAN 5

 Whiteboard
 Link for extension activity: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/greenhouse-effect/
 Table caddies containing pencils, highlighters, glue sticks
 Smartboard

Proactive Behavior Management:

 Student routines must include obtaining their science journals from the bin where they
are kept and then immediately working on their warmup/Bellringer at their seat.
 Students will be seated in a group pod seating arrangement consisting of 4 students.
Students will have been chosen to sit together in these group seating pods before the
beginning of the unit to create groups of diverse learners and to discourage the formation
of cliques. This seating arrangement also determines the groups that will be working
together in this unit.
 Class rules are posted on the wall.
 Objectives of the lesson are written on the whiteboard.
 Use hand signals to nonverbally communicate with students for simple tasks, such as
using the bathroom or sharpening a pencil.
 Keeping the work area clean is an important management tool for all students in the class
as it teaches students responsibility to clean up after oneself and to keep the work area
clean. This also increases the student’s ability to focus on learning (Lock, R. and Babkie,
A., 2006).

Provisions for Student Learning:

 Students will be using their science journals to record the lesson’s guiding questions,
vocabulary terms, and to record data on activities performed.
 Students will are offered different ways to learn content in this lesson, including the
opportunity to watch a video, listen to a lecture, view PowerPoint slides, participate in a
group activity utilizing kinesthetic methods of learning, and complete a graphic
organizer.

Procedures

Warm Up/Opening (5 minutes):

 Students are greeted at the threshold of the classroom individually, by name and with a
smile, and receive the Bellringer activity card to take back to their desk to get started on
after retrieving their science journals.
 Students will be able to keep track of their time through the online stopwatch (found at
the link https://www.online-stopwatch.com/countdown/), that will be counting down on
smartboard.
 Students record the guiding question in their science journals: What are the differences
between weather and climate? What factors influence the weather? Can humans impact
the weather and climate? These questioned should be already projected onto the
UNIT PLAN 6

whiteboard from the PowerPoint presentation. The guiding questions are put into place
for students to help achieve their objectives for the lesson.
 Students write down the lesson’s vocabulary terms in their science journals – students
must add the definition to these terms throughout the lesson.
 Students are to finish the Bellringer activity. This Bellringer activity will not be graded; it
is more for the students to recall information that they learned in previous lessons
regarding the water cycle in order to begin thinking more scientifically about the weather.

Motivator/Bridge (10 minutes):

 Introduce students to the first lesson of this unit, Weather vs. Climate.
 I use the whiteboard to start a discussion on the differences between weather and climate
to gage how much the students already understand regarding what makes these two
phenomena different. I write down “Weather” on left and “Climate” to the right on the
whiteboard and ask the class to give me examples of these phenomena.
 I will switch over to the next slide on the PowerPoint presentation where we will discuss
weather and climate characteristics.
 After discussing the basics of what differentiates weather and climate and the
characteristics of each, students will view a short video (three-minutes and 24-seconds
long) by National Geographic called Climate and Weather (found at this link:
https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/00000144-0a2c-d3cb-a96c-
7b2d3e210000).

Screenshot of the video/webpage.

 Students must be taking notes throughout this segment in their science journals in order
to create solid comprehensible definitions of the vocabulary terms as they will need to
reference back to these terms for future lessons and assessments.

Instructional Strategies
UNIT PLAN 7

PowerPoint Presentation (10 minutes):

 Explain in detail how air mass, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind affect the
weather. Building on these scientific terms is an important concept for students to fully
comprehend for future lessons and objectives that will build upon the concepts of climate
change and extreme weather events due to climate change.
 The last slide of the PowerPoint presentation begins to familiarize students with how
humans can impact the weather and climate.

Guided Practice (15 minutes):

 Each student will be placed in a small group after the initial discussion on weather and
climate.
 Before the activity begins, I instruct each group to pick one student to share their findings
with the whole class when the activity is over. We call this student the group’s
“representative.”
 I instruct the class that the activity will include different colored M&MS: red, orange,
green, blue, yellow and brown. Students will be asked to categorize each color M&M
with a weather event. For example, blue could be rainy and stormy weather, red means
hot and sunny, and green means cool and cloudy; it is up to the class as a whole to
determine which colors will correlate with a specific weather event or phenomena and the
key will be recorded on the whiteboard.
 I will ask the class to make a few short predictions on how they think this activity
utilizing M&Ms is going to help us understand weather and climate. I will write a few
predictions on the whiteboard and give everyone 60 seconds to write their own
predictions in their science journals. After this is determined, all students must include
the key identifying each colored M&M with the corresponding weather event in their
science journals.
 One student from each group must come collect their group’s bag of M&Ms from the
teacher’s station. Each bag will contain 15 M&Ms.
 The groups will carefully extract the M&Ms from their bags and record how many of
each color they have. The color M&M that each group has the most of will give the
students an idea of what their “climate” is. This activity is especially useful for the
students who learn the best through kinesthetic activity as they can touch and manipulate
objects to deepen their understanding of the topic (Wyman, K., n.d.).
 All group members must observe their findings and record them in their personal science
journals throughout the activity.
 Each group’s “representative” will share the group’s findings to the whole class.
 The class compares their group findings from the M&M weather vs. climate activity to
their predictions with my help at the whiteboard and individually in their science
journals.

Independent Tasks (5 minutes):

UNIT PLAN 8

 Throughout the lesson, students must independently be responsible for defining the
vocabulary words for the lesson throughout the lecture and taking notes on the group
activity.
 Students will be given a simple graphic organizer template to associate different scientific
terms they developed in this lesson regarding weather and climate change (attached at the
end of the lesson). They are instructed to paste it into the next blank page in their science
journals. The graphic organizer is considered the exit ticket.

Summary/Closure (5 minutes):

 Use the last five minutes of class to briefly go over our vocabulary terms that we worked
on today and ask the students to think of any questions they may still have.
 Students will get a sheet of paper with a graphic organizer template I created for this class
to associate the terminology used in today’s lesson on the correct areas of the topic:
weather or climate. Students will fill out the graphic organizer and paste it into their
science journals.
 Hand students their take-home work as they complete their graphic organizers.

Adaptations:

 For my ADHD students or those who have difficulty with focusing, I will assign them
jobs, such as retrieving class papers from the teacher’s station or returning materials. I
will also make sure to have these students seated away from any distractions, such as
windows or doors.
 Those who may be hard of hearing- I will utilize subtitles or closed captioning in all
videos or multimedia. I will also have these students seated closer to the front of the room
where I will be doing most of my teaching, so they do not need to strain to listen to
instruction.
 For students who are confined to a wheelchair or who need devices to be mobile, I will
have the seated near the entrance/exit of the classroom and keep an open walkway by the
door and teacher’s station, computer area, and material shelves.
 I have provided multiple activities for learning development for the students who are
reading behind grade level.

Formative Assessments:

 Periodically ask for “thumbs up or down” to check if the students understand. A thumbs
down means further explanation on the topic or concept to the student or whole class is
needed. This will help to adjust teaching techniques during the lesson to reach every
student. In a broader sense, I will be using a mixture of verbal and nonverbal cues and
signals to assess students understanding of the topics presented.
 Every student will be given an exit ticket to complete before leaving the classroom. The
exit ticket is a graphic organizer template that students will paste into their science
journals at the end of their lesson entries. The science journal entries will be assessed at
the end of the lesson for comprehension of the topic. Rubric for the science journal is
included at the end of unit plan. I will provide a mark for each student’s journal entry for
UNIT PLAN 9

the lesson as either exemplary (E), developing (DV), or not progressing (NP). Students
get the opportunity to look over their mark next class period and use it to improve their
next entry.

Extension Activities

For advanced students who finish before others, I would ask them to read a short article
on the greenhouse effect located at the link: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/greenhouse-effect/.
However, I would have a few print outs already available for the students who were most likely
to need them – students who have proven to be advanced readers or advanced in prior lessons.
While reading the article, students should highlight any vocabulary words from today’s lesson
and other keywords that they believe to be important.

Review/Reinforcement (Homework):

 Students are given an article (attached at end of this lesson) by the National Geographic
to take home and read in preparation of next class’s TQE (Thoughts, Questions, and
Epiphanies) on the article (Gonzales, J., 2018).
UNIT PLAN 10

Bellringer:

Bellringer – Do Now
Name: __________________________ Class: ____________ Date: ____________

(www.EnchantedLearning.com)
Accumulation – hint: water pools in large bodies.
Condensation – hint: vapor turns into liquid.
Evaporation – hint: liquid turns into vapor.
Precipitation – hint: liquid falls.
Subsurface Runoff – hint: water flows from surface to underground bodies.
Surface Runoff – hint: water flows to aboveground bodies.
Transpiration – hint: water within plants.
UNIT PLAN 11

Article to read for homework by National Geographic:

Weather

Climate isn't the same thing as weather. Weather is the condition of the atmosphere
over a short period of time; climate is the average course of weather conditions for a
particular location over a period of many years.

One of the factors that influences climate is the angle of the sun's rays. In the tropics,
between 23.5° N and 23.5° S, there is at least one time of year when the noontime
sun is directly overhead and its rays hit at a direct angle. This produces a hot climate
with relatively small temperature differences between summer and winter.

In the Arctic and Antarctic (north or south of 66.5° latitude), there are times of year
when the sun is above the horizon 24 hours a day (a phenomenon known as midnight
sun) and times when it never rises. Even in the summer, the sun is low enough for
temperatures to be lower than in the tropics, but the seasonal changes are much
greater than in equatorial regions. Interior Alaska has seen temperatures as high as
100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

Closer to the Equator lie the temperate regions. These include the United States,
Europe, China, and parts of Australia, South America, and southern Africa. They have
the typical four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Climate is also controlled by wind, oceans, and mountains.

Winds bring moisture to land. North and south of the Equator, the trade winds blow
from the northeast and southeast, respectively. These winds converge in the tropics,
forcing air to rise. This produces thunderstorms, humidity, and monsoons.

North and south of the trade winds, about 30° from the Equator, there is relatively little
wind, and therefore little moisture blowing inland from the oceans. Also, dry air is
sinking back to the surface, warming in the process. This is why many of the world's
great desert regions—the Sahara, Gulf, Iran, Iraq, and chunks of Mexico—lie at the
same latitude. A similar band of deserts lies to the south in Australia, South America,
and southern Africa.

Mountains force wind to rise as it crosses over them. This cools the air, causing
moisture to condense in clouds and rain. This produces a wet climate on the upwind
side of the mountains and an arid "rain shadow" on the downwind side.
UNIT PLAN 12

Oceans provide moisture that fuels rainstorms. They also buffer the temperature of
coastal regions, regardless of latitude.

Climate Groups
In the early 1900s, climatologist Wladimir Köppen divided the world into five major
climate groups.

Moist, tropical climates are hot and humid. Steppes and deserts are dry, with large
temperature variations. Plentiful lakes, rivers, or nearby oceans give humid,
midlatitude climates cool, damp winters, but they have hot, dry summers. Some of
these climates are also called Mediterranean. Continental climates occur in the
centers of large continents.

Mountain ranges (or sheer distance) block off sources of moisture, creating dry
regions with large seasonal variations in temperature. Much of southern Canada,
Russia, and parts of central Asia would fall into this category. Cold, or polar, climates
round out Köppen's list. A sixth region, high elevations, was later added to the
classification system.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/earths-atmosphere/climate.html

© 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- 2020 National Geographic

Partners, LLC. All rights reserved

PowerPoint Slides:
UNIT PLAN 13
UNIT PLAN 14

Graphic Organizer for Science Journal:

UNIT PLAN 15
UNIT PLAN 16

Lesson 2

Course Title: Earth/Space Science Unit Title: Weather and Climate

Grade Level: 8th Grade Time Required: 50 minutes

Lesson Title: The Carbon Footprint: How Humans are Impacting the Weather and Climate

Context for Learning:

The students will have just completed the first lesson of this unit concerning differences
and characteristic of climate and weather. This lesson takes what students learned from the
previous lesson and uses that knowledge to gain a better grasp of understanding on how humans
can affect the weather and climate through air pollution, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
from anthropological sources.

Standards Addressed:

MS-ESS3-5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global
temperatures over the past century. 
MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a
human impact on the environment.
RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts. 

Objectives:

● Students will identify the most abundant types of greenhouse gases emitted into the
atmosphere and how. (DOK-1, Bloom’s Taxonomy- Understand) [Observable Objective]
● Students will examine how elevated greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic
sources can contribute to changing weather patterns. (DOK-3, Bloom’s Taxonomy-
Analyze) [Observable Objective]
● Students will determine their carbon footprint and analyze the data to determine what
they can do differently to reduce their own carbon emissions. (DOK-3, Bloom’s
Taxonomy- Evaluate) [Measurable Objective]

Materials:

 Whiteboard
● Smartboard
● Earth’s Atmosphere Worksheet (Entry Ticket)
● YouTube music video with CC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87P0G_9aK2c
● PowerPoint presentation
● Science journals
UNIT PLAN 17

● Online stopwatch: https://www.online-stopwatch.com/countdown/

● Laptops
● Internet connection
● Carbon emissions calculator: https://ei.lehigh.edu/learners/cc/carboncalc.html
● Carbon calculator investigation sheet
● Guiding questions exit ticket
● Extension activity- Read the article: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-co2-dangerous-
weather-extremes-global.html

● Homework handouts

Proactive Behavior Management:

 Students will remain in the same seating arrangements as they were in the previous
lesson; the pod seating contains four student per table. I implement the pod seating
arrangement in the classroom not only to discouraged cliques from forming, but also to
help fulfill the students’ need for community as described in McLelland’s Learned Needs
Theory, the need for affiliation (Motivation Theories, n.d.).
 Hand signals to nonverbally communicate with students for simple requests, such as
using the bathroom or sharpening a pencil to cut back on interruptions and maintain the
flow of the classroom.
 Class rules are always posted in the classroom in a visible location.
 Implementing predictable procedures and routine; retrieving their science journals and
doing the warmup/Bellringer should be the first thing students think about when entering
the classroom.

Provisions for Student Learning:

 As in the previous lesson, students will be using their science journals to record data and
take notes on the guiding question for this lesson and to take note on the vocabulary
terms needed for this lesson.

Procedures

Warm Up/Opening (5 minutes):

 As students enter the classroom, I will inform them to retrieve their laptops (or
Chromebooks) from the designated location because we will be using them for today’s
lesson.
 Students are all given Bellringer as they enter the room before they head to the locations
to retrieve their laptops and science journals.
 Students will be able to keep track of their time through the online stopwatch (found at
the link https://www.online-stopwatch.com/countdown/), that will be counting down on
smartboard as they complete their Bellringer.
UNIT PLAN 18

 By the end of the five minutes allotted to the warmup, students must be seated at their
desks quietly with their laptops, science journals, and completed Bellringer activity. Like
yesterday, I will not be grading the Bellringer. This activity is to have students recall
prior knowledge and to get them to start thinking more scientifically.

Motivator/Bridge (10 minutes):

 I start off by asking students to share some of their TQE’s from the article they were
assigned to read last class about climate and weather. I will take about two-minutes to
discuss these with the students before we move along.
 The projector will be displaying the lesson’s PowerPoint Presentation; the first slide:
introduction to the lesson along with the lesson’s guiding questions: What is a carbon
footprint? Can human activity affect the weather? What can we do to reduce our CO2
emissions?
 I will read the guiding questions out loud to the students, but they must also be writing
these questions down in their science journals simultaneously.
 After we have gone over the guiding questions, I switch to the next PowerPoint slide with
the lesson’s vocabulary terms to have students record them in their science journals.
 At this point, I will ask the students to recall the differences between weather and climate
and will take one minute of this bridge to have students call out these differences while I
record them on the whiteboard.
 Next, I will play a three-minute music video about climate, weather, and CO2 emissions
(found at link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87P0G_9aK2c).

Screenshot of the music video found on YouTube.

Instructional Strategies

PowerPoint Presentation (12 minutes):

 After the video, I will turn the student’s attention back on the PowerPoint presentation
through the use of a verbal cue, such as “Eyes on me now” or “Now everyone, focus on
me.”
 The slides of the PowerPoint presentation take the students through what a greenhouse
gas is, the main sources of greenhouse gases (with a focus on CO2), a chart visually
displaying the increase in CO2 levels, and an introduction into extreme weather events.
 Scan the room during the PowerPoint for students with questions or for those who want
to add to the discussion. I ask for thumbs up or down for comprehension.

Confidence Boost and Stretch (2 minutes):

UNIT PLAN 19

 After the PowerPoint presentation, students may start to feel restless. Since the next
activity will be done on their laptops, a 2-minute stretch and confidence boost using the
Superhero Pose will help refresh their minds.
 Stand (or sit if confined in wheelchair) as straight as possible, breathe in deep breaths,
close eyes if desired, and put hands on hips to boost confidence.

Carbon Footprint Activity (13 minutes)

 Students are directed to the website with the carbon footprint activity where they will
individually calculate their household’s carbon footprint.
 Students must record their data (members of their household, amount of CO2 produced by
their household in tons and kilograms) in their science journals. The carbon footprint
investigation sheet helps students keep track of their data.
 Students must provide a solution to the guiding question regarding how they can reduce
their carbon footprint/CO2 emissions based off of this data.

Open discussion (2 minutes):

 Rally Robin with a partner (should be two pairs at each table/grouping) for 60 seconds
to discuss their findings. Each student in a pair will have 30 seconds to discuss their
individual findings. Use online stopwatch on smartboard for this.
 I will take a minute to ask the class their thoughts on the activity.

Guided Practice and Independent Tasks

Guided Practice (3 minutes):

 The information covered on the PowerPoint will help students understand the purpose of
this activity.
 I will show the students by using the smartboard the carbon footprint website (provided
on the last slide of the PowerPoint).
 Before students begin their individual carbon footprint analyses, I will demonstrate how
to use the website and how to read the results as well as provide directions to the task.

Independent Tasks:

 Students will be shown a comic during the PowerPoint presentation where they will need
to define its meaning in their science journals. This is an activity that students on every
reading and comprehension level can accomplish as it is subjective to the student and will
act as a self-assessment on their personal understanding of the comic depicting a complex
idea in a simple form. This task will take approximately two-to-three-minutes for
students to complete and the online timer will assist in helping the students keep track of
their time.
 Students will work independently on their laptops after the PowerPoint presentation on
calculating their families carbon footprint. This will be recorded in their science journals
as data and they are instructed to provide solutions to lowering their own carbon footprint
UNIT PLAN 20

in their science journals to meet the third objective: what can you do to lower your carbon
footprint?

Summary/Closure (3 minutes):

 I remind students we are approaching the last few minutes of class with verbal cues.
 Students are given an exit ticket consisting of the lesson’s guiding questions where they
must answer in 1-2 concise sentences.
 Students must paste the exit ticket with their guiding questions and solutions into the last
page of this lesson’s entry in their science journals and then turn them in on the teacher’s
desk.

Adaptations:

 I provide closed captioning for the videos for students with hearing problems, and these
students will be seated up front near the teacher’s station so they can hear instructions
more clearly.
 Students with physical disabilities are seated near entrance/exit of classroom and have
access to move around with an open floor plan.
 Students with ADHD are given jobs to collect and return papers and assignments.
 Non-verbal gestures and cues are used for distracting students.
 There is no reading out loud in this lesson for the readers who are behind in grade-level; a
comic is provided instead of detailed text to summarize.
 A two-minute stretch is provided for the students who are more physically oriented. The
ADHD students will benefit from this as well.
 Students who like music will benefit from the music video on climate, weather, and CO2.

Assessment:

 The science journals are assessed at the end of the lesson for comprehension of the
subject, legibility and quality of data recorded, as well as observations and solutions to
problems. Students should use the mark received on their previous entry to develop more
comprehensible and detailed entries for this lesson. The science journals provide a good
look into how each student is understanding the topics by how well their vocabulary
descriptions are recorded and how organized their thoughts are when completing an
assignment or activity.
 This lesson students are given the carbon footprint investigation sheet to complete with
their carbon footprint activity. These sheets will be turned in to me at the end of class. I
will use these mainly to assess how well they followed directions and understood the
activity. For student feedback, I will provide them with a simple mark, such as an E, DV,
or NP, and will return them by the next class for their homework binders.

Extension Activities:
UNIT PLAN 21

 If some students finish their work on the carbon footprint activity before the other
students, they will have the opportunity to read an article on how CO2 levels may be
increasing the Earth’s extreme weather patterns (found at the link
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-co2-dangerous-weather-extremes-global.html).

Review/Reinforcement (Homework):

 Students will be sent home with a paper copy of their homework instructions. This
includes a link to a YouTube video which helps further emphasize climate and weather
differences and characteristics on what they previously learned in the last lesson, and a
link to a short article by the NOAA on the same subject.
 Students must review the materials on the homework sheet and write a 300-word essay
containing two facts, due by next class.

Bellringer:

Bellringer
Name: ________________________ Class: ____________ Date: __________

1. What does this diagram depict? (circle)

a. Atmospheric pressure
b. Humidity
c. Air mass
d. Precipitation
e. All of the above

2. Use five words to describe characteristics of weather:

1.____________________
2.____________________
3.____________________
4.____________________
5.____________________

3. Use five words to describe characteristics of a climate:

1.____________________
2.____________________
3.____________________
UNIT PLAN 22

4.____________________
5.____________________

PowerPoint Presentation:
UNIT PLAN 23
UNIT PLAN 24
UNIT PLAN 25
UNIT PLAN 26

Homework handout:

Homework for 8th Grade ESS Mrs. Simmens

Due next class [date]

VIEW
Watch YouTube video on the difference between weather and climate:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VHgyOa70Q7Y

READ
Read the article from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and use this to support your essay:
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/weather_climate.html

INSTRUCTIONS
Write a 300-word essay on the key differences between weather and
climate. Include at least two facts from the sources. Be sure to properly cite
your sources.
UNIT PLAN 27

Exit Ticket for Science Journals:

Lesson 3
UNIT PLAN 28

Course Title: Earth/Space Science Unit Title: Weather and Climate

Grade Level: 8th Grade Time Required: 65 minutes

Lesson Title: Catastrophic Weather Events

Context for Learning: How does this lesson relate to the overall unit? What is the purpose of
the lesson? What prior knowledge do students need to have to successfully complete the lesson?

Standards Addressed:

MS-ESS3-2
Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform
the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

RST.6-8.7
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that
information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

Objectives:

Students will define extreme and catastrophic weather phenomena correlating with climate
change (DOK-2, Bloom’s Taxonomy- Understand). [Observable Objective]

Students will create a concept map depicting climate change and how it correlates with extreme
weather (DOK-4, Bloom’s Taxonomy- Creating). [Measurable Objective]

Materials:

 Site for concept mapping: https://www.mindmup.com/

 Science Journals
 Laptops
 Internet connection
 PowerPoint Presentation
 Quiz
 Bill Nye video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtW2rrLHs08
● Online stopwatch: https://www.online-stopwatch.com/countdown/
● Sticky notes

Proactive Behavior Management:

 I will use proximity control to discourage off task behavior during the concept mapping
activity as students will be working with laptops.
UNIT PLAN 29

 Nonverbal cues and signals will be used between myself and my students for simple
questions as to not interrupt the class. Nonverbal cues and signals will also be used when
handling distracting or difficult students.
 All students will be in the same seating arrangements as the beginning of the unit, but as
stated earlier, these seating arrangements change every unit to avoid any formation of
cliques.
 Students with learning disabilities will be spread out throughout the classroom and not
grouped together or in similar seating arrangements as to encourage the students with
learning disabilities to participate and increase their focus on learning.
 Classroom rules are posted on the wall.
 Objectives are written on the whiteboard.

Provisions for Student Learning:

 Students will be using their laptops for this lesson which will help with creativity during
the process of making concept maps.
 Students are also paired up in this activity which provides benefits to the students such as
more time for communicating scientific thinking, learning from each other, greater
responsibility on each student to create a comprehensive piece, and also assists in
students who may have difficulties in reading and shyness (TESS-India, n.d.).

Procedures

Warm Up/Opening (5 minutes):

 Students are greeted at the threshold of the class as usual and given the Bellringer for the
lesson and told to retrieve their science journals and their laptops.
 Students retrieved their science journals and laptops then continue to finish their
Bellringer at their desks/student pods.

Motivator/Bridge (12 minutes):

 The lesson begins with a class discussion. We briefly orally and while using the
whiteboard review what we learned about in the last lesson of the unit. I tell the class the
today we are working on a concept map in small groups connecting climate change and
extreme weather events.
 I switch to the PowerPoint slide with the lesson’s guiding question and vocabulary terms
for the students to write in their science journals.
 I will ask the class to list off some severe or catastrophic weather phenomena that they
either lived through or learned about through the news in their lifetimes. I will record
each student’s suggestion on the whiteboard. This will help for when students pair up to
create their concept maps later.
 I then let students watch a four-minute long video with Bill Nye on National Geographic
on climate change (found at the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtW2rrLHs08)
UNIT PLAN 30

which summarizes what we have learned about in the first two lessons of this unit and
connects it with the severe weather phenomena and inspires student creativity.

Instructional Strategies

Guided Practice (25 minutes):

 I will encourage discussion in the whole classroom to integrate the knowledge we have so
far about the weather, climate patterns, greenhouse gases, and human causes of elevated
CO2 levels to brainstorm the connections between these phenomena and concepts and
severe weather patterns.
 Connect ideas on the whiteboard. Encourage whole classroom discussion by calling on
students who have not participated yet and ask for their thoughts.
 The video with Bill Nye ties this unit up nicely in four-minutes and students get a recap
of what they learned about in this lesson as well as the two prior lessons and how this
affects catastrophic weather events. Discussion on the video is encouraged for about two-
minutes after the video.
 Students pair up (there should be two pairs at a table/student pod arrangement) and work
together on one laptop using the website (https://www.mindmup.com/) to create a
concept map. In order for students to accomplish this, they will have to look at their
science journals for vocabulary and the solutions, questions, and problems discussed in
this unit thus far. The online stopwatch will help students keep track of their time while
doing this task.
 Students project their completed concept maps on the smartboard after completion. Each
group member will be able to answer any questions I will have, or their classmates will
have for them.

Independent Tasks (20 minutes):

 After students have finished their concept maps and offered the class an explanation for
their reasoning, they will have a quiz to complete that summarizes the whole unit
consisting of 12 questions.
 Students will fill out an exit tweet slip after their quizzes before leaving the classroom to
provoke more thought into what they learned and what they still want to know about the
topic.

Summary/Closure (3 minutes):
 Ask the class if there are any questions.
 Collect quizzes and hand out the exit tweet slip.
 Students will complete the exit tweet slips and return science journals and laptops.

Adaptations:
 For students with attention difficulties, I will ensure the doors are closed and these
students are seated away from doors and windows for the quiz. I will also have students
UNIT PLAN 31

seated at their desks so that if there are multiple students with attention problems, they
are spread out and not all at the same table.
 Videos must have closed captioning for students hard of hearing. These students will be
seated by the teacher’s station to better hear instruction and lecture.
 Nonverbal gestures and cues will help distracting students stay on task.

Assessment:

 Collect science journals at the end of the lesson and examine how students met the
criteria as defined in the rubric for this lesson and mark it to provide feedback to students
how they can create more scientifically oriented notes for the next lesson in the next unit.
 I continue to ask for thumbs up or down for comprehension throughout the lesson and
looking for nonverbal cues a student may not be understanding.

Extension Activities:

 If students finish their quizzes or concept maps early, they will be told to examine their
journal entries for accuracy and thoroughness.

Review/Reinforcement (Homework):

 There will be no homework for this lesson as it ends in a quiz.

UNIT PLAN 32

Bellringer:
Bellringer
Name: ________________________________ Class: ______________ Date: _______________

1. CO2 is:
a. Carbon monoxide
b. Water
c. Hydrogen
d. Carbon dioxide

2. Name three major anthropological factors contributing the rising atmospheric CO 2

levels.
_____________________________________________________________________.

3. Please right 2-3 sentences on how you can lower your CO2 emissions, thus reducing your
carbon footprint?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
UNIT PLAN 33

PowerPoint Presentation:
UNIT PLAN 34

Exit ticket:
UNIT PLAN 35

Science Journal Rubric:

Summative Assessment
Unit: Weather and Climate
Name: ________________________ Class: ______________ Date: ____________
Quiz

1. What are some factors that affect the weather?

a. Air pressure, moon phases, humidity, wind speed and direction
b. Wind speed and direction, humidity, and air pressure, temperature
c. Humidity, air pressure, bird migration, wind speed and direction
d. Wind speed and direction, high tide, air pressure, humidity

2. Circle the correct word to complete the sentence:

Weather is (long-term/short-term) whereas climate is (long-term/short-term).

3. Label which air pressure model is HIGH or LOW:

UNIT PLAN 36

4. Weather or Climate? (W or C)
a. It gets rainy in May. ____
b. Summer is hot where I live. ____
c. England is usually cool and rainy. ____
d. The hottest day recorded in Maryland was 109 F on 7/10/1936 ____
e. Oymyakon is the coldest town in Russia, and arguably, the world. ____
f. It is supposed to rain tonight. ____
g. It’s warm in Mexico. ____
h. It tends to be windier by the shore. ____
i. Texas is warmer than Maine. ____
j. The Southern Planes in the US is nicknamed “Tornado Alley” for
frequent storms and tornadoes. ____

5. Explain the greenhouse effect in 1-2 sentences.

______________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

6. Out of these four greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
and fluorinated gases, which is the most abundant in the atmosphere? Why is
this the case? Please write your answer:
______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________.

7. Which of the four greenhouse gases listed above is more potent than any of the
others, and why? Please write your answer:
______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________.
UNIT PLAN 37

8. The four main greenhouse gases (GHGs) consist of the following:

a. Methane, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide
b. Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrogen
c. Nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen, methane
d. Methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, water vapor

9. Humidity is:
a. A cloud that touches Earth’s surface
b. The study of clouds
c. The amount of water vapor in the air
d. The amount of moisture in the ground

10. What is an example of precipitation?

a. Snowfall
b. Rain
c. Hail
d. All of the above

11. Explain what this diagram is representing:

____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________.

12. What is most likely to occur during a warm

front?
a. Light rain or snow
b. Snowstorm
c. Tornado
d. Anticyclone

Answer key:
1) B
2) Weather is short-term whereas climate is long-term.
UNIT PLAN 38

3)
4) W, C, C, W, C, W, C, C, C, C
5) As solar radiation enters into the Earth’s atmosphere, some of the sun’s energy
escapes back into space, while some becomes trapped in the Earth’s
atmosphere, warming the Earth’s surface.
6) Carbon dioxide; because of increased human activities like burning fossil fuels.
7) Methane; because methane has a higher heat trapping ability than carbon
dioxide or other greenhouse gases.
8) D
9) C
10)D
11)The diagram is representing air masses as well as cold and warm fronts.
12)A
UNIT PLAN 39

References

BCPS (2019). NGSS grade 8 science course overview. Office of Science. Retrieved from
(https://dci.bcps.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_9046958/File/Science/NGSS_Grade_8_Co
urse_Description_1_5_1%20(2).pdf)

CMMAP, (n.d.). What’s the difference between weather and climate? Retrieved from
https://www.lsop.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/12/WeatherClimate.pdf

Enchanted Learning, (n.d.). The water cycle. Retrieved from

https://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Watercycle.shtml

Gonzales, J., (2018). Deeper class discussions with the TQE method. Cult of Pedagogy.
Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/tqe-method/

Lock, R. H., & Babkie, A. M. (2006). Be Proactive in Managing Classroom

Behavior. Intervention in School and Clinic, 41(3), 184–
187. https://doi.org/10.1177/10534512060410031001

Motivation Theories, (n.d.). Retrieved from:

https://regi.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/tamop412A/2011-
0023_Psychology/030300.scorml

National Geographic, (n.d.). Climate and weather. Retrieved from

https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/00000144-0a2c-d3cb-a96c-7b2d3e210000

TESS-India, (n.d.). 3 advantages of pair work. Teacher Education through School-based Support.
Retrieved from https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?
id=64789&section=6

Wyman, K., (n.d.). Why you should teach students about the Multiple Intelligence theory.
Resilient Educator. Retrieved from https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-
resources/multiple-intelligences-theory/