Patty Dianto

Boxing up the Weather

Reflection

Fourth grade students were asked to design and construct a weather

station including specific instruments. Students worked in groups of four to
five. Prior to coming to the STEM lab, students had background knowledge on
various weather instruments and their uses. The instruments were rain gage,
anemometer, barometer, and wind vane. The final product had to contain a
how to guide on the use of each instrument. Students had to follow a
checklist for self-assessment allowing each group to assess their own work.
Some students struggled to understand how each instrument works to
collect weather data. That information was given to the classroom teacher
because class time in the STEM lab is very limited. The finished products
were taken back to the classroom with teachers to use to collect weather
data with their students. However, not all teachers followed up with using
the instruments. Students were grouped randomly according to their apron
color they were given upon entering the lab. Most students worked well
together and were able to solve problems as a group without my
intervention. One group needed some guidance to keep them from arguing
over who will do what job for the group. That was easily solved by assigning
group roles. Next year, I would like to plan more time for remediation and the
actual use of the instruments to collect weather data.