MS-ESS2-6

Adopt-a-City: Weather Report Summary

Liz Belasic8 Comments

My 6th graders completed their Adopt-a-City unit and wrote their weather reports comparing the weather in Morristown, NJ to their adopted cities. Students transferred their data to the following Google Sheet Template and then analyzed their data to write their weather reports using Google Docs.

  • Google Sheets Template for Weather Report (link)
  • Google Doc Template for Weather Report (link)
  • Adopt-a-City Unit with resources (page)

Overall this was a successful unit. The students enjoyed having an independent study based classroom experience and working at their own pace. They worked cooperatively with their peers and were able to explore each topic in depth with the provided resources. They also learned so many valuable skills and had a real understanding of weather. Below are some sample graphs for different cities:

image (9)
Morristown, NJ and Butte, MT
Sunset Times
Morristown, NJ and Baton Rouge, LA
image (5)
Morristown, NJ and Miami, FL
image (3)
Morristown, NJ and Seattle, WA
humidity
Morristown, NJ and Las Vegas, NV
Moon Rise
Morristown, NJ and Baltimore, MD

Pacing for Adopt-a-City Unit – students collected data and created Mini-Maps at the start of each class, and they updated their weather data over the weekends. I checked mini-maps and gave a daily grade of 5 pts per map completed and graded completed tasks as they handed them in. I also graded weather data for completion to be sure their data was up to date. Having a shared spreadsheet, with tabs for each student in the class, made it easy to quickly check each student’s data. I also added quizzes to check for understanding along the way. Their weather report was weighted as a test grade.

  • Day 1: Tasks 1-2
  • Day 2:  Tasks 2-3, HW Task 2 completed
  • Day 3: Tasks 3-4-5, HW Tasks 3 & 4 to be completed
  • Day 4: Tasks 4-5-6, HW Task 5 to be completed
  • Day 5: Tasks 6-7, HW Task 6 to be completed
  • Day 6: Tasks 7-8
  • Day 7: Tasks 7-8, HW Task 7 part 1 to be completed
  • Day 8: Tasks 7-8, HW Task 7 – complete Part 2
  • Day 9: Tasks 7-8-9, HW Task 8 to be completed
  • Day 10: Tasks 8-9-10
  • Day 11: Tasks 9-10-11, HW complete Task 9
  • Day 12: Tasks 10-11
  • Day 13: Tasks 10-11-12, HW complete Task 10
  • Day 14: Tasks 11-12-13
  • Day 15: Tasks 11-12-13, HW complete Task 11
  • Day 16: Tasks 12-13
  • Day 17: Tasks 12-13-14, HW complete task 12
  • Day 18: Tasks 13-14
  • Day 19: Tasks 13-14-15, HW complete task 13
  • Day 20: Tasks 14-15 or begin Weather Report, HW complete task 14
  • Day 21: Task 15 or begin Weather Report, HW complete task 15
  • Weather Report due x/xx/xx

Adopt A City: Wind & Air Pressure

Liz BelasicLeave a comment

Adopt a City

Task  10 – Wind & Air Pressure (Updated)

  1. Record today’s Weather, yesterday’s Hi/Lo/Precipitation, & Astronomy Data (link) (excel).
  2. On your mini-map (pdf)
    • record the WSM and add it to the classroom map of the USA (pdf)
    • color in the precipitation
    • draw the fronts (using blue and red dotted lines), along with H and L, for today (link)
      • go to the WunderMap, click “U.S. Fronts” and “Weather Stations” (link)
      • What do you notice about the temperatures on either side of the fronts and the location of the precipitation?

A) Wind & Air Pressure

  1. Use the following resources to learn about wind and air pressure to complete your worksheet (pdf)
    1. BrainPOP – Wind (link)
    2. Study Jams -Air Pressure & Wind (link)
    3. Pages 53-59 in your Weather Guide about Wind
    4.  Pages 124-125 in your Weather Guide about the Beaufort Wind Scale
    5. Pages 60-67 in your Weather Guide about High and Low Pressure

B) Bernoulli’s Principle – try it out!

  1. Bernoulli’s Principle (link): complete 3 of the activities posted (I will supply the materials) and write 3-5 sentences for each activity using google doc or lined paper describing what you did and what you learned by doing each activity.
  2. How does wind and air pressure allow us to fly? BrainPOP Flight Movie (link)