Week 2 Weather El Nino

This week, I observed a science teacher concluding a unit on temperature changes and their impact on weather patterns, including phenomena like El Niño and La Niña. The teacher organized students into small, diverse groups, balancing various strengths and learning styles. This thoughtful grouping ensured that nearly all students actively participated, with the teacher frequently prompting them to use newly introduced vocabulary. In this smaller class, the teacher encouraged questions and occasionally switched to his native dialect (Teacher Across America - Philippines) to facilitate understanding. He often asked students to explain concepts, fostering their use of new vocabulary and encouraging them to seek clarification when needed.

Key Concepts Covered:

Weather vs. Climate:

• Weather: The condition of the air and atmosphere around us (e.g., windy, sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy).
• Climate: The average weather over a long period.

Air Pressure and Its Effects on Weather:

• Differences between low and high-pressure systems.
• How air pressure influences weather patterns.
• The role of solar energy and the equator in pressure dynamics.

El Niño and La Niña Phenomena:

• El Niño: Periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, affecting global weather patterns.
• La Niña: Cooling of sea surface temperatures in the same regions.

• Global effects include changes in temperature, precipitation, and disruptions in weather patterns.Practical Applications:

  • Climate Time Machine: Students explored the color-coded progression of changing global surfaces.

  • El Niño Weather Patterns: Utilized animations and graphics to understand the phenomenon.

  • Sorting Activity: "Sort It Out: El Niño or La Niña" to reinforce understanding.

  Inquiry-Based Lab Activity:

  
  Before group work, the teacher introduced the lab, explaining each step and the purpose of materials.

  In their diverse groups, students assigned roles such as note-taker, supplies manager, team lead, and timekeeper. He outlined time allocations for the assignment, cleanup, and review. Students adhered to established lab rules, ensuring respectful collaboration within assigned groups.

• Practical Applications:

  • Climate Time Machine: Students explored the color-coded progression of changing global surfaces.

  • El Niño Weather Patterns: Utilized animations and graphics to understand the phenomenon.

  • Sorting Activity: "Sort It Out: El Niño or La Niña" to reinforce understanding.

  • Inquiry-Based Lab Activity:

  Before group work, the teacher introduced the lab, explaining each step and the purpose of materials. He outlined time allocations for the assignment, cleanup, and review. Students adhered to established lab rules, ensuring respectful collaboration within assigned groups.

  In their diverse groups, students assigned roles such as note-taker, supplies manager, team lead, and timekeeper. They used prearranged trays containing:

• A clear plastic oblong container (approximately 18"x4"x4"; smaller containers, like food containers, were acceptable).
• Water.
• Mineral oil.
• Blue food coloring.
• A hair dryer.
• Red oil-based paint (optional).

• A paper sheet map showing the Pacific Ocean.                                                      

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  Learning Objective:

• The teacher emphasized forming hypotheses based on observations and analyzing results. He reassured students that incorrect hypotheses are acceptable if they can identify why and how they were proven false, highlighting the importance of experimentation and observation.

  This approach aligns with Kopp's (2015) discussion in Chapter 5 on the role of theory in science, illustrating how theories provide frameworks for understanding relationships between scientific frameworks and initial evidence. It also underscores that initial explanations can be revised based on new, testable data, showing how theories evolve through observation.

• By the end of the activity, students were expected to explain how air pressure changes during El Niño years occur and write reflections on their findings, presenting them both orally and in writing during a large group discussion.

Five E's of Instruction Applied in the Lesson:

Engage: The teacher sparked interest by discussing real-world weather patterns (El Niño and La Niña) and their effects, encouraging students to share their thoughts.
Explore: Students investigated air pressure and weather changes through hands-on group activities, including the Climate Time Machine and the El Niño lab experiment using water, oil, and a hair dryer.
Explain: The teacher facilitated discussions where students articulated their observations and applied newly learned vocabulary, using questioning techniques to deepen understanding.
Elaborate: Students applied their knowledge by participating in sorting activities (e.g., "Sort It Out: El Niño or La Niña") and exploring animations to reinforce concepts.

Evaluate: Students wrote reflections on their findings, presented their conclusions to the class, and engaged in discussions, demonstrating their understanding of the scientific concepts.Addressing Misconceptions in Science Education:

 Our textbook stated that it is crucial to recognize that science textbooks can contain errors leading to misconceptions. Therefore, textbooks should neither be the sole nor the primary source of information in the classroom. Teachers need to first understand the science concepts they are required to teach. Then, they should become aware of common student misconceptions regarding these concepts. Teachers should also be vigilant for common errors in textbooks. Once these formative processes have taken place, teachers can build instructional plans to meet content objectives, clarify students' misunderstandings or misconceptions, and provide accurate, student-friendly informational texts to build students' content knowledge (Kopp, 2017).

Consider Lesson Objectives:

Teachers should ask, "What should the student know and/or be able to do by the end of this lesson/unit?" This question leads to identifying and writing specific learning objectives based on the science standards guiding instruction. Objectives are measurable and differ from broad, immeasurable goals. For example, while a goal might be for students to understand how plants and animals adapt to their environment, an objective would specify that students identify three desert plants or animals and provide two details explaining how each adapts to survive in the desert.

By focusing on clear objectives and being mindful of potential misconceptions, educators can enhance the effectiveness of science instruction and promote a deeper understanding of scientific concepts among students (Kopp, 2017)

Works Cited: 

Kopp, M. (2017). Exploring Migration Patterns and Economic Systems: A Classroom Approach. Journal of Social Studies Education

Science Book on Topics Textbooks Get Wrong. (2025). Science-Book.net. https://misconceptions.science-book.net/

‌University of California. (2022, April 21). Correcting misconceptions - Understanding Science. Understanding Science - How Science REALLY Works... https://undsci.berkeley.edu/for-educators/prepare-and-plan/correcting-misconceptions/

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