Primary Type: Lesson Plan
Status: Published
This is a resource from CPALMS (www.cpalms.org) where all educators go for bright ideas!
Resource ID#: 130092
Climates of Coastal versus Inland Cities
This lesson challenges students to compare the climates of two cities, one coastal and one inland, that are located at the same latitude. Students
will create illustrated posters that will be analyzed by the class during a gallery walk.
Subject(s): Science
Grade Level(s): 9, 10
Intended Audience: Educators
Suggested Technology: LCD Projector, Overhead
Projector
Instructional Time: 1 Hour(s) 50 Minute(s)
Keywords: weather, climate, high specific heat
Resource Collection: FCR-STEMLearn Earth Systems
ATTACHMENTS
WeathervsClimateImages.pptx
CityClimateResearchOrganizer.docx
VennDiagramCoastalvsInlandCity.pptx
MakingAClimatePosterRubric.docx
CriteriaforGalleryWalk.docx
LESSON CONTENT
Lesson Plan Template: General Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?
Students will be able to display data and explain how proximity to a large water source has an impact on climate.
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?
Students should know that climate is the average weather of a place over many year and that it may also be influenced by nearby oceans or mountains.
Weather are conditions that are currently occurring.
Energy from the sun heats the land and ocean.
Convection is the cycling of warm air rising and cool air sinking.
Students should have background knowledge on the properties of water (SC.912.L.18.12)
cohesive behavior
ability to moderate temperature
expansion upon freezing
versatility as a solvent
hydrogen bonding and polarity
Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?
How does water's ability to moderate temperature affect the earth's climate?
Is there a correlation between coastal temperatures and inland temperatures?
page 1 of 4 Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?
Think Pair Share:
In a Think/Pair/Share, students will think independently about the questions posed and form their own ideas. Students will then pair with another student to discuss
their thoughts to the questions. Finally, pairs of students will share their ideas with the whole class during a whole-group discussion.
The teacher will show students the locations of Richmond, Virginia (Coastal) and Topeka, Kansas (Inland) on a map and point out that these cities lie along the
same latitude.
Students will Think about similarities and differences between these two cities, Richmond and Topeka.
Students will then Pair with a shoulder partner to discuss what they thought.
The teacher will ask students to Share their thoughts, and will then provide additional information to address gaps in knowledge as needed. For example: If the
students don't mention differences in weather or climate, the teacher should ask about this during the sharing of thoughts.
YouTube Video:
Tell students that they will watch a video, and that while they are watching, they should think about the answers to the following questions:
What is the property of water that gives it the ability to stabilize coastal temperatures?
How is the range of temperatures experienced by a city affected by its proximity to water?
Play students the YouTube video "Large Bodies of Water Effect on Climate" by SpartanEarthScience. Be sure to load the video in advance to play through any ads
before class or load the video through a service such as ViewPure.
After students have watched the video, return to the questions.
"What is the property of water that gives it the ability to stabilize coastal temperatures?" - Student responses should include that because of its high specific heat
water takes a relatively long time to heat up, but it retains or holds the heat for a relatively long time.
"How is the range of temperatures experienced by a city affected by its proximity to water?" - Student responses should include higher temperature ranges for
inland cities and lower temperature ranges for coastal cities.
Climate vs Weather:
The teacher will display the weather vs. climate images and use them to review the difference between weather and climate. Weather is what is happening now or
soon. It's raining and windy today, or will be tomorrow. Climate is an accumulation of weather data over a long period of time. Miami's climate is tropical, so we know
that means it tends to be hot, humid, and rainy.
Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?
Students will be placed in groups of three with heterogeneous learning levels to complete the remaining assignments.
Research:
Using a map, students will select two cities that lie along the same latitude line. One city should be inland and the other near the coast. The teacher will provide
students with the attached City Climate Research Organizer to guide their research.
Students will conduct climate research using the Internet. If they choose cities in the US, the 1981-2000 US Climate Normals data from the National Centers for
Environmental Information is a good, ad-free source.
Venn Diagram:
Using their completed City Climate Research Organizers, students will complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the climates of their inland and coastal
cities. The teacher may provide copies of the attached Venn diagram or have the students draw one on a sheet of paper or in a science notebook.
On the back of the Venn diagram, students will brainstorm about climate and the properties of water. In order to help facilitate the brainstorming activity, the teacher
could pose the following question to guide the students' thinking: "What special properties of water can you think of that can influence the climate of a city?"
Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the
lesson?
Two Cities Climate Posters:
Using the information from the completed City Climate Research Organizer and the attached Criteria for Gallery Walk, students will complete a poster that compares
the climates of their two cities. A Climate Poster Rubric has been provided to guide students through the requirements for the poster.
The poster should include the following:
Some kind of illustrations to represent the two cities
Average temperature for both cities for winter and summer
Completed data table
A graph to show a difference between the two cities
A written explanation of the data to explain thoroughly how the proximity to the ocean can affect climate
Arrows to indicate weather heat is being stored or reflected back into the atmosphere
Poster Gallery Walk:
The instructor will ask the students to hang their two cities climate posters around the room (or a hallway). Give students five Post-Its and some sentence starter
templates to help them offer different kinds of positive and constructive feedback. For example:
"My favorite part was _________ because __________."
A suggestion I can offer for improvement is ___________.
Student groups will circulate around the room, leaving a positive comment and a constructive criticism on each of the other groups' posters. The instructor will
circulate and provide any necessary corrections or feedback to the student groups as they add post-it notes to the posters.
After all groups have had a chance to connect their post-its during the gallery walk, the instructor will review the post-its with the class as a whole group discussion.
For more information on how to use a gallary walk, see the article at The Teacher Toolkit.
page 2 of 4 Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?
For the closure of the lesson, students will complete a Fishbowl activity to identify and clarify any remaining misconceptions about the ocean's effect on regional
climates.
Each student will take out a small piece of paper anonymously write down a question related to something they did not understand about the lesson.
The teacher will collect the papers and mix them up in a bowl.
The teacher will have each student draw a question out of the bowl, read it out loud, and try to answer it.
If a student is unable to properly answer a question from the fishbowl, the teacher can interject and guide the student to the correct the answer.
The teacher will bring the fishbowl activity to a close once all of the questions from the bowl are answered.
Summative Assessment
Students will create a diagram on poster board that illustrates the contrasting climates of two different cities, one coastal and one inland. The diagram should also
show the differences in climate between the winters and summer periods for each city. For the coastal city, the diagram should show heat energy being transferred
from a body of water in the winter months and retention of heat during the summer months. Students will conduct a Gallery Walk to assess each others' posters. A
rubric for evaluating student work is attached.
Formative Assessment
Think/Pair/Share to assess if students understand that the climates of cites on the same latitude can be very different
A Venn diagram will be used to assess student understanding of the similarities and differences between a coastal and inland city located along the same latitude.
On the back of the Venn diagram, they will brainstorm about Climate and properties of water. In order to help facilitate the brainstorming activity the teacher will
ask, "What special properties of water can you think of that can have an influence on the climate of an environment?"
Students will answer questions about the properties of water and temperature after viewing a video on how large bodies of water affect climate, students will
answer the following questions:
Weather vs. Climate images are used to assess it students understand the difference between weather and climate.
Completion of the City Climate Research Organizer
Feedback to Students
As the teacher circulates the room asking formative questions, the teacher should be providing specific constructive feedback for the students' responses. For
example:
The teacher asks "Where would you move if you wanted to experience a milder climate fluctuation?" The student responds with "I would go to Miami."
The teacher provides feedback by stating "It is correct that you can go to Miami. You could also move to another city near a coastal area such as Daytona, Panama
City, or Los Angeles."
Students will also receive feedback from peers and the instructor on their Gallery Walk.
During the gallery walk, students will be providing feedback about areas that need improvement without criticizing the person/group. Feedback should be done in a
kind but analytical way.
Model this for students and ask them to try it. Show examples of vague feedback ("This should be more interesting") and clear feedback ("A description of the main
character would help me to imagine him/her better") and have students point out which kind of feedback is most useful.
ACCOMMODATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Accommodations:
Highlight important ideas and tell students to read them first.
Provide an overview of the content at the beginning of the lesson. Introduce new vocabulary before the lesson.
Keep students involved by encouraging them to ask questions or by breaking up the lecture with small group activities or discussion.
Identify the main steps or key components of the information.
Write important ideas on the board. Use colored chalk or markers for emphasis.
Give students copies of lecture notes.
Let students use a tape recorder to record lectures and class discussions
Allow extra time to complete tasks as needed.
Extensions:
Students could monitor and research cities in other countries that are coastal and inland to see if the same observations can be made.
Suggested Technology: LCD Projector, Overhead Projector
Special Materials Needed:
Poster paper
Markers
Magazines to cut out illustrations
Post-it notes
SOURCE AND ACCESS INFORMATION
Contributed by: La'Qwan Chess
Name of Author/Source: La’Qwan Chess
District/Organization of Contributor(s): Miami-Dade
Access Privileges: Public
License: CPALMS License - no distribution - non commercial
page 3 of 4 Related Standards
Name
Description
Summarize the conditions that contribute to the climate of a geographic area, including the relationships to lakes and
oceans.
SC.912.E.7.4:
Remarks/Examples:
Describe how latitude, altitude, topography, prevailing winds, proximity to large bodies of water, vegetation and
ocean currents determine the climate of a geographic area.
page 4 of 4