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WEATHER
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WEATHER - K – 2nd Grade
EARTH & SPACE SCIENCES
Benchmark A. Observe constant and changing patterns of objects in the day and night sky.
Benchmark C. Observe, describe and measure changes in the weather, both long term and short term.
KINDERGARTEN
1. Observe that the sun can be seen only in the daytime, but the moon can be seen sometimes at night and sometimes during the day.
3. Explore that sometimes change is too fast to see and sometimes change is too slow to see.
4. Observe and describe day-to-day weather changes (e.g., today is hot, yesterday we had rain).
5. Observe and describe seasonal changes in weather.
2ND GRADE
4. Observe and describe that some weather changes occur throughout the day and some changes occur in a repeating seasonal pattern.
5. Describe weather by measurable quantities such as temperature and precipitation.
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Benchmark A. Ask a testable question.
Benchmark B. Design and conduct a simple investigation to explore a question.
Benchmark C. Gather and communicate information from careful observations and simple investigation through a variety of methods.
KINDERGARTEN
1. Ask "what if" questions.
2. Explore and pursue student-generated "what if" questions.
3. Use appropriate safety procedures when completing scientific investigations.
4. Use the five senses to make observations about the natural world.
7. Use appropriate tools and simple equipment/instruments to safely gather scientific data (e.g., magnifiers and other appropriate tools).
1ST GRADE
1. Ask "what happens when" questions.
2. Explore and pursue student-generated "what happens when" questions.
3. Use appropriate safety procedures when completing scientific investigations.
6. Use appropriate tools and simple equipment/instruments to safely gather scientific data (e.g., magnifiers, timers and simple balances and other appropriate tools).
7. Make estimates to compare familiar lengths, weights and time intervals.
8. Use oral, written and pictorial representation to communicate work.
9. Describe things as accurately as possible and compare with the observations of others.
2ND GRADE
1. Ask "how can I/we" questions.
2. Ask "how do you know" questions (not "why" questions) in appropriate situations and attempt to give reasonable answers when others ask questions.
3. Explore and pursue student-generated "how" questions.
4. Use appropriate safety procedures when completing scientific investigations.
5. Use evidence to develop explanations of scientific investigations. (What do you think? How do you know?)
6. Recognize that explanations are generated in response to observations, events and phenomena.
7. Use appropriate tools and simple equipment/instruments to safely gather scientific data (e.g., magnifiers, non-breakable thermometers, timers, rulers, balances and calculators and other appropriate tools).
8. Measure properties of objects using tools such as rulers, balances and thermometers.
9. Use whole numbers to order, count, identify, measure and describe things and experiences.
10. Share explanations with others to provide opportunities to ask questions, examine evidence and suggest alternative explanations.
To TopWEATHER - 3rd – 5th Grade
EARTH & SPACE SCIENCES
Benchmark D. Analyze weather and changes that occur over a period of time.
4TH GRADE
1. Explain that air surrounds us, takes up space, moves around us as wind, and may be measured using barometric pressure.
2. Identify how water exists in the air in different forms (e.g., in clouds, fog, rain, snow and hail).
3. Investigate how water changes from one state to another (e.g., freezing, melting, condensation and evaporation).
4. Describe weather by measurable quantities such as temperature, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation and barometric pressure.
5. Record local weather information on a calendar or map and describe changes over a period of time (e.g., barometric pressure, temperature, precipitation symbols and cloud conditions).
6. Trace how weather patterns generally move from west to east in the United States.
7. Describe the weather which accompanies cumulus, cumulonimbus, cirrus and stratus clouds.
8. Describe how wind, water and ice shape and reshape Earth's land surface by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas producing characteristic landforms (e.g., dunes, deltas and glacial moraines).
5TH GRADE
1. Describe how night and day are caused by Earth's rotation.
2. Explain that Earth is one of several planets to orbit the sun, and that the moon orbits Earth.
3. Describe the characteristics of Earth and its orbit about the sun (e.g., three-fourths of Earth's surface is covered by a layer of water [some of it frozen], the entire planet surrounded by a thin blanket of air, elliptical orbit, tilted axis and spherical planet).
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Benchmark A. Use appropriate instruments safely to observe, measure and collect data when conducting a scientific investigation.
Benchmark B. Organize and evaluate observations, measurements and other data to formulate inferences and conclusions.
Benchmark C. Develop, design and safely conduct scientific investigations and communicate the results.
3RD GRADE
2. Discuss observations and measurements made by other people.
3. Read and interpret simple tables and graphs produced by self/others.
6. Communicate scientific findings to others through a variety of methods (e.g., pictures, written, oral and recorded observations).
4TH GRADE
1. Select the appropriate tools and use relevant safety procedures to measure and record length, weight, volume, temperature and area in metric and English units.
2. Analyze a series of events and/or simple daily or seasonal cycles, describe the patterns and infer the next likely occurrence.
3. Develop, design and conduct safe, simple investigations or experiments to answer questions.
4. Explain the importance of keeping conditions the same in an experiment.
5. Describe how comparisons may not be fair when some conditions are not kept the same between experiments.
6. Formulate instructions and communicate data in a manner that allows others to understand and repeat an investigation or experiment.
5TH GRADE
1. Select and safely use the appropriate tools to collect data when conducting investigations and communicating findings to others (e.g., thermometers, timers, balances, spring scales, magnifiers, microscopes and other appropriate tools).
2. Evaluate observations and measurements made by other people and identify reasons for any discrepancies.
3. Use evidence and observations to explain and communicate the results of investigations.
To TopWEATHER - 6th – 8th Grade
EARTH & SPACE SCIENCES
Benchmark C. Describe interactions of matter and energy throughout the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere (e.g., water cycle, weather and pollution).
7TH GRADE
1. Explain the biogeochemical cycles which move materials between the lithosphere (land), hydrosphere (water) and atmosphere (air).
3. Describe the water cycle and explain the transfer of energy between the atmosphere and hydrosphere.
5. Make simple weather predictions based on the changing cloud types associated with frontal systems.
6. Determine how weather observations and measurements are combined to produce weather maps and that data for a specific location at one point in time can be displayed in a station model.
7. Read a weather map to interpret local, regional and national weather.
8. Describe how temperature and precipitation determine climatic zones (biomes) (e.g., desert, grasslands, forests, tundra and alpine).
9. Describe the connection between the water cycle and weather-related phenomenon (e.g., tornadoes, floods, droughts and hurricanes).
8TH GRADE
1. Describe how objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motions that explain such phenomena as days, years, seasons, eclipses, tides and moon cycles.
2. Explain that gravitational force is the dominant force determining motions in the solar system and in particular keeps the planets in orbit around the sun.
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Benchmark A. Explain that there are differing sets of procedures for guiding scientific investigations and procedures are determined by the nature of the investigation, safety considerations and appropriate tools.
Benchmark B. Analyze and interpret data from scientific investigations using appropriate mathematical skills in order to draw valid conclusions.
6TH GRADE
1. Explain that there are not fixed procedures for guiding scientific investigations; however, the nature of an investigation determines the procedures needed.
2. Choose the appropriate tools or instruments and use relevant safety procedures to complete scientific investigations.
3. Distinguish between observation and inference.
4. Explain that a single example can never prove that something is always correct, but sometimes a single example can disprove something.
7TH GRADE
3. Formulate and identify questions to guide scientific investigations that connect to science concepts and can be answered through scientific investigations.
4. Choose the appropriate tools and instruments and use relevant safety procedures to complete scientific investigations.
5. Analyze alternative scientific explanations and predictions and recognize that there may be more than one good way to interpret a given set of data.
6. Identify faulty reasoning and statements that go beyond the evidence or misinterpret the evidence.
8TH GRADE
1. Choose the appropriate tools or instruments and use relevant safety procedures to complete scientific investigations.
3. Read, construct and interpret data in various forms produced by self and others in both written and oral form (e.g., tables, charts, maps, graphs, diagrams and symbols).
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