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Topic 22 — Measuring the weather — blueprint (28 September 2026)

What I need from you: 4 decisions

1

Is rain read in millimeters (the atom's unit) or in inches (US weather reports)?

EAR3-019's example says "5 mm of water collected overnight", so the gauge is drawn in mm — a number every 10 mm, a mark every 2 mm, the same counting routine as Topic 17's cylinder. A US school gauge often carries inches in tenths, which needs decimals a Grade 3 student does not have. Every rain figure and item changes if you choose inches.

My recommendation: millimeters, with "a very small unit of length" as the one coining line; the register example stands.

2

Does the strand intro go to the pipeline as its own video, ahead of this topic's intro?

you ruled on 25 Sep that each strand opens with a short video that teaches nothing. STRAND_INTRO_SCRIPT in G3T22.py is that video for Earth & Space (the weather around us, the ground under us, the sky above; a ready line and a poll). The Physics and Matter strand intros are owed and will be written to the same shape.

My recommendation: yes, one batch entry named G3-EARTH-INTRO, before G3T22-intro.

3

Does the wind vane keep four directions only?

EAR3-018's example is "a north wind". The drawn vane carries N, E, S, W and every item uses those four. Real vanes carry NE, SE, SW and NW too, and a Grade 5 STAAR item could name them.

My recommendation: four in Grade 3; eight when EAR5-012 re-enters the instruments in Grade 5.

4

Does L01 keep the sun-and-shade pair?

the reading assumes the thermometer hangs in the shade (vault: a drawn instrument's setup is said once). L01 shows two thermometers on one afternoon, 92 °F in the sun and 74 °F in the shade, with one line of why: "The sun heats the thermometer itself." It costs the article one figure and five idea lines; the script keeps only "hanging in the shade" and the rule.

My recommendation: keep — it is the one way a child puts the thermometer somewhere wrong.

Topic 22 at a glance — 6 lessons

LessonOpens onFormat
L01The thermometer measures how warm the air isHere is Caleb at the classroom window on Tuesday morning.video + article
L02The wind vane shows where the wind is fromHere is Odin on the playground.video + article
L03The rain gauge measures how much rain fellIt rained in the night.video + article
L04Write it down in a tableHere is Ivar's desk after a week of weather watching.video + article
L05Record today's weatherIt is Thursday morning.video + article
L06Find a value in the tableIt is Friday.video + article
What this topic is, in five lines

Six short lessons, one per atom, opening the Earth & Space strand. Three teach one instrument each — the thermometer measures how warm the thing it is in is (so hung in the shade, the air); the wind vane's arrow points into the wind and the letter under the point says where the wind is from; the rain gauge measures how much rain fell, in millimeters. Two teach the table — write each day's readings in its own row under labelled headings (L04), and fill today's row from the right instrument for each column (L05). The last reads a named value back (L06): find the day's row, find the column with the right heading, the box where they meet holds the value.

One running scene keeps one dataset: the class table for one school week (Mon 72 °F W 0 mm · Tue 64 N 6 · Wed 58 N 14 · Thu 66 E 2 · Fri 76 S 0). L01 reads Tuesday's 64, L03 reads Tuesday's 6 mm and Wednesday's 14, L04 writes Monday and Tuesday, L05 fills Thursday, L06 looks Wednesday and Tuesday up. Items use fresh datasets (Grandma's house, Corin's garden, the park, camp, the beach).

Every thermometer level is even (a mark every 2 °F), every rain level is even (a mark every 2 mm), every direction is one of the four letters — figures.py asserts it. The wind vane, the rain gauge and the weather table's highlight layer are this topic's new register entries; the thermometer is Topic 17's, imported; the table is Topic 2's look.

Applied without asking (rulings you have already given): hard PP100 items are typed (two of ten exemplars: one numeric, one text); every attached question stands alone with its own drawing; no option bundles a verdict with a reason; every stem a positive question; colour in figures; scene changes spoken with "let's" in the intro and never as an imperative; the intro ends on a ready line and a poll and names no lesson; three questions on the summary; the thermometer is Topic 17's drawing, Fahrenheit side, read by Topic 17's routine; a video that reads a table draws the table (L06); a weather record holds observations only (Topic 16); one lesson per atom, six lessons.

The thermometer measures how warm the air is L01

Here is Caleb at the classroom window on Tuesday morning.

He holds one hand out into the air.

'Chilly!' he says.

Rowena says it isn't chilly at all.

How warm is the air outside, really?

A hand can't give you a number.

The point, stated first

A thermometer measures how warm the air or the liquid around it is.

The thermometer outside hangs in the air, so it measures how warm the air is.

It reads 64 °F.

A thermometer in a mug of milk measures the milk, not the air.

The weather thermometer hangs outside, in the shade.

Video: the level line and the count 62, 64; the three cards in turn (outside, classroom, milk) — video and article.

Part 1 — EAR3-017 — Name the thermometer as the instrument that measures how warm the air is, hung in the shade

Check: fluency (type a): one typed recall, what it measures on fresh scenes, two typed outdoor readings, the hand claim, the sun claim, a true claim, where it hangs

Figure: Topic 17's thermometer with the tree icon; the milk mug; the sun-and-shade pair

Leans on: Topic 17 L02 (read the Fahrenheit side); Topic 18 L04 (hands can be wrong)

Part 1q — quiz, 11 items

Check: fluency

Figure: —

Leans on: —

The wind vane shows where the wind is from L02

Here is Odin on the playground.

The wind blows his hair straight back.

He turns to face into the wind.

'Where is this wind coming from?' he asks.

Nobody can see the wind.

But one instrument on the school roof can show him.

The point, stated first

A wind vane has an arrow that turns on a pin, and four letters: N, E, S, W.

The arrow points into the wind.

The letter under the point says where the wind is from.

A wind from the north is called a north wind.

Video: the streaks arriving and the point swinging to the N, then the W; the tail-push picture — video and article.

Part 1 — EAR3-018 — Name the wind vane as the instrument that shows wind direction; read the letter under the point

Check: fluency (type a): drawn vanes on the fixed set north / east / south / west, Corin's toward-claim, the wind in words, which instrument, Tanvir facing the wind, what a north wind is, the term item last

Figure: the vane from above (new register entry)

Leans on: none

Part 1q — quiz, 10 items

Check: fluency

Figure: —

Leans on: —

The rain gauge measures how much rain fell L03

It rained in the night.

In the morning, Gemma and Rudy look at the playground.

The puddles have dried up.

Gemma says a lot of rain fell.

Rudy says only a little.

Nobody was awake to see how much rain fell.

The point, stated first

A rain gauge is a straight tube with marks up its side.

It stands in the open and starts empty.

The rain falls in.

Find the flat top of the water, read the number below it, and count up in 2s.

The reading is in millimeters: 6 mm of rain fell.

Video: the empty gauge, the water appearing, the zoom panel with the count 2, 4, 6; the wet Wednesday at 14 mm — video and article.

Part 1 — EAR3-019 — Name the rain gauge as the instrument that measures rainfall; read its level in mm

Check: fluency (type a): one recall (one mark is 2 mm), typed readings from five drawn gauges, Tanvir's count-in-1s claim, which instrument, the empty gauge, Corin's open-lawn claim, empty it after reading, the term item last

Figure: the rain gauge (new register entry), 0–50 mm

Leans on: Topic 17 L01 (what one mark is worth), L05 (the cylinder's flat top)

Part 1q — quiz, 12 items

Check: fluency

Figure: —

Leans on: —

Write it down in a table L04

Here is Ivar's desk after a week of weather watching.

Each reading sits on its own scrap of paper.

One scrap says 72, another says rain 6, another says Tuesday 64.

Which day had 6 mm of rain?

Nobody can tell, not even Ivar.

The point, stated first

A table has one row for each day.

It has one column for each measurement.

The heading at the top of a column names it and gives the unit.

Monday's readings go in Monday's row, one in each column.

Without headings, nobody knows what the 6 is.

Video: the headings glowing in turn; a column highlighted blue and a row yellow; Monday's readings landing one by one; the headings blanking out — video and article.

Part 1 — SR3-010 — Record observations in a table with labelled columns

Check: scaffolded (type b): which heading a reading goes under, each day its own row, where 54 goes, Rowena's 'nasty and gray', a table with nothing along the top, Rudy's 6 under Temperature, Talia's row, what (mm) tells you, two term items last

Figure: the notes jumble; the weather table (Topic 2's look), empty, one row, two rows, no headings

Leans on: Topic 2 (tables read); Topic 16 L01 (an observation is what an instrument showed)

Part 1q — quiz, 11 items

Check: scaffolded

Figure: —

Leans on: —

Record today's weather L05

It is Thursday morning.

The class weather table has Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday filled in.

Thursday's row is empty.

Outside stand the three instruments.

Which reading goes where?

The point, stated first

Each column has its own instrument.

The thermometer fills Temperature (°F), the wind vane fills Wind from, and the rain gauge fills Rain (mm).

Read each instrument and write its reading in its column, in today's row.

Thursday's row reads 66, E, 2.

Video: a line from each heading to its instrument; each reading landing in the row as it is read; Rowena's 10 appearing and fading — video and article.

Part 1 — EAR3-020 — Record today's weather using the right instrument for each part

Check: scaffolded (type b): one recall; Corin's Saturday read step by step (typed 70 °F, which heading, the vane's W, typed 10 mm, which row); Sunday bare (which row); Hollie's clouds (no); which instrument for Wind from; Odin's gauge (yes); Fitz's feel

Figure: the three instruments in a row (new composite); the table with Thursday's row empty, then filled

Leans on: L01–L04

Part 1q — quiz, 11 items

Check: scaffolded

Figure: —

Leans on: —

Find a value in the table L06

It is Friday.

Talia says Tuesday was colder than Wednesday.

Rudy says no, Wednesday was colder.

Nobody remembers.

But the class weather table does.

The point, stated first

To find a value, first find the day's row.

Then find the column with the right heading.

The box where the row and the column meet holds the value.

The box where Wednesday's row and the Temperature column meet holds 58 °F.

Tuesday was 64 °F, so Wednesday was colder.

Video: the whole table on screen throughout (a data video); the row highlighted yellow, the column blue, the ring on 58; then the two rings — video and article.

Part 1 — SR3-011 — Read off a named value from a table

Check: scaffolded (type b): which heading for rain, Thursday's rain with the column shaded (typed), bare look-ups (Tuesday's temperature, Wednesday's wind, Friday's rain typed), the reverse look-up (which day had 12 mm), the warmest day (transfer), Odin's 0 claim, which column for wind, Friday's temperature typed

Figure: the class table with the row / column / cell highlight layer (new); Grandma's table for items

Leans on: L04; Topic 18 L04 (the bigger number is warmer, same side)

Part 1q — quiz, 10 items

Check: scaffolded

Figure: —

Leans on: —

Language decisions

- The atoms' words: "thermometer" (Topic 17's), "wind vane", "rain gauge", "millimeters (mm)", "a north wind" (a wind FROM the north), "heading", "column", "row", "table" (Topic 2 introduced tables; this topic names their parts).

- The wind vane's arrow "points into the wind"; "the letter under the point says where the wind is from". Never "the arrow points where the wind is going".

- Every table entry is an observation an instrument showed (Topic 16); an opinion about the day does not go in.

- Rain in millimeters (decision 1). "Inches" is not said.

- No "gravity", "force", "matter", "weigh", "lift" or "leak" anywhere in the topic. The wind "pushes" the tail; the tail "swings"; the sun "heats" the thermometer.

- Openers vary: L01 "Here's Caleb…", L02 "Here's Odin…", L03 "It rained in the night.", L04 "Here's Ivar's desk…", L05 "It's Thursday morning.", L06 "It's Friday."; contractions in scripts and headaches.

PP100 type sheet (TYPE_SHEET_ONLY; James's 28 Sep night ruling: hard items are typed)

Ten types, ten exemplars, at most two alone-types per atom; eight four-option MCQs (easy and medium) and two typed hard items (one numeric — the gauge reading; one text — the day with the most rain). Coverage table in records/TYPES_G3T22.md.

Figures

78 figures; every drawing a reading rests on is SVG (thermometers, vanes, gauges, tables, the three-instrument rows); three photos (a real outdoor thermometer, a real wind vane, a real rain gauge); four cartoons (Caleb's hand at the window; Odin facing the wind; Gemma and Rudy at the dry puddle; Talia and Rudy at the table). Every figure has an IMAGE_BRIEFS entry and an IMAGE_KINDS entry; people and hands are never drawn as glyphs. Item figures carry no verdict chip, no streaks and no highlight; the blind comment gives the marks, the letter or the cells, never the verdict.

Deliberately not taught

Why the sun heats the thermometer more than the air (one sentence of what, no mechanism); NE / SE / SW / NW (decision 3); the windsock and the anemometer (EAR5-012); inches of rain (decision 1); what a millimeter is against a centimeter (no conversion); what rainfall depth means for the ground; a bar chart of the week (SR3-012, Topic 23); comparing two places (EAR3-021, Topic 23); predicting tomorrow (Topic 23).

This grade’s course architecture — open only if you want the whole map

Skill: course-build → atomise (architecture, step 6b gate) → write-like-james @ acc4fb6

Grade 3 Science — course architecture v3 (James's rulings of 25 September, plus Olivia Mullins's sequencing)

Read this in five minutes. Grade 3 Science is ONE course with a fixed order; nobody picks strands. It arranges the 183 Grade 3 atoms into four strands and forty-two small topics, each with its own mixed practice, summary video and PP100. Nothing below writes a lesson sentence. The atoms stay where they are: the Science Knowledge Graph's 3-5 registers.

Rulings recorded (James, 25 September 2026)

Applied from the earlier rulings: four strands; Motion before Forces before Energy; Scientific Reasoning atoms taught inside the topics that use them; one intro video per strand and per topic, each teaching nothing; one atom, one lesson, both video and article; a summary video before every PP100; PP100 banks of at least fifty items tagged by depth of reasoning; the Forces topics reuse the golden pack; the language rules (Earth's pull, carriers not forms, no "leak" or "lift").


Card 1 — The strands and their order

The call: Physics → Matter → Earth & Space → Life, each with its own intro video and its own end-of-strand test.

StrandTopicsAtomsWhy it sits here
Physics1-1564Motion first: what you can see, before the invisible cause. Energy last: "faster means more energy" needs speed.
Matter16-2122 (+7 Scientific Reasoning)Uses the measuring tools and feeds Earth's water cycle in Grade 4.
Earth & Space22-3141 (+4 Scientific Reasoning)Weather uses tables and graphs; "the Sun powers Earth" must precede food chains.
Life32-4243Ends the year; leans on Space (the Sun), Forces (Earth's pull) and Matter (properties).

Scientific Reasoning's 13 atoms are spread through Topics 1, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 25 (Card 4). Total 183 lessons.


Card 2 — The topics

The call: forty-two topics, most of three to six lessons; a mixed mastery practice set, a summary video and a PP100 at the end of every one.

#Topic (student-facing title)Atoms (in teaching order)LessonsThe big idea it serves
Physics
1Where is it? Did it move?MOT3-001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008 (+ SR3-020, 021 inside L07/L08)8You say where something is with a landmark; moving means its position changed; motions can repeat
2Fast and slowMOT3-020, 021, 022, 023, 024, 025, 0267Faster means farther in the same time, or the same distance in less time
3Earth pulls things downFOR3-021, 029, 030, 028, 022 (+ a closing lesson naming gravity)6Earth pulls every object, all the time, straight down, on every part of it, without touching; a strong enough pull can beat it; the pull's name is gravity (JM 28 Sep 2026; no word "force" yet)
4MagnetsFOR3-023, 024, 0253A magnet pulls steel without touching; two magnets pull or push; use a magnet to solve a problem (no word "force" yet)
5What a force isFOR3-012, 001, 008, 0064Earth's pull, a magnet's pull and your push are all forces; push or pull; on one object; in one direction
6Forces that touch, and forces that don'tFOR3-020, 027, 0263Some forces act without touching: Earth, magnets, a rubbed balloon; most pushes touch
7Pushes and pulls change thingsFOR3-002, 003, 004, 005, 0075A push or pull starts, stops, turns or squashes; you can test it
8Strong or weak: drawing a forceFOR3-009, 010, 0113A stronger push makes a bigger change; an arrow shows a force's direction and strength
9Balanced forcesFOR3-040, 041, 042, 043, 0455Several forces act at once; balanced forces leave motion as it is, still or steady
10Unbalanced forcesFOR3-044, 046, 0473Unbalanced forces speed up, slow down or turn
11Energy: what has it, how it travelsENE3-001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 0346Energy makes things happen; light, sound and electricity carry it; faster means more
12SoundENE3-030, 031, 0323Sound comes from vibration and travels to your ear
13Light: sources, straight lines, shadowsENE3-010, 011, 012, 0174Light comes from a source, travels straight, makes shadows, must reach the eye
14Light bounces, bends or soaks inENE3-013, 014, 015, 0164Reflection, refraction, absorption, sorted
15Light and heatENE3-020, 021, 0333Light-givers give heat; rubbing makes heat; light carries energy
Matter
16Describe it, sort itSR3-001, 002, MAT3-001, 002, 0035Observe with more than your eyes; describe an object by its properties; sort and order
17Measuring toolsSR3-003, 004, 005, 006, 0075Thermometer, scale, measuring jug; pick the right one; two groups can disagree
18Which has more?MAT3-004, 062, 005, 0064More mass, more space, warmer, decided by a measurement; MAT3-062 "everything takes up space" (JM ruling on Olivia's comment, 28 Sep 2026) sits before the space comparison
19Sinks, floats, sticks to a magnet: choosing materialsMAT3-007, 008, 060, 0614Test a property, then pick the material for the job
20Solids, liquids and gasesMAT3-063, 064, 065, 022, 023, 021, 020, 0248Air first (Olivia's order): air is something you can feel; it is made of tiny pieces too small to see; so is every kind of matter; air takes up space; gases spread out to fill their space; liquids take their container's shape; solids keep theirs; then the sort with the awkward cases. MAT3-063, 064, 065 were added on 28 Sep 2026 (JM's rulings on Olivia's comments) before MAT3-022 in the chain; eight lessons is over JM's 3–6 size, so the Topic 20 build record (decision 1) proposes a split after MAT3-022 into "Air is something" (4) and "Solids, liquids and gases" (4), renumbering Matter to 16–22, Earth & Space 23–32, Life 33–43 — nothing after Topic 19 is authored, so the renumbering costs nothing now
21Heating and coolingMAT3-040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, 0467Heating and cooling change the state but it is the same water (split candidate: melting/freezing vs evaporating/condensing)
Earth & Space
22Measuring the weatherEAR3-017, 018, 019, SR3-010, EAR3-020, SR3-0116Three instruments, a weather diary, reading it back
23Weather over a season, and far awaySR3-012, EAR3-022, 023, 021, 0245A season's records make a chart; the chart predicts; other places differ
24Volcanoes, earthquakes, landslidesEAR3-007, 010, 008, 011, 009, 0126What each one is, then how it changes the land fast
25Dangerous weatherEAR3-013, 014, SR3-0223Weather can do damage; a defence holds it back; pick the sensible cause
26SoilEAR3-001, 002, 003, 0044Soil is broken rock plus dead things
27FossilsEAR3-029, 030, 031, 032, 0335A few dead things last as fossils and tell of the past
28Using and conserving natural resourcesEAR3-040, 041, 042, 0434Everything you own started as a natural resource; some run short
29The SunSPA3-001, 007, 0023A huge glowing ball of gas; a star; the source of Earth's energy
30The starsSPA3-003, 004, 005, 0064Stars differ; they look like dots because they are far; telescopes show more
31The solar systemSPA3-010, 011, 012, 013, 0145Earth orbits the Sun with seven other planets; the Moon orbits Earth
Life
32Alive or notLIF3-001, 007, 008, 009, 0025Living things grow, feed, move and make more; sort living from non-living
33What living things needLIF3-003, 004, 005, 0064Food, water, air and a place that suits them
34Backbone or no backboneLIF3-010, 011, 0703Grouping by shared features; vertebrates, invertebrates, arthropods
35The five vertebrate groupsLIF3-015, 016, 017, 018, 019, 0126Mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, then the sort
36Eggs, body parts and sensesLIF3-013, 020, 0273Egg-layers or live birth; body parts do survival jobs; animals sense, then respond
37How plants make new plantsLIF3-071, 072, 014, 0244Seeds, spores, the sort, the flower's job
38Plant parts and their jobsLIF3-021, 022, 0233Roots, stem, leaves
39Plants respondLIF3-025, 026, 0283Stems grow to the light, roots grow down; plants respond by growing, animals by moving
40Life cycles and family likenessLIF3-030, 031, 040, 041, 0425Every life runs in a cycle; offspring take after their parents but differ
41Food chainsLIF3-050, 051, 0523Every food chain starts with the Sun; remove a link and the rest changes
42Living together and coping with changeLIF3-060, 061, 062, 0634Groups, places and seasons decide who survives

Totals: 183 lessons, 42 practice sets, 42 PP100s (banks of at least 50 items each), 4 strand tests (after Topics 15, 21, 31, 42), 1 end-of-grade test.

Why this grouping

What changes: the folder gets grade3/topicNN_build/ per topic; Topic 1's blueprint is approved; Topic 1 is built first.


Card 3 — Topic 1 is the pilot (approved)

The call: pilot "Where is it? Did it move?" end to end — 8 lessons, an attached question per video, a ten-item quiz after each, mixed practice, summary video, PP100 — before any other topic starts.


Card 4 — Scientific Reasoning is taught where it is used

The call: each of the 13 Scientific Reasoning atoms is a lesson inside the topic that first needs it, with its check there; no separate strand, no separate test.

SR atomHost topicWhy there
SR3-001 Observe with more than your eyes; SR3-002 Observation or idea about it?16 Describe it, sort itdescribing an object's properties is observing
SR3-003 Read a thermometer; SR3-004 Measure mass with a scale; SR3-005 Measure the volume of a liquid; SR3-006 Pick the right measuring tool; SR3-007 Two groups, two different answers17 Measuring toolsthe tools before "which has more?" uses them
SR3-010 Record results in a table; SR3-011 Find a value in a table22 Measuring the weatherthe weather diary is the first table students fill and read back
SR3-012 Read a pictograph or bar graph23 Weather over a seasonthe graph before the graphing routine
SR3-020 Spot the pattern; SR3-021 Use the pattern to predict1 Where is it? Did it move? (inside L07 and L08)the swing's repeat is the pattern
SR3-022 Choose the sensible cause25 Dangerous weatherfirst place students pick a cause for an event

Card 5 — Tests and benchmarks

The call: a PP100 per topic; a static end-of-strand test per strand (some free response); one static end-of-grade test; all Grade 3 tests are our own banks, seeded from released grade-5 items filtered to Grade 3 atoms.


What happens next

Topic 1 is built as the first interactive version for James: the topic intro (video script and article), eight lessons each as a video script with animation guidance and an article with figures, one attached question per video, a ten-item quiz per lesson, mixed practice, the summary video script and the PP100 bank. Topic 3 follows, reusing the golden pack.