Allison Haynes/Science/November 10, 2015

Lesson #2
I. Topic: The topic of this second grade science lesson is weather, specifically
precipitation. The students will build on the knowledge of temperature that they
learned in the previous lesson and learn new information about clouds and rain.
II. Objectives/Standards:
Objective: With class demonstration and discussion, 24/25 students will 100%
accurately complete the precipitation information in their flip books
Standards:
PA Science S.K-2. D.2.1.1: Identify weather variables (i.e., temperature,
wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation).
PA Science S.K-2.D.2.1.2: Identify how weather conditions affect daily
life.
III. Teaching Procedures:
3 mins

25 mins

1. Introduction: Anticipatory set

a. Review the information they learned the previous day about
thermometers.
i. Review questions:
Is 65 degrees Fahrenheit greater or less than 55 degrees
Fahrenheit?
Raise your hand to tell me a temperature that is greater
than 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Think about what we talked about yesterday. What is the
magic number of when water freezes? 32-degrees
Fahrenheit
b. Today we are going to talk about why it rains and why clouds release
rain when they do.
2. Development:
a. Ask the class: Where does rain come from?
i. Rain comes from clouds!
b. Can anyone tell me what a cloud is? What makes up a cloud?
c. We are going to do a demonstration that will help us find that out.
d. Do cloud demonstration:
i. Ask a student to come up to the front of the room and pour the
warm water into the jar.
ii. Ask another student to come up and put ice cubes on the lid of
the jar.
iii. Ask the students to predict how we will make a cloud inside this
jar.
iv. Tell the class that one thing clouds need to form is dust particles.
In order to have a dust particle we are going to use a match.

15 mins

While it may look smoky from the match, that is not what we are
seeing when the cloud forms.
Tell the students to pay close attention and watch what happens.
v. The teacher should light the match and drop it in the jar and put
the lid on the jar quickly after dropping the match in.
vi. Have the students observe the cloud forming in the jar.
vii. After the cloud is formed, have a student come up to remove the
lid from the jar to release the cloud.
e. Tell the students to think about what happened in our jar. How was our
cloud formed? Turn and talk to the person sitting next to you and brain
storm the things you think are needed to make a cloud.
i. Someone raise their hand and share what you and your partner
talked about. List the words they say on the board.
ii. In order to form a cloud, we need:
Dust particle match
Water
Cooling down the warm water in the jar was cooled
down by the ice on the lid
f. Now that we know how clouds are formed, we can talk about rain!
g. Where does rain come from?
i. Clouds
Remind me, what are clouds made up of?? water and
dust (and cooling down of air pressure)
Rain drops come from clouds. So what is a rain drop?
water
ii. When a cloud get too heavy, water drops start to fall to the
earth, causing rain.
h. Has anyone heard of the word precipitation? Write this word on the
board.
i. Precipitation is the fancy word for what falls from the clouds.
Rain is precipitation. Can you think of any other types of
precipitation? Turn and talk to the person next to you.
ii. After a minute bring the group back together to share some
examples of precipitation
Rain, drizzle, hail, sleet, snow, freezing rain,
i. What do you think changes that makes these precipitations different?
What makes rain and snow different?
i. Temperature! What did we discuss yesterday? What temperature
is freezing?
32-degrees Fahrenheit. If the earth is warmer than 32degrees Fahrenheit, any snow that falls will most likely
melt. If the earth is 32-degrees Fahrenheit or colder, snow
will stick to the ground.
3. Guided and Independent Practice
a. Explain that we are going to make flip books about the weather.
b. I am going to pass out a flip book to each of you and a packet of word
slips.

i. I am going to tell you where to glue the words on in your flip

book.
c. Pass out the materials for the flip books. While one student gets glue
sticks from each area of desks.
d. Show the students where to glue the different words. Tell them to be
careful not to lose any of the picture
i. Have the students fill out the precipitation part of the flip book
based on what precipitation they have experienced in that
season.

2 mins

4. Closure:
a. On the flap under your title, write a complete sentence describing
which season is your favorite and why.
b. Collect the flip books
IV. Materials:

Jar, warm/hot water, ice cubes, matches, flip books, labels to be glued into
the flip books, lesson plan, glue sticks and markers (already in classroom)

V. Adaptations/Plan Modifications:
a) If you have extra time add information about different types of
precipitation; have the students complete the weather worksheet.
a. Drizzle are tiny water droplets that add very little water to the
group
b. Freezing rain forms when ice crystals encounter a thick layer of
warm air that melts them. When the ground is frozen, as the
melted ice crystals re-freeze and form freezing rain.
c. Snowflakes are clusters of ice crystals. Snowflakes are each
individual and unique.
b) If you run out of time
a. Save the sentence (closure) for the next time you teach
VI. Evaluation:

Formative: Ask them questions about their understanding during the lesson;
walk around the room while they are working with a partner and
independently to see their progress.
Summative: the students will eventually be formally assessed over the
information based on the teachers discretion.

VII. Reflection:

Write an assessment of the students performance and mastery in terms of

each stated objective. List each objectives evaluation separately

Write a self-evaluation including explanation for success or lack of it. Discuss:

what changes might have produced better results and could be used in
subsequent lessons.
Explain what specific changes were implemented from professor and teacher
suggestions and the results (if suggestions were not taken, explain your
rationale).

WEATHER
Name:

1. What three things are needed to make a cloud?

1

2. List two examples of precipitation.

1

3. Sally is walking home from school. It is 30-degrees Fahrenheit outside. If it starts to

precipitate, what type of precipitation will it most-likely be? (rain, snow, or hail)

Draw a picture of your favorite type of precipitation. Write at least one sentence that explains
why it is your favorite type of precipitation.

Allison Haynes
Lesson #2
Subject Matter Research 1:
Topic: Weather, Precipitation
Part One (Adult Explanation)
In weather, precipitation falls from clouds to the earth. Clouds are made up of tiny water
droplets or ice crystals. Clouds are formed by water vapor or droplets in the air. When warm air
rises, it expands and cools down. As this happens, the water vapor in the air condenses, or gets
smaller, and forms droplets of water or crystals of ice. These droplets form into clouds. When the
clouds formed grow too large, the droplets will fall onto the earth in the form of precipitation.
Precipitation is a product of condensation in the atmosphere. When clouds are too large
and heavy, precipitation such as rain, snow, or hail will fall to earth. Condensation is the process
of a gas reducing into a liquid or solid form. The atmosphere is defined as the gaseous envelope
surrounding the earth, otherwise known as the air. Precipitation occurs when the atmosphere or
the air, which is a gas, is changed into a liquid or solid form. Rain is precipitation in the form of
water droplets. Hail is formed in cold storm clouds. Hail forms when water droplets freeze into a
solid. Snow is precipitation in the form of ice crystals. Snow and hail are similar, they are both
ice, but snow is more complex. Ice crystals that make up snow are formed individually, but when
they fall, they stick together into clusters of snowflakes. The temperature at which water freezes
is 32-degrees Fahrenheit. When it is 32-degrees Fahrenheit on the ground, snow is more likely to

stick. If the temperature is warmer than 32-degrees Fahrenheit, the snow will often melt when it
touches the ground.
Part Two (Prior Knowledge)
Life experience: The students will have prior knowledge of experiencing rain, snow, and
hail where they live, in Grove City. The have some experience with weather but may not
understand what is happening.
Day 1: Students learn about temperature and how to read a thermometer. They are using words
like greater than and less than to describe temperatures. This knowledge is important when
talking about precipitation because we will be talking about when water freezes. We can think
about number and make connections to day 1 by comparing what type of precipitation will take
place at different temperatures.
Part Three (Future Knowledge)
Day 3: The students will be learning about thunderstorms and floods. My lesson about
precipitation will connect with their understanding of thunderstorm and the rain that occurs
during a thunderstorm. It also connects to flooding. Heavy rain causes flooding.
Day 4: The students will be learning about weather that they experience in Grove City and we
will also talk about season changings. This connects to the precipitation lesson because the
weather changes from rain to snow. This occurs when the temperatures get colder and stay below
the freezing level.
Future Learning: The students will continue to learn about weather related topics in their
lifetime and school year in general. Mrs. Bock teaches about tornadoes in the spring and this

knowledge about precipitation and temperature will be a foundation for that. The students will
also continue to experience weather and will now have knowledge to connect to their future
experiences.
Part Four (Resources Used)

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/precipitation/
http://pmm.nasa.gov/education/weather-climate
http://dictionary.reference.com/
Scholastic Atlas of Weather, 2004
Wind and Weather, Scholastic Inc.