1. All About Clouds!
2. Andrew Ehret and Amanda Bastardo
2nd grade
Ms. Boyd
3. This lesson will teach students about the way a cloud is formed and will also help students identify the
three major cloud forms. (cumulus, cirrus, and stratus) http://urbanext.illinois.edu/kalani/19.cfm was
very helpful in supplying grade appropriate background knowledge for the lesson.
4. Students should understand how a cloud forms because it is an essential concept when discussing
weather. The themes discussed while teaching about cloud formation will be revisited again with the
water cycle as well as multiple forms of bad weather. It is also important for kids to identify the types of
clouds because they can be an indicator of weather to come.
5. So far in the unit students have been introduced to the many forms of weather the unit will cover and
have learned about the seasons and the weather each yields. However, not until this point have
students been exposed to a concept this intricate. Coming into this lesson children may think of clouds
as a number of different things, but by the end of the lesson the students will understand that they are
actually water particles clumped together. Students imaginations will be most captivated when we make
a cloud as a group.
6.
5.1.2.A.1 Raise questions about the world around them and be willing to seek answers through
making careful observations and experimentation.
5.8.2.B.3 Describe current weather conditions and recognize how those conditions affect our daily
lives.
7.
Content- Students will understand how clouds form and will be able to recognize the three main types
of clouds I will be able to understand how well students understood the concept based on the
worksheets they complete, their pictures, and their journal entries.
Motor, Thinking, and Study Skills- Students will be able to observe the making of the cloud in an orderly
manner. Ricky will be able to remain focused throughout the lesson Students will be placed in small
groups to observe this event. Teachers will be able to keep strong control of the group. Before the
lesson I will talk to Ricky and encourage him to stay focused as he did in the lesson prior.
Attitudes- Students will be aware that clouds are made of water We will discuss as a whole group in
the closure, also the students should write about it in their journal entry
8.To hook the students I will tell them we are going to do a science experiment and I will warn them that
it involves matches so they need to practice safety in their “labs”. A glass will be filled with about 3/4ths
of an inch of hot water. A match will be lit, put out, and then will be placed in the water, immediately
after tin foil will be placed over the top of the glass and ice cubes will be put on top. With the lights off
and a flashlight on students will be able to see a cloud developing inside the glass. If students have
trouble seeing, the foil can be removed and students can watch the cloud escape.
9. First I will explain that a cloud forms when warm air meets cold. Next I will move on to a worksheet
that includes blanks for children to fill in, and spaces for children to draw pictures of the cloud type. As
we go through the sheet we will encounter each type of cloud an I will teach about each one, then I will
allow the children to illustrate it. After going through the worksheet the students will write in their
journals about how a cloud is formed and the kinds of clouds they learned about.
10. -What did you see in the jar?
-Why did that happen?
-What was in the jar before the match was put in?
- What was the air in the jar like then?
-after the match was dropped in what did we do?
-What did the ice cubes do to the air near them?
- A Cumulus cloud is big and fluffy like a cotton ball.
- A Cirrus cloud is wispy like a curl of hair.
- A Stratus cloud is like a big blanket across the sky.
-How are clouds formed?
- What can we learn from clouds?
11. To close this lesson I will ask students to retell how clouds are formed, they will have just written
about it in their journal and should be able to field an answer. I will then talk about some of the different
ways clouds can be used to predict the weather. Also the students will continue with their daily
monitoring of the weather.
12. Special attention will need to be paid attention to Ricky as he has been having trouble paying
attention in the later periods of the day. Also I will need to make sure Mariana and Akira are not paired
with Lyvia for the small group activity.
13. Future lessons will include bad weather, (tornados, hurricanes, etc.) as well as forecasting and the
water cycle. Also, students may be assigned an art project where they create cloud formations out of
cotton balls on blue construction paper.