Lesson Plan Description

Students learn about precipitation, temperature, and humidity, as well as how a local animal species reacts to these types of weather

Students will be engaged in hands-on activities to collect data and set-up a scatter plot to answer a comparative question regarding the different types of weather. They will analyze their findings and present to the class. The project will link IBL with traditional teaching by giving teachers options to best suit the class needs. More questions will emerge to continue scientific investigations and further the learning process.

lightening and mist over pond

Grade Level

3-5

Time Requirement

One Class Period at the Beginning of the sequence

10 minutes at the beginning of each class period for ~2 Weeks

One class period at the end of the sequence

Download lesson plan

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Practical Application

This experiment allows students to understand an animal species in their environment and how it reacts with different weather, such as precipitation, humidity, and temperature. Each student will have practice with the scientific process, including documenting and interpreting data.

Objectives

  1. Incorporate the process of inquiry-based learning into a traditional direct instruction classroom setting.
  2. Students will be able to identify and explain precipitation, humidity, and temperature.
  3. Students will be able to observe animals in their environment and record what they see.
  4. Students will be able to gather and analyze data over an extended time.
  5. Students will be able to present scientific data as well as journal their process.
  6. Students will be able to use data to form a logical analysis of the correlation between weather and animal behavior.
  7. Students will be able to uncover additional questions and think critically about the data found.

Educational Standards

Scientific Inquiry, Practices and Applications

  • All students must use these scientific processes with appropriate laboratory safety techniques to construct their knowledge and understanding in all science content areas.

  • During the years of grades 5 through 8, all students must have developed the ability to: Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations; Design and conduct a scientific investigation; Use appropriate mathematics, tools and techniques to gather data and information;
    Analyze and interpret data; Develop descriptions, models, explanations and predictions; Think critically and logically to connect evidence and explanations; Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions; and Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.

5.LS.1 Organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.B.3 Generate two numerical patterns using two given rules. Identify apparent relationships between corresponding terms. Form ordered pairs consisting of corresponding terms from the two patterns, and graph the ordered pairs on a coordinate plane.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.A.2 Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical question has a distribution which can be described by its center, spread, and overall shape.