DRIVING WEATHER

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. Here is our latest update as we continue through the Weather and Climate unit. We have had a productive couple of weeks, and there is a lot of exciting learning ahead.

Where We Were

Over the past two weeks, Mr. Roberto (our student teacher) has been leading our Weather and Climate unit and guiding students through general review material from previous years. Students revisited heat transfer, states of matter, phase changes, and the water cycle. To support their understanding, we spent time doing hands-on demonstrations to explore heat transfer, used a PhET simulation to explore how phase changes occur, played a water cycle dice game, and wrapped things up with a water cycle diagram assessment. These activities helped students refresh the key ideas they will need as we move deeper into the unit. For instance, heat energy from the sun DRIVES weather.

Below are some photos from our Heat Transfer Station Rotations and Demos:

Where We Are

This week, we are starting our 3-day Heating & Cooling Lab Inquiry. During this investigation, students will explore how the topics we just reviewed connect to how different materials on Earth’s surface heat up and cool down. This work will help us understand how these differences influence the weather we experience.

Where We Are Going

After the Heating & Cooling Lab Inquiry, we will begin to get into more specific weather topics such as the atmosphere, cloud formation, humidity, and other important concepts that shape weather patterns. We will also introduce the Watching the Weather project. This project runs for three weeks and will have students observe the weather using both technology and their own senses. At the end, students will participate in a class discussion where they share what they noticed, including any trends and patterns that appeared over time. This project helps students understand how observations can be used to make predictions about weather changes.

POTENTIAL FLEXIBLE INSTRUCTIONAL DAY (FID):

Before I sign off, I want to note that Monday, February 23rd, could potentially be a Flexible Instructional Day (FID). If that happens, students will need to log in to Schoology and check all their courses to see what work needs to be completed. All 8 Gold core class assignments will be posted on the homework feed at https://www.classwithcatwood.com/homework, which is the same feed that appears on the 8 Gold page in Schoology.

If you have any questions or want to connect further, feel free to reach out at curtis_catwood@conestogavalley.org. You can also follow our classroom adventures on Instagram at @classwithcatwood where I share updates and snapshots of what we are learning.

Stay Gold,

Mr. Catwood