Kathy Osborn
December 1, 2012
Topic: First grade science unit: Weather
Sessions: Four 45 minutes technology lab meetings
Weather, Weather Everywhere
1. Standards Addressed:
Massachusetts State Science Standards

Describe the weather changes from day to day and over the seasons.

Identify some events around us that have repeating patterns, including the seasons of the
year, day and night.
Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards
 K-2: 1.9 Explain that the Internet links computers around the world, allowing people to
access information and communicate.

K-2: 2.2 Explain the importance of giving credit to media creators when using their work
in student projects.

K-2: 2.6 Follow the school rules for safe and ethical Internet use. (Use of Internet in this
grade span is determined by district policy.)

K-2: 3.1 Use various age-appropriate technologies to locate, collect, and organize
information.
2. SMART Objectives:

Students will research weather in two different areas of the United States.

Students will compare and contrast temperature, wind speed, and precipitation.

Students will illustrate how to dress for each type of weather.

Students will record appropriate outdoor activities for each type of weather.

Students will present their findings to the class.
3. Tasks

Students will complete a compilation task and an analytical task.

Students will work in groups of two to research information from various websites and
answer questions on a worksheet.

Students will work in groups of two to make decisions about weather and how weather
affects choices. They will describe similarities and differences in geographic areas.
They will describe what season it is and how they know that.
4. Groups

I will use classroom teacher input to create heterogeneous groups of two students. I will
put a high level reader with a lower level reader.

I will make the higher level reader Student #1 and the lower level reader will be Student
#2. The questions will be numbered according to their reading level.

I will instruct the students as to who is #1 and #2. Student #1 will read questions that
begin with a 1 and Student #2 will read questions that begin with a 2.

The student that is not reading will be the recorder and will write down the answer on the
worksheet.

They will work together with the on line reading of the websites. They will be
researching different areas of weather – temperature, wind speed, or precipitation. They
will watch videos and take quizzes to help them with understanding. They will decide
which area they would like to be an expert in.

I will then switch up the groups for the drawing and writing section of the webquest. I will
put them in groups of three. There will be an expert in each area of weather in each
group. The roles for this group are: Drawer, Writer and Editor.

I will be walking around to be sure that each group member is doing his or her share.
5. Product
Students will create a comparison of two Unites States cities. They will each do a drawing in
KidPix and present it to the class. The drawing will be what children would wear in this city at this
time of year. Students will also type a short paragraph in KidPix describing a few outdoor
activities that could be done in the city at this time of year. The groups will take turns going up to
the ENO board and presenting their presentation.
Before this I will present the groups with pictures of the four seasons and pictures of activities
appropriate for these seasons. We will discuss what kind of activities go with each season. I will
make sure the kids understand the seasons and how temperature, wind speed, or precipitation
plays a part in each season.
6. Previously Created Website: This webquest teaches students to analyze and understand
American Symbols and what they stand for.
Learning the Content: Students will be assigned two cities to research. I will assign two different
climate zones during the same season, two different climate zones during different seasons, two
of the same climate zone in the same season and two of the same climate zone in different
seasons. I will also assign two areas and compare them to Westford. They will record
temperature, wind speed and precipitation statistics. They will watch two movies and take two
quizzes on Brain Pop Jr. to remind them of the facts of weather that they have previously learned
in their classroom.
Application: Students will apply their knowledge of weather to decide what clothing should be
worn and what outdoor activities are appropriate for this city at this time of year.
Compare/Contrast, Analyze, Reflect: Students will compare and contrast their two cities they
have researched. They will discuss the difference in clothing and activities within their two cities.
They will analyze the data and explain why they made their choices for clothing and activities.
After each group makes their presentation, we will discuss how they came to their choices as a
whole class.
7. Outline
Session 1:
i. Teacher will discuss the internet and how it works. We will discuss the proper use of
the internet in school. We will discuss giving credit to authors and creators and not
taking their work without citing references.
ii. Teacher will assign two students to a group and assign two different cities to
research.
iii. Students will be assigned a computer and will begin the online fun weather activities
to refresh their previous weather knowledge. Class will discuss weather facts –
temperature, wind speed, and precipitation. This will activate their prior knowledge of
weather.
iv. Students will begin the data gathering portion of this webquest. Students will take
turns reading the questions and answering them. Questions are designed to be the
correct skill level for each student. Both students will do the research together. One
student will read the question and the other will write down the answer.
Session 2:
i. Students will be put into different groups that consist of an expert in temperature, wind
speed, and precipitation to brainstorm and decide what clothes will be appropriate for
these cities at this time. Groups will each do a drawing in KidPix to show their choice.
ii. Students will brainstorm and decide what outdoor activities will be appropriate for this
city at this time. Groups will each type a short paragraph to show their choice.
Session 3:
i. Students will present their picture and paragraph to the class.
ii. The entire class will discuss what criteria students used to make their decisions about
clothing and activities.
iii. I will make a class slide show of all the pictures and paragraphs to show what we
learned about weather at Parent’s Night.
Session 4:
i. We will be making a Living Weather Museum. Students will be asked to come in the
following day wearing dressed as if they live in that city for their favorite season.
ii. They will also be asked to bring an item or picture in of a favorite outdoor activity to do
in that city in this season. We will have classmates try to guess what season and
what activity they are portraying.