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Tracking Patterns

Researching weather on your own!

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Use this search bar below to research weather patterns. What kind of weather do you think your city will have over the next few days? What about the next few weeks? Are there seasonal weather patterns that you can expect to experience in your city? Once you have made your predictions about the weather (what you think will happen), you will be adding these to a Predictions Poster that will stay up in the classroom. You will get to see if your weather predictions come true!

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You can also use this search bar to learn about weather in general, and different types of phenomena (different types of situations), that occur on our planet. For example, thunderstorms are complicated. Try to learn a little bit more about what goes on in a thunderstorm. And don't forget to be on the look out for types of weather that are new to you!

 

This is a small groups activity.​​

 

Notes for instruction:

This search engine provides access to 6 kid-friendly sites specifically chosen for this activity. We recommend working in small groups (up to four persons), or pairs.

Using their research, your students will create three Prediction Posters: one for weather predictions for the next few days, one for the next few weeks, and one for the season. Each student or group (up to 3 people) will contribute one prediction per poster. These can be as simple or as detailed as you and your class would like. These will be on display so your class can check their predictions against the weather they experience.

Questions 1-3 as described below, should be proposed prior to beginning research. Answers should be given after research has been completed, and added to the poster. Then, students should be asked to use the search engine to learn a little more about thunderstorms, and one other type of weather that is new to them. Questions 4 and 5 should be proposed afterwards, to gauge what the students have learned from their research.

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Higher order thinking questions, with hypothetical student responses below: Student responses for questions 1-4 will vary depending on season and location​. Examples provided.

  1. What kind of weather do you think your city will be experiencing over the next few days?

    1. It will be rainy tomorrow, then sunny later. On the rainy day it will be colder than the sunny days.

    2. It will be really cold and windy the next two days, then it will snow on Thursday.

  2. What kind of weather do you think your city be experiencing over the next few weeks​?

    1. This week will be sunny, next week will rain some, and the next week will be rainy and cloudy. It will be getting warmer each week.

    2. It is going to be hot and dry all month.

  3. Are there seasonal weather patterns that you can expect to experience in your city?

    1. ​It is Spring right now, and in our city there is usually rain in the Spring. The temperature will also be getting hotter as Spring goes on.

  4. What is one type of weather that you learned about that was new to you? What is involved in this type of weather?​ 

    1. ​I learned about hurricanes. Hurricanes are really big storms that are out on the ocean. They are very windy and rainy, and when they come towards the land they can cause floods, knock down trees, and damage buildings. They don't last long after they move over the land.

  5. What causes lightning? What about thunder? Can you have one without the other?​

    1. Lightning is electricity made by pieces of ice in the cloud hitting each other. The lightning is when the electricity tries to reach the earth.​ 

    2. Thunder is the sound made by lightning.

    3. Lightning and thunder always go together.

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