OBJECTIVES:
The student should be able to:
• Analyze how imbalances in heating of Earth’s surface create weather events. (ESS-GLE- 1, 3, 4, 5) Analysis
• Model the flow of energy during the processes of the water cycle. (ESS-GLE-2) Synthesis
• Evaluate model of the formation of a hurricane. (ESS-GLE-2,3) Evaluation
• Create and perform improvised movements to choreograph atmospheric events culminating in a hurricane. (NS-1 through 4, Dance, 9-12) Synthesis
TIME: 90 minute class period
MATERIALS
Tornado chamber and accessories from a previous laboratory. (Appendix C)
Various props to illustrate weather events such as wind, rain, lightning, and thunder: streamers, fabric
SUMMARY:
This activity is designed to integrate earth science with the performing arts in an effort to encourage students to tap into their personal creative processes to enhance the ability to perceive, interpret, understand, and evaluate stimuli, not only in science but across the curriculum. Students should have previously been introduced to atmospheric properties, meteorology, and elements of severe weather. This activity will serve as part of a closing review of Unit 3- The Atmosphere.
INTRODUCTION/PREPARATION/ANTICIPATORY SET:
Using the tornado chamber for demonstration: As the water in the pan heats, students are to be questioned methods of energy transfer (conduction, convection, and radiation). Continue questions leading into water cycle (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation), as related to weather as cloud becomes visible in chamber. Alternative: Use a beaker of boiling water to discuss the 3 methods of energy transfer. Convection can be visible by dropping hole-punch paper dots into the beaker. (3 min= 3/90)
“The last week, we have been investigating Earth’s atmosphere and the weather events associated with it and the movement of energy received from the Sun. Today’s class will have a bit of a “twist” because I want you to get UP and show me that you have a true idea of the mechanisms of weather. Let’s MOVE! Just get up and start walking around. Mix up your directions. Speed up your pace. Change your direction. Slow down. Speed up. Stop! What’s the difference between stop and freeze?” (Expected student reply should include stopping means no longer moving in a direction, whereas freezing will include no movement at all. “Let’s do it again. (5 min= 8/90)
ACTIVITY:
Teaching/Modeling: Using the Powerpoint, or overhead projector, to review the major topics of atmospheric phenomena (Appendix A) along with elements of dance/movement (Appendix B).
Students will be paired to learn introductory mechanics of movement. Each pair will be guided into performing the basic mechanics of dance movement beginning with:
Guided Practice: Facing your partner, put your right hand forward so that you are palm to palm with your partner. Now push against partner’s hand, demonstrate “resistance” to the movement. Next, as one person adds the force by pushing, the other is to go with the force in a controlled, slow motion of give-and-take. Alternate this movement in a back-and-forth partnership. (3 min= 11/90)
Grasping your partners hand, raise one leg off the floor. Again, demonstrate the push-pull exercise but maintain your balance by using your other arm, extended leg, and partner’s resistance to maintain your balance as you develop a back-and-forth rhythm. Extend this exercise by adding some type of twisting motion either with the head, trunk of the body, or limbs. (5 min= 16/90)
Continuing with the give-and-take pattern of movements practiced, guide the students through a review of areas of high and low pressure and have students use the previous movement exercises to demonstrate low pressure areas of convergence air and high pressure areas of divergence by using the previous motions by adding variations in levels of height. (Students will likely demonstrate low body positions at low pressure areas, upon reaching area of convergence, rise as forces come together, at top rising column of “air” the divergence at the upper level high. (5 min= 21/90)
Lead students through a review of how wind is formed as air moves from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. Guide students through discussion of convection cells and how they occur. Group students in rows to demonstrate global wind patters and convection cells as they occur beginning at the equator with rising air, sinking at the mid latitudes, rising again, and sinking again at the poles. Questioning which zone as the doldrums, trade winds, prevailing westerlies, polar easterlies. (10 min= 31/90)
Independent Practice: Students will be divided into two groups demonstrate each type local winds (sea breeze/land breeze). Groups will be given time to come with a “performance.” Each group will be given “center stage” to act out the assignment. After each performance, the students will be questioned to justify the choice of actions used in the model. All justifications should ultimately include reference to the methods of energy transfer, albedo of the earth’s surface, and connection to movement of energy in the atmosphere. (15 min= 46/90)
Students will be guided in a review of the water cycle.
Guided Practice: Guided questions will lead students through the process of removing water from earth’s surface to the atmosphere and moved back along the surface again. Students will next be introduced into other patterns of rhythm by explaining that the pattern used in the last exercise of convection cells is known as palindrome. Students will be provided with notes on various rhythmic patterns of movement. (10 min= 56/90)
Independent Practice: Students will now be grouped into fours and fives. Each group will be responsible for developing a model of the water cycle by using a minimum of three of the rhythm patterns discussed. Students will be expected to demonstrate the absorption of release of energy throughout the various stages of the water cycle. (Expected movements will include changes in speed of movements as energy is released/faster movements and absorbed/slower movements. (15 min= 71/90)
Students will demonstrate the various elements of weather that culminate into a hurricane.
Independent Practice: Students will be divided into groups assigned as rain (drizzle-downpour-hail), wind/tornado formation, thunder/lightning, and flooding/storm surge. Groups will allowed to separate and develop performance using the previously discussed mechanisms of movements, as well as improvisations to illustrate the various elements of weather. Each group will perform their theme to be evaluated and critiqued by the other groups. (10 min= 81/90)
A student/group of students will act as narrator describing the formation of a hurricane. Students will be allowed time to revise their performances as necessary. All groups are to improvise a mass performance of each element culminating into a hurricane, ending performance with the receding of the storm surge. (5 min= 90/90)
Closure: –- 5 minutes = 86/90
Students will write a reflection, to be collected before dismissal, on the activity addressing its relevance to the unit exam and their opinion of the effectiveness of the activity. Comments may be shared in large group discussion if time permits.
EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT:
Student participation in performance and discussion will be graded by rubric. (Appendix C))
ART CONTENT/CONCEPTS:
NS Dance-1 Performing Art: Basic elements movement and rhythms
NS Dance-2 Create and perform combinations and variations in a broad dynamic range.
NS Dance-3 Use improvisation to generate movement for choreography.
NS Dance-4 Create a performance and revising it, articulating the reasons for the artistic decisions.
COMPREHENSIVE
CURRICULUM, GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONS AND STANDARDS/BENCHMARKS:
Louisiana Grade Level Expectations for Unit 3: The Atmosphere
GLE-SI-7 Choose appropriate models to explain scientific knowledge or experimental results (e.g., objects, mathematical relationships, plans, schemes, examples, role-playing, computer simulations). (SI-H-A4)
GLE-ESS-1 Describe what happens to the solar energy received by Earth every day. (ESS-H-A1)
GLE-ESS-2 Trace the flow of heat energy through the processes in the water cycle. (ESS-H-A1)
GLE-ESS-3 Describe the effect of natural insulation on energy transfer in a closed system. (ESS-H-A1)
GLE-ESS-4 Describe the relationship between seasonal changes in the angle of incoming solar radiation and its consequences to Earth’s temperature (e.g., direct vs. slanted rays) (ESS-H-A2)
GLE-ESS-7 Analyze how radiant heat from the Sun is absorbed and transmitted by several different Earth materials (ESS-H-A5)
MODIFICATIONS | ACCOMODATIONS:
none listed
TEACHER'S REFLECTION:
I would like to try this activity again in the future but I definitely need more room. The class was small due to a number of field trips and absences and it was still a tight fit. I would do it perhaps outside or in the auditorium, even, to give the students a more of a feel of “performance.” The students actually became enthusiastic about the activity. At first, they thought I’d lost my mind, especially at 7:45 am. It was difficult to review the information with the class and video at the same time. I think that I would like to extend the lesson into another unit that also uses convection. According to the student feedback, the movement and changing of body positions actually helped them to understand the elements better. I think that it could help reinforce convection cells and introduce plate tectonics. I’m planning to use the movement again during the volcano section where I hope to introduce the various patterns and rhythms used by name. I think the students will be more “receptive” to hearing about “dance techniques” by name, now that they know that they will enjoy it, and benefit from it. I also found that there are modifications that can be used in areas for students who have difficulty moving, thanks to a student who arrived with an upset stomach and was unable to move too quickly. She performed the roles of the heat source and slow moving roles such as the beginning of a breeze in the formation of wind. Immobile students could also be the centers of the eye of the hurricane since it is an area of calmness due to stable air conditions in an area of high pressure.
RESOURCES:
Glenco-McGRaw-Hill; 2002, Earth Science, Glenco Publications, pp. 271-346, Columbus, OH.
Hammerli, Angela; Nicholls State University
Louisiana State Department of Education, Earth Science Curriculum Guide,
Education of Arts Standards,2007. MENC: The National Association fro Music Education, pp. 87-96, Rowman & Littlefield Education, Lanham, MD.
Lafourche Parish School Board, August 2006. Arts Education: State and National Content & Achievement Standards, pp. 98-102.
The Tornado Project, 1999: PO Box 302, St. Johnsbury, Vermont 05819, USA
TO DOWNLOAD ALL APPENDICES FOR THIS LESSON, PLEASE CLICK HERE
TO DOWNLOAD SAMPLE VIDEOS FROM THIS LESSON, PLEASE CLICK HERE (PLEASE BE PATIENT WHILE THESE FILES DOWNLOAD)
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