Weather Wear

 

Overview:  Students will learn that weather influences what they wear.

 

Objectives: 

• The students will compare and contrast what they wore within the first few weeks of school, to what they are wearing in the late fall by completing two models.
• The learner will participate in a survey, “What are you wearing today?” which will be done using tally marks and recorded in graph form.
• The learner will access prior knowledge of graphs to compare the two time periods.  This will also require subtraction skills to discuss the differences.
• When graph results are very different, students will discover through application of information, how the weather dictates what we all wear. 

 

Procedure:

1)      Students revisit poll taken in September when the weather was 85 degrees.  For extra practice, tally marks are made to represent poll results.  Results are recorded on graph marked, “Then.”

2)      Students participate in survey.

3)      Results are graphed (on graph marked “Now”) one at a time and comparisons are made.  Teacher probes:  “How many more or how many less are graphed?” with each article of clothing.

4)      When differences are noticeable, teacher asks an applicable question such as, “Why do you think we all are wearing socks today when back then only 8 of us were?”

5)      Students discuss the overall similarities and differences between the two graphs and what the big picture is that we gain from this activity, which is that the weather determines what we wear.

6)      Students complete another “What are you wearing Today? sheet to depict what they wore to school that day, including coats and hats (temperatures in the upper 40’s).

Assessment:

      Students are assessed by their participation in the group discussion.  The opportunities are great to demonstrate correct tally making skills, comparison skills, and reasoning skills in this activity.  Everyone should be able to demonstrate an understanding of subject matter.

 

How this fits with the Unit:

      This lesson fits into the unit because one of our goals is to help students realize that weather affects us all.  One of the ways weather affects us is by determining what we wear every day.  Through this activity students can plainly see that weather has directly affected what they wear on an individual and a group level.