Skill: write-like-james @ a538c92 · the build: write-lesson, write-mcqs, write-video-script @ a538c92
Topic 22 "Measuring the weather" — your read (28 September 2026, night)
The first Earth & Space topic. Six lessons: the thermometer measures the air (hung in the shade), the wind vane's arrow points into the wind, the rain gauge measures how much rain fell, then the class weather table — write it down, fill today's row from the right instrument, read a value back. Read by the author as you, then a non-author review (27 findings, all applied), then a cold read of every changed item (31 of 31 keys agreed). Reply by number.
The four that unblock the bank and the strand
1. Is rain read in millimeters or in inches?
The rain gauge is drawn in millimeters — a number every 10 mm, a small mark every 2 mm — because the atom's own example says "5 mm of water collected overnight", and the counting routine is Topic 17's.
US forecasts say inches; an inch gauge needs tenths, which Grade 3 maths has not reached.
The seam: Topic 23 (a season's records) was written with inches and now adopts this topic's table; whichever unit you rule, Topic 23 is reconciled to it.
Recommendation: millimeters. The reviewer agrees.
Millimeters / inches / both scales on the gauge
2. Does this strand intro go to the pipeline as its own video, before Topic 22's intro?
Each strand opens with a short video that teaches nothing (your ruling, 25 Sep). This is the Earth & Space one — 89 words, about 45 s, a poll attached. It is also on the topic page above the topic intro.
> Look up. Clouds drift over, the Sun climbs, and at night the stars come out.
> Look down. Rock, soil and sand hold up everything we build.
> And all around us is the weather: warm one day, stormy the next.
> Where does the rain come from? Why does the ground shake? Where does the Sun go at night?
> This strand is about Earth and what's around it: the weather around us, the ground under us, and the sky above.
> Okay, so are you ready to explore Earth and the sky?
>
> Poll: Yes, let's go! / Not sure yet / Let me watch that again.
Recommendation: yes, in Topic 22's first batch, as G3-EARTH-INTRO. The Physics and Matter strand intros will be written to the same shape.
Send it / hold until all three exist / change the words
3. Does the wind vane keep four directions only?
The drawn vane carries N, E, S and W; every item uses those four. Real vanes carry NE, SE, SW and NW too, and a Grade 5 STAAR item could name them.
Consequence for the bank: a four-letter vane has four instances, so bank items vary the place (a barn, a school roof) and the framing, never only the letter.
Recommendation: four in Grade 3; eight when Grade 5 brings back the instruments.
Four / eight
4. Do the ten question types stand, with the typed hard tier?
Your night ruling is applied: hard is typed — the gauge reading on the level where counting marks in 1s gives the wrong answer (numeric, 36 mm), and the day with the most rain, read down a column and back along a row (text). Easy and medium are four-option MCQs and are the bulk. Every atom is tested alone and in a pair; every exemplar is a fresh scene (three were lesson items with a noun changed and have been re-instanced). The ten types, coverage, the design-move inventory
Approve all / strike these / edit these
The lessons
5. L01 The thermometer measures how warm the air is — Caleb's hand out of the window says chilly, Rowena says not; the thermometer outside, in the shade, says 64 °F. A thermometer measures how warm the thing it is in is: the air outside, the air in the classroom (70 °F), Caleb's mug of warm milk (98 °F, not the air). In the sun it reads warmer than the air (92 against 74 on one afternoon), so the weather thermometer hangs in the shade — kept, on the reviewer's view and mine. Quiz: what it measures, typed outdoor readings, the sun claim. Article · script · quiz Fine / say where
6. L02 The wind vane shows where the wind is from — Odin turns to face into the wind. The vane from above: N, E, S, W and an arrow with a sharp point and a wide tail. The wind blows from the north, the point swings to the N: a north wind. Then a west wind, a south wind. Why: the wind pushes the wide tail away, so the point turns to face the wind. Quiz: four drawn vanes, Corin's "toward the east" claim (no), the wind in words. Article · quiz Fine / say where
7. L03 The rain gauge measures how much rain fell — the puddles have dried; Gemma says a lot, Rudy says a little. The gauge stands in the open, emptied the evening before; in the morning, find the flat top, read the number below (0), count up in 2s: 2, 4, 6 — 6 mm fell. A wet Wednesday (14 mm), a dry Monday (0 mm). Quiz: five typed readings, Tanvir's "13 mm" (three marks counted in 1s — no), empty it after reading. Article · quiz Fine / say where
8. L04 Write it down in a table — Ivar's scraps of paper: which day had 6 mm of rain? Nobody can tell. The table: one row for each day, one column for each thing you record, a heading that names the column (and its unit, if it has one). Monday's row, Tuesday's row; the same numbers with no headings — nobody knows what the 6 is. Every number and letter is a reading an instrument showed; Ivar's "horrible day" does not go in. The How windy column (calm / breezy / windy) is the class's own word, added tonight so Topic 23 can say "windier". Article · quiz Fine / say where
9. L05 Record today's weather — Thursday's row is empty; three instruments outside. Each column has its own instrument: the thermometer (66 °F), the vane (E), the gauge (2 mm); the class writes calm for how the wind felt. Rowena wants to write 10 under Rain from the gray sky — the sky did not measure the rain. Quiz: Corin's Saturday read step by step (typed), then Sunday's and Monday's rows. Article · quiz Fine / say where
10. L06 Find a value in the table — Talia says Tuesday was colder than Wednesday; Rudy says no. Find the day's row, find the column with the right heading, the box where they meet holds the value: Wednesday, 58 °F; Tuesday, 64 °F; 64 is bigger, so Wednesday was colder and Rudy was right. The video keeps the table on screen while it is read. Quiz on Grandma's week: look-ups, which day had 12 mm, the warmest day. Article · quiz Fine / say where
Applied without asking
Hard bank items typed; every attached question stands alone with its own drawing; no option bundles a verdict with a reason; every stem a positive question; scene changes spoken with "let's"; the intro and the strand intro end on a ready line and a poll and name no lesson; three questions on the summary, each on a fresh drawing; colour, and no drawn people (four cartoons and three photos for David); Topic 17's thermometer, imported, Fahrenheit side, read by Topic 17's routine; every drawn level a whole number of marks, checked by code and by the reader; L06 shows its table while it reads it; the weather record holds readings (Topic 16's observation, with an instrument) and the class's three agreed wind words; the register notes for EAR3-017, 018, 019 and SR3-010/011 wait in ATOM_PROPOSALS_G3T22.md for your word.
Also on the site
Strand intro, topic intro and poll · summary and three questions · mixed practice · the blueprint's decisions · the type sheet
After you answer
1 → Topic 23's unit follows yours; the gauge is redrawn only if you choose inches. 2 → the strand intro joins Topic 22's first video batch. 4 → a bank of about fifty from the approved types, a second cold read, the hand-over folder for David. Register notes → the knowledge-graph repo.