Lower elementary (K-2)
2 class periods, plus additional time for weather-related data collection
If you have a weather unit in your classroom, this lesson for lower elementary grades will introduce your students to the complex concepts around weather and climate using age-appropriate reading materials from the Natural Inquirer and a GLOBE Program storybook as well as other GLOBE resources.
Something young students might not think about is the type of land cover in a community can make a difference in the air temperature around that community. Dr. Mercer is a scientist who studies changes in long-term weather patterns (climate) and how those changes might be different in urban (cities) and rural communities.
Your students can read about Dr. Mercer’s studies in Meet Dr. Mercer!, a Natural Inquirer Reader. In the “Try This!” section of this Reader, students learn how the air temperature in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, compares to the air temperature in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, a rural community near Charlotte. They can practice making graphs using the data in this section.
Climate is a concept that most young students will not easily understand. One simple way I’ve heard the concepts of weather and climate explained is “Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.”
In the Elementary GLOBE storybook What in the World is Happening to Our Climate? (pdf), the GLOBE students collect measurements in Greenland and the Maldives. They learn that each location has a different climate (the long-term weather patterns). Some of the weather in those locations is changing over time, and people and animals are being affected. The students learn from other GLOBE students around the world about solutions they are trying to respond to the changes around them.
Your students can also take measurements in your local environment to learn about the weather. The GLOBE Atmosphere protocols, particularly air temperature and surface temperature, are easy ways to study the weather in your community. (See below about learning to use these protocols.) These two protocols relate to both of the reading materials described above.
You may want to collect and keep track of data using these protocols over the school year. The Elementary GLOBE activity Weather Adds Up to Climate (pdf) provides you with tools to do this with your students.
If you’re not familiar with these protocols, I recommend you take the eTrainings associated with the air temperature and surface temperature protocols, as well as the Introduction to Atmosphere training. All of these can be found on the Atmosphere training page.
The GLOBE resources listed in this blog relate to the following Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Disciplinary Core Ideas:
Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by USDA Forest Service Eastern Region (Agreement no. 20-PA-11090100-026). Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USDA Forest Service.
This blog post is part of the GLOBE and the Natural Inquirer Crosswalk Project . Other blog posts are available on the U.S. GLOBE Teacher Resources page .
Natural Inquirer issues can be downloaded and classroom sets of many issues can be ordered from their website. Find the complete list of issues available and instructions for ordering on the Natural Inquirer website .
