Nicole Amstutz

Lesson #1 (of 6)
Subject Matter Research #1
Topic: Introduction to Weather

Part One (Adult Explanation)

Weather and climate are two separate things. Weather is the minute-by minute changes in the

atmosphere, which is a layer of gas surrounding Earth. The atmosphere is not the same all over the planet and is

constantly changing, which changes the weather, due to changes in air temperature, humidity, winds speed and

direction. Climate, on the other hand, is what the weather is like over a long period of time in a specific area. It

can take hundreds of years before a place’s climate can change whereas the weather changes constantly. For

example, the weather in Grove City today is warm and sunny, but the climate in PA is cold and overcast. The

basic weather patterns are rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind, and cloud. Clouds form due to moisture in the air. The

amount of moisture determines which kind of cloud it will be and what form of precipitation, if any, it will

drop.

Rain occurs when water droplets in the sky merge with other droplets until they are too heavy to stay in

the cloud. Snow occurs the exact same way, except the water droplets freeze into ice crystals in the cloud then

merge. Sleet happens when ice crystals fall to earth, partly melt due to the warmer air, and then refreeze when

they go through colder air. Hail is formed when ice crystals get blown several times up into the cold

atmosphere. During each pass through the cold air, another layer of water on the ball of ice freezes, making the

ball larger and larger until if falls to the ground.

Part Two (Prior Knowledge)

 Prior Knowledge/Life Experience: Students will have seen and experienced everything that is talked

about today. They most likely have seen rain, snow, hail, and sleet, as well as understand that every day

the weather will be different. The students may also know a simple version of the water cycle and the

different types of clouds. My lesson will build off their prior knowledge and explain how changes in the

Earth’s atmosphere causes all these types of weather.

Part Three (Future Knowledge)

 Day Two: In my lesson, I briefly touch on how rain is formed. On this day, students will learn about the

water cycle and the exact process on how rain is formed.

 Day Three: Students already have learned what weather is. Now they will learn about the specific

changes that happen in the northern hemisphere during each season.

 Day Four: Now that students know the 6 basic forms of weather, they can learn about extreme weather

and how the 6 forms all combine to make dangerous weather patterns.

 Day Five: Now that students know what climate is, they will learn how it can fluctuate and change

depending on the geographical area.

 Day Six: In a conclusion lesson, students will learn about how meteorologists can predict the weather

and climate changes. They will learn why knowing how rain and sleet form will help them too predict

the weather.

Part Four (Resource List)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbAWny7FV3w
 https://www.dkfindout.com/us/earth/weather/what-causes-weather/
 https://www.ducksters.com/science/weather.php
 http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-temperature.htm
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XirAUvS_29I
 https://slideplayer.com/slide/9397316/
 Nicole Amstutz/Lesson #1 (of 6)/21 March 2019
I. Topic: An introduction to weather that focuses on the differences between weather and climate and the
forms of precipitation.
A. Vocabulary: weather, climate, atmosphere, rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind, and clouds

II. Objective(s):
A. Given an exit ticket, TSWBAT distinguish the characteristics of weather vs climate to a 9/10
proficiency.
B. During the simulation, TSWBAT verbally describe how each form of precipitation is formed to
an 10/13 proficiency.

III. Standard(s): PA Science and Technology – 3.3.3.A5 – Explain how air temperature, moisture, wind
speed and direction, and precipitation make up the weather in a particular place and time.

IV. Teaching Procedures:

A. Anticipatory Set (5 minutes): Walk into the classroom all bundled up in your warmest winter
gear. Tell the students that you were so confused this morning when you dressed because you
heard its ALWAYS cold in Mercer, but when you walked outside, it was pretty warm. Ask them
if they knew it was going to be warmer today? Once they respond, slap your forehead like you
made the biggest mistake and tell them you must have gotten weather and climate mixed up. Ask
the students if they know what the difference is between weather and climate. Listen to their
ideas to get a sense of their prior knowledge and then tell them that they will be learning what
the difference is as well as the basic forms of precipitation. Project the first slide, which says
“weather vs climate.”

B. Development (15 minutes): Hand out the guided notes. Students should follow along as you go
through the PowerPoint.

i. On the weather slide, make the analogy that weather is like constantly changing your
mind. The atmosphere is the outside influences (like friends, parents, wants, etc.) and
based on how these change, you may be constantly changing your mind on what to eat,
play with, etc. Provide a real-world example: one time I couldn’t decide what I wanted to
eat pizza or McDonalds. I went back and forth for ages, but then I realized that I’m
getting pizza at school the next day, so I went with McDonalds.

ii. Have students get up and tell three friends what weather is.

iii. The morning of, replace the hourly weather report with an up-to-date one. This visual
will show the students how weather changes constantly.

iv. On the atmosphere slide, point out that the atmosphere is the glow around the planet and
from this height, we can see the clouds moving as the weather changes

v. After the climate slide, have the students get up and tell 3 new friends what the definition
of climate is

vi. On the slide with 2 pictures, have the students differentiate between weather and climate
in both places (the 2nd picture is of the school, so have the students can look outside and
determine what the weather is and what the overall climate is) and then compare the two
places. Emphasize how the weather on a particular day is not always the climate.
 1. Students will do this with a partner then we will discuss answers as a class

2. Throughout these slides, emphasis the terms “usual weather patterns or conditions
in an area” in preparation for the exit ticket.

vii. On the temperature slide, go back to the pictures and ask the students to guess what the
temperature is. Tell them you will be going more in depth into temperature on a later day.

viii. On the clouds slide, ask the students if they know what the different types of clouds are.
If they don’t, then just briefly say there are 4 main types of clouds (point them out on the
picture as you talk about them): cirrus (thin because forms ice crystals), stratus (low
because forms water droplets), cumulus (fluffy because fair weather), and nimbus (dark
because they predict bad weather). This is just an introductory to precipitation, so the
students don’t have to take any notes.

ix. On each precipitation slide, guide the students through making the noise the precipitation
will make when it hits the ground with their bodies. Beforehand, give clear expectations
of what good behavior will look like (i.e. when I say hail, stomp your feet really hard
until I say stop. Then everyone should be sitting quietly with their eyes on me again). For
rain, they can lightly tap their feet. For hail, they should loudly stomp them. For wind,
they can blow out of their mouths. Ask the students to think of how they can make the
rest of the sounds.

x. During the speed round, students raise their hand as soon as they know the answer. The
first student who has their hand up is called on. However, give the students a second to
think about it before calling on that first person so all the students can participate, not just
the ones who are quick processors. It might be beneficial to read the question aloud, and
then count down from 3. On 1, then the students can raise their hands.

C. Guided Practice (15 minutes): Divide the students into 2 groups if they are not in them already.
Project the worksheet the students will be receiving on the board and introduce them to this fun
weather vs climate simulation, which will show the students that a climate is composed of many
different weather forms and precipitations. Explain the instructions by modeling what you expect
the students to do with your co-teachers.

i. Pick a name for your town. Give the students 1 minute to do this. Ask the students to
watch as you demonstrate.

ii. As a class, determine which each color bead will represent (rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind,
or sun)

iii. Pick one bead from the cup with your eyes closed. Tell your partners (in this model, your
co-teacher) how this form of precipitation is formed (students should try not to use their
notes but can if they are struggling to remember) and record it on their worksheet.

iv. Pass the cup around and continue this process until everyone has gone.

v. Empty the cup and record how many of each color bead you have. This means how many
days it snowed, rained, etc.
 vi. Identify the overall climate.

Ask for any questions or clarifications before handing out the worksheet and cups with bead. As
they work, circulate the room to informally check for understanding and prompt any student who
may need help. Once both groups finish, bring everyone back together and discuss their results.
Did one group have a climate that was more rainy or snowy? Can they think of a place in the
world that has this climate? Students who finish early can draw a picture of their town at the
bottom. The students can keep these papers.
The teacher should be around the groups at all times to listen for their answers and to keep
student behavior in check. When everyone is finished, get the students attention by doing the
class’ silent gesture (ex. 123 eyes on me). If they changed seats, have them return to their
original seats and pick a student that was exceptionally well to pass out the exit tickets.

D. Independent Practice (5 minutes): Students will complete the 10 question exit ticket without
using their notes. Right before, quickly ask the students what the major difference is between
weather and climate. As they work, circulate the room to see if they understood the lesson. Once
the students are done, they can flip over the papers and write things they would like to learn
about weather. Once all the students are finish, then the papers can be collected.

E. Closure (5 minutes): Propose the questions: how does the air temperature, moisture, wind speed
and direction, and precipitation make up the weather outside Victory Elementary? So first, ask
what the weather is outside. Then have the students give observations on how all these factors
play into the weather. Finish by saying that tomorrow, they will be learning about the water cycle
and how the precipitation outside forms.

V. Materials:

 Warm/winter clothes
 PowerPoint Presentation.
 PowerPoint guided notes
 Simulation worksheet
 Dixie cups
 Multicolor beads
 Exit ticket

VI. Adaptations/Plan Modifications: For students who need extra time completing the exit ticket, they can
continue working on it during the closure or if the co-op teacher allows it, they can keep it to finish
during their free time and hand it in the next day. For students who need the exit ticket read to them, me
or one of the assistant teachers can bring the student(s) to the corner of the room and silently read the
questions to them. For the student with a high frustration level, me or one of the assistant teachers can be
close be at all times during the guided and independent practice so that when he does start to get
frustrated, we can work them through it and scaffold them towards finding the right answer.

VII. Evaluation:

A. Formative: Students will be observed working in their small group. The teacher is looking for if
the student can explain how each form of weather is caused. Students will also complete an exit
ticket that will not be formally graded. This is only to see if the students can apply the definitions
of the weather and climate appropriately.
 B. Summative: There will be no summative assessment.

VIII. Reflection

A. Write as assessment of the students’ performance and mastery in terms of each stated
objective. List each objective’s evaluation separately

Given an exit ticket, TSWBAT distinguish the characteristics of weather vs climate

to a 9/10 proficiency.
Due to time constraints, I was not able to get to the exit ticket. However, I did hand it to
Mrs. Russell and she said the students will complete it later in the day and then give it to
me tomorrow, Wednesday, 3 April 2019.

During the simulation, TSWBAT verbally describe how each form of precipitation
is formed to an 10/13 proficiency.
While I walked around to each group, I observed most of the students telling their group
members the right answer (i.e. how the precipitation they picked is formed). If they did
not know, I gave them a hint and then they were able to get it (i.e. the student did not
remember how sleet is formed, but when I hinted that it’s the medium between rain and
snow, they remembered). Overall, the students met this objective.

B. Write a self-evaluation including explanation for success or lack of it. Discuss: What
changes might have produced better results and could be used in subsequent lessons?

I am not super happy with how the lesson went, but now I know how to adapt my
teaching and behavior management style for next time. The biggest issue I had was time.
Having not worked with this age group in a long time, I forgot how energetic they can be
while also slower to do tasks I thought would only take a minute or two. I think if I chose
a quicker guided practice or did part of it with the class (as a group), we could have
gotten to the exit ticket. However, the students did learn and retain almost all of the
material I taught, and I think that is because I decided to spend more time on it when I
saw that the students would not benefit from me speeding through the material. Now that
I have a better sense on how the students think and act, I can adapt and plan my second
lesson accordingly so I can get through the whole lesson.

Another issue I had was classroom management. The students often called out without
raising their hands or got off topic with stories. I think this is because in the beginning, I
didn’t specify that they needed to raise their hands to speak. When I realized the calling
out was getting out of hand, then I asked them to do it. However, they were then used to
calling out the answers. Also, the students liked to get off topic, like calling out animals
they saw in the clouds picture. I think I also could have prevented this if I specifically
went over raising their hands before the lesson started. Next time, I really have to
emphasize this to the students so that we can get through the lesson more efficently.

C. Explain what specific changes were implemented from your professor’s suggestions prior
to teaching and the results (if suggestions were not taken, explain your rationale).

The changes I implemented from my professor’s suggestions was in my objective,

anticipatory set, and development. In my objective, I adapted it so that the fraction of
proficiency was clearer and easier to obtain. In my anticipatory set, I added a section
where I ask the students questions to determine their prior knowledge and then where I
 told them what they would be learning today. Finally, in my development, I added
notations to specifically state expectations to the students before a movement or action is
to be completed. For example, specifically stating how I want them to make rain noises
and what behavior is appropriate and not before they do it. All three of these changes
helped me better manage the classroom and assess student understanding. Asking them
what they knew gave me a background on how little they knew about weather and
climate. Also, setting clear expectations helped me manage the classroom while it was
loud, and students were not really focused on me.

D. Explain what specific changes were implemented from your cooperating teacher’s
suggestions and the results (if suggestions were not taken, explain your rationale).

My cooperating teacher did not give me any suggestions, but during the lesson, she gave
me buzzards for the students during the speed round. This provided a more game-like
atmosphere, which I think the students had more fun with than just trying to raise their
hand as fast as they can.