Welcome to the Education and Curriculum page!
This page is dedicated to the curriculum and lessons I have created during my studies and field experiences. Over the past few months I have explored various ways to connect Science, Technology, and Mathematics in a simple unit focusing on weather and climate. The unit map above presents the various topics I used as a basis for the unit. If you continue down the page you will find various lessons connected to weather and climate.
The first lesson designed is a Mathematics lesson for third grade students focusing on polygons. The lesson launches with a Smartboard mini-lesson designed to introduce polygons, their attributes, and types. The students will define and identify polygons and their names. The students can then sort polygons based on their number of sides and vertices. An important part of this mini-lesson is to distinguish shapes that are not considered polygons and why. The mini-lesson also reviews the names of polygons and identifies how many sides and vertices each has. The objective of this lesson is to have students identify and build polygons using other polygons. The students will use cards to guide their exploration of constructing polygons using plastic shape blocks. The lesson has an assessment and grading rubric attached. The student will be able to build a polygon using any number of the plastic polygons. Then they will trace and color in the various polygons used. The students will identify each polygon and label them accordingly. Finally, the students will identify how many sides and vertices each polygon has.
This lesson is aligned with New York States Common Core Standard for third grade geometry. (NY-3.G.1) Recognize and classify polygons based on the number of sides and vertices (triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons). Identify shapes that do not belong to one of the given categories.
You may be asking yourself, what do polygons have to do with weather and climate? The answer is that polygons and other shapes can be found in our natural world. The lesson linked below connects our knowledge of polygons with the intricacies of snowflakes. Snowfall is a type of weather pattern that can occur all over the world. Many have dedicated time to studying how snowflakes form and what shapes they take. The most memorable type of snowfall is the 6 point snowflake. The video below is a great resource to support student understanding of the weather conditions which influence the formation of snowflakes.
In the lesson linked below students explore how to use polygons to create a 6 pointed snowflake. Following the lesson is an assessment and supportive pictures of snowflakes. Use these pictures to explore how polygonal shapes appear in snowflakes. This lesson is applicable to the third and fourth grade standards for geometry.
polygons and snowflakes-24te793
When beginning to teach climate you may want to ask yourself, what is climate? Google says that it is the prevailing weather conditions in a particular area over a long period of time….
Many times students work with a particular concept without understanding the true meaning and attributes of the concept. A fun and interactive way of developing student understanding of a new concept is to create a cooperative concept map. In the lesson linked below students explore the concept of climate. The students will brainstorm anything that comes to mind when considering climate. The students will then organize these terms and items into categories and label them accordingly. They will then use these categories to form a definition of climate. This lesson require minimal supplies and will guide the students to form their own understanding of the concept of climate.
One can’t discuss weather and climate without working with the water cycle! The water cycle is an intricate and vital system to the Earth’s ecosystems and climate. Water is the key to life on our planet. Understanding the water cycle will help students understand how weather patterns form and other important concepts. As a child of the 90’s I can’t help but think that no one explains it better than Bill Nye. Below is a supportive video to show your students during their exploration of the water cycle.
In the lesson linked below, students will review the steps and processes of the water cycle and work in groups to replicate this occurrence inside of the classroom. This lesson may take more than one day to complete and requires a variety of materials. Following the lesson is a procedure and experiment set-up.
After exploring climate, weather patterns, and the water cycle students may be interested in the various weather related hazards which occur. The water cycle is a perfect launch for exploring what occurs after their is too much precipitation. What do we do when it rains so much that flooding occurs? The lesson linked below is designed for a third grade class but can be applicable to many different age levels. This lesson may be difficult to complete in the classroom but is a fun idea to try and adapt. This lesson connects student knowledge of the water cycle, flooding, and engineering. In this lesson students will design a solution to a possible flooding in their area. The teacher will have to design and set-up a “hill” for water to flow down and a collection pool for the water to collect. Students will then plan and design a type of barrier using one material which they believe will deter or stop the flood from reaching the collection pool.
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