Author:
Clancy Wolf, Jeff Ryan
Subject:
Elementary Education
Material Type:
Unit of Study
Level:
Lower Primary
Tags:
  • 1st grade
  • 1st-grade
  • 2nd grade
  • 2nd-grade
  • Climate Science
  • ClimeTime
  • Kindergarten
  • OESD114
  • Remote Learning
  • Weather
  • kindergarten
  • observation
  • plants
  • remote-learning
  • sunlight
  • wa-science
  • weather
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Downloadable docs, Interactive, Text/HTML

    Education Standards

    Changing Seasons (K-2)

    Changing Seasons (K-2)

    Overview

    This sequence of instruction was developed in the Growing Elementary Science Project to help elementary teachers who were working remotely.  We developed a short storyline that ties together a few sessions to help explore a specific concept.  We tried to include some activities that honored and included the student’s family and experience, and some that included the potential for ELA learning goals.

    Students view a couple of videos and record what they notice and wonder about how plants change as seasons change. Students take a walk with family members to search for evidence of changes due to weather in their neighborhoods.

    It is part of ClimeTime - a collaboration among all nine Educational Service Districts (ESDs) in Washington and many Community Partners to provide programs for science teacher training around Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and climate science, thanks to grant money made available to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) by Governor Inslee. 

    Storyline

    ( pdf version: https://bit.ly/3sHwUZg )

    The unit of instruction is centered on answering the questions:

     

    - Growing Elementary Science Distance Learning Storyline –

    Question:  How can we use our senses to tell what season it is?
     

     

    Ask and Explore 

    Introduce Phenomena or Problem

    Carrying Out an Investigation

    Investigation – discussion questions- support student use of three-dimensions

    Read, Write, Make Sense

    Discuss Results- Read to gather information- Make Sense of our Ideas

    Putting the Pieces Together

    Bring together evidence from activities-synthesize- extending the learning based on student interest

    Engaging Students in Practices 

    NGSS Logo

    Phenomena launch:

    Introduce the videos of two types of tree responses to Autumn: Losing Leaves, and staying Evergreen.

     

    WATCH WITH or WITHOUT SOUND!

     

    Watch K-2   Leaves v1

    https:
    //bit.ly/3klnuic

     

    Watch K-2   Leaves v2

    https:
    //bit.ly/3Dal7ay

     

    Notice & Wonder Jamboard for Notice & Wonder Activity

    https:
    //bit.ly/3B03NTQ

    (Note: This link forces you to save copy to your google  space.)

    Example Jamboard: https:
    //bit.ly/3gp8MFM

    Carry out an Investigation:

    Family Wondering Walk: Introduce the outdoor Family Wondering Walk activity during a synchronous session. 

    https:
    //bit.ly/3sICuL6
     

    Review terms:

    Prediction: What someone thinks might happen or what someone thinks is currently taking place (predicting what season it is, for example). A prediction is not a guess; it is based on previous observations, experiences, and knowledge. Predictions can be tested by collecting evidence.

    Observation: When you use our senses - hearing, touch, smell and sight -  to examine something, noticing facts or taking measurements. Observation is a little more than just a quick glance.

    Evidence: Information (observations, for example) that helps someone test a prediction or make a case for a claim (what season it is, for example).

    Preview the data collection sheet, and, with the class, fill in one or two examples using our videos.

    Students should complete this activity and collect observations asynchronously.

    Data Analysis:

    Data is shared

    The class creates a class data set of the observations collected by the various families.

    What season did we predict it is?

    What observations did we make - to help answer the question?

    What sense did we use?

     

    Modeling Jamboard to aid in this discussion: https:
    //bit.ly/3gsNSFX

     

     

    Reading Options

    Students read an article and then think about the signs of different seasons. They can add these ideas to their initial models using the sentence prompts. Ideas surfaced during data sharing should also be added

     

    Read-Alouds

    We’ve pulled together a few suggested Read-aloud books for each grade level in this document.  This list includes some articles from NewsELA for the 2nd Grade level.

    https:
    //bit.ly/3859sMb
     

     

    Putting the Pieces Together

    Go visual - Make a model (diagram)) that provides evidence for your argument about what season it is.  Use your observations and findings from elsewhere to support your ideas.

     

    Gallery walk - compare a couple of the finished products.

    Family and Community Connections

    Home

    Collect colorful leaves.

    Investigation - Family Wondering Walk activity - done with Family at home.

    Do you know anyone who works outside or spends a lot of time outside?  Interview them about how the different seasons change the way they do things outside.

     

    Technology Considerations

    Technology

    Provide students with links to the videos.

    Possibly use technology to collect ideas or have teacher create class collective notes.  Jamboard, whiteboard/ Annotation.

    Students collect and share data from their Family Wondering Walk via images (if possible.)  Possible technologies: Jamboard, Seesaw, FlipGrid

    Books, read-aloud videos and NewsELA articles are shared. This can be done for follow-up asynchronous work.

     

    (A free NewsELA account is needed to access these articles, which are available at several reading levels)

     

    Storyline Launch →  →  →  →  →  →   Investigating → →  →  → →  →  →  Sensemaking

     

    Materials

    Changing Seasons Standards Alignment: https://bit.ly/3zcr1px

    Google Slide Deck (Student Facing Slides): https://bit.ly/3zbtQXz

    Leaves Video (v1) - https://bit.ly/3klnuic

    Leaves Video (v2) - https://bit.ly/3Dal7ay

    Notice & Wonder Jamboard: https://bit.ly/3B03NTQ
    (Note: The above link forces you to save copy to your google  space.)

    Example Jamboard: https://bit.ly/3gp8MFM

    Family Wondering Walk Activity (pdf): https://bit.ly/3sICuL6 

    Modeling Jamboard: https://bit.ly/3gsNSFX 
    (Note: The above link forces you to save copy to your google  space.)

    Read-aloud books (And NewsELA for the 2nd Grade level.): https://bit.ly/3859sMb  

     

    Google Drive with all of the above resources: https://bit.ly/2WmZeUQ

    Standards Alignment

    This document lists the Science AND ELA standards that are/can be addressed with these materials - at the Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade levels.