Grade 6 Lesson plan
Why Halbeck Stays Dry: Modeling Wind Over Dalerift Ridge
A grade 6 science lesson in which students build and use a cross-section model to explain why a fictional coast town is wet and a town past the ridge is dry.
NGSS · Middle School (6–8)
MS-ESS2-6 Model how heating and rotation drive atmospheric and ocean circulation
Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
Clarification statement: Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlight-driven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds; emphasis of ocean circulation is on the transfer of heat by the global ocean convection cycle, which is constrained by the Coriolis effect and the outlines of continents. Examples of models can be diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.
Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.
Why water teaches this standard well
Ocean circulation is a water system, and it decides which regions get reliable rain and which face chronic drought. Modeling how currents and prevailing winds set regional climate helps students explain why water is abundant in some places and scarce enough to fight over in others.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , including its clarification statement and assessment boundary, and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
2 materials aligned to MS-ESS2-6
Lesson plans
Writing prompts
Grade 8 Writing prompt
Why Port Aubrey Gets Rain and Sennick Valley Does Not
A grade 8 science explanatory writing prompt on prevailing winds, a coastal current, and a mountain range that leave two fictional towns with very different supplies.