Students are to study weather patterns and keep a record of these results in a notepad. They are then to record and graph these results into a spreadsheet program each day.
Activity
1. As part of a unit on weather, discuss the various instruments and ways of measuring changes in the local weather.
2. Have students write and illustrate 5 common instruments used into their books.
3. Demonstrate how each instrument is used and how to record the readings taken.
4. Introduce the activity of daily weather records and through the use of a pre prepared example sheet, help students to develop skills needed to interpret deductions about the weather patterns from the readings.
5. Choose a student each morning to take the temperature and other weather measurements.
6. Ask all students to record into their notepads these details including cloud shape, rain/shine, etc. If your school has a weather station, ask if your class can use it.
7. Continue to record this information on a daily basis for up to a week.
8. Start a spreadsheet program and begin a new document.
9. Enter the recorded information using column headings to separate the data.
10. While your students are in the spreadsheet program, get them also to graph the ongoing findings.
11. Print out the data and the graph on a sheet of A4 paper.
12. Discuss the daily changes. With printouts of both the table and the graph for a one month period, get your students to write a report and present it to the class.
Materials
notepad, pen, pencil a weather station if your school has one, access to other weather info, thermometer, computer, spreadsheet program