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Topic 23 — Weather over a season, and far away — blueprint (28 September 2026)

What I need from you: 5 decisions

1

Does the class rain gauge read millimeters or inches?

Topic 22 (the earlier topic) has landed with the class weather table — heads Day · Temperature (°F) · Wind from · Rain (mm) · How windy, read in the morning, a rainy day being a day the gauge read more than 0 mm — and this topic now reads that table back unchanged (the coordinator's ruling on the review's Card 1). Topic 22's page asks you whether the gauge reads millimeters or inches. Every rain cell here (12, 25, 50 mm) and eleven lines follow that answer.

My recommendation: millimeters — a grade-3 gauge in inches needs quarters, and the atom's own example says "5 mm".

2

Is "the numbers up the side" the right name for a graph's axis at grade 3?

Topic 17 ruled that "scale" names only the mass tool (the digital scale), so the register's "check the bar against the scale" cannot be said. The lessons say "the numbers up the side" and "the words along the bottom"; the atom's routine is unchanged.

My recommendation: yes; "axis" waits for Grade 4's graph atoms.

3

Does the construct routine (L02) pass without a drawing task?

EAR3-022 is "construct a bar graph from records", and the platform has no drawing interaction. L02 shows the construction step by step (labels, then one bar per month, up to its number) and checks the steps a student can answer: what goes along the bottom, how tall a bar is (typed), which bar is drawn wrong, and that a graph with no numbers cannot be read.

My recommendation: accept the step-checks form; if David's platform gains a bar-drawing interaction, L02 gets one production item.

4

May the topic say "typical weather" and never "climate"?

EAR3-024's register title says "climate", but its cross note keeps the weather/climate distinction for Grade 4 (EAR4-070/071). L03 coins "typical weather" (the weather a season usually has, year after year) and L05 reuses it for faraway places. "Climate" appears nowhere a student reads.

My recommendation: yes; Grade 4 coins "climate" as the name for typical weather.

5

Which lessons get a video?

L01 (a dashed line reads the bar), L02 (bars rise one by one) and L03 (the question-mark slot fills) have motion the article cannot show. L04 (a table read column by column) and L05 (three cards) do not. All five scripts are written.

My recommendation: video for L01, L02, L03; article only for L04 and L05 (your Topic 2 ruling: a lesson may do without a video where nothing moves).

Topic 23 at a glance — 5 lessons

LessonOpens onFormat
L01Read a bar graphHere's a graph Yasmin's class made in May.the dashed line drawing from the bar's top across to the axis, the number glowing as it is read — video.
L02Make a graph of a seasonAll spring, Yasmin's class kept the class weather table.the axes drawing in, then each bar rising to its number as the table's row glows — video.
L03What is next July likely to be like?Yasmin is going to visit her cousin Elio in Phoenix, Arizona, next July.the three Julys' bars rising in turn; the fourth slot with its question mark and the LIKELY chip — video.
L04Two places, the same dayYasmin calls her cousin Elio on March 10.nothing the table cannot show (the columns glow in turn) — article by default; script written.
L05What is the weather usually like far away?Yasmin's class has a big map on the wall with three faraway places marked.nothing the cards cannot show — article by default; script written.
What this topic is, in five lines

Five short lessons, one per atom, in the Earth & Space strand straight after Topic 22's weather diary. The class's records become a graph (read one, then make one), three years of records become a prediction about the coming season, one day's report in two places shows that weather differs from place to place, and information gathered about faraway places describes their typical weather. One running scene: Yasmin's class in Columbus, Ohio, and her cousin Elio in Phoenix, Arizona — the same March day with snow behind one and sun behind the other, and a July visit to pack for. The records are Topic 22's class weather table, read in the morning.

The bar graph is this topic's new register entry (content/figures.py): every bar drawn to its exact value, a gridline at every step, every value a student reads on a gridline; the module asserts it. Tables are Topic 2's drawer, imported.

Applied without asking (rulings you have already given): the earlier topic's table is read back unchanged (Topic 22's class weather table, its How windy column, read in the morning); hard PP100 items are typed (three of eleven exemplars: one numeric, two 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; "let's" at scene changes in the intro and never an imperative; the intro ends on a ready line and a poll and names no lesson; three questions on the summary; "you cannot tell" only where genuine (a graph with no numbers; one year of records); a prediction item never animates its answer; a video that reads data draws the data; the type sheet is ten types with one exemplar each and a coverage table; no student name from any other Grade 3 topic; Topic 1's "a pattern lets you say what happens next" is retrieved with a recall item, not re-taught.

Read a bar graph L01

Here's a graph Yasmin's class made in May.

Every school day, the class read the thermometer in the morning and wrote the number down.

Then they made a bar for each day.

Yasmin's cousin Elio asks, "How warm was it on Wednesday?"

The top of Wednesday's bar sits between two numbers.

Can you say how warm it was?

The point, stated first

The words along the bottom say what each bar is for.

The numbers up the side say how big each bar is.

Find the top of the bar and follow it across to the numbers.

Wednesday's bar lands on the line between 70 and 80.

Each line is worth 5, so that line is 75.

So it was 75 °F in the morning on Wednesday.

Video: the dashed line drawing from the bar's top across to the axis, the number glowing as it is read — video.

Part 1 — SR3-012 — Read a value from a bar graph or a picture graph by following the bar's top across to the numbers; read two bars and find how many more; coin bar graph, picture graph

Check: fluency (type a): one recall, eight typed reads (on a number and between numbers), one typed 'how many more', three tallest / shortest MCQs, one picture-graph count, the term last

Figure: the week's temperature graph (new register entry); the fall rainy-days graph; the June picture graph

Leans on: Topic 17 L01 (what one mark is worth); Topic 22 (the class weather table)

Part 1q — quiz, 14 items

Check: fluency

Figure: —

Leans on: —

Make a graph of a season L02

All spring, Yasmin's class kept the class weather table.

Each school day in the morning they read the rain gauge and wrote the number in the table.

A day with more than 0 mm was a rainy day.

At the end of spring they counted the rainy days in each month.

Yasmin's teacher asks, "Can you show the whole spring in one picture?"

The point, stated first

The weather table is good for finding one number.

A bar graph shows a whole season at a glance.

Write the labels, the numbers up the side and the months along the bottom.

Draw one bar for each month, up to its number.

Every month had rainy days, and April's bar is the tallest.

So spring here had rainy days every month, most of them in April.

Video: the axes drawing in, then each bar rising to its number as the table's row glows — video.

Part 1 — EAR3-022 — Construct a bar graph from a season's records (labels, then one bar per month up to its number) and read the season back at a glance

Check: worked → scaffolded → bare (type b) without a drawing task: what goes along the bottom, how tall a bar is (typed), which bar is drawn wrong, a graph with no numbers cannot be read (the honest "no"), the season read back, a TRUE claim

Figure: the spring records table; the graph in four stages (axes, one bar, two, three)

Leans on: L01 (reading a bar); Topic 2 (the table); SR3-011 (find a value in a table)

Part 1q — quiz, 10 items

Check: scaffolded

Figure: —

Leans on: —

What is next July likely to be like? L03

Yasmin is going to visit her cousin Elio in Phoenix, Arizona, next July.

Should she pack a raincoat, or a sun hat?

Next July has not happened yet.

Nobody has seen its weather.

So how can anyone say what it will be like?

The point, stated first

Elio's class has kept a class weather table for three years.

Every July had few rainy days and many hot days.

A part that happens again in the same way is a pattern, and a pattern lets you say what happens next.

So next July in Phoenix is likely to be hot, with few rainy days.

The weather a season usually has, year after year, is called its typical weather.

Video: the three Julys' bars rising in turn; the fourth slot with its question mark and the LIKELY chip — video.

Part 1 — EAR3-023 — Predict a coming season's weather from three years of records; coin typical weather; the records say what the month is likely to be like, never one day; one year is not a pattern

Check: type (c): the what on a fresh case, the why (reasons as options), the misconception (one named day), transfers, the one-year case (not yet), a TRUE claim, the term last

Figure: the three Julys' rainy-day and hot-day graphs; the Next July slot; the suitcase (cartoon)

Leans on: Topic 1 L07/L08 (pattern; a pattern lets you say what happens next), by one recall item; L01

Part 1q — quiz, 10 items

Check: what · why · misconception · transfer

Figure: —

Leans on: —

Two places, the same day L04

Yasmin calls her cousin Elio on March 10.

Behind Yasmin, snow is falling in Columbus, Ohio.

Behind Elio, the sun is shining in Phoenix, Arizona.

It is the same day.

Can two places really have such different weather at the same time?

The point, stated first

The weather report is the class weather table for more than one place, on the same day.

Read the same column for both places.

80 °F is bigger than 30 °F, so Phoenix is warmer.

12 mm of rain or snow is more than 0 mm, so Columbus is wetter.

Two places can have different weather on the same day.

Video: nothing the table cannot show (the columns glow in turn) — article by default; script written.

Part 1 — EAR3-021 — Compare one day's weather in two places (warmer, wetter, windier, or the same) by reading the same column of the report for both; coin weather report

Check: fluency (type a) on drawn reports: ten reads on the fixed set the X / the Y / Neither: they are the same., two keyed Neither, one three-place read; the claim "raining here, so raining everywhere" (no); a TRUE claim

Figure: the March 10 report (Topic 22's table with a Place column: Temperature (°F) · Wind from · Rain or snow (mm) · How windy); the two-bar temperature graph; the video call (cartoon)

Leans on: Topic 2 (the table shows); Topic 17 (°F); Topic 22 (the class weather table: Rain (mm), How windy)

Part 1q — quiz, 12 items

Check: fluency

Figure: —

Leans on: —

What is the weather usually like far away? L05

Yasmin's class has a big map on the wall with three faraway places marked.

They want to know what the weather is usually like in each place.

Nobody in the class has been to any of them.

So the class gathers information about each place from books and weather websites.

The point, stated first

Nobody has been, so the class gathers information about each place.

The Sahara Desert: about 100 °F in the morning in July, and about 3 rainy days in a whole year.

So the Sahara's typical weather is hot and dry.

Antarctica's typical weather is very cold and snowy, and the Amazon's is hot and rainy.

Far away, the typical weather can be very different from here.

Video: nothing the cards cannot show — article by default; script written.

Part 1 — EAR3-024 — Describe a faraway place's typical weather (hot or cold, wet or dry) from information gathered about it; the same month in two places far apart

Check: fluency (type a) on drawn information cards: four cards on the fixed set hot and dry / cold and snowy / hot and rainy, one summer-and-winter card, three reads on a three-place table, three claims, what to do for a place never visited

Figure: the class's map (cartoon); three place photos (photo kind); three information cards; the January table; the snowy street (photo)

Leans on: L03 (typical weather); L04 (compare two places)

Part 1q — quiz, 12 items

Check: fluency

Figure: —

Leans on: —

Language decisions

- The atoms' words: "bar graph" and "picture graph" (US grade-3 maths words; the register says bar graph / pictograph), "typical weather" (EAR3-023's "typical weather" idea, coined in L03), "warmer / wetter / windier" (EAR3-021). Topic 1's "pattern" and Topic 17's "temperature", "°F" reused, never re-coined.

- "The numbers up the side" and "the words along the bottom", never "scale" (Topic 17) or "axis" (Grade 4). "Likely" and "usually", never "will definitely" or "the graph tells the future". "Climate" is not said (decision 4). The record is "the class weather table" (Topic 22's name); "weather report" is coined in L04 for the table with more than one place. In items a place is named without the word that is the answer ("the Amazon, in Brazil", "the Gobi, in Asia").

- Openers vary: L01 "Here's a graph…", L02 "All spring…", L03 "Yasmin is going to visit…", L04 "Yasmin calls her cousin…", L05 "Yasmin's class has a big map…"; scripts open on the scene, no title slide; contractions in scripts and headaches.

- Seasons are described (snow in January in Columbus; warm and dry in January in the Sahara), never explained.

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

Ten types, eleven exemplars (type 5 in two forms: three years keyed a likely description; one year keyed "You cannot tell yet."), at most two alone-types per atom; easy and medium are four-option MCQs, the three hard types are typed (one numeric entry — how many more rainy days, taught in L01; two text entry — a month named, a place named). Coverage table in records/TYPES_G3T23.md.

Figures

91 figures; every drawing a reading rests on is SVG (bar graphs, picture graphs, tables, information cards); four photos (the Sahara, Antarctica, the Amazon, a Columbus street in January); three cartoons (the video call; Yasmin packing; the class's map). Every figure has an IMAGE_BRIEFS entry and an IMAGE_KINDS entry; people are never drawn as glyphs. Item figures carry the data and no verdict chip; the blind comment gives every bar's value or every cell.

Deliberately not taught

Why the seasons differ or why places far apart have different weather (described, never explained; EAR4's seam); the word "climate" (EAR4-070); line graphs and averages (Grade 4–5); wind speed as a number (Topic 22's wind vane gives direction; How windy is the class's word); the rain gauge's marks (Topic 22's); snow depth (no instrument in the strand); a drawn construction task (decision 3).

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.