[Weather vs.

Climate
In the South East Region]
by
[Dan Longnecker]
1.

Background Information:
Differences between Climate and Weather
Types of weather; snowy, windy, sunny, rainy, cloudy
Climate definition; averages of all types of weather in a region over a
long period of time.
Video of differences between weather and climate
Student exploration of SE region weather/climate
Hands on activity for weather in the SE region
Long term graphing and exploration of weather/climate in students
region of living
4th grade

2.

Integration of Learning Outcomes:

SWBAT define weather

SWBAT define climate
SWBAT give examples of both of these
SWBAT graph weather data in a bar graph or line graph
SWBAT utilize what they have learned with the weather and climate in
the SE region to determine types of foliage in the region, what animas
live in the region due to the weather and climate, and what kind of
activities do humans do in the region during certain seasons.
SWBAT present information to a group
SWBAT demonstrate research skills

3.

Standards:

Themes
Science, technology, and society
Time, continuity, and change
People, places, and environment
Standards
M04.D-M.2.1.3 Translate information from one type of display to
another (table, chart, bar graph, or pictograph).

4.

Anticipatory Set:

 To begin this lesson, the teacher will hand out a photo to each of the
groups in the room. There are 5 groups, each of them receiving a photo
of one of the weather types (snowy, windy, sunny, rainy, cloudy). The
students in the group will have 5 minutes to organize a skit to perform.
The skit will be based on their weather type. Each group will act out
their weather type in a way that portrays to their peers what weather
type they have. No groups know what the other groups have on their
laminated photos. The students will actively act out their skits to the
class. After each of the skits the class will point out a few things they
saw and take educated guesses as to what they were acting out. After
all the groups have gone, the teacher will ask the class to think about
all the acts they have seen and what they have in common. The goal is
to have the class realize that all of these acts are types of weather.
After engaging them in this activity, the teacher will have the students
discuss what the word climate means to them. The teacher will then
have the class share their thoughts. The teacher will ask the class to
discuss what they feel is the difference between climate and weather
are in their groups.
After the conversation the teacher will show a video discussing the
differences between weather and climate.
Show only 1minute and 23 seconds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=YbAWny7FV3w

5.

Procedures:

 Now that the students have a broad range of the differences between
weather and climate, the teacher can focus on the lesson for the day.
The goal of the lesson is to have the students learn about the SE
regions weather and climate.
The students have been learning about the SE region for several weeks
now. The teacher will indicate that the focus is on solely this region and
its weather/climate.
The students will be assigned a laptop per person. The teacher explains
that the activity will be an exploration of both weather and climate.
How? The teacher assigns each group a section to explore. There are 5
groups in the class; each group will have one of the following (Winter,
Spring, Summer, Fall, and then climate as a whole). The groups who are
assigned a season will be focusing on finding information that relates to
weather in those seasons in the SE region. The group that has Climate
as a whole for the SE region will be looking for the weather averages
for all the seasons. Also, the group will be collecting information on the
SE regions climate as a whole.
As the groups collect information on their areas, they will be given
poster boards and markers. The students will take the information from
their Internet exploration and put the groups thoughts and findings on
the poster.
As the students research the climate and weather in the region, they
will be responsible for finding out what animals live in the region
because the weather an climate, as well as types of foliage and what
kind of activities people do in this region during the certain seasons.
This information will be organized in a graphic organizer per season,
and then present the information trough making a poster.
After the exploration and poster building, the groups will present what
they have found. Each group will have a turn to share what they found.
The teacher will take the posters and hang them up around the room,
with 2 other posters created by the teacher, which have the definitions
and examples of climate and weather on them.
The goal of the lesson is to have the students understand the
differences in weather and climate, as well as take a closer look on the
SE region in which they have been focusing on for several weeks.
After the presentations the teacher will have the students use the
knowledge they have been taught to find out the climate in which they
live in. The teacher will have the students take notes of the weather
each day (done in the beginning of the day, morning announcements,
weather man will change week to week)
The students will graph the weather throughout the remaining parts of
the year. At the end of the year they will calculate the information and
produce the overall climate for the region they live in.

6.

Differentiation:
Kinesthetic learners; the students will be engaging in skits and in
presentations. Both of these are forms of active engagement.
Visual learners; Presentations of the posters will allow these students to
visually take in information in a way they process best. Also, the
laminated photos of weather types are good for these students. Lastly,
the exploration of weather/climate on the computers is a good strategy
for these students.
Audio Learners; students who learn best though listening or from a
lecture will benefit from the video on weather vs. climate, as well as
from the presentations where students explain all information found.

7.

Closure:
The teacher will have the students complete a 3-2-1 checklist. This
activity has the students name 3 things they have learned in the
lesson, 2 things they found to be interesting, and 1 thing they still have
a question about.

8.

Assessment (Formative and Summative):

Exit slips; after the completion of the lesson or the day as a whole, the
teacher will have the students complete an exit slip while leaving the
room. The exit slip acts as a formative assessment. The exit slip will be
targeting a certain goal that the teacher had for teaching the lesson. In
this case, the exit slip would ask students to explain the difference
between climate and weather. Also, the slip would ask to provide
examples.
After the completion of the unit, a unit summative assessment will
occur.

9.

Materials/Equipment:

10.

Poster boards
Markers/colored pencils
Decorative items to put on posters
Laminated Photos of types of weather
Computers
Graphic organizer

Technology:
Video of Weather vs. Climate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=YbAWny7FV3w
Computers
Projector/smart board for the video

11.

Reflection on Planning:
While planning this lesson, I just tried to keep things simple but
engaging. I did not stress trying to work around the Social Studies
standards, but instead I just planned a fun engaging lesson. Planning
the lesson, the standards fell into what I had wanted to teach. I wanted
to use a variety of activities and different teaching styles to meet the
needs of all students in the room. I used kinesthetic, audio, and visual
teaching strategies that can allow all students to gain equal
understanding through a way that works best for them. I wanted to
incorporate a variety of hands on activities as well. To do this, I decided
to use computers, create posters, and eventually, the students will be
graphing data as well. This used technology, which is always good to
incorporate. I didnt necessarily know what kind of assessment I wanted
to use, but after looking at some of the handouts we had received in
class I incorporated some of these. I chose to do a 3-2-1 checklist and
exit slips for alternative assessment and formative assessment
strategies. Overall, I think this is an easy lesson to use for teaching
weather vs. Climate. This lesson can be used not just for the SE region
as well, but for anywhere.

12.

Content Outline:

Things teacher needs to know to teach the lesson

Definition of weather
Definition of climate
Examples of climate
Examples of weather
Good internet sites for exploration
The definition of average
Examples of what average can be seen as
The teacher needs to know the average climate per season in the
region, the high and low temperatures, and the overall climate for the
whole region per year.
Teacher needs to know the weather types that effect the region most
Teacher needs to know how to graph data
Students need to know:
How to graph data
How to find information online
How to present information in front of others
Definition of average
Examples of averages
The differences between bar graphs and line graphs