Download 2nd Grade Air and Weather Curriculum Map

Tucson Unified School District Science
Air and Weather Unit Grade 2
2nd Grade Air and Weather Curriculum Map
Enduring Understandings:
Properties of air affect the Earth’s atmosphere and weather.
Meteorology is a highly technical scientific field of study.
Essential Questions &
Crosscutting Concepts
Reading & Writing Opportunities in Science
Assessment Opportunities
Essential Question(s)
How does air interact with
objects?
How can air do work?
How does a thermometer work
and what does temperature tell
us about weather conditions?
What do clouds tell us about the
weather?
How can we determine wind
speed and direction?
How can we collect weather
information and use it in our
lives?
How can we organize weather
data to look for change?
What is in the night sky and how
can we observe changes?
Crosscutting Concepts
Patterns
Cause and effect: Mechanism
and explanation
Scale, proportion, and quantity
Systems and system models
Energy and matter: flows, cycles,
and conservation
Structure and function
Stability and change
When reading scientific texts, students need to be able to gain content knowledge from
challenging texts that often make extensive use of elaborate diagrams and data to convey
information and illustrate concepts. Students read purposefully and listen attentively to gain
scientific expertise. The interdisciplinary approach to literacy is backed by extensive research
establishing the need students to be proficient in reading complex informational text in a
variety of content areas. Examples:
Read What Is All Around Us in the FOSS Science Stories book and explain how air
is all around us and how you know that.
After reading What’s the Weather Today? in the FOSS Science Stories book, use
other texts and resources to identify and describe weather conditions and how they
affect our daily lives
Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and
information provided by visuals in a text – use the glossary as well as the stories.
Use the illustrations and details in the science text to describe its key ideas. (e.g.
Read Understanding the Weather in the FOSS Science Stories. Reflect on the text by
making a data chart. Using information from the text and other resources record what
a meteorologist does and the tools needed for the work.)
With prompting and support, read functional texts including history/social studies,
science, and technical texts, appropriately complex for grade 2 (e.g., explain with
evidence and reasoning how people react to different seasons)
Pre/Post Unit Assessment:
http://intranet/science/Kit_Asmts.html
TUSD Science Air & Weather 2014
Writing is a key means for students to express what they know about a subject. Science
notebooks are critical and essential components of science learning whereby students record
observations, data, visual representations, and thinking about their learning. They are
excellent tools for formative assessment purposes. Examples:
Write an informative/explanatory booklet titled “How Meteorologists Use Tools.”
Explain through writing and scientific illustrations how plants and animals react to
different seasons
Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g. gather and record weather
information and predict how weather conditions change )
Using pictures and captions show how you used air to do work (balloon rockets, popoff, kite flying)
Write a letter to a cousin or friend who is planning to visit you. Try to convince
Concept Map - pre and post with
linking phrases to indicate
relationships of concepts and
processes
Formative/Performance
Assessment Examples
Quick writes and drawings in
notebooks (e.g. how a thermometer
works)
Use scientific vocabulary and explain
what happens when air provides
energy for objects.
Compare and contrast clouds and the
weather they indicate.
Design and conduct an experiment
and report the results (e.g., how does
an air and water fountain work).
With pictures and words, describe
how to investigate the strength of
wind.
Construct an explanation using
evidence and reasoning of how
anemometers and wind vanes help
them fly their kits.
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Tucson Unified School District Science
Air and Weather Unit Grade 2
Texts and Resources
Primary:
FOSS “Air and Weather” materials
kit
Teacher’s Guide for “Air and
Weather”
8 copies of Air and Weather (FOSS
Science Stories)
Supplemental resources:
Use the Resources section in the Air
and Weather Teacher Guide
him/her which season of the year you think is the best time to visit. Use evidence to
support your argument, as well as vocabulary words from the Word Bank,
information in your science notebook, and information from other text resources
English Language Arts Standards
Reading Standards
Constant Standards RI 2, 5, and 10
Target Standards
(2.RI.1) Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a
text.
(2.RI.3) Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a
text.
(2.RI.4) Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.
(2.RI.6) Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
(2.RI.7) Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.
(2.RI.8) Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.
(2.RI.9) Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.
Writing Standards
Constant Standards W 5, 6, and 8
Target Standards
(2.W.1) Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that
support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or
section.
(2.W.2) Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a
concluding statement or section.
(2.W.3) Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions,
thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
(AZ.2.W.4) With guidance and support from adults, produce functional writing (e.g., friendly letters, recipes experiments,
notes/messages, labels, graphs/tables, directions, posters) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and
purpose.
(2.W.7) Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record
science observations).
Listening and Speaking standards are also well applied in science instruction.
Science and Engineering Practices
Asking questions and defining problems
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
TUSD Science Air & Weather 2014
Using mathematics and computational thinking
Constructing explanations
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
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