MultiMedia Tools

Lesson Idea Name: What is Weather?

Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): 1st
Content Standard Addressed: S1E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate weather data to identify weather
patterns.
a. Represent data in tables and/or graphs to identify and describe different types of weather and the
characteristics of each type.
b. Ask questions to identify forms of precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hailstones as either solid (ice)
or liquid (water).
c. Plan and carry out investigations on current weather conditions by observing, measuring with simple
weather instruments (thermometer, wind vane, rain gauge), and recording weather data (temperature,
precipitation, sky conditions, and weather events) in a periodic journal, on a calendar, and graphically.
d. Analyze data to identify seasonal patterns of change. (Clarification statement: Examples could include
temperature, rainfall/snowfall, and changes to the environment.)

Technology Standard Addressed: 3 – Knowledge Constructor

Selected Technology Tool:

☒ Movie (list application): iMovie
☐ Audio (list application):
☐ Other: (list)
URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable):

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☐ Remembering ☐ Understanding ☐ Applying ☐ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration

☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): The activity I have planned for students to participate in integrates
principles of Universal Design for Learning. This lesson serves as an introduction to our unit on weather.
Students will be watching and analyzing the movie I have created using iMovie to introduce the different
concepts related to the topic of weather. Students can watch this movie after I have shown it to the entire
class to familiarize themselves with the content later on in the unit. Students who have hearing impairments
can look at the images that will be included in the movie to help them form a deeper understanding of the
different types of weather and the seasonal changes that occur on Earth. The video segment that is included
in the movie has subtitles, so students can read the words on the screen. English Language Learners and
struggling readers will also benefit from the inclusion of images in the movie. For the products they create,
they will be finding their own images and video clips to incorporate into a movie, which will still allow them to
demonstrate their learning effectively and appropriately.

Lesson idea implementation:

This lesson serves as the introduction to our unit on weather. The movie that I will be showing students
introduces them to the different concepts related to the topic of weather. In the movie, students will learn
about the different types of weather, such as stormy, hot, cold, and windy. It also teaches them about the
four seasons that occur on Earth and how they are continued for a long time. There are several different
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images included in the movie that provide visual aids to students. There are images of the different types of
weather that we experience. There are images that help students differentiate what weather looks like during
the four seasons. There are images that show students what the different forms of precipitation look like and
how they are considered solids or liquids. Also included in the movie are images that show the different types
of weather instruments that are used to record data.

Once the movie has been shown to students, I will have them break off into small groups to discuss the
content that was introduced. After students have spent about 5-10 minutes talking with each other, I will
have everyone come back together to talk as a whole class. I will ask them the following questions:
1. How many seasons are there and how are they characterized?
2. What are the different types of weather that we saw in the movie? Have you seen those types of
weather before?
3. What weather instruments can we use to record data? Do you think it’s important to analyze weather
data? Think about the people we watch on TV that tell us what the forecast for the day and week
looks like.
4. How could we record weather data?
These are questions that I will ask to scaffold students’ understanding and thinking about the concepts that
were introduced during the movie. After discussing each of them and listening to the perspectives of different
students, I will pass out post-it notes to each group of students and ask each of them to make of list of things
they think would be important to include in their own movie to teach someone else about weather. These
post-it notes will be placed on an anchor chart that I will keep displayed in the classroom, so that students can
look at everyone’s list. This will serve as the conclusion of this lesson.

Importance of technology: The movie that I created for this lesson is important to developing student
understanding of weather and the strands that accompany the standard we are studying. This lesson will
introduce the important concepts we will be learning about during our unit on weather. This movie will serve
as model for my students since they will be creating their own movie to demonstrate what they have learned
about weather during our unit of study. It will include visuals of artifacts of the investigations and
experiments we complete.

Inspiration (optional):

Internet Safety and Student Privacy: Students will be using an app to create their movie. They will have to
access the Internet to locate images and videos to incorporate into their movie. To minimize risks brought
upon my students and myself, I can locate images and videos for them to use prior to the student creating
their movie, so that they do not have to complete the searching themselves. This way, I can guarantee that
the images and videos obtained from the Internet follow Acceptable Use policies. Students would not be
required to provide personal information about themselves other than their first name for the title page of
their movie. If this is an issue, then I will have the student use their number as a source of identification.

Reflective Practice: To further extend this activity, I would have students create their own videos to
demonstrate what they learned about weather during our unit of study. The movie that I show students
during this introductory lesson of the unit will serve as a model that students can watch as many times as
needed to help them design their own movies. Once their final products are created, I will obtain permission
from the administration and parents to share these videos with the community’s local weather team. I will
also invite a local meteorologist to come and talk with my students about weather and the related concepts
we are studying.

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