LESSON TITLE: Snowstorms

LESSON OBJECTIVE: (Students will) Students will understand snowstorms and why they occur

TEACHER, GRADE and/or COURSE,LEVEL: Mr. Bordash Eight Grade Honors Science - 8 CLASSROOM MAKE-UP: Describe the grade of the class, the learning readiness of the students, and the diversity in the classroom. 24 Total Students o 14 Males 3 Black 11 White o 10 Females 1 Black 9 White

MATERIALS NEEDED: Journals Markers Computers Poster board SEATING ARRANGEMENT: 1 2 3 4 SPACE 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 SPACE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 SPACE 23 24 25 26 27 Yellow: Occupied White: Not Occupied LESSON STEPS

~fully scripted~

1. I welcome students into the classroom before the bell rings *Bell Rings* 2. Good Morning students, Copy down the warm-up and well go over it in a few minutes
Warm-Up: Can it snow at 35? Defend your answer. I give the students four minutes

Some students tell me that it cant snow at 35 because its above freezing while others tell me it can just because (not actual answer, but just because its the wup question, It has to be able to)

3. Alrighty ladies and gents, what did were some of your answers?

I put on the BrainPop (http://www.brainpop.com/science/weather/snowflakes/)

4. Wells students, I can confirm that it IS possible for snow to fall at 35 degrees. The reason behind that is that in the upper levels of the atmosphere it is below freezing. If precipitation can fall fast enough from a low-pressure system, it can generate its own cold air because of all the snowflakes that are close together. Thus, the snow will fall at 35 it just will not accumulate right away. 5. Now, were going to view a quick BrainPop on snowflakes then talk about Winter Storms 6. Now that we know what how snowflakes form, were going to take that information and use it to create presentations on different Winter Storms. In times sake, what I will do is briefly describe what a Winter Storm is, then I will assign you all into one of six groups. What you will do is, state what Storm you have, what region it impacted, its NESIS rating was, whether or not you think thats right and what the storm is most notable for. 7. Now, when we talk about Winter Storms, most people think of snowstorms and blizzards, but what exactly is a winter storm? A winter storm is a storm where there is a variety of precipitation that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form. These storms are not necessarily restricted to the

winter season, they may occur in the late fall and early spring as well. Typically, for a storm to be classified as a Winter Storm there needs to be a Winter Storm Warning in effect. 8. Now, what exactly is a Warning? For us, a Winter Storm Warning is issued when significant combination of hazardous winter weather is occurring or imminent. Significant and hazardous winter weather is defined as a combination of: 1) 5 inches or more of snow/sleet within a 12-hour period or 7 inches or more of snow/sleet within a 24-hour period AND/OR 2) Enough ice accumulation to cause damage to trees or powerlines. AND/OR 3) a life threatening or damaging combination of snow and/or ice accumulation with wind. 9. Winter Storms are rated by the National Weather Service using the NESIS system. This is scale from 1-5 with 1 being notable and 5 being extreme. 10. Im going to count you off 1 thru 6 and you will get with your group members and I will assign you your Winter Storm
I count off the students

I go around and help students as needed

11. Now get in your groups. 12. Group 1: February 5th and 6th Storm of 2010. Group 2: Ice Storms of 1994 Group 3: February 15 -17 storm of 2003. Group 4: The Superstorm of March '93. Group 5: February 18-19, 1979. Group 6: March 5-6, 2013

ASSESSMENT: Presentations on the next day.