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| M uses her finger to draw on the condensation she created |
Grade Level: Elementary
Materials: Mason Jar, plants, water, trowels, Bill Nye clip
Objective: Students will explore the water cycle.
Introduction/Hook: Water vapor/condensation activity
We started class today at the window of the library. I fogged my the back window with my breath--and asked M & M if they knew what caused my breathe to cloud the glass.
"Heat! No cold!" One of the Ms shouted.
"You're close," I said.
I reminded them about a Magic School Bus clip we'd watched about the water cycle and the terrarium we created as a class last period. I told them I was going to teach them a song and we positioned ourselves in a circle.
"This is a repeat after me song," I said.
"This is a repeat after me song," The Ms repeated.
I sung to the tune of Frère Jacques, using motions that mimicked the water cycle, the Ms echoed my song and action:
Precipitation, precipitation, water and sun, evaporation, condensation, then it rains.
The song segued into a discussion about what we knew about the water cycle and how we could apply that knowledge to what we'd seen transpire on the glass. We watched a Bill Nye clip about the water cycle that both Ms loved and laughed at--they particularly enjoyed the "Big Glass Jug Apparatus of Science."
Later, Mr. Nye's experiment inspired the kids to use mason jars and our community's sauna to make their own clouds. They breathed on their glass jars, heated the jars in the sauna, and then went back outside into the autumn air. The billows of fog that clouded their glasses made them both laugh so much they wanted to repeat the experiment next time we walked past the sauna (which we did.)
We checked our mold gardens today. After over a week there was still no mold on the store-bought white bread but we found a variety of mold on both the whole wheat homemade bread and the peach. Both Ms were pleased to have proved their hypothesis.
We spent the remainder of science building both the M's their own bottle gardens. After our terrarium building yesterday, both Ms decided they wanted something similar for themselves and I love the idea of both students learning about and caring for their own jar-sized ecosystem: a garden of soil and moss, stones and plants.
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| White bread: the least fruitful part of our mold garden |
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| Bottle gardens and our terrarium |
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| Tiny plant ecosystem |
Washington State Content Areas Covered:
EARL 1: System
Big Idea: Systems
Core Content: Role of Each Part in a System
Students know that:
-A system is a group of interacting parts that form a whole. Give examples of simple living and physical systems (e.g., a whole animal or plant, a car, a doll, a table and chair set).
-A whole object, plant, or animal may not continue to function the same way if some of its parts are missing. Predict what may happen to an object, plant, or animal if one or more of its parts are removed (e.g., a tricycle cannot be ridden if its wheels are removed).*
-A whole object, plant, or animal can do things that none of its parts can do by themselves.
-Some objects need to have their parts connected in a certain way if they are to function as a whole.
-Similar parts may play different roles in different objects, plants, or animals.
Students are expected to:
-Explain how the parts of a system depend on one another for the system to function.
-Contrast the function of a whole object, plant, or animal with the function of one of its parts (e.g., an airplane can fly, but wings and propeller alone cannot; plants can grow, but stems and flowers alone cannot).
-Explain why the parts in a system need to be connected in a specific way for the system to function as a whole (e.g., batteries must be inserted correctly in a flashlight if it is to produce light). -Identify ways that similar parts can play different roles in different systems (e.g., birds may use their beaks to crack seeds while other birds use their beaks to catch fish).
EARL 1: System
Big Idea: Systems
Core Content: Role of Each Part in a System
Students know that:
-A system is a group of interacting parts that form a whole. Give examples of simple living and physical systems (e.g., a whole animal or plant, a car, a doll, a table and chair set).
-A whole object, plant, or animal may not continue to function the same way if some of its parts are missing. Predict what may happen to an object, plant, or animal if one or more of its parts are removed (e.g., a tricycle cannot be ridden if its wheels are removed).*
-A whole object, plant, or animal can do things that none of its parts can do by themselves.
-Some objects need to have their parts connected in a certain way if they are to function as a whole.
-Similar parts may play different roles in different objects, plants, or animals.
Students are expected to:
-Explain how the parts of a system depend on one another for the system to function.
-Contrast the function of a whole object, plant, or animal with the function of one of its parts (e.g., an airplane can fly, but wings and propeller alone cannot; plants can grow, but stems and flowers alone cannot).
-Explain why the parts in a system need to be connected in a specific way for the system to function as a whole (e.g., batteries must be inserted correctly in a flashlight if it is to produce light). -Identify ways that similar parts can play different roles in different systems (e.g., birds may use their beaks to crack seeds while other birds use their beaks to catch fish).
EALR 2: Inquiry
Big Idea: Inquiry
Core Content: Conducting Investigations
Students know that:
-2-3 INQA Question: Scientific investigations are designed to gain knowledge about the natural world.
-2-3 INQB Investigate: A scientific investigation may include making and following a plan to accurately observe and describe objects, events, and organisms; make and record measurements, and predict outcomes.
-2-3 INQD Investigate: Simple instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers provide more information than scientists can obtain using only their unaided senses.
Students are expected to:
• Explain how observations can lead to new knowledge and new questions about the natural world.
• Work with other students to make and follow a plan to carry out a scientific investigation. Actions may include accurately observing and describing objects, events, and organisms; measuring and recording data; and predicting outcomes.
Big Idea: Inquiry
Core Content: Conducting Investigations
Students know that:
-2-3 INQA Question: Scientific investigations are designed to gain knowledge about the natural world.
-2-3 INQB Investigate: A scientific investigation may include making and following a plan to accurately observe and describe objects, events, and organisms; make and record measurements, and predict outcomes.
-2-3 INQD Investigate: Simple instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers provide more information than scientists can obtain using only their unaided senses.
Students are expected to:
• Explain how observations can lead to new knowledge and new questions about the natural world.
• Work with other students to make and follow a plan to carry out a scientific investigation. Actions may include accurately observing and describing objects, events, and organisms; measuring and recording data; and predicting outcomes.
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