This 3rd grade science sort starts with two plain definitions: weather is what is happening outside right now or on a specific day, and climate is the usual pattern over a very long time. Students label five sentences, from a snow forecast for tomorrow to cactus plants that survive because it rarely rains. The last part turns to their own town. It supports NGSS 3-ESS2-1, and the answer key gives all five labels.
3-ESS2-1
“Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.”
The five-sentence table, where Florida's hot and humid summers and the dry desert count as climate, and the My Local Climate prompt about seasons.
Students write Weather or Climate next to five sentences in a table. The mix includes "The wind is blowing really hard today," "Florida has hot and humid summers every year," and a thunderstorm from yesterday afternoon.
Prompts ask whether the place they live has four seasons and whether it is usually hot, cold, dry, or rainy. Students draw their local climate in a box and write two sentences about it.
Lesson opener
Read the two definitions aloud and do sentence 1 together. "It is supposed to snow tomorrow" trips up students who think a forecast must be climate because it is about the future.
Home link
Send the My Local Climate box home. Families can talk about how many seasons your town really gets, and the drawings make a quick bulletin board the next day.
Quick check
Five sentences take about five minutes. Anyone who marks the cactus sentence as weather still links climate to a single day, so pull them for a short reteach.
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