Science Mini-Unit: Lesson Plan by Emily Hulit

Grade level
Tentative lesson date /
time of lesson
Lesson Overview (1)
Grade level, General topic,
Central idea

Second Grade
November 15 - November 18
1:30 p.m.
Purpose: The purpose of this mini unit is to provide students with the opportunity to
explore the components of water in the atmosphere. Students will be able to apply
these concepts to real life through the understanding that water is present in the air
and is constantly moving.
Central Idea: By studying forms of water in the air, students will explore that water
changes and is always present in our atmosphere.

Standard(s) (1)

Science Content Statement: Water is present in the air.

Ohio Revised Science:

-content statement(s) and
relevant sections of content
elaboration statements
-relevant portions of the
inquiry standard (See Ohio
Science Standards, p. 14, far
right column)

Water is present in the air as clouds, steam, fog, rain, ice, snow, sleet or hail. When
water in the air cools (change of energy), it forms small droplets of water that can be
seen as clouds. Water can change from liquid to vapor in the air and from vapor to
liquid. The water droplets can form into raindrops. Water droplets can change to solid
by freezing into snow, sleet or hail. Clouds are moved by flowing air.
Science Inquiry Statements:

Objectives & Outcomes

(1)
Actions that are observable
and measureable
-Students will be able to
[e.g., explain the evidence
and reasoning to support their
conclusion(s).]

Observe and ask questions about the natural environment

Communicate about observations, investigations, and explorations

1. Students will be able to (SWBAT) explain the parts of the water cycle.
(evaporation, condensation, precipitation)
2. SWBAT identify different types of water in the air. (clouds, steam, fog, rain,
ice, snow, sleet, and hail)
3. SWBAT experiment in order to make observations about the water cycle using
terrariums.

Classroom Environment
(0.5)

For the first day, the students will be paired into groups of two at their desks. The
Description of the room and
pairs will be based on behavior and ability. On the next day, the lesson will start as a
students. Include # of students whole group before splitting into 2 groups (11 in each) to move to their center. One
and details about them and
teacher will be with each group, guiding their learning. The last two days, students
their interactions.
will be at their assigned seats (desks arranged in 4 groups of 6) facing the Smart
Board, with the ability to get up and move around on the last day to communicate
with peers. 22 children total. 14 girls 8 boys.

Materials (1)
Include technology
Provide a brief but detailed
list of all materials and
quantity to be used in the
lesson (including technology).
Where applicable, indicate
source of the material /
resource. Include a copy at
the end of your lesson plan
(e.g., images, video, student
handouts, observational
checklist, links to websites
that inspired you).

Day One
1. Small clear dishes (11)
2. Water
3. Ice cubes (11)
4. Paper towels
5. Observation sheet (22)
6. Pencil (22)
7. Smart board
8. Photos of water as condensation (3)
Day Two
1. Video if evaporation in progress
2. Clear cup (1)
3. Permanent marker
4. Water
5. Photos of condensation happening (5)
6. Glass clear cup with water and ice (2)
7. Photos of clouds
8. Glass mason jar bottle (2)
9. Plastic wrap
10. Small needle (1)
11. Photos of different types of precipitation (snow, rain, hail, etc.)
Day Three
1. Computer
2. BrainPOP Video of the water cycle
3. Speakers
4. The Water Cycle by Marcia Zappa
5. Water Cycle Song copied for all children (23)
Day Four
1. Gallon size ziplock baggies (24)
2. Water
3. Blue food coloring
4. Sharpies (Black) (23)
5. Duct tape
6. Computer
7. Pre-created jeopardy game
8. Finger pointer

Academic language (1)

Key terms and definitions.
How will you help children
understand and apply? Use
of sentence stems are
included here (I think ___
happened because ____. I
agree with ___ because ___.
I disagree with ___ because
___.

Water Cycle How water moves from the earth, to the air to the sky. The
process of precipitation.
Evaporation Water heats up by turning into a gas.
Precipitation Water descending from clouds.
Cloud Formation The ways clouds look like can determine the weather
present or in the near future.
Time Lapse A segment of video recorded over a period of time that is fastforwarded.
Condensation Water in the sky becomes cooler and therefore, heavier. It
mixes with water vapor and dirt particles.
Dew the small water droplets found outside after a night that have been
caused by water in the air.
Temperature The coolness and heat in the air.
Humidity the amount of condensation/water in the air.

I will help my students understand these key terms through experiences and
investigations I will provide guidance to help students find their answers in an
inquiry-based method. I will not be testing students on the terms, but they are
something they should be familiar with.

Potential Misconceptions
(1)

Misconceptions from Standards:

Identify potential
misconceptions (See Ohio
Revised Standards).
Explain how your planned
learning experiences
(procedure) will help you to
identify any misconceptions
your students hold and what
you will do to help change
students ideas.

It is difficult for young students to understand fully the process of condensation and
how clouds form. The misconception that clouds are like cotton and/or have a solid
feel to them can be addressed by investigations and experiments that are directly
related to condensation and cloud formation.

Rationale (2)

The content standard I will be exploring with my students is how water moves in the
air with regards to the water cycle. We will be observing time lapse videos of
evaporation as well as objects that show properties of condensation. Students will be
able to use real life situations to see these processes in action.

For overall unit.

Strong justification of the
content and inquiry
statements, objectives, and

Other Misconceptions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Clouds are made of gas

Water falls like a droplet
Dark clouds mean its night time
The water cycle is freezing and melting water
Water only evaporates from large bodies of water

planned learning experiences.

Integrate educational theory
and theorists substantially in
this justification
(constructivism, proximal
zone of development, etc.)
(2 paragr.)

The inquiry statements help me to see the expectations I want my students to be

following during the mini unit. I want these statements to be observable and ask
questions about the natural environment. These expectations will help me decide if
they are engaged, thinking about the topic, and using their own knowledge to guide
their learning and help them to ask meaningful questions.
Using Vygotskys social behavioral theory, the students will guide my teaching by
their questions. Learning through relationships and interactions helps students create
foundations for their experiences. Performing discussions and group investigations
allow students to stabilize learning relationships that are ongoing and authentic. This
unit is group-based with much emphasis on collaboration and idea sharing: I want this
to be the core of the unit so the children are being social as well as using their peers
for scaffolding.
Maria Montessori uses the power of observation to fuel the teaching and learning
within the classroom. By observing my students to gauge their engagement, and
focus, I am able to manage how my lesson needs to continue and the actions I must
take to better support my students. For my mini unit, I will observe how the students
are engaging in the activities, the questions they are presenting, and the ways that they
are moving the lesson forward. I will also observe how they are answering my
questions and assist them to get to the answers they desire. If I can observe a negative
response from the students, this will inform my own teaching to change and alter the
procedures I put into place. If students are responding positively to the unit and its
lessons, this will help me look closer to see why it is working and if there is any way I
can make my lesson more effective.

Evaluation / Assessment
(1.5)
How will you document
student understanding /
learning? Include both
formal and informal
assessments.
Briefly describe how these
assessments will be used to
inform your instruction within
the lesson, and beyond. This
description needs to identify
evaluation criteria (what specific
things are you looking for in
students actions, etc.). *See
Anderson et al. and Warnock &
Mulvey articles observation
checklist for ideas. *Use
checklist across all 5E phases.
Assessments should have clear

Pre-assessment: Before the lesson begins, I will have a class conversation with the
students about water and where it comes from. We will also briefly talk about what
they know about the water cycle. Can students tell me that water is present in the air?
Do they have logical ideas about how water is changing? Are the students willing to
be active participants in the activities? What kind of past experiences do the children
have?

During: I will be moving around the classroom during the explorations as well as
having individual conversations as well as group conversations with the students. Are
students making observations about the items in the centers? Are they continuing to
wonder about certain topics by asking questions? Are they open to new ideas and
coming up with new theories? Are they sharing ideas and working well with their
peers? Are they actively listening? Are the students using all five senses to make
observations? Are they students making inferences?

connections to the standards and

planned learning experiences.

Procedure for Planned

Learning Experiences /
Inquiry process (3)
Clearly written approach
with a progression that is
appropriate and easy to
follow, even for a substitute
teacher
Connect directly to the
standards
Engage students to develop
meaningful understanding
Follows 5E learning cycle
stages (Engage, Explore
(open exploration followed
by student inquiryanswering a main science Q
through data analysis),
Explain, Extend/Elaborate,
Evaluation components
throughout)
Questions and sequences of
questions to solicit student
thinking.
Includes expected student
actions / responses (in
context of above stages).
Consider productive Qs as
presented by Elstgeest
reading and Use Your
Words.
Mini-unit closure: students
and/or teacher summarized
key concepts

Summative Assessment: At the end of the 4 days, the students will play jeopardy so
that I am able to assess the children in an informal way. I will allow each of the
children to have a turn as well as to allow them to work with peers when needed. We
will also have a conversation about the lesson and all the key terms and concepts
discussed in the lesson by looking outside and talking about what is happening. Do
the students answers make sense and add to their understanding of water in the
atmosphere? Have their misconceptions changed? Have the students made logical
inferences throughout the investigations?

Day One Engage (30 min)

I will begin the lesson by asking the students what they already know about water.
What do you know about water in our atmosphere? (If children do not know the term
atmosphere, I will provide them with a definition.) In what ways does water exist? Is
water only in big bodies of water like puddles, lakes, and oceans? Next, students will
split into groups of two that I have created by ability level. (Low with a high) The
students will be given a small clear dish with water in it to observe as well as a sheet
that addresses what they might be observing. (See handout below) Students will be
given time to work with their partner to observe the properties of the water. What
does it look like? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? Where do we find
this type of water in our environment? In our atmosphere? Do you think the water
would stay in the dish forever, if i never dumped it out? What makes you think that? If
not, where will the water go? After the students have observed the water, I will give
them each an ice cube for their dish. They will observe the properties of the ice cube
as they did the water. What does it look like? What does it feel like? What does it
smell like? How is the ice cube different from the water we just observed? WHere do
you think we would find this in our environment? In our atmosphere? Does ice ever
fall from the sky? What do you think that is called? After completing the observations,
we will come back together as a group and discuss what we observed. Then, we will
view a photo of dew on grass and discuss what it means. Where does that water come
from? Do you ever see it when it doesnt rain at night? How did the water get there?
Are there other places you see dew like this? What does this tell you? After the
exploration, I will collect the observation papers and say, Now today we talked about
water and ice and how it might exist in our atmosphere. Throughout the next couple
of days, we will explore that further as well as talk about how the water moves
through our atmosphere. We will then clean up the materials we used and i will direct
the students attention to my mentor teacher for the next steps.
Day Two Explore (40 min)
On the second day, we will review some of the observations we had made on the
5

 Reasonable time estimates

included and reasonable
Potential safety issues are
identified and addressed

previous day. After reviewing, I will ask the children, Today we are going to talk
about the cycle that water participates in. Yesterday, we talked about the water in the
small clear dish and where we thought it would go if we just left it there for awhile
without dumping it out. What were some of your thoughts? After listening to the
childrens thoughts, we will watch a time-lapse video of water evaporating on asphalt
over a period of time. We will discuss what we can are observing. What is happening
to the water? Where do you think the water is going? How do you think the water gets
up into the air? Can you see the water when it leaves the asphalt? Is there anything
that might make the water evaporate faster? After watching the video a few times and
discussing it. I will introduce an experiment that will last over a period of a few day. I
will get a clear cup and fill it with water and explain to the students that I will be
placing it on the window sill and we will see what happens to it. On a piece of chart
paper, we will write our predictions. What do you think will happen to the water?
Where is it going? How long do you think it will take for the water to completely
disappear. After making the predictions, I will explain that each day, we will go over
to the window and mark where the water is that day, so that are able to keep track of
how much has gone each day. After this experience, I will explain to the students that
I will be splitting them up into two groups and they will be observation items that
have to do with the different processes of the water cycle. I will explain that they will
be looking at pictures and objects to gain a deeper understanding of the concept
before we put it all together as the full water cycle. I will split the students up into two
groups (each group will be mixed ability level so they can use their peers for
scaffolding) and explain the next steps of the exploration. Once the children are split
up into two groups, I will give the children time to work on looking at their materials
and making observations and inferences. They will be given a thoughts page if they
would like to write their ideas on paper (optional). For the condensation center, the
items available will be photos of clouds, dew, condensation on a can. There will also
be cups of ice water in class cups so the children are able to touch and use a different
sense to observe. For the precipitation center, there will be a glass container with
plastic wrap and water to simulate a full could, after they have observed that, the
children will be able to poke small holes in the plastic to release some of the water to
simulate precipitation. The children will also have access to photos of the different
forms of precipitation (rain, hail, snow, etc.) Once children have had enough time to
make observations and inferences about one process of water, I will switch the
materials between groups so that both groups are able to experience both processes of
water. They will be given the same amount of time for this next exploration. When the
children are finished we will come together as a while group and discuss some of the
things we noticed. What do you notice about the water and the plastic wrap??
How might we see this in our environment? Where is the rain in the photos coming
from? How do you know? What is happening to the water? Where are the water
droplets coming from? What do you think clouds are made of?? What do you think the
water is doing? After the discussion, I will say, Tomorrow we will look deeper into
the water cycle. I will then direct the students attention to my teacher for the next
steps.
6

Day Three Explain

(Check the cup of water for evaporation)
On the third day, we will have a short conversation on what we have previously
learned to make sure the students understand the concepts so far. Then we will gather
on the carpet and read the book, The Water Cycle by Marcia Zappa. During the book,
I will stop and point out things that I think are especially important. I expect the
children to make observations during the book as well. This is not a book we will read
in its entirety. Instead, we will skim through and talk about the water cycle in action.
This is the day that the vocabulary will be introduced to the students. After reading the
book we will move back to our seats and I will introduce a song for the children to use
to help them remember the cycle and the different parts. (See song below) We will
sing through the song a few times. After singing the song, we will watch a BrainPOP
video on the water cycle. I will pause at certain spots to allow the children to answer
the questions they pose. After these activities, we will have a pair and share discussion
with the question, When is a time where you have seen water in a form that is not a
body of water? Once the children were able to share, I will take a few ideas from
some students and talk about how that water exists. We will then have a class
discussion on what we learned throughout this part of the lesson. What happens in the
water cycle? What different forms does water take? Have you ever seen water in these
forms before? When? What is some new vocabulary you learned from today? What do
those mean? After the discussion, I will direct the students attention to my teacher for
the next steps.

Day Four Evaluate & Extend

On the last day, I will open by discussing the water cycle and the process that water
goes through. Then I will explain to the students that we will be creating our own
water cycle system through making a water cycle in a bag. I will show them an
example of one I have already created and then have two student volunteers help me
pass out the supplies. I will go with the children step by step in creating their water
cycle in a bag, assisting those who need it:
1. Draw landscape on the bag with sharpie: Why do we need the water at the
bottom? What do you think will happen when we seal the bag? What is the
importance of drawing a sun on our bag?
2. Pour water into separate container and add blue food coloring: Why would I
color it blue? What color do you think it will turn when it condensates? Why?
3. Pour water into baggie, being careful not to let the water touch the sides: How
long do you think it will take the water to evaporate? What kinds of things will
make it evaporate faster?
4. Duct tape water cycle in a bag to windows in classroom: Why would we tape it
to the window?
5. Watch water cycle in the bag and check them at the end of the day or even the
next day. Encourage children to tape them on their windows at home.
6. Children will put their names on their projects
7

What do you think will happen to your water cycle in a bag? How does this show the
water cycle? How long do you think it will take for the water to start moving? Student
will use their vocabulary to explain the processes and gain a deeper understanding of
the water cycle.
Once students have created water cycles in a bag, we will put them on the window so
the water cycle can happen. I will then have the students return to their seats so we
can play review jeopardy. I will pull number sticks so each child has a chance to have
a turn. Each student will go up and be able to answer a question. How do you know
your answer is correct? After the game, we will have a discussion, wrapping up our
whole lesson. What was important to include in your terrarium? Based on the things
we have learned, what do you think will happen to the water we put in it? What stage
is the water in right now? What stage will come next? How long do you think it will
take for something to happen? How do you see the water cycle in everyday life? I will
end by telling the students that water is all around them and they can always be
looking for it. Then I will direct the students attention to my mentor for next steps.
Safety Precautions:
I will go over safety precautions, as we will be working with glass cups and water. I will ask
them to be careful when handling the glass jars as if they drop them they will shatter.

References & Resources

(1)

Images Retrieved from:

This list includes, but is not

limited to: childrens
literature; course readings;
journal articles; online
resources; human resources
(who inspired / informed your
work, from where any
portions of the lesson were
borrowed).
List references per APA
citation guidelines.

http://water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/condensation-clouds.html
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hyd/cond/home.rxml
http://blog.kingspaninsulation.co.uk/what-is-surface-and-interstitial-condensation/
https://www.britannica.com/science/condensation-phase-change
https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/snow/index.html
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/prcp/rnhl.rxml
http://wayofwater.weebly.com/precipitation.html

Ideas for Terrarium Retrieved from:

http://www.onlypassionatecuriosity.com/learn-about-the-water-cycle-make-aterrarium/
Videos Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuF0Xg4MlJI
8

https://jr.brainpop.com/science/weather/watercycle/

Other Sources:
Anderson et al. (2006). Unlocking the Power of Observation. Science and
Children.
Montessori St Nicholas. Montessori Media Centre. What is Montessori?
Retrieved from: http://www.montessori.org.uk/what_is_montessori
Ohio Department of Education. (2011). New Science Standards.
Retrieved from: http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Ohio-s-NewSocial Development Theory - Instructional Design. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24,
2016, from http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/socialdevelopment.html
Zappa M., (2011). The Water Cycle. Edina, MN; ABDO Publishing Company.

Children with Specific Learning Needs

IEP/504 Plans:
Classifications/Needs

Number of
Children

Supports, Accommodations, Modifications,

Pertinent IEP Goals

504

Give couple extra reminders to stay on task, pay

extra attention to actions during day 2 and day 4.
Give hands on activities to keep hands busy and
improve learning.

IEP

Give few reminders to stay on task, give extra time

for work, work one-on-one to make sure concepts
are learned.

Materials:
Science Mini Unit Observational Checklist: Water is present in the air

Experiment
to make
observations

Identify 2
types of
water in air.

Explain the
parts of the
water cycle.

Student

Comments

1 Karis
3 Alanna
4 Mia
5 Lila
6 Malia
7 Xander
8 Gus
9 Kendyl
10 Nate
11 Abbey
12 Gui
13 Sydney
14 Dylan
15 Reilly
16 Brandon
17 Jacob
18 Madeleine
19 Bella
20 Austin
21 Braeden
22 Kennedy
23 Ryan

Levels for Skills

1= much help from peer or teacher
2= some help
3= independent

10

Song:
(Sang to the tune of Shell Be Coming Around the Mountain)
Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.
Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.
It goes up as evaporation
Forms clouds as condensation
Then comes down as precipitation, yes it does!

11

Photos used for Explore lesson:

12

13

14

15

16

Name_________________
What does it look like?

Observing Water
What does it feel like?

What does is smell like?

What does it look like?

Observing Ice
What does it feel like?

17

What does it smell like?