Weather
Types of Language:
* Weather Forecasts
* Folklore
* Discussion; Scientific Discussion
1. LISTENING: lyrics to song; with cue cards displayed showing basic words &
phrases
2. INTERLUDE: Discussion of "BASIC VOCABULARY" and
"VOCABULARY;" review phrases that predict, or attempt to predict the
weather, or forecast doom
3. REPEAT LISTENING to song; students can sing along if they like
4. READ ALOUD WEATHER FORECASTS: students read aloud brief online Weather
Forecasts--for their local area--at the online "Farmer's Almanac"
(http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/index.php ; this site can be customized
for the local area, & includes the Almanac's original forecast for the
month, made at the beginning of the year); at weather.com (http://www.weather.com
; this site has the local weather forecast for all over the U.S. and for major
world cities); or perhaps at http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/ (map with
forecasts for major cities); see also the NOAA site (U.S. weather).
Do students agree with the predictions? What weather do they predict for
tonight? Tomorrow? How do they predict it?
(See also: Anastasia Kusterbeck, "The Art, Science, and Accident of
Predicting the Weather"
http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predict.php );
As students try to tie predictions/explanations together in their discourse, go
over "GRAMMAR: cause-effect relationships & if-then statements;"
also review of "theme-rheme."
5.WEATHER FORECASTING & MORE VOCABULARY: Teacher'students read aloud
proverbs & information about weather forecasting at http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predictforecasts.php,
introducing appropriate vocabulary in "MORE VOCABULARY" ("Words
that Paint Pictures" and "Weather Words")
6. DISCUSSION: proverbs/signs that predict the weather (at http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predictforecasts.php
)
Can anyone list other weather signs/proverbs?
Are there similar proverbs in the students' language(s)? (if so, jot down,
translate, indicate which English proverb each is similar to; make sure to note
the forecasting method used in the two proverbs, and to compare the imagery)
7. DISCUSSION: "The Moon and Weather in Metaphors": the
images/metaphors used in moon-weather proverbs ("MORE MOON PROVERBS");
continue working with the vocabulary at "MORE VOCABULARY."
Compare the farmer's Almanac proverb, the Almanac--"Ring around the
moon? Rain real soon" with other weather proverbs focusing on the moon
(for example, those in "Weather Almanac for February 2008: WATCHING THE
SKY: WEATHER LORE" in "The Weather Doctor"; http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/doctor.htm).
Are these the same proverbs? How are the images different in each?
(What about the language in these proverbs? How is it different than the language in everyday conversations, in the language you use on the telephone? What accounts for the differences?)
8. INTERLUDE: Go Over "MORE MOON VOCABULARY; also "GRAMMAR: -ing
words"
9. MORE ON THE MOON: the Moon and the Seasons, the Moon and the Harvest
Discuss "Names of the Moon for the North Hemisphere"
(In Xavier de Hekate's :Names of the Moon" http://www.druidsfoot.com/archive/index.php/t-2656.html)
What are names for the various full moons in students' languages; how are these
related to the seasons? And how might the seaons be related to the weather?
Discuss "Planting by the Moon" and "Observations of the
Maori" (1rst 4 paragraphs of the latter) in Ken Ring's "Predicting the
Weather by the Moon": (http://www.gothicimage.co.uk/weathermoon.html). It
takes about a month for the moon to go through all the constellations; does
anyone know anything about these monthly patterns for crops?
10. DESCRIPTION--PRACTICE WITH PARTNER: "Using Words to Paint Pictures of
Weather Phenomena"
Students look at pictures of weather events and signs;
as they view the images, students decide what each looks like--what other images
does each photograph call to mind? Students brainstorm (as a class) words for
images that might describe the various weather phenomena.
Students practice with a partner: use images to describe the weather phenomena
in the pictures.
Review of theme-rheme as stuents try to build descriptions.
11-12. SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITIES
11.DISCUSSION with READING: The History of Weather Prediction
Discuss history of weather prediction after reading together, "Discovering
Predictable Patterns" in Ken Ring's "Predicting the Weather by the
Moon": (http://www.gothicimage.co.uk/weathermoon.html):
12. FREE DISCUSSION: Weather Disasters, incl. Discussion of Hurricane Katrina
LINKS to guide discussion
Time Magazine. (August, 2007; retrieved online 2008). ":Hurricane Katrina
Survivors and Heroes: Portraits by Chris Usher: From the Book, 'One of
Us.'"
Time Magazine. (August, 2007; retrieved onine 2008). "Broken City:
Photographer Kadir Van Lohuizen witnesses the sorrow of New Orleans."
Wikipedia. (Retrieved online 2008). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans
13. FREE DISCUSSION: Cloud Seeding: for Good or Ill
Even the economic giants,
must get their water from the heavens.
--from Senryu : haiku reflections of the times; first ed.; selected by Bito Sanryu ; translated by Matthew Spellman ; illustrated by Anthony Owsley (Eiyaku jiji senryu) (Atlanta : Mangajin, 1997).
BASIC VOCABULARY:
bad moon on the rise
on the wane
(here 'on the' can be loosely translated as "about to" "hovering
on [the horizon]")
VERSUS
on the run
on the prowel
on the move
bad moon rising
sun rise
sun set
moon rise
moon set
hurricanes blowing
winds blowing
storms blowing
rivers overflowing
rivers, waters flow
rivers, waters overflow
go around, go about
It's bound to { DO something } (It's sure to versus it's likely to)
( Creedence Clearwater Revival Cover )
I see the bad moon arising*
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin?**
I see bad times today
Don?t go around tonight
It?s bound to take your life
There?s a bad moon on the rise
I hear hurricanes ablowing***
I know the end is coming soon
I fear rivers over flowing
I hear the voice of rage and ruin
Don?t go around tonight
It?s bound to take your life
There?s a bad moon on the rise
Hope you got your things together
Hope you are quite prepared to die
Looks like we?re in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye+
Don?t go around tonight
It?s bound to take your life
There?s a bad moon on the rise
Don?t go around tonight
It?s bound to take your life
There?s a bad moon on the rise
(from http://www.tsrocks.com/r/rasputina_texts/bad_moon_rising.html)
____________
* arising: colloquial, folk language, "rising"
** lightnin': colloquial, folk language, "lightning"
*** ablowing: colloquial, folk language, "blowing"
+ "one eye is taken for an eye" (from the Biblical phrase,
(NOTE: this song philosophy of doom; doom is imminent (= doom is at hand)
* * *
VOCABULARY: Phrases that make predictions (used to predict the weather/dooom) in
the song:
I see
I hear
I fear
There's a bad moon on the rise
It's bound to
Looks like (we're in for . . .)
GRAMMAR: Cause-effect relationships
Because of . . .
As a result of . . .
& Conditions
(Try using google to find online examples of some of these; example, http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/10/04/if-wishes-were-iphones
; have students create examples made with weather phenomena )
If . . . then . . .
Verb tense in "If . . . then . . ." statements:
"If it rains, then we will cancel the picnic."
"If the moon had a ring, I would expect rain . . ."
If { present indicative} then { future simple}(Present Real)
If { past simple} then {conditional} (Contrary-to-fact)
If { pluperfect} then { would have + past participle } (Past unfulfilled)
MORE VOCABULARY: Words That Paint Pictures
(for http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predictforecasts.php
Farmer's Almanac, "The Art, Science, and Accident of Predicting the
Weather: Do It Yourself" includes proverbs (easier to understand) and
explanations
& & http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/doctor.htm
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2008/alm08feb.htm )
wispy
cauliflower-like
castles/towers
castles in the sky
billowy
billowy cotton
smorgasbord/
hodgepodge
chaotic sky
ice crystals
reflect light
halo
precipitation
overcast
dominating the horizon
silver shield
MORE VOCABULARY: Weather Words
(for: http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predictforecasts.php
Farmer's Almanac, "The Art, Science, and Accident of Predicting the
Weather: Do It Yourself" includes proverbs (easier to understand) and
explanations
& http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/doctor.htm
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2008/alm08feb.htm
)
dynamic weather
precipitation
deluge (noun, verb)
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/doctor.htm
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2008/alm08feb.htm
MORE MOON PROVERBS
"The moon with a circle brings water in her back."
"If the moon shows a silver shield,*
Be not afraid to reap your field:
But if she rises haloed round,
soon we'll tread on deluged ground.
____________
*A silver shield signifies a very bright moon whose light is not
diminished by intervening clouds, i.e., a clear sky. Such a night often
foretells of a sunny day ahead, which would be good for harvesting. But if the
halo is there, rain may be close behind."
MORE MOON VOCABULARY
wax, waxing
wane, waning
new moon
first quarter moon
half moon
full moon
crescent moon
GRAMMAR: -ing words
-ing present participle & its uses; also gerunds: waxing, waning, rising,
setting, planting, harvesting, raining, snowing, flowing, overflowing, flooding,
blowing, freezing
The moon waxing
The waxing moon
The moon is waxing
The planting of the crops
The flooding of the town
The overflowing rivers
DESCRIPTION--PRACTICE WITH PARTNER: "Using Words to Paint Pictures of
Weather Phenomena"
Students look at pictures of weather events and signs (Weatherpix.com's Weather
Photography; at http://www.weatherpix.com/weather_photography.htm), particularly
images of "Clouds" (http://www.weatherpix.com/g2/v/Clouds/); also
"Storms" (http://www.weatherpix.com/g2/v/Storms/);
"Tornadoes" (http://www.weatherpix.com/g2/v/Tornadoes/); and
"Lightning" (http://www.weatherpix.com/g2/v/Lightning/); also the
"Skywatch" images in the online "Farmer's Almanac" ECard
Gallery (http://www.almanac.com/ecard/index.php?action=See%20Photos&category=42&sortby=).
As they view the images, students decide what each looks like--what other images
does each photograph call to mind? Students brainstorm (as a class) words for
images that might describe the various weather phenomena.
Students practice with a partner: use images to describe the weather phenomena
in the pictures;
Supplemental Activity: Writing weather haiku: http://coe.west.asu.edu/explorer/weather/staffdevl/Weather.Haiku.html
(Arizona State University College of Education lesson)
DISCUSSION with READING: The History of Weather Prediction
Read together: "Discovering Predictable Patterns" in Ken Ring's
"Predicting the Weather by the Moon": (http://www.gothicimage.co.uk/weathermoon.html):
"The Sumerians are known to have developed writing around 3200 BC, and it
is conceivable that their recordings of trade and events also encompassed
celestial and climatic data for use in agriculture. In 3500 BC the Egyptian
communities, depending on the Nile for their prosperity, used the movements of
the stars as a guide to the annual rise and fall of the river as well as the
extent of its periodic flooding. In ancient writings we find references to the
Moon and, in the same texts, guides to seasonal changes."
QUESTIONS to guide discussion
- What are some examples of early weather predictions?
- Why was weather important?
What signs did ancient people use to predict weather?
- Try to think of more examples.
{For example, you might also ask about Biblical proverbs about the weather?
(mentioned again at Ken Ring's http://www.gothicimage.co.uk/weathermoon.html )
"Since biblical days it has been known that particular months bring
particular winds.
"Out of the south cometh the whirlwind. - Book of Job
"When ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it
cometh to pass. - St Luke
"And as Bartolomaeus Anglicus, thirteenth-century scholar, observed:
"The
North winde... purgeth and cleanseth raine, and driveth away clowdes and mistes,
and bringeth in cleerness and faire weather; and againward, for the South winde
is hot and moyst, it doth the contrary deedes: for it maketh the aire thicke and
troubly, and breedeth darknesse."
FREE DISCUSSION: Weather Disasters, incl. Discussion of Hurricane Katrina
LINKS to guide discussion
Time Magazine. (August, 2007; retrieved online 2008). ":Hurricane Katrina
Survivors and Heroes: Portraits by Chris Usher: From the Book, 'One of
Us.'"
Time Magazine. (August, 2007; retrieved onine 2008). "Broken City:
Photographer Kadir Van Lohuizen witnesses the sorrow of New Orleans."
Wikipedia. (Retrieved online 2008). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans
Anastasia Kusterbeck, "The Art, Science, and Accident of Predicting the
Weather"
http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predict.php
(See especially:
"Predicting Hurricanes: the Eyes Have It" (http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predicthurricanes.php)
"Predicting Floods: the Flash Factor" (http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predictfloods.php
)
"World-Class Weather Blunders" (http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predictblunders.php
)
Questions to Guide Discussion
- People: According to the article in Time Magazine, what kinds of people were affected by Hurricane Katrina? How did they respond? Is there any single 'unifying trait' you can pick out? Anything that helps you make a connection between all the responses of all the different people?
- Environment: How did all this damage happen in New Orleans? What things about New Orleans made it subject to flooding, for example? If you were the decision-maker, running either the EPA or FEMA or both, what would you do to prevent such a disaster in New Orleans in the future?
- Economics: Does money help at all in such a disaster? In your opinion, did people without money find it as easy to exit New Orleans as people with money? Why or why not? Did the New Orleans poor--again in your opinion--have more or less problems finding shelter after the storm? Why or why not? What sort of housing was available after the storm? At what point did the U.S. government (FEMA) help with housing? Do you remember? Finally, in your opinion again, is it harder, easier, or no different for the poor to rebuild their homes and lives in New Orleans than it is for the rich? Why do you think this?
FREE DISCUSSION: Cloud Seeding: for Good or Ill
Even the economic giants,
must get their water from the heavens.
--from Senryu : haiku reflections of the times; first ed.; selected by Bito Sanryu ; translated by Matthew Spellman ; illustrated by Anthony Owsley (Eiyaku jiji senryu) (Atlanta : Mangajin, 1997). (On occasion of U.S. cloud-seeding being associated with a drought in Japan.)
* * *
LINKS
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/
http://www.almanac.com/
Current Month's Weather Forecast
http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/index.php
Anastasia Kusterbeck, "The Art, Science, and Accident of Predicting the
Weather"
http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predict.php
(See especially:
"Predicting Hurricanes: the Eyes Have It" (http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predicthurricanes.php)
"Predicting Floods: the Flash Factor" (http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predictfloods.php
)
"World-Class Weather Blunders" (http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/predictblunders.php
)
Ken Ring's "Predicting the Weather by the Moon": (http://www.gothicimage.co.uk/weathermoon.html):
Weather.com (http://www.weather.com)
Weather Pix's Weather Photography at (http://www.weatherpix.com/weather_photography.htm)
"Sky Watch" photos in the online "Farmer's Almanac"'s ECard
Gallery( http://www.almanac.com/ecard/index.php?action=See%20Photos&category=42&sortby=
).
Writing weather haiku (Arizona State University College of Education lesson;
http://coe.west.asu.edu/explorer/weather/staffdevl/Weather.Haiku.html )