1st Grade Weather Unit

1^st Grade Weather Unit Blueprint

Lesson 1: Sharing What We Know About Weather

Pacing Suggestions:

Lesson to be taught at the beginning of the school year.

See Unit Calendar for details.

Teacher Resources:

Tips

Essential & Unit Questions* ¹

Benchmarks ²

Formative and Summative Assessments ³

Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning

Why is it important to keep accurate records or notes about things that are observed?

1B(K-2)#3: Describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their observations with those of others.

What Is the Weather Like Today chart

Note: To address the benchmark, the teacher needs to emphasize the importance of accurate descriptions.

Do students identify basic weather features when describing the weather (precipitation, cloud cover...)?
Are students' observations detailed and accurate? Do students understand why this is important?

(Students' observations of the weather should improve over time.)

12B(K-2)#1: Use whole numbers and simple, everyday fractions in ordering, counting, identifying, measuring, and describing things and experiences.

Our Favorite Weather graph and class discussion of number of students favoring each type of weather (See pages 15 & 16 in Teacher's Guide.)

Can students determine favorite types of weather from the class graph?
Are students able to express numerically how many students prefer each type of weather?

How does the weather change from day to day? How does the weather change from month to month?

How does the weather change from year to year?

4B(K-2)#1: Some events in nature have a repeating pattern. The weather changes some from day to day, but things such as temperature and rain (or snow) tend to be high, low, or medium in the same months every year.

How Do You Decide What to Wear to School Each Day? class chart and discussion of the following question: What kinds of clothing do you wear for different types of weather? (See Final Activities, Step 2 on page 16 in Teacher's Guide.)

Class discussion of categories on Our Favorite Weather graph

How Do You Decide What to Wear chart & Our Favorite Weather Graph

Do students' comments reflect their awareness that weather changes day to day?
Do students' comments reflect an understanding that temperature can be grouped into high (hot), medium (warm), and low (cold)?

* Essential/Unit questions are major questions driving the unit. They are directly aligned with the benchmarks. No single lesson addresses each question in its entirety. By the end of the unit, students should be able to answer these core questions.

1. For conceptual benchmarks.
2. Bolded sections indicate portion of benchmark addressed
3. Unless noted as a Summative Assessment, the assessments are formative and should be used to guide teaching and learning.

1st Grade Weather Unit Blueprint

1^st Grade Weather Unit Blueprint