WEATHER WATCH

This project is a part of ePALS.com, a classroom exchange website. This particular unit allows students to partner with other students from around the world to understand more about where they live and what they do during different times of the year in different parts of the world. Students will be assigned a partner and read weather predictions from that person's location. They will use this as a reference to determine if the predicted weather really occurs. They will use this information to understand that weather in other parts of the world affect what happens in their world. This is how meteorologists use weather patterns to form a predictable forecast.

The students prepare data, with pictures or writing, that describes the different types of weather that is happening during the season they are in currently. The students can then choose from one or more activities to share with their partner. There are four different activities from which to choose.

Choosing a five day period with their partners to map out a typical day that would occur during that time of year or season.
Sharing the seasons of the year with your partner. They can share temperatures ranges, length of day, etc. The students should come up with a set of survey questions that would describe their favorite activities to participate in during that season.
Choosing a five day period to track weather predictions and actual weather in their area along with the weather in their partners' area.
Discuss any unusual weather occurrences in the students' area in the last two years. They will describe how this occurrence affected their community, school, and home life.

Activities:

1. In your current season, and in collaboration with your partner teacher, choose a five-day period with your partner class. Have both classes chart out how often a "typically seasonal" day occurs. Use the appropriate math concepts to reinforce portions, fractions, percentages etc. with your students (i.e. one out of four days was sunny). Exchange these results with your partners to learn about what is happening in a second part of the world. Compare these results. Have your students come up with questions for your ePALS partners to answer that may help explain the similarities and differences between your locations. Look at your globe and world map to help you answer some of these questions.

2. How many seasons do each of you have? Describe to your partners what these are like, listing the temperature range of each season either in picture or number format. Have your students come up with a set of survey questions that would inform each other about their favorite activities during these seasons, what their favorite season is and why. Have them describe to each other any community work that is required during a specific season (i.e. harvesting, collecting, preparing for a rainy season, a dry season, a storm season, etc.).

3. Choose a 5-day period with your partner class and create a 5-day chart with six columns. Three columns will represent your city/town and three columns will represent the city/town of your partners. Using an online weather service and your local newspaper (to gain experience using another resource), fill the first two columns of each location with the weather forecast given for each of the five days. Record what actually happens - you will need to be in touch with your partner class on a daily basis to find out what the current weather is and to provide them with your current weather conditions. Map out the accuracy of these predictions. How frequently does this happen based on your five-day project? Does the online satellite map accurately reflect real weather conditions in both locations? How do you know? (What is the evidence on the map?)

4. Have there been any unusual weather occurrences in your area in the last two years? (Flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, high air pollution indexes, ice storms, winter storms, calm winters, very hot summers, brush or forest fires?) Describe these events to each other - how did it effect your community, your school and your home life? Trade experiences in writing or in pictures. If you have access to a scanner, you can exchange these pictures.

Benefits and Limitations

This project is a creative way to incorporate the Maryland Learning Outcomes that are being addressed in the fifth grade science curriculum. The following outcomes will be taught in using the Weather Watch project. Describe and record observations of physical phenomena. Identify and pose scientifically testable questions that can be answered through a well-designed investigation. Develop hypotheses that can be tested through a well-designed investigation. Collect data using equipment, such as a centimeter ruler (length), Celsius thermometer (temperature), graduated cylinder (liquid volume), and stopwatch (elapsed time).Recognize and explain the processes that shape and reshape Earth's surface.

A one computer classroom is somewhat limited in this project but not excluded. This project would work best if all students had access to computers simultaneously, because the students will be partnered with other students around the globe. The classroom with one computer could use this project with one student at a time sharing data at appropriate times during the day.