Discovering El Niño
Discovering El Niño
| 6th Grade Science | |
Standard MS-ESS2-5.Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions. | |
| Objective | SWBAT state that weather changes are caused by the motion of air masses and relate it to the weather patterns seen in an El Niño year. |
| Key Terms | air masses cold front warm front occluded front stationary front equator El NiñoSouthern Oscillation |
| Assessment | Students will speak and write academically about the weather patterns seen in an El Niño year. |
| Introduction | How many of you have heard the news and talk surrounding El Niño? What kinds of stories are you hearing about the weather they are predicting? Students will work in groups of 4-5 and begin a K-W-L chart in their notebooks. Each group will write at least one question for “What We Want to Know” and place sticky note with question on a chart for all to see. Teacher will introduce a “Text-to-World” bulletin board in the room. Students will be invited to add any articles or evidence to display on the board throughout the months of El Niño weather.Teacher will read the book, Discovering El Niño. Students will add to the K-W-L charts and the class will share “Things we learned” at end of reading. |
| Teamwork | Students will work in groups of 2 to complete the following tasks:
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| Independent Practice | Students will finish their foldables and look for articles outside of class that talk about the weather patterns of El Niño. |
| Planned Questions/Checking for Understanding | What is El Niño, and how did it get it’s name?What does ENSO stand for?Name four types of weather fronts.Why is an El Niño year so different from a normal year?What are some of the factors that create so much rain on the western coast during an El Niño year? |
| Planned Accommodations for IEP and ELL | translation of terms a fill-in-the-blank guide for the Adaptive Curriculum video visual representations of El Niño and the weather fronts |
| 6th Grade Math | |
| Standard | CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.NS.C.6.CFind and position integers and other rational numbers on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram; find and position pairs of integers and other rational numbers on a coordinate plane. |
| Objective | SWBAT apply their understanding of graphing integers to represent data in real-life. |
| Key Terms | number line integer positive numbers negative numbers ordered pair coordinate plane x-axis y-axis origin quadrant |
| Assessment | Students will correctly label the academic vocabulary for graphing on real-world graphs showing data for El Niño years. |
| Introduction | Review the key terms. Discuss number lines and give examples of how we use number lines in real-world situations. Review how a coordinate plane is like two number lines that intersect at the origin (0,0). |
| Teamwork | Students will look at the article from their science lesson, and students will recreate the graph “Record El Niño brought more rain to L.A.” on graph paper. Students will correctly label the x-axis, y-axis, origin, quadrant, and a coordinate pair for the month of February. |
| Independent Practice | Students will discuss the graph in their groups and Google search for other examples of graphs used to collect data from El Niño years. |
| Planned Questions/Checking for Understanding | What does the x-axis and y-axis represent for our set of data?If you were to write a coordinate pair to represent the data for February, how would it be written?What can you say about the year 2014-2015 based on the graph in the article?What other types of graphs are used to represent data for El Niño years? |
| 6th Grade ELA | |
| Standard | RST. 6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical text. RST. 6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, videos or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format or citation. |
| Objective | Students will be able to develop detailed descriptions of El Nino and its effects and elaborate the geographic damages into written explanations. |
| Key Terms | deluge catamaran debris saturated benchmark relentless forecasters replenish reservoirs |
| Assessment | Students will cite from one source a description of El Nino which supports original text and cite from another source similar geographic damages again supporting the original text using a standard format. |
| Introduction | Students will view a video clip detailing the origins of El Nino and its effects.Think-Pair-Share: Why all this talk about the weather? Who do you know will be affected by El Nino? Will El Nino help them or hurt them? Students will discuss El Nino in small groups. Teach read aloud main text, |
| Guided Practice(Teamwork) | Students will be placed in groups of 2. Teams will choose two of the following articles:
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| Independent Practice | Students read articles together highlighting facts relevant to objective and create a five sentence paragraph with appropriate citations. |
| Planned Questions/Checking for Understanding | What are some disasters caused by El Nino? Have you discovered when El Nino will return? Why do landforms make a difference with El Nino?What commonalities did your two articles have? |