Curated OER
Rain On
Fourth graders explore evaporation and condensation. In this water cycle lesson plan, 4th graders investigate their surroundings for real-life examples of evaporation and condensation. Students conduct various experiments.
Curated OER
Rain Making - Understanding the Formation of Rain
Learners read and conduct and experiment to learn about rain formation. In this water forms instructional activity, students read about the formation of rain and its purposes. Learners then complete a rain experiment activity.
Curated OER
Earth's Atmosphere
In this Earth's atmosphere activity, students observe the effects of air pressure using an egg. They describe what happens to the egg and what makes it do what it does. Then they determine how to get the egg out of the bottle opening at...
American Chemical Society
Soda Can Steam Engine
Steam engines have been around since the late 1600s, yet most pupils don't know how they work. Using an soda can, the instructor builds a simple steam engine for scholars to observe. Through a discussion, young scientists learn about the...
NOAA
I Didn’t Do It…Did I?: Make Your Own Greenhouse Effect
How do greenhouse gases affect the climate on Earth? Pupils explore the concept by first building their own apparatuses to model the greenhouse effect. Then, they record data to measure temperature change and determine that the amount...
Curated OER
Let's Think About Water
Students explore the different forms that water can take and conduct simple experiments to demonstrate some of its properties in each state. They watch a short video that illustrates some of these concepts.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle: Transpiration
Students identify and describe the stages in the water cycle. Using plants, they determine if they play a role in the cycle and measure the water the plants give off. They complete an experiment to determine if deciduous or coniferous...
Curated OER
Water Chemistry
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of water chemistry. They conduct research using a variety of resources. Students also consider an experiment to observe how water has the abiility to exist as three different...
Colorado State University
Do Cities Affect the Weather? (Making a Cloud in a Bottle)
The dynamics of a city can have a drastic effect on the weather. A hands-on lesson asks learners to build a model to illustrate how city pollution provides a nucleus for condensation. The greater the pollution, the greater chance for...
American Chemical Society
Entropy and Enthalpy Changes
My room isn't messy — it's a scientific experiment in entropy! Scholars investigate entropy, enthalpy, and spontaneity through a guided procedure and set of questions. The lesson connects the Second Law of Thermodynamics, energy transfer...
American Chemical Society
Exothermic, Endothermic, and Chemical Change
Scientists can't observe bonds breaking or forming, so how do they distinguish between exothermic and endothermic reactions? Young scholars complete two experiments to do just that. They monitor temperature change and calculate the...
Virginia Department of Education
States of Matter
Scientists have been studying exothermic reactions before they were cool. The lesson begins with a discussion and a demonstration of heat curves. Scholars then determine the heat of fusion of ice and the heat needed to boil water through...
Curated OER
Ideal Gas Mixtures
In this idea gas worksheet, students review Dalton's law of partial pressures, vapor pressure, relative humidity, and dew point. Students answer 3 problems.
Curated OER
Investigation 3 - Condensation Chambers
Fourth graders investigate the concept of condensation and how it is formed. They conduct an experiment and make observations of the chambers. Students record the data and then write down conclusions. The lesson includes background...
Curated OER
Oceans
Young scholars use their prior knowledge to being their examination of the water cycle. In groups, they complete an experiment in which they can see water evaporating and coming back to the ground. They discover the ocean's water...
Curated OER
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Students conduct a number of experiments involving evaporation and condensation. They view and discuss a video about the water cycle and then design posters about the rain based on the book "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs".
Weather Wiz Kids
Cloud in a Bottle
This resource provides a short experiment for students to explore how clouds are formed.
Curated OER
Miller-Urey Experiment Amino Acids & The Origins of Life on Earth
Students study the Miller-Urey Experiment including its history and criticism. In this origins of life lesson students repeat this experiment to see how it works.
Curated OER
Evaporation
Students study the evaporation stage of the water cycle. In this water cycle lesson, students participate in an experiment to study the process of evaporation that uses jars and water. Students complete an observation worksheet for the...
Curated OER
How Are Clouds and Fog Formed?
Fifth graders investigate how clouds and fog are made of tiny droplets of water. They discuss how clouds and fog are formed, then conduct an experiment in which they observe what happens when an ice cube is placed on top of a bottle...
Curated OER
Earth Energy Budget Pre Lab
Learners explore energy by conducting an in class experiment. In this climate change lesson, students conduct a water vapor experiment in a soda bottle. Learners utilize graphs and charts to analyze the results of the experiment and help...
Curated OER
Earth Energy Budget Lab
Students conduct experiments showing the greenhouse effect. In this scientific experiment lesson plan, students test for CO2 concentration, water vapor, ground albedo, and clouds. They describe what factors affect temperature and how...
Curated OER
Create a Cloud In a Jar
Students investigate cloud formation. In this weather lesson, students examine how clouds are formed. Students participate in experiments that model how water vapor in the air works.
American Chemical Society
Exploring Moisture on the Outside of a Cold Cup
As a stand-alone or as part of the intended unit, this is a valid investigation of what causes condensation to occur. By limiting the amount of air around a cold cup of water and comparing it to one out in the open, they find that the...