Jess Napolitano (she, her) has been an Elementary School teacher in Central NJ for 15 years. Her career began in Daycare and Preschool, but she has found a wonderful home teaching 3rd grade. Jess loves to bring Science and STEM into her classroom as much as possible, as she believes it's integral to our students' future success. She is trained as a Google Educator, a NatGeo Educator, Starlab Planetarium Certified, co-chairs a STEM Computer Coding Club in her building, has led several Technology PD Trainings in her district, is the Technology Liaison at her school, and has been an attendee and presenter at the NJ Science Convention throughout her career.
When Jess is not in the classroom, you will find her at a live music concert, especially the Dave Matthews Band, or spending every extra moment with her adorable and energetic twins. She is thrilled to be a small part of the S2C Mission of creating accessible Climate Change Education.
In this lesson, students find shapes in nature and discuss the seasons before applying their knowledge of both in an art project.
Inquire: Students sort and categorize the characteristics of each season.
Investigate: Students listen to a read aloud of Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak to learn about the seasons and identify shapes found in nature.
Inspire: Students make designs to show the characteristics of the seasons using geometric shapes.
In this lesson, students make predictions about, read, graph, and monitor patterns in the sky.
Inquire: Students model the movements of the Sun and Earth with a partner.
Investigate: Students listen to read aloud of The Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons and analyze data showing daylight hours across different seasons.
Inspire: Students create a sundial to monitor the Sun’s movement.