______________________________ANALYSIS OF STUDENT WORK______________________________ Background Information: In the past couple of weeks, the students in my seventh grade science class

have been working on identifying the layers of the atmosphere based on density, pressure, temperature and atmospheric phenomena. We previously have developed ideas about such characteristics by identifying that: Air has mass and volume and we can calculate the density using these measurements. o Density = Mass/Volume Air pressure is caused by gas molecules colliding with each other and with the container that they are in. o Low Density (less mass per volume) = Low Pressure (less chance of collision) o High Density (more mass per volume) = High Pressure (higher chance of collision) Temperature can also affect air pressure. o Low Temperature (low thermal energy) = High Density (more mass per volume) = Low Pressure (colliding with less force) o High Temperature (high thermal energy) = Low Density (less mass per volume) = High Pressure (colliding with more force). Density, pressure and temperature change as we increase altitude. o As altitude increases, density and pressure decrease. o As altitude increases, temperature initially (at sea level) decreases, then increases after 15km, then decreases after 50km, then increases after 85km. We can identify the layers of the atmosphere based on the changes in temperature (when the temperature increases then decreases or when the temperature decreases the increases). o The point at which the temperature changes is the boundary between two layers.

The lesson that I used in my classroom helped the students to answer the following two questions: How does temperature change as altitude increases? Can we identify the five layers of the atmosphere by changes in the temperature?

The lesson consisted of a series of stages. First, students were to work in partners to construct a graph that represented the relationship between Altitude (km) and Temperature (C). Second, students were to work in small groups to identify the patterns (if any) that temperature follows as altitude increases. Third, students identified each layer of the atmosphere as well as the boundary lines (i.e. tropopause). The following are the questions that were used to help scaffold student thinking as we identified the layers and boundaries of the atmosphere: Looking at the Temperature vs. Altitude graph, describe what happens to the temperature as we increase altitude: The coldest temperatures in the atmosphere occur at an altitude of about _________km. The warmest temperatures in the atmosphere occur at an altitude of about _________km.

There are five layers of the atmosphere: troposphere (closest to Earth), stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere (closest to space). We typically can identify the layers of the atmosphere by changes in temperature. For example, the temperature decreases until about 15km, at which point it then starts to increase. This marks the end of the troposphere and the beginning of the stratosphere. o If the troposphere is the layer of the atmosphere closest to Earth, at what altitude does it approximately end? ____________km o The upper limit/ boundary of the troposphere is known as the tropopause. Label this on your graph. o At what altitude does the stratosphere approximately end? ____________km o The upper limit/ boundary of the stratosphere is known as the stratopause. Label this on your graph. o At what altitude does the mesosphere approximately end? ____________km o The upper limit/ boundary of the mesosphere is known as the mesopause. Label this on your graph. o The ozone layer prevents ultraviolet radiation from the sun to reach ground level on Earth. The ozone, at its highest concentration, is about 25-35km from the Earths surface. What level of the atmosphere contains the ozone layer?

Ideal Responses to Questions The question that we are focusing on today and the associated student responses is: Looking at the Temperature vs. Altitude graph, describe what happens to the temperature as we increase altitude. My ideal answer for this question is: Temperature is dependent on altitude. The temperature decreases from 0km (sea level) to 15km. Above 15km, the temperature increases until about 50km. Above 50km, the temperature decreases until about 85km. Above 85km, the temperature increases and keeps increasing. Below is a series of sample answers from a variety of students work: As we increase altitude, the temp. is also increasing, but then decreasing, forming a pattern. Temperature decreases then increases then decreases then increases. At sea level, it can decrease or increase. It zig-zags. When the altitude increases, the temperature decreases, then increases, then decreases, then increases. Decreases, increases, decreases, increases.

From these answers and others, it seems that a majority of my students have only reached the surface of identifying the true relationship between temperature and altitude. The typical answers were very much surface level; simply identifying that the temperature changes. Some students focused on one part of the graph and whether the temperature at that point increases or decreased. A small portion of the answers did go a little bit further and began to explain that the temperature both increased and decreased but refrained from detailing at which altitudes the temperature changes direction. None of the students were able to match my ideal answer, even after I had specifically scaffolded them afterwards to do so. I think that based on student answers, all students did understand that there was a weird relationship between temperature and altitude. Implications for Prior Lessons & Following Lessons: The lessons that lead up to this activity seemed sound in their ability to solidify students understanding of the physical properties of air. This activity really served as a connecting activity between the understanding of air and the layers of the atmosphere (how air is identified in the larger perspective of the atmosphere). Previously, the activities flowed seamlessly as they transitioned and built on students knowledge and understanding. The following mini-activity sequence (after this activity) also seamlessly builds on students knowledge. This activity, I feel, is an introduction to the content that will be covered in the following sequence. Implications for Teaching in General Specifically these questions focus on students identifying and describing the relationship that they observe when they analyze their graph. These questions represent students ability to link science concepts to their literacy skills. Throughout the entire year, we have practiced writing summary statements when looking at and interpreting data. In the beginning of the year, students struggled with translating numbers into sentences. As the year progressed we have gotten better at it because we have seen it done before on tests and when writing lab reports. But it seems that the students still do not understand how to do it themselves. Students are not using actual numbers to support their response. They are also focusing on a small part of the graph and are not revealing the patterns seen throughout the entire graph. Science literacy is something that will need to be practiced weekly if not daily in order to, not perfect, but rather be able to comfortable use.