Part 1: Annual temperatures in your city / town
Begin by leading a brief class discussion with the
students using the first one or two questions (i.e.
Think of the hottest day you can remember, etc.). This
will get them thinking about the annual temperature
patterns in their location.
- After, it is recommended to divide the students in
pairs or small groups so they can share and discuss
their predictions with each other however each student
should be held responsible for answering each of the
questions.
- As an optional activity, you can lead a whole
class discussion after the pairs/small groups have
answered the questions. Time permitting, this can be
an important role in assisting the students elaborate
their thoughts about temperature.
Part 2: Temperatures around the world
- Lead a brief class discussion with the students using the first one or two
questions (i.e. Do you think the temperature is the same or different in other
parts of the world?, etc.). This will get them thinking about the different
temperatures around the world. As above, it is recommended to divide the
students in pairs or small groups so they can share and discuss their
predictions with each other however each student should be held responsible
for answering each of the questions.
- Create a world and country temperature map:
Distribute world and country maps to the
students/groups (see notes below). For this activity,
tell them that they are going to illustrate the land
masses (continents) on a world map according using the
color key according to their predictions. To further
explain the instructions, you should mention that they
should illustrate the coldest regions blue, the
hottest region the pink, etc. After they complete
the world map, they should begin to work on the country
maps using the same color key. By completing this activity, the students will begin to theorize
about the various factors that influence annual temperature
patterns of a region.
- If you decide to arrange students in pairs or
small groups, you will need to have sufficient copies
of the printable world map for each group.
- For the country temperature map, it is recommended
that each student illustrate them individually so they
can take them home and complete the homework
assignment. Alternatively, if they illustrate a
country temperature map as a group, they will need to
work together as a group to complete the homework
questions.
- Compare your world map to real-world temperatures:
Students will now visit the World Temperature
map and compare it with the world maps
they just illustrated. You should mention that this is a
composite image of the world that displays observed land
temperatures. The goal of comparing the two maps will be
to provide the students with a taste of real world
temperature data in a graphic format so that they will
become further interested in learning about the factors
that influence the annual temperature patterns of a
region. Students should complete the questions to guide
them in their comparison.
- For the country temperature map, students will
complete them as a homework assignment.
Part 3: Factors that influence the annual
temperature pattern of a region
Lead a brief class discussion with the students based on
the Venn diagram.
Explain that every location has a combination of factors that
influence its annual temperature patterns. In this
section,
students will be provided with three major factors and be
asked to hypothesize HOW and WHY these factors influence
temperature and to develop a plan how they might
investigate each factor. It is also important to note
that most parts of the world also have many factors that
pertain only to a local region, however the three main
factors listed (latitude, local geography, and
elevation) influence any location.
- Explain to the students that they are about to
begin a scientific investigation on how the given
factors influence the annual temperature patterns of a
region. However prior
to any investigation, it is important to develop
hypotheses about HOW and WHY each of the factors
affect temperature to serve as a starting point. After
they complete the investigation, they will have an
opportunity to return to their hypotheses to revise
and edit them.
- Since using charts and writing hypothesis may be
new to the students, it may be useful to review the
example provided in the activity.
- After you review the example, you may need to
initially explain each of the factors.
- Latitude: you may need to identify latitude
lines on the printed world map and remind the
students that the map is a projection of the earth's
shape which is a sphere.
- Students should complete the charts individually
or in pairs/small groups through consensus.
Additionally, the students may have a little
difficulty developing hypotheses for these factors.
Therefore, you should focus your efforts and those of
your students on fully thinking out each HOW and WHY
and successfully writing hypotheses. Since they will
be investigating each of these later, it is not
important at this time that their answers are
scientifically correct.
- Responses may vary considerably depending on
the prior knowledge of the students. You should
encourage students to base their hypotheses on what
they learned from the world temperature maps above and
on knowledge or prior experience they might have such
as when they visited relatives in different locations.
- If you are using the Weather Learning Log, you
should ask students to open to a new page and draw the
charts. This will be important later on when they
revisit them. If they are using the worksheets, collect them so you can return them later on.
Homework: Compare your country map to current
temperatures
Students will use local newspapers to access the
average temperatures of cities within their countries
and write them on their country temperature map that
they previously illustrated in Part 2. This can
be assigned as a homework assignment as most if not all
of the students should have access to a newspaper in
their home. |
