Teacher: Becca Farrell

Date: 11/10/2014

Subject: Science

Grade: 5
Time Frame: 11:20-11:55

Lesson Title: Salinity and Temperature Lab

Objective: The students will observe and understand how temperature and salinity affect ocean
currents.
SOL: 5.6 The student will investigate and understand characteristics of the ocean environment.
Materials:
Food coloring
Ice cubes
Hot water
Salt
Plastic containers
Small glass bottle
Procedure:
I will start by reviewing the previous days lesson about what currents are and what causes
those currents. I will be looking for responses such as: salinity, temperature, and wind. I
will have a jar filled with sand and cotton balls to discuss density. This visual display will
help them have a visual representation of density.
I will hand out salinity lab discussion questions and clipboards. Students will then come to
the front of the class and gather around the large table.
The materials will be set up on the table already. I will have students read the directions,
and I will explain that the first one we are doing is to talk about how temperature affects
currents. I will ask, how do you think temperature affects currents?
Then the first thing I am going to do is place blue ice cube in water. Write down what you
think will happen when I do this? Then I am going to add hot red water. Write down what
you think will happen when I do this? I will call on student volunteers to help me with the
demonstration.
Then I add the ice cube and then the hot red water. I will have students talk about what is
happening, and then we will discuss why density is causing the warm water to sink and
the cold water to rise. I will have students volunteer to share their hypothesis and whether
it matched the results.
I will have students answer discussion questions and draw what they saw happen.
After the temperature demonstration, we will move on to the salinity demonstration. I will
have student volunteers mix sea salt in a container with blue food coloring. Another
student volunteer will add red food coloring to the tap water container. Before we add
these to the plastic container, I will have students document their hypothesis. Students
will then add both of these glass containers to the large plastic container and observe how
the higher salinity water will sink and lower salinity water will rise.
We will then share as a class why this is happening. Students will draw pictures to help

reinforce what they just learned.

Differentiation: All students will be able to participate in this activity. This will be a visual
representation as well as a class discussion to accommodate to multiple learning preferences.
Students who might struggle with the reasons for why currents were created will be able to
discuss this with classmates and as questions during the class discussion.
Assessment: I will collect student lab questions to see what they took away from the lesson. The
assessment will require students to explain their understanding through drawings and writing.