The Science
Grades 3-4
Pre-test
Introduction
Why are there clouds?
1) What are clouds made of?
Concepts from standards: water cycle, phase change, weather patterns
Enduring understanding: Clouds are made of small droplets of water.
Exploration: zoom model
UDL Clouds (3-4) Activity 1-What are clouds made of?
2) How does water get into the air to form clouds?
Concepts from standards: phases, phase change, temp
Enduring understanding: Water evaporates to get in the air where it forms clouds.
Exploration: bowls: observe plastic wrap
UDL Clouds (3-4) Activity 2-How does water get into the air to form clouds?
3) How does water get out of the air when clouds create rain or snow?
Concepts from standards: weather patterns, surface conditions, condensation
Enduring understanding: Water condenses from the air to form water droplets in clouds.
Exploration: Observe condensation on a cold plastic cup
UDL Clouds (3-4) Activity 3-How does water get out of the air when clouds create rain or snow?
4) How do clouds function in the water cycle?
Concepts from standards: water cycle, phases, multiple forms
Enduring understanding: Water in liquid and solid states on the earth evaporates into the air, condenses to form clouds, and then precipitates back to the earth.
Exploration: Stamp for Earth's water in different states
UDL Clouds (3-4) Activity 4-How do clouds function in the water cycle?
Grades 5-6
Pre-test
UDL Clouds\-Pretest \(5\-6\)
Introduction
Why are there clouds?
1) Why do we need clouds?
Concepts from standards: limited amount of fresh water, where does our water come from
Enduring understanding: Our fresh water comes from the clouds.
Exploration: Stamp activity for fresh water:
UDL Clouds (5-6) Activity 1-Why do we need clouds?
2) What's it like inside a cloud?
Concepts from standards: sol liq gas models
Enduring understanding: Clouds are made of water
Exploration: zoom model
UDL Clouds (5-6) Activity 2-What's it like inside a cloud?
3) How does water get into clouds?
Concepts from standards: sol liq gas, energy transfer
Enduring understanding: When the sun adds energy to water, it changes states from solid to liquid to gas. When it releases the energy, it forms liquid water droplets or solid water crystals in clouds.
Exploration: Molecular workbench model
UDL Clouds (5-6) Activity 3-How does water get into clouds?
4) Where do clouds form?
Concepts from standards: water affects weather patterns
Enduring understanding: The air above wet areas of the earth or open water becomes humid because water evaporates. The water in the air can form clouds and result in precipitation.
Exploration: bowls: relative humidity (water vs land)
UDL Clouds (5-6) Activity 4-Where do clouds form?
