Statement
of Needs
After interviewing "late
elementary" teachers in my local school and drawing on my own personal
experiences as a 4th grade teacher, I found a need to address the
issue of weather and student cognizance of weather’s impact on our daily lives.
Also, talking with students heightened my awareness of the lack of appropriate
student response to local weather conditions. Students did not seem aware of
how data concerning weather is collected, or how weather can impact on local,
national and international events. One of the goals in my school’s S.I.P.A.A.A.
is to improve the teaching of science with the use of "hands-on"
activities. Thus, another reason for this unit. The teachers at my school have
set a target goal of getting at least 50% of our students to meet or exceed the
state goals for science. This is to be reflected in our ISAT scores for the
year 2000.
This project addresses student
participation in predicting, observing, recording and interpreting data. It
also addresses the use of higher order thinking skills, problem solving, and
working in teams. The use of technology and literacy skills are also tended to.
This unit requires the child to interact with her or his environment, with
tools and with others. It is in line with the experimental educational
philosophy. The student learns through inquiry. The child learns by doing. This
progressive philosophy was also espoused earlier in the century by John Dewey.
By participating in a variety of "hands-on" activities, students can develop
understanding and also reveal that understanding through performance tasks.
Finally, it helps the student make meaningful connections by linking math,
science and social science with environmental conditions.
State goals for Science 11, 12,
and 13, as well as state goals for Math 7 and 10 are addressed. Also,
integrated are Language Arts State Goals 1,2, and 5. The audience for this unit
is educators and students of the 4th and 5th grades.
Teachers will be able to access cohesive lesson plans that can be used as a
unit or as individual lessons. Age appropriate activities for intermediate
elementary students support a wide range of abilities, interests and
intellects. Individual differences can be addressed with accommodations and
modifications. The assessments employ reflective pieces actively involving the
students in the assessment process.
The goals for this
unit are:
Use technology to access necessary
information
Use
the processes of scientific investigation
Understand the basic principles of data
collecting
Use the language arts to communicate
accessed information
Understand how weather can affect our human
situation
