Lesson Overview:

This lesson introduces the expanding and condensing properties of air masses and the unequal heating of Earth as the force behind the wind. Working with principles of choreography, participants use movement skills to learn and communicate information about the structure and attributes of the atmosphere. This is lesson three in a three-part unit about the weather.

Length of Lesson:

One 45-minute period

Notes:

This lesson is particularly suitable 3-4.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• lead and follow in a mirroring exercise.
• demonstrate locomotor and axial movement that uses shaking and sustained energy.
• create meaning and relationships with body movement, shapes, and placement.
• relate shaking energy to rising, expanding air, and sustained energy to falling and condensing air.
• create a movement motif that demonstrates the movement characteristics of air masses and the wind
• create variations on a movement motif.
• create a sequence of movement that transitions between motif and variations in the ABA choreographic form.

Supplies:

• Starks, Trammel. Evening Storms. (New Age genre, containing weather sound effects)
• 300 Spectacular Sound Effects (Audio CD). Columbus, Ohio: Madacy Records, 1995.
• Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Weather: Poems (An I Can Read Book). Melanie W. Hall (ill.). New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994.
• Kennedy, Dorothy M. Make Things Fly: Selected Poems About the Wind. Sasha Meret (ill.). New York: Simon & Schuster Publishers, 1998.

Instructional Plan:

Teacher Preparation

The use of movement in the classroom can be challenging for many teachers. Unstructured movement activities can become chaotic and uncontrollable. The lessons presented in this unit offer a method for managing movement in the classroom. To use movement as a vehicle for instruction, you must acquaint students with movement concepts before integrating or introducing weather concepts. These strategies will help you structure the lesson effectively:

Define expectations:
Let the students know that you expect them to work and behave with the discipline of a dancer. Dance class is a time to focus and work with the body. Be clear that you expect the students to use and remember the space bubble, referring to one's personal space. Be sure to communicate the rewards and consequences for students' behavior.

Prepare the room:
Because a gym or large space may not be available, the movement lesson may need to take place in the classroom. Establish a routine for preparing the space (i.e., putting all the desks to the sides of the room and getting the desks back in place at the end of the lesson). Have the children rehearse and memorize the procedure.

Cues:
The more aural and visual cues you can provide for students, the better. Try to use a variety of visual cues and sounds. For example, you can use handclaps, a tambourine, a drum, an electronic keyboard, or any other number of percussive instruments. The word "freeze" is very effective for stopping a student immediately.

Spatial Arrangements:
Use different patterns in class. Have the students arrange themselves in various patterns such as lines, circles, dispersed patterns, groups, sitting, or standing.

Working with Partners:
Either pick partners for students or let them choose their own. (Younger children may have more difficulty picking their own partners.) Tell students that they are expected to work productively with their partners. If students are not working well together, change their partners. Review all of the rules of an activity before the students start working with their partners.

Time limits:
To help keep students on task, set time limits. It is especially important to give time limits when students are working with partners or in a group.

Commenting on students' work:
When you speak about a student's work, use the vocabulary of a dancer. For example, "I see John in a low twisted shape," or "I see Sally in a high curved shape that reminds me of the wind." Be generous with praise and use thoughtful corrections. Remember that dance is a language and a physical skill that requires practice. Be patient. With time and instruction, the students will become adept at using movement to communicate ideas and concepts.

Introductory Movement Activity

Draw and explain to the students how a thermometer works (see Diagram 1 in the Dancing Winds Packet).

Reiterate the concept of space between the molecules as in the shrinking wall exercise. (This exercise is described in the Instructional Plan of the Sphere's Density Dance lesson.) As the mercury in the thermometer warms, it expands. As the mercury in the thermometer cools, it condenses or falls. The same is true of air.

Have the students go into the dance space. Using your hand as a visual guide, raise your hand slowly and the students slowly rise. You could also add an aural cue by playing the ascending notes of a scale on a musical instrument. Lower your hand and tell the students to sink down. Tell them they are just like a parcel of air that is warming up or cooling down. Play around with the timing, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Let the children practice with their own timing.

(Note: When you instruct the students to act like cooling particles of air, be sure to use words like "sink down" or "collapse" rather than "fall." Students tend to fall down with less control when you actually use the word "fall." Remind them that their movements should be controlled.)

Next start a mirroring exercise. All the students should turn to face you and mirror movements that you make. Later, the class will divide into partners and work as duets. As you lead the group in mirroring, tell them that you are going to use two types of movement energy: shaking (rapid and vigorous), and sustained (slow and controlled). Demonstrate both types of energy and have them mirror each.

Let the students experiment with the two energies while moving about the space. Challenge them to try unusual movements like a galloping shake or a sustained hop.

Introduce Weather Concepts

Note: Refer to the Weather on the Move Presentation as appropriate throughout this activity.

Show the students Diagram 2 in the Dancing Winds Packet and tell them that they are going to learn about what creates weather on our planet and how the wind is created.

Explain that solar energy from the sun does not heat Earth equally. Using the diagram, show them that energy traveling through the atmosphere at the equator must pass through a smaller amount of atmosphere than at the poles. Explain that when the solar energy reaches the Earth's atmosphere, it is like shaking energy—very intense—but as it passes through the atmosphere, it loses energy. The solar energy passing through at the equator does not lose as much energy as the solar energy at the poles.

Show them Diagram 3 in the Dancing Winds Packet and point out how their movements during the previous exercise mimicked the interaction between solar energy and the atmosphere. Explain that as the air from the equator rises and the air at the poles falls or collapses, it creates a cycle that becomes the wind. Once the students understand the concept that air moves in specific and characteristic ways, they can integrate these ideas into a "Wind Dance."

Wind Dance Activity

Dance is a form of communication, so students must first identify the story and/or ideas that they want to portray in their dance. Give the students a list of wind-related ideas to help them choose what their dance will be about. Listed below are some possible subjects and themes that could form the basis of a dance:

1. Scientific principles:

• Air masses rise and expand or descend and condense.
• The wind moves in a circle or cycle.
• The wind turns clockwise or counterclockwise. (See diagram 4 in the Dancing Winds Packet).
• The wind moves very fast or slowly depending on the pressure gradient.
• A combination of any of the above (e.g., counterclockwise motion that is descending and condensing like a low-pressure area).

2. Famous Winds:

• Blue norther: An Arctic cold front moving into Texas.
• Knik: A fast wind from the southwest to Palmer, Alaska.
• Kona: A southwesterly wind that interrupts the Hawaiian northeast trade winds.
• Mauka: A cool, light, Hawaiian wind descending from the mountains.
• Northeaster (also known as a Nor'easter): A strong wind associated with major storms and winter weather along on the mid-Atlantic and New England areas.
• Santa Ana: Possibly one of the most famous winds, the Santa Ana occurs in California. Descending from a high pressure in the Great Basin through the mountain passes and into the coastal areas, this wind can warm to more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit and reach speeds of up to 75 miles per hour.

3. National Weather Service Warnings:

• Gale warning: Issued by the National Weather Service when winds reach "gale force"; that is, between 32 and 54 miles per hour.
• Small Craft Warning: Issued by the National Weather Service for winds up to 32 miles per hour, which could threaten marine crafts.
• Storm/Hurricane Warnings: Issued by the National Weather Service when winds reach between 54 and 74 miles per hour.

4. Poems About the Wind

Students could base their dances on one of the poems in these collections:

• Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Weather: Poems (An I Can Read Book). Melanie W. Hall (ill.). New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994.
• Kennedy, Dorothy M. Make Things Fly: Selected Poems About the Wind. Sasha Meret (ill.). New York: Simon & Schuster Publishers, 1998.

Once the students have decided on a subject, they need to identify the "Who, what, where, how, when, and why?" of their stories. Have them answer these questions:

1. What do I want to communicate to my audience with movement?

2. What story I am telling?

3. What are the unique qualities of the subject?

4. What makes my subject different from everything else?

Once they have answered these questions, the students should create a movement motif or phrase that communicates the chosen idea. For example, if a student is communicating the theme of a high-pressure system, he or she could mimic the movement of the wind, rotating clockwise in a rising, expanding motion. Since high-pressure systems are also associated with clear skies, the student might also want to communicate how one feels when the sun is shining and the weather is clear.

The phrase should be 20 to 60 seconds long and as simple or complex as each student wishes, but make sure that the movements are safe and physically feasible. Parts of the phrase can be repeated within the body of the phrase. Students should memorize their phrases and practice performing them.

The phrase can now be extended and developed through manipulating the elements of dance. Using their understanding of the elements and sub-elements of dance, students should create variations on the original phrase. For example, they could decide to change the element of time and perform the variation phrase much slower than the original. They could also change the sub-element of level, or possibly, they could combine both changes in time and level. The possible variations are endless.

Decide on how the original phrase and the variations should be combined together. The classical ABA format works well with this exercise, with "A" being the original phrase and "B" the variation phrase. Ask the students to perform their work.

Assessment:

See the Dancing Winds Rubric/Checklist (Page 4 in the Dancing Winds Packet).

Extensions:

The "Wind Dances" that the students create can be embellished and developed into more elaborate theatrical productions with:

• Costumes: Create costumes that combine cloud shapes with movements of the wind.
• Sets: Add set pieces or backgrounds to a presentation about the weather.
• Music selections: Students can either create their own music or find weather sound effects. (See the list of suggested recordings in "other materials.")

Weather map re-creation: The students can re-create a current weather map. Using the weather symbols as motifs, the students create shapes and movements that represent various facets of the weather map. Once they create the motifs, they can present them as a tableaux or the tableaus can be put into motion.

Sources:

Print:

• Landalf, Helen. Teaching Earth Science through Movement 3-6 (Young Actors Series). Mary Gerke (ill.). New York: Smith & Kraus, 1987.
• Joyce, Mary. First Steps in Teaching Creative Dance to Children. New York: Mayfield Publishing, 1980.

Authors:

• Harlan Brownlee, Teacher
  KCM
  Kansas City, MO