On+the+Same+Day+in+March+Reinforcing+Activity

Reinforcing Activity: //On the Same Day in March: A Tour of the World’s Weather// by Marilyn Singer

Grade: 5

Theme: Regions and People of the Western Hemisphere Strand: Geography Topic: Spatial Thinking and Skills Content Statements: 4. Globes and other geographic tools can be used to gather, process, and report information about people, places, and environments. Cartographers decide which information to include in maps. 5. Latitude and longitude can be used to make observations about location and generalizations about climate.

Objectives: The students will be able to:
 * 1) locate a place using latitude and longitude
 * 2) make generalizations about climates and regions
 * 3) research information on a location using a computer

Allotted Time: -Two class periods of 50 minutes each

Materials Required: - //On the Same Day in March: A Tour of the World’s Weather// by Marilyn Singer -Maps of the world with latitude and longitude -Student worksheets -computer lab for research or set of classroom laptops -notebook and pencil for research

Procedure: -Read the story, //On the Same Day in March: A Tour of the World’s Weather// by Marilyn Singer to the class. -There will be a list of the seven locations from the book on the board. -The students will be given a map with latitude and longitude. The students will also be provided with a worksheet that contains four different latitudes and longitudes. They will have to use the map to determine which latitude and longitude matches with a place from the book. -After the students have completed their worksheet, they will then find the latitude and longitude of the remaining three locations from the book and research the climate of the three places. -Then the students will get in groups of three and discuss their results regarding climate. The students will be asked to make generalizations about the climate in certain areas of the world and how location on Earth affects climates in different areas. “For example, in the equatorial rain forests, it is hot and humid and it does rain at the same time every day” (Singer). -Then the groups of three will all present their generalizations about climate to the class and give examples of average rainfall, temperatures, terrain, etc. in the areas they researched. They will present these generalizations by drawing pictures on a poster size piece of paper to give the class a visual of what time of climate is there.