Weather Math

$Weather Math book cover$

Grade 4
5 skill lessons

Math

Skill lessons

The mathematics the book carries, taught directly. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1Enough Snow for a Snow Day?
2Two-Thirds as Fast
3Half an Hour Outside
4One Mile Every Five Seconds
5What the Warm Spell Leaves

Math + reading

Math through the reading

The same book, entered through a sentence it prints. Change one word in the reading and the numbers change with it.

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Reading

Reading and language lessons

The same book read as a text. What a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how the writing is put together - no mathematics.

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Skill lessons

5 lessons on the mathematics the book carries. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1. Enough Snow for a Snow Day? Application · Carrying both ends of a stated range through an addition and comparing the result with a rule

A forecast in this book arrives in pieces: a fifth of an inch already down, two more inches by midnight, and then one to two inches an hour until three in the morning. The rule for a snow day is six inches. Because one of the pieces is a range, the answer is a range too, and it straddles the rule. Children work the least and the most the forecast allows. The work gets applied to an answer that has to be given as two numbers, because one number would be a guess.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Write down the rule (5 min)
Read the snow day rule and write the number of inches at the top of your sheet. Say how many hours that amount has to fall in.
Word preview: rule, accumulate
Normally, school officials announce a snow day when 6 inches, 15 centimeters of snow, fall in 24 hours.
2. Add the pieces that are fixed (5 min)
Read what is on the ground already and what is expected by midnight. Add those two amounts and write the total in both columns, because so far the least and the most are the same.
The local meteorologists says that as of 9.15 pm, only 0.2 inches, 0.5 centimeters, are on the ground.
By midnight, however, he predicts another 2 inches, 5.1 centimeters, will accumulate.
3. Work the range hour by hour (6 min)
Read the hourly rate and work out how many hours it runs for. Add the least it could give to your least column and the most it could give to your most column.
Word preview: per hour, range
Until about 3 o'clock AM, local residents will see 1 to 2 inches, 2.5 to 5.1 centimeters, of new snow per hour.
At 3 o'clock AM, the worst of the snowstorm will have passed.
4. Compare both ends with the rule (4 min)
Put both of your totals on the snow strip beside the six-inch mark. Say what each end means for Russ and Liz, and answer the book's question with both numbers in your sentence.
If the weather report is right, is a snow day for Russ and Liz a sure thing?

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Add the pieces that are fixed (5 min)
Add the snow already on the ground to the amount expected by midnight and write the total in both columns.
The local meteorologists says that as of 9.15 pm, only 0.2 inches, 0.5 centimeters, are on the ground.
By midnight, however, he predicts another 2 inches, 5.1 centimeters, will accumulate.
2. Compare both ends with the rule (4 min)
Place both totals on the snow strip beside the six-inch mark and say what each end means.
If the weather report is right, is a snow day for Russ and Liz a sure thing?

Three levels

Support: Drop the fifth of an inch already on the ground and work with whole inches only. Both columns, the hourly range and the comparison with the rule stay.
At Grade: The rule written, the fixed pieces added into both columns, the hourly range carried through for the right number of hours, and both ends compared with the rule in a spoken answer.
Extension: Find the hourly rate that would make the snow day certain rather than possible, and say what the least column would then read.

English learners

Adding transfers. The English that does not is the range — 1 to 2 inches per hour — which looks like two facts and is one uncertainty, and a learner may pick whichever number they read first. Keep two headed columns, least and most, and write every figure into both before moving on. Rehearsable frame: At least ____ and at most ____, and the rule is ____. Children may compute in their strongest language and then say the frame in English with both columns in view.

Materials

A two-column least-and-most sheet per pair
A pencil
A one-inch-per-square snow strip per pair
Word cards: rule, accumulate, per hour, least, most

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

2. Two-Thirds as Fast Concept · Finding two-thirds of a quantity and comparing the result with a stated threshold

The book defines a hurricane by a number — at least 74 miles per hour — states that this storm hit Naples at 120, and then says the winds will weaken to two-thirds of that. It asks whether it will still be a hurricane and never answers. Children find two-thirds of several speeds and sort each result against the threshold. The idea under it: a child sees that a definition with a number in it turns a question about weather into a comparison.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the threshold (5 min)
Read the definition of a hurricane and write the least wind speed a storm needs. Draw that number as a line across your sorting sheet.
Word preview: at least, threshold
A hurricane is a violent, spinning tropical storm with sustained or lasting wind speeds of at least 74 miles, 119 kilometers per hour.
2. Take two-thirds of the landfall speed (6 min)
Read what the storm's winds were at Naples and what the forecasters expect them to weaken to. Share the landfall speed into three equal parts, take two of them, and write the answer.
Word preview: two-thirds
Will blew into Naples winds up to 120 miles, 193 kilometers per hour.
The neurologists say winds should only be two-thirds as fast as they are now.
3. Sort it against the line (5 min)
Put your answer above or below the line on the sorting sheet and say whether the storm is still a hurricane. Then answer the book's question out loud.
Will the storm still be a hurricane by the time it reaches Tom's town?
4. Seven more storms (4 min)
Your sheet gives seven other landfall speeds. Take two-thirds of each and sort every answer against the same line. Ring the speed where the answer lands closest to it.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Take two-thirds of the landfall speed (5 min)
Share the stated landfall speed into three equal parts, take two of them, and write the answer.
Will blew into Naples winds up to 120 miles, 193 kilometers per hour.
The neurologists say winds should only be two-thirds as fast as they are now.
2. Sort it against the line (4 min)
Put the answer above or below the threshold line and say whether the storm is still a hurricane.
Will the storm still be a hurricane by the time it reaches Tom's town?

Three levels

Support: Use four speeds, all of them multiples of three, and share each into three parts with counters before taking two. The sorting against the line stays.
At Grade: The threshold drawn, two-thirds of the landfall speed found and sorted, and seven further speeds computed and sorted with the closest one ringed.
Extension: Find the slowest landfall speed that would still leave a hurricane after weakening to two-thirds, and say how you know nothing slower would do.

English learners

Sharing into three and taking two transfers. The English that does not is at least, which sets a floor while sounding like a small amount — at least 74 means 74 or more, and a learner may read it as about 74 or as less than. Draw the line on the sheet and shade everything above it while saying the phrase. Rehearsable frame: Two-thirds of ____ is ____, which is ____ than 74, so it ____ a hurricane. Children may compute in their strongest language and then say the frame in English with the sheet in front of them.

Materials

A sorting sheet per pair with a line ruled across it
An eight-row speed sheet per pair
A pencil
Word cards: at least, two-thirds, weaken, threshold

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

3. Half an Hour Outside Reasoning · Budgeting a stated limit of minutes across a chain of activities and deciding when to stop

A boy is allowed no more than half an hour outside in a wind chill that can cause frostbite in thirty minutes. The book reports each thing he does with its minutes, reminds the reader that he has to walk home too, and asks when he should say goodbye. Children add the minutes spent, subtract the walk home, and decide. The demand is the reservation: some of the budget has to be held back for a journey that has not happened yet.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Write the budget (5 min)
Read what Nick has agreed to and write the number of minutes he has. Write the time he left the house in colon notation beside it.
Word preview: no more than, budget
But Nick agrees to spend no more than half an hour outside.
Nick walks out the front door at 10.46 am.
2. Add up what he has spent (5 min)
Read the three things he has done and their minutes. Add them and write the total spent, then work out what time it is now on the clock.
He reaches his friend's house in about 3 minutes.
They spend 5 minutes making snow angels before starting their snowman.
10 minutes later, Nick remembers to check his watch.
3. Hold back the walk home (6 min)
Read the reminder about walking back. Take those minutes out of what is left before you do anything else, and say how many minutes of snowman-building that leaves.
Word preview: hold back
Hint, remember that Nick will spend about 3 minutes walking back to his house.
4. Say when he should go (4 min)
Work out the clock time at which Nick should say goodbye and set your clock to it. Answer the book's question aloud with the time and the minutes left in your sentence.
When should he say goodbye and head home?

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Add up what he has spent (5 min)
Add the minutes of the three things Nick has done and work out what time it is now.
He reaches his friend's house in about 3 minutes.
They spend 5 minutes making snow angels before starting their snowman.
10 minutes later, Nick remembers to check his watch.
2. Hold back the walk home (4 min)
Take the walk home out of what is left and say how many minutes of building that leaves.
Hint, remember that Nick will spend about 3 minutes walking back to his house.

Three levels

Support: Supply the total spent so far, so the child's work is the reservation and the finishing time. Setting the clock to the answer stays.
At Grade: The budget and the leaving time written, the minutes spent added and the current time found, the walk home held back, and the going-home time worked out and set on the clock.
Extension: Say what would happen to the answer if the walk home took five minutes instead of three, and whether he could still make snow angels.

English learners

Adding minutes transfers. The English that does not is no more than, which sets a ceiling using the words more and than that a learner has met as a comparison — it means thirty at the very most, not more than thirty. Draw the budget as thirty squares and cross them off as minutes are spent. Rehearsable frame: He has ____ minutes, he has used ____, and ____ must be kept for the walk home. Children may compute in their strongest language and then say the frame in English with the squares in front of them.

Materials

A minutes budget sheet per pair
A geared demonstration clock per pair
A pencil
Word cards: no more than, budget, hold back, left

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

4. One Mile Every Five Seconds Representation · Turning a count of seconds into a distance at a stated rate and marking it on a scale

The book gives a rule for locating a storm: sound covers a mile every five seconds, so the seconds between the flash and the bang tell you how far away the lightning is. It works one case — thirty seconds is about six miles — and leaves two. Children build a scale of miles, convert several counts of seconds, and mark each storm on it. What gets built is the scale, which is what turns a count of seconds into something a child can see closing in.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the rule and the worked case (5 min)
Read what Flash to Bang means, the speed of sound rule, and the case the book works out. Write the division you would use to get from seconds to miles.
Word preview: Flash to Bang, per
Flash to Bang refers to the time between a flash of lightning and a bang of thunder.
Sound travels roughly one mile, 1.6 kilometers, every five seconds.
So when Flash to Bang is 30 seconds, a storm is about 6 miles, 9.7 kilometers away.
2. Mark the book's own storm (5 min)
Convert the sixty-five second count into miles and mark it on your scale. Then convert the later count and mark that too, in a different colour.
Flash to Bang is 65 seconds.
3. How far did it move (6 min)
Measure the distance between your two marks on the scale and say how many miles the storm moved. Write it on your sheet beside the two counts.
4. When would the whistle go (4 min)
Read the rule about halting the game and mark the distance that matches it on your scale. Say how many more miles the storm has to travel before the whistle goes.
If Flash to Bang is 30 seconds or less, a lacrosse game is halted.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Mark the book's own storm (5 min)
Convert the sixty-five second count into miles and mark it on the scale, then do the same for the later count in another colour.
Flash to Bang is 65 seconds.
2. When would the whistle go (4 min)
Mark the halting distance on the scale and say how many more miles the storm has to travel to reach it.
If Flash to Bang is 30 seconds or less, a lacrosse game is halted.

Three levels

Support: Work with counts that are multiples of five so every conversion is a clean division. Marking the scale and finding the whistle distance stay.
At Grade: The rule written as a division, both counts converted and marked in two colours, the distance moved measured, and the whistle distance marked with the miles still to travel.
Extension: Work out the Flash to Bang count a storm would have at the whistle distance, and say what count would mean the storm was directly overhead.

English learners

Dividing and marking transfer. The English that does not is every in a rate — one mile every five seconds — which means for each and not in total, and a learner may read it as the whole journey. Step a finger along the scale one mile at a time while counting five seconds aloud for each step. Rehearsable frame: ____ seconds means ____ miles, because every five seconds is one mile. Children may convert in their strongest language and then say the frame in English with the scale in front of them.

Materials

A mile scale strip per pair, ruled and numbered to twenty
A five-row storm sheet per pair
A pencil
Word cards: Flash to Bang, every, per, scale

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

5. What the Warm Spell Leaves Fluency · Converting feet to inches and subtracting a range from a total

Half a foot of snow falls and a warm spell is expected to melt two to four inches of it. The two numbers are in different units, so the first move is a conversion, and the second is a subtraction that has to be done twice. Children convert eight snow depths from feet to inches and subtract a range from each. Practised until the conversion stops being a step to remember: a depth in feet is turned into inches before anything is taken away from it.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Turn the fall into inches (5 min)
Read what the storm produced and the reminder about feet and inches. Write the snowfall in inches and say what you multiplied.
Word preview: foot, inches
The storm produced a half foot, 15 centimeters, of snow.
Also remember that 12 inches equals 1 foot.
2. Take away the least and the most (6 min)
Read how much the warm spell should melt. Subtract the smaller amount from your total and then the larger, and write both answers.
Word preview: melt
The meteorologist says the warm-up should melt 2 to 4 inches, 5.1 to 10 centimeters, of snow.
How much will be left on the ground after that?
3. Eight more depths (5 min)
Convert each of the eight depths on your sheet from feet to inches and take the same range away from each. Ring any row where the most that could melt would leave nothing at all.
4. Check one on the ruler (4 min)
Take one row and show it on the ruler: mark the snowfall, mark what melts, and read off what is left. Say whether the ruler agrees with your arithmetic.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Turn the fall into inches (5 min)
Write the stated snowfall in inches using the book's reminder, and say what you multiplied.
The storm produced a half foot, 15 centimeters, of snow.
Also remember that 12 inches equals 1 foot.
2. Take away the least and the most (4 min)
Subtract the smaller and then the larger melt amount from the total and write both answers.
The meteorologist says the warm-up should melt 2 to 4 inches, 5.1 to 10 centimeters, of snow.

Three levels

Support: Use whole feet only — one foot, two feet — so the conversion is a straight count of twelves. Both subtractions and the ruler check stay.
At Grade: The stated fall converted and both subtractions done, eight further depths converted and reduced, the rows that would melt away entirely ringed, and one row checked on the ruler.
Extension: Find the smallest snowfall in feet that would still leave snow on the ground even if the most melted, and say what is left.

English learners

Measuring and subtracting transfer. The piece that needs teaching is that foot is both a unit and a body part, and that a half foot is said with the fraction before the unit while the answer is in a different unit entirely. Lay the ruler beside the words and point at six inches while saying half a foot. Rehearsable frame: Half a foot is ____ inches, and ____ melts, so ____ is left. Children may convert in their strongest language and then say the frame in English with the ruler in hand.

Materials

A twelve-inch ruler per child
An eight-row conversion sheet per pair, ruled for feet, inches, least left and most left
A pencil
Word cards: foot, inches, melt, left

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.