Elementary School Science

Input:
What is the most important content in this lesson?
To reach this lesson’s objective, students need to understand:

• The definition to the terms: humidity, air pressure, air quality, warm front, and cool front

• Why hot air rises and cool air sinks.

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How will the learning of this content be facilitated?

• The teacher should begin class by handing out the “Why Do We Need Air?” worksheet. The teacher should instruct the students to complete the worksheet. While the students work, the teacher should recreate the worksheet on the board or chart paper. The teacher should allow the students to work for about 5 minutes before reconvening and discussing some of the answers. The teacher should begin a discussion about the importance of air, how it is needed for survival, and the role air plays in weather.

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• After the activity discussion is done, the teacher will begin presenting the information on weather. If it is possible, project each page of the teacher’s copy of the “All About Weather” Science Journal worksheet onto the board using a projector or put into a PowerPoint document and project.  The teacher’s copy of the journal has certain words/phrases that are bolded red and highlighted. It is important the teacher explain to the students those words/phrases are to be highlighted in their (students) journal. For this lesson, the teacher should review these pages:

• Page 20: What is Air?

** This page reviews what air is and what it is made of**

• Page 21: Words About Air

**This page reviews the terms associated with air and weather**

• Pages 22: Warm Air vs. Cool Air

**This page reviews why hot air rises but cool air sinks**

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• Experiment: After the information has been presented, the students will participate in the experiment “Hot Air, Cold Air.” The teacher should hand out the experiment worksheet and instruct the students to complete the “Prediction” section. The teacher should allow about five minutes for the students to complete the section. Once the students complete the section, the teacher should invite the students to stand around a table. The teacher should show the students the soda bottle, two buckets, ice cubes, water, and balloon. The teacher should review the predictions the students wrote before performing the experiment. After the teacher and students review the predictions, the teacher should begin the experiment. To begin, the teacher should place the balloon over the opening of one of the bottles. The teacher should place the bottle in the middle of bucket with the warm water. Observe what happens to the balloon (it should begin to inflate). Next, the teacher should place the bottle into the bucket with the ice cubes. Observe what happens to the balloon (it should begin to deflate). Repeat the experiment two or three more times; the teacher should allow some of the students to place the bottle in each bucket.

• Lesson Assessment/Experiment Results: After the experiment is over, the teacher should have the students go back to their seats and complete the “Results” section in their science journals. The teacher should allow the students about 10 minutes to complete the worksheet before reconvening and discussing their answers.​

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• Closure

  • For the closure, the teacher should review the lesson and what was learned today. 

  • The teacher should also go over the key terms/ any content that was difficult for the students.