6th Earth Science
TAG (Rosser) Lesson Plan
Unit: Weather and Climate
Stage 1: Desired Results
Standards Assessed/Learning Goals
Science (GPS), Grade 6, Earth Science
S6E3. Students will recognize the significant role of water in earth processes.
b. Relate various atmospheric conditions to stages of the water cycle.
S6E4. Students will understand how the distribution of land and oceans affects climate and
weather.
a. Demonstrate that land and water absorb and lose heat at different rates and explain the
resulting effects on weather patterns.
b. Relate unequal heating of land and water surfaces to form large global wind systems and
weather events such as tornados and thunderstorms.
c. Relate how moisture evaporating from the oceans affects the weather patterns and weather
events such as hurricanes.
S6E6. Students will describe various sources of energy and with their uses and conservation.
a. Explain the role of the sun as the major source of energy and its relationship to wind and
water energy.
b. Identify renewable and nonrenewable resources.
Enduring Understandings Essential Questions
• The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere plays an important role in determining
climatic patterns.
• Clouds are formed when condensation forms in the atmosphere.
• The atmosphere is a thin layer of air that forms a protective covering around the earth.
• Heat can be transferred through matter by conduction, convection, and/or radiation.
• Energy from the Sun (and the wind and water derived from it) is available indefinitely, for all
practical purposes.
• Incoming solar radiation heat Earth’s surface and atmosphere unequally due to variations in:
1) angle;
2) characteristics of the surface of materials absorbing the energy; and 3) duration which varies
with seasons and latitude.
• Movement of air between the equator and the poles produce global winds
• Winds are caused by unequal heating of the atmosphere by the Sun.
• Density differences are the basis for cloud formation and the formation of atmospheric storms.
• Moisture evaporating from the ocean affects the weather patterns and weather events.
• What is the difference between weather and climate?
• What determines the seasons?
• Describe the layers of the atmosphere and their importance to daily life.
• What is atmosphere and how does it affect us?
• Why is the air at the top of a mountain hard to breathe?
• How does the Sun transfer energy to Earth?
• Why are there clouds in the sky?
• How can the Sun continue to heat the atmosphere at night?
• What are some renewable sources of energy?
• How does the unequal heating of Earth’s surface cause winds?
• Explain the causes of local wind patterns.
• Why does weather occur?
• What are the four types of fronts?
• What weather conditions are most likely to cause thunderstorms and tornadoes?
• Why do hurricanes have a season? Why don’t we worry about hurricanes in December?
• What are the four major types of air masses that affect the weather in North America?
•How does the tilt of the Earth affect seasons and Earth's climate?
•How does an ocean affect the weather and climate of adjacent land?
•How does the sun's heating of water in the tropics affect climate in the rest of the world?
•What happens to water after it evaporates from the oceans and land?
•How does the sun's energy cause winds and hurricanes?
Knowledge Skills
Students will know …
• Key terms related to climate.
• Factors affecting climate.
• How the distribution of sunlight is related to the angle at which light hits the earth and latitude.
• How the distribution of sunlight is related to climate.
• How the tilt of the Earth and revolution create seasons of the year.
• The water cycle links all of the Earth’s solid, liquid, and gaseous water together.
• Clouds are classified according to shape and height.
• Precipitation type is determined by atmospheric temperature.
• Weather is the condition of the atmosphere in a certain place at a certain time; the general
characteristics of weather during a certain period in a particular area are called the climate of
the area.
• Weather is caused by the heating of Earth’s air and water, which receives energy from the
Sun, which then heats the air above it.
• Conduction is the transfer of heat through matter and occurs at Earth’s surface as heated land
masses transfer heat to the surrounding air.
• Heat gained by the atmosphere from radiation or conduction is transferred by convection
currents, which are caused by the unequal heating of the atmosphere by different materials,
which heat at different rates.
• The Sun’s energy creates wind in Earth’s atmosphere, which can be harnessed and used to
produce power.
• A weather system is an area in the lower atmosphere where the air is moving around a high or
low pressure system; the line where warm and cold air masses is called a front.
Students will know how to…
* Compare and contrast the different climate zones.
* Draw conclusions about the effect of Earth’s tilt on distribution of sunlight, climate and seasons
of the year.
* Describe the structure of the Earth’s atmosphere.
* Describe the movement of water through the water cycle.
*Illustrate the types of clouds.
* Explain the differences in the four types of precipitation.
* Describe what happens to the energy Earth receives from the Sun.
* Compare and contrast radiation, conduction, and convection.
* Illustrate Earth’s atmospheric layers.
*Provide examples of how the unequal heating of the Earth influences global wind systems.
*Draw a diagram to show how heat is transferred from Earth’s surface to the atmosphere.
*Explain how energy can be derived from wind and water and why they are classified as
renewable.
* Explain how transfer of energy contributes to global atmospheric processes, e.g. storms,
winds, etc.
*Explain what causes winds.
* Explain how tornadoes develop from thunderstorms.
* Describe how weather is associated with fronts and high and low-pressure areas.
* Explain what effect cold front has on weather.
• Winds are caused by differences in air pressure (the weight of air pressing on everything
around it), which are the result of unequal heating of Earth’s surface.
• Thunderstorms are caused by powerful up-and down movements of air.
• A tornado is a rapidly whirling, funnel-shaped cloud that reaches down from a storm cloud to
touch Earth’s surface.
• Hurricanes start as small thunderstorms over warm water.
Stage 2: Evidence of Learning
Diagnostic/Prior Knowledge
Assessment
Formative Assessments Summative Assessments
Pre-test
informal discussion
CRCT results
Ticket out the door
Think - Pair- Share
Thumbs Up - Down
Questioning
3-2-1 facts
illustrations
notebook check
discussions
Journal entries
mini-unit tests
quizzes
Post - Test
Projects
Stage 3: Learning Activities
Teaching for Meaning, Acquisition, &
Transfer
Higher Order Thinking Levels
Thinking Maps
Vocabulary activities
Concept Maps
Puzzles
Top 100 science vocabulary
Flash card game
Science Court (water cycle) (Seasons)
Water Cycle project
Compare and contrast the different climate
zones.
Flip-book on cloud types, fronts, and weather