The Sun and Us

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 21.04.03

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction & Rationale
  2. Demographics
  3. Content Objectives
  4. Unit Content
  5. Teaching Strategies
  6. Classroom Activities
  7. Resources
  8. Appendix on Implementing District Standards
  9. Notes

The Sun & Chicago: Its Weather, Climate, and Climate Change

Alexandra Wagner

Published September 2021

Tools for this Unit:

Teaching Strategies

Guided Inquiry

In guided inquiry, the teacher provides appropriate resources about the topic students are investigating and gives students a way to capture information. Oftentimes I provide a note-catcher or graphic organizer for students to collect the important information. In my experience, this strategy is especially effective for younger students who may have a hard time finding good sources or feel overwhelmed with the amount of information. Guided inquiry sessions allow students to be autonomous in their learning but ensure that they are staying on task and have access to appropriate source material.

I plan to do guided inquiry sessions for the project at the end of the unit where students learn about different climate change mitigation strategies. I also plan to incorporate it into the beginning of our unit when students learn about what factors affect our climate in Chicago.

Science Journals

Students will use a graphing notebook as their science journal. The graph paper will allow students to complete graphing activities related to temperature and precipitation. We will use these journals as a space for students to take notes, glue in figures or graphs, draw observations, and write out hypotheses. This way, all their information is in one place, and they can easily refer back to something we learned earlier in the unit.

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