Elementary School Science

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

• Water exists in three forms: solid, liquid, and gas

• Freezing is the process of water turning from liquid to solid

• Water freezes at 32O F and 0O Celsius.

• Ice influences the environment and the weather.  

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How will the learning of this content be facilitated?

• The teacher should begin class by instructing the students to stand around a table. In the center of the table, the teacher should have a cup or bowl filled with ice cubes. The teacher should begin a discussion about the ice. The teacher should pass the cup/bowl with ice around the table and allow the students to touch it. The teacher should record the observations on the blackboard/whiteboard/chart paper.  

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• After discussion of the ice activity is done, the students will participate in the activity “Melting Ice”. The teacher should instruct the students to break into groups of three. Each group will get a “Melting Ice” worksheet, four bowls (one with sugar, one with salt, one with water, and one empty), and four ice cubes. The students will first make a prediction about which ice cube will melt the fastest.  The students should record their prediction and the observations on their worksheet. The teacher should allow the students about 15 minutes to conduct the experiment and fill out the worksheet. Once the students are done, they will set their cups aside. The experiment will be revisited at the end of class.

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• After the experiment has been set up and the worksheets have been filled out, 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 11: The Three Forms of Water

** This page reviews water in its three forms: solid, liquid, and gas**

• Page 12: Water Molecules

**This page reviews the water molecule and shows pictures of water molecules in the liquid form and solid form**

• Pages 13-14: How Does Water Freeze?

**These pages review at what temperature water freezes and how it freezes. The teacher should show the YouTube Video: “Coexistence of Ice and Liquid Water” by Masakazu Matsumoto**

• Page 15: Ice: Environmental Effects

**This page reviews the environmental effects of ice**

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• After the information has been presented, the students will reconvene in their group. The students will see if their prediction was correct. The teacher should begin a discussion about the experiment and then provide this explanation:

The ice cubes in salt and water should have melted the quickest. Think about the winter. When it snows or it is icy, salt is usually thrown down onto surfaces (i.e., stairs, sidewalks, driveways). Salt helps to melt ice because it causes a freezing point depression. The salt lowers the freezing point of the ice and causes it to melt quicker. This is why salt/rock salt is used on icy surfaces. The ice that was in the water should have been the second quickest to melt. This is because the temperature of the water is slightly higher than the ice cube. A warmer temperature will make ice melt faster.

• For closure, have the students fill out the sheet “Revisiting My Prediction” worksheet which asks the question, “Why do you think your prediction correct or incorrect?”​