Title: The Weather Detectives by Mark Eubank.

• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Publication date: April 16, 2004
• This book is about three young children who play the role of weather detectives. They explore Mars, then head to Earth where they find themselves in extreme weather conditions, such as in tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. Something I like about this book is that it delivers the message of weather safety in a kid-friendly and engaging way. For instance, there are illustrations in addition to relatable characters in which students can connect to, as they are around the age of 10 years old. I also find that the book is well organized into sections and chapters, which makes a nice and easy read. As for the content students will learn throughout the book, they will “…learn how Earth’s atmosphere makes weather with the water cycle, clouds, wind, rain, and snow. (Page 5).”  In addition to this, there are various facts throughout the book about weather safety and also about weather, such the sun, clouds, rain, snow, wind, etc. and how all of these types of weather work and how to stay safe in these types of weather. As you can see on one of the excerpts below, there is an  “Experiment” section on the page. This could tie into science as students could do this hands on activity when learning about the layers of the earth’s atmosphere.

Core integration:

• As stated briefly in the above section, a core topic in which I can integrate this book to would be science. The topic of weather safety is one which ties in greatly to science because in the intermediate grades, students are learning about weather systems. For instance, in 5th grade, the concept of evaporation is taught, which can be tied into rain, which then connects to staying safe in rainy weather, such as when floods may occur. In addition, the book covers the topic of the Earth’s atmosphere and the weather layers of the earth. There are experiments and activities listed in the book that tie directly into this that students can take part in. For example, one of the activities has to do with looking at the skin of an apple and determining how thick the layer of the skin is compared to the inside of the apple. This activity allows students to have a visual of how thin the Earth’s weather layer is compared to the rest of the Earth. This could be tied into weather safety with talking about the Earth’s atmosphere and the sun, and how it is important to wear sunscreen to protect ourselves from the sun.

Some questions I could ask students could be:

– “What would you do in a situation like Bryan, Olivia, and Randy, and had to deal with dumping rain and flooding?”

-”What are the similarities and differences between Venus, Mars, and Earth’s weather? Do you think the same weather safety rules that we follow here would apply to the other planets? If so, how?”

-”What do you think would happen if we had no protection from the sun? What are some steps we could take to stay safe in sunny weather?”

Standards:

-NGSS: 5-ESS2-1 Earth’s Systems:

Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

-NHES 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.

-S1.5.11: Identify safety precautions for playing and working outdoors in different kinds of weather and climates.

• • • • HBO 3: Use safety equipment appropriately and correctly.
      • HBO 4: Apply safety rules and procedures to avoid risky behaviors and injuries.
      • HBO 5: Avoid safety hazards in the home and in the community.
      • HBO 6: Recognize and avoid dangerous surroundings.
      • HBO 8: Support others to avoid risky behaviors and be safe.