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In third grade, students can be given a choice of which weather observations they would like to record each day. Students can choose to record temperature, precipitation, wind speed, weather conditions or multiple different weather conditions using specified tools based on their topic. After the 1-2 week period, the class as a whole can have a discussion and students can bring up the individual weather conditions that they studied, so the class together can identify any weather patterns. When students are asked to reflect on the weather they have observed and the patterns they have predicted for the next season, students can use their knowledge of the weather conditions and tools they used to measure.  (Tomlinson, 2000) (EF and RH)

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According to Piaget, students in 3rd grade are in the concrete operational stage. This is where they can begin to apply logic with concrete objects. (Berk, 2021) Students in 3rd grade become less egocentric and can begin to see that things happen outside of themselves. They can begin to study things that don't necessarily pertain to themselves. Students now also have the ability to focus on several aspects of a situation and work on relating them to each other. For example, students can now relate the patterns they experience to the actual season that these weather patterns occur in. Students begin to develop the ability for inductive logic where they can apply their specific experiences to general principles. Students can begin to apply the specific weather experiences that they experience each day to identify the patterns that occur in each season. (Cherry, 2021)

According to Vygotsky's, children's development is based off social interactions in their environment. He created the "Zone of Proximal Development" which described how students learn independently and should only be given support when needed. He reiterates that a challenging task is important for students for maximum cognitive growth. In third grade, students have become more comfortable in a school setting and they have begun to learn from their peers. At this grade level, students have the ability to learn independently, but they still require support to reach their full potential. (McLeod, 1970) (EF and RH)

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How much of this topic is taught? In what depth?

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How much of this topic is taught? In what depth?

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In third grade, students still see weather in their daily lives but they are able to be taught more narrow and quantitative information. In kindergarten, students understand rain and what it looks like but students in third grade may now study amounts of rainfall and how rain affects plants. In third grade, students take a deeper look into patterns of weather based around seasons. They begin to notice common occurrences, and can go as far as making predictions about what seasonal conditions may look/feel/be like even if it is not the current weather outside, meaning that students use what they learn from patterns to talk in terms of the future. (3rd Grade Thematic Model: Bundle 3, 2016) (RP and FG)

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How is the topic sequenced? What topics might need to precede or follow?

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How is the topic sequenced? What topics might need to precede or follow?

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For third grade, the topic is also the first section in the fourth topic of the New York State P-12 learning standards. It is important to recognize  that the students were supposed to have been exposed to weather and climate in kindergarten prior to going into 3rd grade. For third grade, weather and climate would be integrated into a unit. This unit would narrow in on the focus of patterns in different seasons and students would categorize quantitative data based on weather conditions like temperature, precipitation, and wind speed  In third grade, the weather and climate is more detailed and has a zeroed-in approach. Students are looking at quantitative data in terms of those patterns of weather conditions. To do so, students will record their observations of precipitation, wind speed, and temperature over the course of time to create a graph. This graph will show either variation or consistency of weather patterns. (New Jersey Department of Education, 2016) (SC and RP)

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Teachers and students can have a conversation about weather patterns that students notice based on the season. For each of the four seasons, as a class, they will record weather observations including temperature (specific degrees in Fahrenheit),  precipitation, weather conditions (sunny, rainy, and cloudy), and wind speed. Each day during class, students will record weather observations, such as the temperature and wind speed. They will create a bar graph of this data, so that they can easily display and read it. From the quantitative information that the class collected, students will conclude the most common weather occurrences that they noted in that week or two. At the middle and end of each season, students will use that data to make conclusions about the typical weather conditions for that particular season. Before a new season recording starts, students can make predictions for the next season and what they will be observing based on their background knowledge. These predictions will be general, such as the temperature is expected to drop as we get closer to winter.   (3-ESS2-1, n.d.) (RH and FG)

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Berk, L., (2021). Infants, children and adolescents. (9th edition). Pearson.

Catherine, M. (2022, September 13). Weather Chart for Kids Free Printable. Fun. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://fun-a-day.com/weather-graphs-free-printables/

Cherry, K. (2021, July 30). The preoperational stage of cognitive development. Verywell Mind. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/preoperational-stage-of-cognitive-development-2795461

Cherry, K. (2021, April 1). The concrete operational stage of cognitive development. Verywell Mind. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/concrete-operational-stage-of-cognitive-development-2795458

McCormick, M. (2020, June 30). How to teach the importance of weather to kindergarten. Synonym. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://classroom.synonym.com/teach-importance-weather-kindergarten-38917.html

McLeod, S. A. (1970, January 1). [what is the zone of proximal development?]. Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding - Simply Psychology. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html

Meier, D. K. S. (2020, June 5). Kindergarten Weather Lesson Plan Activities. Synonym. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://classroom.synonym.com/kindergarten-weather-lesson-plan-activities-7817511.html

Moore, M. (1970, January 1). Vygotsky's cognitive development theory. SpringerLink. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_3054

New Jersey Department of Education. Grade 3 Model Science Unit 1: Weather and Climate . (2016). Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.state.nj.us/education/modelcurriculum/sci/

New York State Education Department. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2022, from http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/curriculum-instruction/p-12-science-learning-standards.pdf

Tomlinson, C. A. (2000, July 31). Differentiation of instruction in the elementary grades. Eric Digest. ERIC. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED443572

3rd Grade Thematic Model: Bundle 3 . Next Generation Science Standards. (2016, September). Retrieved from https://www.nextgenscience.org/topic-arrangement/3weather-and-climate

3-ESS2-1. Earth Science Week. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.earthsciweek.org/ngss-performance-expectations/3-ess2-1

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How does this topic spiral throughout the elementary curriculum?

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How does this topic spiral throughout the elementary curriculum?

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Students are first introduced to weather patterns within seasons in kindergarten. In kindergarten, students begin with basic knowledge of weather and climate and begin to observe the weather where they live to form patterns. By looking at and observing local weather conditions, students begin to develop the idea that certain weather occurs in certain seasons and they form patterns for seasonal weather based on this. In third grade, the curriculum spirals back to the topic of weather and climate and builds on knowledge that students already have. In third grade, students build on their knowledge of local weather patterns. They do more observations and gather quantitative data, which they represent in tables and graphs to really show their understanding that there are weather patterns that occur in each season. In third grade, students can use their knowledge of the patterns that occur in particular seasons to think about what type of weather is expected in different seasons. (New York State Education Department, n.d.) (EF and RH)

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In kindergarten, students may be given the choice of filling out their daily weather check in either their journal or their computer journal. Students can draw or paste symbols that may be used to represent the weather that is occurring that day or they may write in words the weather that they observed. On some days, the whole class may go outside to get a better look at the weather. When discussing patterns that students have noticed, the teacher may bring up certain topics and assist students in discovering patterns that occur in each season. Teachers can also read books or show videos about the different seasons and discuss with students what they found most interesting. (Tomlinson, 2000) (FG and SC)

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How would you use this information as a new teacher?

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How would you use this information as a new teacher?

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It’s important for teachers to realize what a spiral curriculum is and how topics and concepts are revisited throughout a student’s education. This information serves as a reference for understanding the certain levels of thinking each grade is at. When planning lessons, teacher can see that each student has their own level of understanding and comprehension, but having a general gauge/boundary based on grade level can set limits and expectations for what students are able to do, understand, and complete. Each grade has its own developmentally appropriate standards which not only keep the teacher in ordinance with what needs to be taught but is also a way to observe where students lie in the standards and what they still need to reach. As a new teacher, if you are teaching third grade, it’s important to know what students learned in kindergarten so that you can build on that knowledge.
(EF, RH, RP, SC, FG)

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According to Piaget, students construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. According to Piaget, students in kindergarten are in the preoperational stage of development. In this stage, students are very egocentric. They often look at things as how they relate to them and how they as individuals are affected by it. Students have difficulty thinking logically and seeing things from an outside perspective. (Berk, 2021). This means that students need to be taught things based on how they are impacted by them. For example, they learn about weather patterns in seasons based on how they dress in each season. Students in kindergarten begin to understand that symbols represent other things, so symbols can begin to be used to represent things that students are learning. (Cherry, 2021)
According to Vygotsky, children gradually develop their learning through social interaction. At this age, students are becoming more familiar with the daily routine of going to school and being around people outside of their families. At this age, students need to learn topics through interaction with others and interaction with the environment.  (Moore, 1970) (EF, FG and SC)

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Every morning students will identify what type of weather they observed when they were outside. As a whole group, the class will record in their weather chart the different weather conditions they experienced. They will record their observations such as if it was sunny, rainy, snowy, or windy, and if they think it is cool, cold, warm, or hot outside. This will help students keep track of the specific weather conditions that occurred on specific days. Here, the students will be focusing on qualitative data. (Catherine, 2022)
For the students' own recording, they will be provided with a weather journal. In this journal, they will write a single-word description of the weather (sunny, cloudy, rainy). Following these notes, there will be a space provided for students to draw a picture of what the weather looks like.
At the end of a given period of time (month or season), students will look back at the weather they have recorded for each day and see if they can determine any patterns. The teacher will prompt students to discover patterns of weather that occur in each season and any generalizations that can be made about each season. Some examples could be that it snows in the winter or as the fall, goes on, the temperature becomes cooler and turns cold. The overall goal is for students to recognize different patterns of weather that occur in different seasons. (Meier, 2020) (FP, SC and RH)

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How is the topic sequenced? What topics might need to precede or follow?

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How is the topic sequenced? What topics might need to precede or follow?

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For kindergarten, the topic is the first section of the fourth topic of the New York State P-12. For kindergarten students, weather and climate is sequenced into daily activities.  For kindergarten, the weather and climate is addressed daily, asking questions about what the visual appearance is, what it feels like, and how these impact how we dress. Kindergarten students can be asked daily to record the qualitative temperature, hot/cold/warm/cool, and conditions, sunny/cloudy/rainy etc. Students can record their observations in the “daily weather check” journal. In kindergarten, this topic does not have multiple components. Kindergarten students are just beginning to grasp and understand weather itself and the topic only focuses on one concept (“what's the weather like today”). Since there are not multiple concepts, students look at it on the daily and continue to study the same conditions/temperature. In kindergarten, the first component would be teaching the students about daily occurrences of weather in current terms. The next step is to record those observations and look at them over time to see patterns of different seasons and different types of weather seen based on the seasons. In kindergarten, students learn to associate certain symbols with weather and particular seasons. (New York State Education Department, 2020) (SC, FG and RP)

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How much of this topic is taught? In what depth?

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How much of this topic is taught? In what depth?

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In kindergarten, students observe the different weather conditions locally so that they can describe patterns over time. Before students learn this, they do need to be introduced to the different seasons, so that they can begin to classify weather patterns based on seasons. After students learn that certain weather occurs in certain seasons and they begin to categorize seasons by the weather that occurs in them, they can begin to see why we do this. Students to learn that scientists use weather patterns to identify weather that is abnormal and serve. Students can be introduced to severe weather that doesn’t follow the patterns that are normally observed, so that they can understand why it is important to develop patterns of weather. (New York State Education Department, 2022) (EF)

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Weather patterns are focused on specifically in grades Kindergarten and third grade.

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3rd grade:

3-ESS2-1. Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.

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Kindergarten:

K-ESS2-1. Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.