THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A METEOROLOGY ENRICHMENT PROGRAM FOR THIRD-GRADE STUDENTS AT CLINTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN CLINTON, NEW YORK

An enrichment program in meteorology consisting of two five-week sessions was designed and implemented for third-grade students at Clinton Elementary School in Clinton, New York. The curriculum was self-designed and encompassed a broad range of meteorology topics. Over its five-week period, the program covered the water cycle, extreme weather, optical phenomena, weather forecasting, and air pollution. The program utilized diverse teaching methods to engage students and to encourage their participation in the learning process. These methods included classroom demonstrations, discussions, artistic projects, group games, scientific experiments, supplemental handouts, and optional homework assignments. All activities were designed to be interactive and to inspire students to apply their learning to settings outside the classroom. Though this program was completed with third-grade students, with simple modifications it could also be implemented at the fourth-grade level. Furthermore, the general structure of the program and the concepts behind many of its interactive games and projects could be easily applied to enrichment programs focused on other geoscience topics, including paleontology, mineralogy, and planetary geology.