In her lesson, students assigned a mission to save orangutans and move them to the best area they can find that fits their habitat and supplies their needs.

 

The Wildlife Protection Organization is asking these young meteorologists to collect weather data from Arc, Blue, and Creek Islands. When the organization showed these students a weather report of the three islands, the report showed the temperature and amount of precipitation for one day on each island. The students had to determine which island provided the rainiest and hottest weather for the orangutans to live on.

 

Once students were divided into groups, they worked on how to measure rainfall amounts to collect data. To do this, students used rain cups with holes in the bottom to make it rain over two different cups, Cup X and Cup Y.

 

After the students made it rain, they would then check out how much rain fell inside the cups by measuring it with either a pencil, popsicle stick, or dice. As they measured the rain, they would collect their measurements, data, and other important observations and compare notes with others in their groups.

 

Finally, the students gathered back together as a class, discussed what method they preferred to use for measuring, understood the importance of collecting data, and learned about other tools that meteorologists use. This interactive lesson allowed students to learn about a career path, science, and reasoning.