Clouds

Grade Level:

3

Subject:

Science

Date:

09-21-08

Teacher: Heather Olguin

Objective: Students will be able to recognize the three main types of clouds, their shapes, and how they form.

Education Standards Addressed: Strand II: Content of Science Standard III:  (Earth and Space Science) Understand the structure of Earth, the Solar System and the Universe, the interconnections among them and the processes and interactions of Earth Systems Benchmark II:  Know the Structure and formation of Earth and its atmosphere and the processes that shape them. Performance standard:  Identify how water exists in the air in different forms (e.g. clouds and fog as tiny droplets; in rain, snow, and hail) and changes from one form to another through various processes.

Materials/ Resources: Science Explorer: Weather and Climate Experiment: Water, gallon bottle with a cap, and a bicycle pump

Focus

Prior Knowledge: Students will need to be familiar with what clouds are and that some clouds are low to the ground like fog and some clouds release rain or snow.

Prerequisite Skills: Students will need to have good observation skills along with good reading and writing skills.

Practice/Assess

Guided Practice:  Students will be observing a demonstration on how clouds form.  We will do an experiment using a bottle with a cap, water, and a bicycle pump to create a cloud in a bottle.

Assessment:  Students will be asked to draw and write a reflection on what types of clouds they saw outside and some of the different shapes they saw in the clouds.

Closure

Wrap Up: Students will have the opportunity to share their pictures and reflections with the class.

Independent Practice: Students will need to draw a picture and write a reflection about the clouds.  Whether the clouds looked smooth, rough, fluffy, etc, and what shapes they could find.