The Day It Didnt Snow

1
The Day It Didnt Snow

• By
• Allison Miner
• Kristi Fisler
• Tara Sparks

2

• One sunny day, Phillip, Julie,
  and Linda were walking to school.
• "Look who's parents dressed her all up today!
  Nice matching mittens and earmuffs!" Phillip said
  tauntingly to Julie.
• "Hey, my mom said she heard on the news that it
  was going to snow today," Julie retorted, "Have
  fun being cold!"
• Phillip said casually, "There's not a cloud in
  the sky. I think you're wrong,
  you'll see."
• "It's ok Julie, you're probably right. The
  weather predictions are usually correct,"
  Linda smiled as she patted Julie's
  earmuffs.

3

• As the kids entered their classroom, their
  teacher, Mrs. Martinez, heard them discussing
  their wardrobe issues.
• "Alright class, settle down and please take
  your seats. What a coincidence! I just heard
  Linda, Phillip, and Julie discussing weather
  issues. That's what we're going to talk about
  today! Mrs. Martinez began. "To help us, we have
  a special guest speaker. But first, let's talk a
  little bit about the tools we use to measure
  different elements of the weather and predict
  future weather."

4

• "Who can tell me what a barometer
  measures? Mrs. Martinez asked the class.
• "Baroms!" shouted Phillip out as the class
  laughs. "Thank you Phillip, but no. Linda, do
  you know?" Timidly, Linda responded, "Doesn't it
  measure air pressure?"
• "Very good Linda!" Mrs. Martinez exclaimed. "A
  barometer measures the air pressure in the
  atmosphere, which in turn helps us predict if
  we're going to have cold, rainy, or warm, sunny
  weather.

5

• Next, Mrs. Martinez held up another tool.
  "We all know what this is, right class?"
• The class shouted in unison "A thermometer!"
• Julie raised her hand and said confidently,
  "A thermometer measures temperature using
  mercury."
• "Thank you Julie. Can you also tell me what a
  rain gauge does?"
• Julie contemplated for a moment. "Well, it
  measures
• rain, right?"
• "Close. It measures rainfall. A rain gauge
• is like a cup with a ruler in it. As the rain
• falls, the water collects in the cup, and the
• amount of rainfall can be measured," explained
• Mrs. Martinez.

6

• "Alright class, now that we have a little
  background, I'd like to introduce you to our
  special guest speaker! This is Mr. Crocodile
  Dundee!"
• "G'day mates!" Crocodile Dundee boomed to
  the class. "Mrs. Martinez told me you were
  learning about the weather. I just returned
  from the Amazon and boy was it wet there!"
• Philip interrupted with a smirk, "Aren't you from
  Australia Mr. Dundee?"
• "I sure am my boy. But I took a trip to the
  Amazon to study the climate and how it affects
  the alligators there. I love big lizards,"
  Crocodile Dundee said with glee.
• "Oh brother," Phillip murmured to himself.

7

• Crocodile Dundee continued on. "While I was in
  the Amazon, I used the very tools you've all been
  talking about. I made my own rain gauge out
  of a glass cup and a ruler, and
  measured the barometric pressure with my
  barometer, as well as kept an eye on the
  temper- ature with my thermometer. By
  recording this and other data over about a
  month's time, I can compare it with the
  data I took last year and predict the
  weather for next year at this time. We're
  recording this data to figure out why a bunch of
  the native alligators keep dying off during this
  time of year, but thats another day's story."

8

• "Thank you Mr. Dundee for sharing that
  information with us. Good luck with the
  alligators in Australia!" Mrs. Martinez
  enthusiastically said.
• "Well ma'am, its actually crocodiles.
  Alligators in the Amazon, crocodiles in
  Australia," Crocodile Dundee corrected with a
  smile.
• "Who cares?" Phillip said rudely to Julie.
• Julie snapped back, "Be quiet Phillip! I
  think he's cool!"
• Phillip rolled his eyes.

9

• After Crocodile Dundee left, Mrs. Martinez
  surprised the kids with, "Alright class, quiz
  time! Who was paying attention?"
• ---gtQuiz the students on what a barometer,
  thermometer, and rain gauge are, and how they
  measure certain elements of the weather.

10

• "Well wasn't that fun?" Mrs. Martinez
• finished with a grin. "Ok, everybody
• get your things, we're going on a fieldtrip!
• We're going to go visit our local news station."
• "Oh goody what next? Gorillas in the news?
• Phillip said sarcastically.
• Linda softly countered, "Maybe you'll like
• this Phillip."
• "I sure doubt it," he replied.

11

• At the news station, the class
• watched as Dallas Raines, the
  head meteorologist, gave the afternoon weather
  report.
• "Aaaaaand you're off the air," the
• Head broadcast crewman informed
• Mr. Raines.
• Mr. Raines walked over to the kids sitting in
  the corner. "Hi guys! Thanks for coming! Mrs.
  Martinez tells me you've learned about some of
  the instruments used to measure the elements of
  weather. Well, I'd like to show you how we use
  that data to make predictions about the weather
  forecasts."

12

• ---gtUse example of weather surface map to teach
  students how to read a surface map.

13

• When they finished talking about the weather
  forecast and surface maps, Mr. Raines said, "Good
  job class! Now when you watch the news you can
  show your
• parents how to interpret a surface map."
• On the way home Phillip looked thoughtful.
  "That's pretty neat that meteorologists can
  predict the weather by using special tools
  he trailed off into thought.
• "That wasn't so bad after all, was it?" Linda
  said with a smile.
• Maybe not, Phillip admitted as he smiled
  back at Linda.

14

• The sun still shining brightly without a cloud in
  the sky, Phillip, Linda, and Julie walked home
  from school.
• "Ugh these mittens and earmuffs are too hot! What
  was my mom thinking?" Julie exclaimed.
• "Maybe the weather forecast was wrong?" Linda
  asked shyly.
• Phillip replied with a smirk as he walked along
  comfortably in his t-shirt, "I guess that's why
  they call them weather predictions!