FRAME THE LESSON
CLASS: 2nd Social Studies
DATE 2/8-2/12
Weather and Climate
Student Expectations Bundled in Lesson
Noun=Underline
Verb=Italicize
Resources/Materials:
We Explore People
and Places
(p. 102-107)
6C: examine information from various sources about places and regions
7A: describe how weather patterns and seasonal patterns affect activities and settlement patterns
7B: describe how natural resources and natural hazards affect activities and settlement patterns
Objective/Key Understanding:
 Describe weather conditions.
 Explain how weather and climate affect where and how
people, plants, and animals live.
 Understand the effects of sudden weather changes.
 Recognize that areas can be divided into regions with
unifying characteristics, such as climate and
environment.
Introduce Vocabulary Activity
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weather
temperature
climate
region
Informal Assessment Questions 1-8 Got It? p. (p. 112-115)
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Circle clues in the photo that tell what the weather is like. Write one word to describe the weather.
Underline how wet weather helps frogs.
Outline Texas’s climate regions on the map. Circle your climate on the legend.
Underline two dangerous storms.
How does weather affect you?
What is the weather in your region today?
What does a climate region map show you?
Small Group Purposeful Talk Question Stems (ESL) (p. 113)
Share with children a personal weather experience using weather words to
describe what happened. Explain to children that their own experiences
with weather can help them understand what they learn about weather and
climate.
Beginning
 Write and ask children simple questions about weather to help them
connect their own experiences to the topic. For example: What is
the weather like today? What kind of weather do you like? What is
the weather like in a place you have visited?
Intermediate
 Write and read aloud weather questions that will connect children’s
experiences to weather vocabulary. For example: how do you dress
for cold weather? How do you dress for hot weather? What was the
windiest (coldest, hottest, rainiest) day like that you remember?
Advanced
 Have children work with a partner to answer the question: How is
weather important in your life? Invite pairs to share their responses.
Advanced High:
 Have children recall their own experiences with weather. Have
them write two or three sentences about a weather experience they
clearly remember. Invite them to share their sentences with the
class.
Small Group Purposeful Talk Question Stems (Differentiated
Instruction) (p. 114)
Use the following ideas to differentiate instruction for children when
discussing different climate regions.
Special Needs
 Ask children what the weather is like outside right now. Explain
that climate is the weather in one place over a long time. What is
the weather like during this time of year in the place where you
live? What is it like during other times of year?
Extra Support
 Remind children what the word climate means, and ask them to
describe all the weather that they have seen in their community at
different times of the year.
On-Level
 Have pairs find their state on the United States Climate Regions
map. Ask them if the legend is accurate all year long for their
community. If not, tell them to describe the climate in their
community throughout the year. Together, create class graph that
shows the variance in climate throughout the year in your
community.
Challenge/Gifted
 Have children make a list of all of the states that have the same
climate as their own community and research activities that
people do in this climate.
Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
Introduce the Key Idea & Vocabulary (p. 112)
 Read to the class the Key Idea: “I will know how different kinds of weather affect people, animals, and plants.” Tell students in this
lesson they will be learning about this quote and what it means to American History.
 Go online to access the Lesson Introduction and discuss the Big Question and lesson objective (p. 112).
Remind students they will know how different kinds of weather affect people, animals, and plants. Introduce topics students will learn about
in this lesson
 Wet and Dry Weather (p. 112)
 Weather and Nature (p. 113)
 Climate Regions (p. 114)
 Weather Changes (p.115)
Remind students they will know how different kinds of weather affect people, animals, and plants.
Wet and Dry Weather (p. 112)
 Weather can also be wet or dry. Wet days are cloudy, with rain or snow. On dry days, there is no rain or snow.
Weather and Nature (p. 113)
 Animals and plants live and grow in different places. Polar bears are animals that live only where the weather is cold. Moss is a
plant that grows in places where the weather is wet.
Climate Regions (p. 114)
 The weather a place has over a long time is called its climate. Climate patterns affect the way people live.
Weather Changes (p.115)
 Weather changes every day. Sudden weather changes can be dangerous. A lot of rain can cause a flood.
Wet and Dry Weather (p. 112)
 How does wet weather affect what activities people do?
 What kinds of weather occur on Earth?
Weather and Nature (p. 113)
 What kind of animals do you think live in a hot and dry place?
 Could moss grow in a desert? Why or why not?
 What was the weather like last where you live? How is the weather the same or different this week? How would you describe the
temperature?
Climate Regions (p. 114)
 What clothes might people who live in a hot and dry climate wear?
 How are climate and weather different?
 Which climate is the most common in the United States?
 Identify at least one map element you see on the United States Regions map that also appears on political and physical maps.
Weather Changes (p.115)
Students will demonstrate mastery by completing the Got It Questions:
(See these questions listed above in the Informal Assessment portion of frame).