Weather Wonders?

What is the weather going to be like today? What was the weather like a long time ago? How do we survive in the weather? These are some of the questions the students from Speegleville Elementary, Pre K through 4th grade, have been pondering recently.

For instance, Mrs. Glaser’s, Mrs. Guinn’s and Mrs. Williams’ Kindergarten classes explored questions about the seasons:  “What do you find in each season?” “What is a cycle?” “Do seasons occur in a cycle and in what order?” After researching and learning, students showed their understanding by creating videos. Students drew pictures of each season, put them in the correct order and used the Camera app to take photos of their pictures. They then took those photos and created a stop motion video with the Koma Koma app. The video demonstrated the continuous cycle of the seasons (see Kinder Seasons example at the bottom).

In 2nd Grade, Mrs. Freedman’s class faced the questions of:  “What types of weather are there?” and “What items would be appropriate to wear for each type of weather?” To demonstrate their understanding, they solved the problem of “What should I take with me to rainy Seattle?” by creating stories with the Book Creator app (See 2nd Grade Weather example at the bottom).

Down the hall, the 4th Grade classes also studied weather and participated in several different projects. The 4th graders in Mrs. Cofer’s and Mrs. Pasteka’s classes researched the weather statistics of a chosen place over a period of years. For their research and data gathering, they used the Safari app. Once all the data was gathered, they were given free choice for which app to use to chart, analyze and share their data. App choices ranged from Numbers, to Popplet Lite, to Book Creator. (see 4th Grade Climate examples at the bottom).

         

In Mrs. Kinchen’s 4th grade class, students are integrating literature, science and problem solving in a project over their novel study of the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. After reading the novel, in which a 13 year old boy is stranded in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a hatchet, students will expand their knowledge by learning about different environments and what is needed to survive in each. Students will then be issued a Challenge card which “drops them off” in different environments and will be confronted with the problem of  figuring out what it takes to survive in this location. They will be using the Safari, Padlet and Book Creator apps to illustrate their survival solutions. Looking forward to reading their stories when they are finished!

From learning about the seasons in Kindergarten to learning how to survive in any environment in 4th grade, science and technology are tools the students of Speegleville Elementary use every day. What will they come up with next?

Kindergarten Seasons – Koma Koma          2nd Grade Weather – Book Creator

4th Grade Climate – Numbers          4th Grade Climate – Popplet Lite