Download NGSS Lesson Plan Template

NGSS Lesson Plan Template
Topic(s)/Unit:
Weather
Grade Level(s)/Course:
7th
Essential Questions/Understandings – the BIG IDEAS and CONCEPTS students will demonstrate/know
Essential Understandings
Essential Questions
How are evaporation and humidity related?
Students will understand that as water
evaporates, the amount of humidity, water vapor, How are humidity and air temperature related?
How is humidity related to the dew point?
increases.
How do these concepts result in changes in
Students will understand that humidity increases
weather conditions?
in warm air.
Students will understand that water vapor starts
to condense at the dew point, which is where the
air is saturated. This depends on the temperatures
of things in contact with the air.
Students will understand that humans feel
warmer with higher humidity because there is less
room in the air for evaporation to occur to cool
down our bodies. Higher humidity also leads to
changing weather.
Standard(s):
MS-ESS2
Performance Expectations:
5
Related Previous Standard(s) (if applicable):
5-ESS2
MS-PS1
Scientific & Engineering Practices
Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
X Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics and computational thinking
X Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
Engaging in argument from evidence
X Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
X
Practices: List the skills students should be able to demonstrate
 Students will be able to use technology to find the humidity of water of different temperatures.
 Students will analyze and interpret the data gathered during their lab.
 Students will construct explanations for the differences in humidity for each water temperature.
 Students will obtain, evaluate and communicate information to each other and the teacher with
the results of their data during the experiment.
Practices: Describe how the students engage in the Practices during the lesson(s) – what activities will
be used to incorporate the Practices?
 Students will use the PASCO humidity sensor and iPads with SPARKvue software to find the
humidity found in different temperatures in water.
 Students will be asked to analyze the graphs formed during data collection of the sensors over
the different temperatures of water for thirty seconds each. They will interpret that the warmer
air temperature has higher humidity than the other temperatures.
 Students will be able to answer questions after each temperature test to be able to explain that
higher air temperatures produce higher humidity because more water evaporates more quickly.
They will apply their knowledge from previously learning about the speed of molecules in
different temperatures.
 Students will use the information collected and evaluated to communicate in writing with the
teacher and in discussion with their own and other teams to verify results.
Crosscutting Concepts
X
X
X
Patterns
Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation
Scale, proportion, and quantity
Systems and system models
Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation
Structure and function
Stability and change
Crosscutting Concepts
What connections will be made?
 Students will understand that warmer air temperatures cause higher humidity.

Students will apply the water cycle system model to help them relate evaporation to an
increase in humidity.

Students will connect that heat energy is responsible for the matter moving more quickly or
slowly as it evaporates to go through the water cycle.
How will students engage with the Crosscutting Concept(s)?
(What is the instructional delivery?)
 They will engage in the concept that warmer air temperature causes higher humidity by using
the PASCO sensors to read the amount of humidity. They will see that the colder and room


temperature water show that humidity is lower than with the hot water. They will know that
the cause is the heat, which they also can apply to earlier learning that matter moves faster and
spreads out more as it increases in temperature.
Students will use the water cycle system model to revisit what happens during and after
evaporation. They will connect the evaporation part to the increase in air temperature and how
that makes humans feel warmer as the air becomes too saturated for our own skin to evaporate
well.
Students will apply their former learning about matter moving more quickly when it is heated to
the humidity increase when the air temperature is warmer. The questions included in the lab
will help remind them of this process.
Engineering Concepts/Activities
N/A
Nature of Science Concepts/Activities
Students will integrate technology with this lesson through the use of Pasco sensors, ipads and the
SPARKvue app. They will use the sensors to test how much humidity is in the air by holding the sensors
over beakers of room temperature water, ice water, and hot water.
3D Instruction - Lesson Procedure/Activities:
Engage –Pose the following question to the students: How do you feel when the humidity is high in the
Midwest? Students will discuss this in their cooperative groups using the Talking Chips method. Each
student puts a chip into the center of the table to share their information. When everyone has shared, ask,
“What is humidity?” After students discuss, get a working definition of it. Then, have students in groups
review the water cycle we discussed the previous lesson. They will look at a model of the water cycle and
discuss the cycle’s steps, specifically evaporation. Then remind students of our lesson where we put a
balloon in cold water and hot water. Review the fact that the balloon expanded in the hot water and
contracted in the cold. Have them each create a model in their notebooks showing what happened in each,
then discuss the fact that heated air molecules move faster, are less dense and spread out more. Cold air
moves less, is denser, and moves closer together. Start with the PASCO lab’s prediction questions. The first
asks the students to choose which factor(s) does not determine weather. We will discuss these answers as
a group to prepare them for the lab.
Explore
Lead them to the question for the lesson: “What is the relationship between air temperature and humidity
when cold and warm water evaporate?” Then they predict in their groups on their lab paper what will occur
to the temperature and humidity of the air directly above ice water and above warm water.
Next, soak a washcloth with warm water it. Wring it out so it doesn’t drip. Make sure the washcloth is
warm, and have a couple students touch it. Let a student wave the washcloth around in the air, and let the
other students feel it again. It should feel cooler. I will explain that moisture carries heat with it when it
evaporates, so it became cooler. The same things happens with the air. If heated water vapor stays in the
air as humidity, it makes the temperature feel warmer. Once the humidity is lost, the air cools.
Students will then complete the active part of the lab. They will use the PASPort Humidity/Temp/Dew Point
Sensor, I pads or mini I Pads, the SPARKvue app, a 250 mL beaker of hot water and another of ice
water. They will hold the sensor up in the air and start data collection to determine the normal
temperature and humidity of the room. They will have the sensor linked to their I Pad. They will stop data
collection after the temperature stops changing. They will answer question 4, which states, “Did the
temperature and humidity vary much? Describe how the graph supports your view.” They will notice very
little change.
Students will then hold the sensor over the ice water and collect data for 30 seconds. The graph will show
as they collect. Then they answer question 6, which states, “Compared to room temperature, how did the
air temperature change over time? Provide data to support your answer.” Then questions 7 states,
“Compared to room conditions, how did the humidity change over time? Provide data to support your
answer.” Students repeat the procedure with the warm water, answering the same questions when done.
When all groups are done to this point, I will have them meet with one another to check their results to
make sure they are similar.
Explain
While some of the questions students have to answer are found in the “Explore” section, they also fit here
in the explanation. Once groups are back, students will move on to question 11 in the lab. It states, “This
graph compares temperature to humidity. What happens to the humidity with an increase in
temperature?” This is the main information I want them to grasp from this lab, using all of their collected
data. They will discuss this, as well as create drawing to explain their thinking. They should provide
evidence from their graphs, as well as previous lessons, to explain their thinking.
Elaborate
To have students deepen their understanding, and to connect their new knowledge to prior knowledge of
the water cycle, students will do an activity to find the dew point. They will review humidity and learn the
definition of relative humidity and dew point by reading a short article from wildwildweather.com. They
will then do a short lab. They will need a metal can, thermometer, ice water and a dropper. Students will
put a couple of inches of warm water into the can and measure the temperature of the water. Then they
add a few droppers of ice water to the can and stir, continuing to take the temperature. They continue
adding droppers of ice water until they see the water vapor form on the outside of the cup. They need to
watch carefully for this so they can record the temperature of the water right away to find the dew point.
Their final question to answer for their lab will be to explain why that happened, hopefully connecting the
fact that when air cools, it holds less water vapor so condensation occurs when it reaches its saturation
point. This shows them one way to find the dew point, as well as a being a lead in to why that is the
common term meteorologists use when discussing weather, more than just humidity/relative humidity.
Evaluate
I will grade their labs for a class grade. Later, this information will be on their summative unit test with key
vocabulary terms, models, and content knowledge.
Supporting Documents
PASCO Weather Experiment – Humidity
Article from wildwildwest.com under “Humidity” Article
Experiment from http://wildwildweather.com/humidity.htm
Assessments:
Pre-Assessments
Water cycle review
Formative Assessments
The SPARKvue lab typed up by each team of students will be checked for understanding.
Summative Assessments
There will be a unit test after all lessons are complete.
Relevant & Positive Learning Environment
This lesson show students how humidity works in our world of weather. It teaches them why we
feel so much warmer when there is high humidity outside. Students also work in groups to better
enhance communication. It also tests their ability to analyze data to make judgments using
evidence. This lab is a very real-world application.
Materials/Preparation
PASPort Humidity/Temp/Dew Point Sensor
iPads or mini iPads
SPARKvue app with the Weather-Humidity lab
250 mL beaker of room temperature water, hot water and another of ice water.
Reflections/Notes:
Students did very well on the engagement questions and in successfully completing the lab. They were very
excited to watch the graphs being formed as they tested the temperatures and humidity. They also made
great connections to heat energy and humidity, understanding that warmer air allows more water to be
held in it. Students also did a good job linking the water cycle to humidity, but I would narrow down the
question linking humidity to overall weather to just linking humidity to precipitation and temperature. That
would speed up the elaboration phase.
This lesson is relatively simple to implement if the water cycle has been taught previously. The article online
is used on our laptops and iPads, and the weather lab was prewritten. If one has the equipment to
implement this lesson, it flows smoothly. Implementing the lesson is also easier in the classroom, if one
does cooperative learning practices like KAGAN to enhance communication. Another suggestion after
having done this lab is to have students rub their fingers down the side of the cans frequently to make sure
they get the condensation as soon as it starts. Several groups didn’t notice the vapor right away until I
came by and showed them by running my finger down the can to show the streak it left. That means they
may not have caught the exact temperature for the dew point, although this didn’t hinder their
understanding of the saturation/condensation part of dew point.