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Grade 3. Weather and Climate Patterns introduces students to all of the components that make up weather. Lessons are structured in 30-minute class sessions so science fits easily into your day. Weather and Climate Patterns Unit Kit with Literacy Set includes a teacher's guide, 30 student readers, a license to access online digital resources, and enough supplies and apparatus to teach the unit to a class of up to 30 students. All materials are reusable.

Grade 3. In 5 lessons spanning 21 class sessions, the Building Blocks of Science® 3D unit Weather and Climate Patterns introduces students to all of the components that make up weather. Building Blocks of Science® 3D lessons are structured in 30-minute class sessions, making it easy to fit science into your day. The Weather and Climate Patterns Unit Kit with Literacy Set includes a teacher's guide (item #514842), 24 on-grade student readers (item #514803), 6 below-grade student readers (item #514803BGR), a license to access online digital resources, and enough supplies and apparatus to teach the unit to a class of up to 30 students. All materials are reusable.

Along with hands-on learning, this Building Blocks of Science® 3D unit also provides digital resources to enhance the classroom experience. These components offer an additional method of delivering content, particularly for classrooms with consistent access to computers or tablets. Digital components include digital teacher's guide, simulations, digital literacy reader, interactive whiteboard activities, interactive student investigation sheets, and assessment. All digital resources for Building Blocks of Science® 3D are accessible at CarolinaScienceOnline.com.

Unit Summary
Students begin by drawing upon their previous knowledge to document what they know about weather, seasons, measuring weather, and dangerous weather. They are introduced to and even build tools for a class weather station, which they will monitor throughout the unit, collecting data each day, analyzing it, and comparing it to actual weather data for their local area. Students further explore weather by analyzing precipitation and temperature data from cities around the globe and comparing it to similar data for their local area. Using this information, students compare data to look for seasonal patterns in weather and how geographic location affects that data. Students learn about climate zones as they research worldwide locations in different climate zones and develop a travel brochure to share their findings with the class. Students learn about dangerous weather and discuss tropical storms. Students work in pairs to research weather hazards and present what they learn to the class. In the last lesson, students are introduced to the engineering design process. After learning about dangerous weather, students discuss how dangerous weather can impact humans. Students work in groups to analyze solutions to one of the weather hazards they have explored, then evaluate one solution to determine if it reduces the impact of the weather hazard.

Next Generation Science Standards*
The Building Blocks of Science® 3D unit Weather and Climate Patterns (©2019) integrates process skills as defined by the Next Generation Science Standards.

Performance Expectations

• 3-ESS2-1: Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.
• 3-ESS2-2: Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
• 3-ESS3-1: Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
• ESS3.B: Natural Hazards

Science and Engineering Practices

• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
• Engaging in Argument from Evidence
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Crosscutting Concepts

• Patterns
• Cause and Effect
• Stability and Change

Common Core State Standards
Language Arts

• L.3.4: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
• L.3.5: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
• L.3.6: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
• RI.3.1: Key Ideas and Details
• RI.3.3: Key Ideas and Details
• RF 3.3: Phonics and Word Recognition
• SL.3.1: Comprehension and Collaboration
• SL.3.3: Comprehension and Collaboration
• W.3.2: Text Type and Purposes

Mathematics

• MD.A.2: Solve problems involving measurement and estimations.
• 3.NBT.A.1: Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.
• 3.NBT.A.2: Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.
• 3.OA.A.3: Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division.
• 3.OA.C.7: Multiply and divide within 100.
• 3.OA.D.8: Solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.

Lesson Summaries
Lesson 1
Lesson 1 begins with pre-unit assessment in which students share their ideas about what they know about weather. Students then investigate patterns in seasons and weather, how tools are used to measure weather, and how patterns in past weather can be used to make predictions about future weather. In the next lessons, students will use weather data to describe patterns of weather across seasons and various locations.
Lesson 2
Students apply what they know about weather tools and predicting weather to investigate the relationship between cities and the weather conditions during particular seasons. Students will continue to monitor their local weather patterns using the class weather station and local weather data. In the next lessons, students will compare weather patterns to climate patterns and research weather hazards.
Lesson 3
Students learn about the relationship between weather and climate. They investigate what affects Earth's climate and identify its various climate zones. Students work in groups to research a location in each of the climate zones, analyze weather data for the location, and present what they have learned to their classmates. In the next lessons, students will apply what they have learned about weather and climate to investigate dangerous weather and weather hazards.
Lesson 4
Students learn that weather can be dangerous. Working in pairs, students research different types of weather hazards and prepare a summary to present to their classmates. In the next lesson, students will research and evaluate how well a design solution reduces the impact for a weather hazard.
Lesson 5
Students use what they have learned throughout the unit to research existing solutions for reducing the impact of a weather hazard of their choice. They will then select one solution, evaluate its effectiveness, and present that solution to the class. As a post-unit assessment, students revisit their class charts and drawings from Lesson 1 to evaluate what they have learned. They also complete a summative assessment that requires them to apply concepts from every lesson to answer a series of questions.

*Next Generation Science Standards® is a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.