8-12 Lesson 3

Sunrise...Sunset - Bilingual Telemation Unit

8-12 Lesson 3:
The Weather Page

Concept:

The change in times for sunrise and sunset are predictable within the seasons.

The Scientific Investigation:

How can the weather page be used to predict the time of sunrise and sunset (daylength), and other important variables related to weather, tides, air pollution, and other matters?

Purpose:

This activity is designed to acquaint the student with information contained on the "weather page" in the local newspaper. This information can be used to illustrate how our society "sees" and "reports" systematic daily changes in our environment. Students should organize the information into various systematic structures through which they can compare and contrast the numbers and graphs contained in this page of the newspaper. Students are to compare published local sunrise times across the same time zone and see how they change with both north to south separation, and east to west separation.

Materials:

Daily newspaper weather page

Procedure:

Select other schools, preferably far removed in terms of latitude, with which your class will cooperate in this investigation.
Find the section of the newspaper that reports the times for sunrise and sunset. What other information is found on this page of the newspaper?
Construct a chart of "date" versus "time" of sunrise and/or sunset. Telecompute the data in this chart with the other schools with which you are cooperating in this investigation. Include the information outlined below (see student data sheet, Spanish):
1. Teachers Name
2. Date
3. School Name
4. City
5. Latitude
6. State
7. Dates of newspapers used in the investigation
8. Times for sunrises
9. Times for sunsets
Construct a graph of the "date" versus "time" of sunrise and/or sunset. This graph should represent times for sunrise/sunsets over a period of several weeks to a month. Each student should graph weekly results on graph paper. The x-axis should represent the dates, and the y-axis should record the time.

Assessment:

Scientists work in a very methodical fashion. Maintaining accurate records of observations and measurements is a key component in this systematic method. Every student should keep accurate chronological records, possibly in a scientific investigation journal or science lab book, of everything done in the investigation. These notes should be placed within each student's portfolio for assessment purposes.

Resources for basic information are essential to scientific investigations. Many of these resources are available to the general public and contain lots of information on a variety of subjects. The U. S. Geological Survey, Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, and others contain a wealth of basic information. In many ways the weather page is a one page microcosm of some of the kinds of information contained in these more basic research resources. What information did the student find useful which was in common with students in other schools cooperating in investigations? The students should include documentation of the type of information which they have found useful on the weather page in their portfolio.

Assessment of the quality of the student's work should respond to a rubric. This assessment tool describes how the level of involvement and completeness of a student's work will be related to the evaluation he/she will receive for the portfolio. Refer to a sample of a rubric included at the conclusion of these lessons.

Conclusion:

How can a person use the weather page to predict the time of sunrise and sunset (daylength), and other important variables related to weather, tides, air pollution, and other matters? How do the sunrise/sunset times in the newspapers compare to the times which are actually observed by members of the class? What is happening to the amount of daylight and darkness? Is that what you would expect for this time of year? If you have graphed the times of sunrise/sunset versus calendar days, what do the graphs illustrate? How could the weather page be useful to a family which is planning their activities for the upcoming weekend? What kind of information is on the weather page which could assist your family in planning strenuous activities for periods when it would be safest? What other ASTRONOMICAL information is included on the weather page?

Extensions:

Science: Student Worksheet

Use the paper to map the phases of the Moon. Is there any relationship between these phases and the rising Sun? If the tides are reported, graph them. Is there any relationship between the tides and the sunrise and sunset? Compare the tides and the Moon. How might the movement of these celestial worlds effect the oceans here on Earth?

Mathematics:

The weather page is full of numbers. These numbers are there to help people predict important events in the future. The mathematics inherent in relationships reported on this page involve many significant ideas with which youth must become familiar if they are to take control over their future. Many activities can utilize the "weather satellite photos", maps, charts of numbers, and graphs of relationships which exist on this page of the newspaper.

Language Arts:

Communication between the participants in this investigation will be through the transmission of text files. Students should write their messages in a word processor, making corrections as necessary to clarify what they wish to send to others who are working with them on the project. The word processing file should then be saved as an ASCII file, up-loaded, and sent within the time frame of the project's schedule.

Language Development Strategies:

Communication via telecomputing requires the use of written statements. Students will be encouraged to ask people to clarify their written messages when they are not clearly communicating ideas to the other party. Through these feed-back techniques, students will learn how to more effectively and clearly communicate to people with whom they are not able to explain themselves and their message as people are able to do in person or on the telephone.

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