Knowledge and Skills Statement
Earth and space. The student knows that the natural world includes earth materials and systems that can be observed.
Demonstrated Proficiency
The following is an example of how to assess proficiency of this student expectation (SE) or a portion of the SE.
Ask students to select a spot outside near the school to observe and describe the weather. Have students make observations throughout the year, drawing a picture and labeling the season in their notebook. Depending on where they live, students may not experience major changes in weather during all of the seasons and may need exposure to books or videos of weather they do not typically see.
Provide weather-related sentence stems to support students in describing the weather. An example might be, 'Today is ____________ than yesterday.' Students should be able to compare the weather from one day to the next using words such as warmer or cooler to describe the weather. They should be able to describe weather as rainy, cloudy, or sunny. Additionally, students should demonstrate an understanding that some places have cold, snowy winters, warmer springs, hot summers, and cooler falls.
Supporting Information
Research
Earth Networks. 2018. “Why Teach Weather? Top 3: Reasons to Teach Weather.” (blog). (April 12, 2018). https://www.earthnetworks.com/blog/4-reasons-to-teach-weather-science-to-all-students/. Accessed November 17, 2022.
Summary: This blog lists the reasons why it is important to teach students about the weather. Many scientific skills are used to describe the weather, such as making observations and collecting data.