“Weather” Or Not is an
integrated weather lesson, which incorporates interaction with the
Internet and hands-on collaborative, problem solving activities
for students in grades three through five. The lesson integrates
math, science, geography, and language arts in the process of
teaching and learning about weather. Students will become involved
in collaborative problem solving using e-mail. As an extension
students could also join online projects offered via the Internet.
Objectives
The student will use and understand the basic functions of
the Internet
The student will understand a basic spreadsheet
The student will know terms such as cell, X-Axis, and Y-Axis
The student will enter data collected by Internet partners into a spreadsheet
Materials
Computer with Internet Access,
Spreadsheet programs such as Claris Works or Microsoft Excel,
maps.
Procedure
Find pen pals on the Internet using Epals
Classroom Exchange. There are always schools eager to
become partners on the Internet.
Discuss the weather project with your Internet
pen pals. Explain that this project will compare temperatures of
different U.S. cities for one week. Students will complete the
Weather or Not Worksheet
Each partner school is to collect their
data—the high temperature for their particular city in a
designated week and email the information.
The data collected is entered in a spreadsheet
program.
In the first column (A) enter the names of the
cities in the study.
In row 1, enter the days of the week.
Enter the temperature data in the cells.
Create a graph. A bar or line graph works the
best.
Add a chart title, X-Axis title, and Y-Axis
title.
Compare and contrast the temperatures of the
cities in the study. Which would be a good city to visit? Which
had the least change in temperature? Which had the most change
in temperature?
Compare the temperatures collected with
the pen pals to those on that you collect weeks later on The Weather
Channel.
How has the weather changed? Do the same pen
pal exchange in a different season. Create a graph comparing and
contrasting the temperatures of the same cities during the
different seasons.
Locate and plot the different cities on a map.
Compare and contrast their geographical locations.
Evaluation
Students will collect
temperature data of three cities in the US not included in the
project for 1 week. They will create their own spreadsheet
and chart. The student will present the data to the class. Teachers
can create their own rubric to measure the objectives at the Landmark Project. Interesting Weather Internet Sites Nationwide
School Weather Network: This site gives unusual data about
weather. Earth
Watch: This program has interactive weather maps that contain
weather images, radar maps with fronts, satellite images with
information about current conditions and forecasts. USA
Today Weather: This site offers current weather conditions
as well as weather forecasts. The
Globe Program: Teachers and students can join The Globe
Program to collaborate online Daily Planet:
This site shows weather maps and images. Global Schoolhouse:
Join an online weather project
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