1) My goal for this particular lesson is to have students be able to understand the concept of clouds needing to lose rain in order to pass over a mountain. This idea may be difficult to grasp at first, so I will start with a visual observation (#3).
2) The class will need to have a firm grasp on the water cycle in our Earth’s system and why it rains. We should have already discussed the different kinds of clouds in the atmosphere (cirrus, cumulus, stratus, etc.) The understanding of why it rains is vital if I want my students to comprehend why it rains over a mountain, but not before, also.
3) I will begin with a demonstration. I will ask for an outgoing volunteer, preferably someone like the class clown, who isn’t afraid of becoming wet. I will clear my desk and have him/her catch 5 water balloons (maybe I should consider athletes for this also). When all 5 water balloons are in his/her arms, I will promptly drag him/her over my desk. The class will watch in amazement as I actually get one of my students wet!! Hopefully not all water balloons will pop (clouds don’t lose ALL water over a mountain). I will then say, “THAT is how a cloud loses water over a mountain.” The class I’m sure will be riled up, but hopefully by the time I clean up my mess, they will have calmed down. After I have the attention from the class, I will proceed to teach what each symbol means in real life. The water balloons symbolize rain. My desk symbolizes a mountain. “Tim” represents our wonderful rain cloud. I will explain how “Tim” was too heavy to get over the mountain with all the rain he had built up, so he had to “drop some off” if he wanted to make it over. By this comical skit I put on, I’m sure my children will all understand why clouds lose rain over a mountain.
4) I will conduct learning probes by having my class work in cooperative learning groups. By being together with other peers, something one child may not understand could be explained by another child. While in their groups, I will ask them to create a comic strip sketch of what I just explained to them in class. I will expect them to be in detail, explaining why things are happening. By walking around, looking at each strip, I will have a good idea of what my children are grasping and understanding. If I see common confusion among particular areas, I will stop the lesson and explain the area of the cycle they are having problems with. I will not go farther than what a child doesn’t understand.
5) For independent practice, I will have each child read the area in the book that explains the natural events in a scientific language. By my lesson beforehand, hopefully each child will be able to read it with much more ease, understanding what is occurring in his/her own words.
6) After the strips are completed and the book section is read, I will have each child write a short summary of what they learned that day, what might have confused them, and the most interesting part about clouds moving over mountains. By looking at what each child writes, I will know what I need to work on with explaining more, and what he/she really enjoyed.
7) For the closing, I will have a number of questions each child needs to answer to allow me to understand whether or not they grasp this idea of cloud movement and rain. For extra credit, they can name some states that may experience this natural occurrence.
8) After this lesson I could possibly begin explaining why the east side of the Rocky Mountains in the United States is much damper than the western side. I could branch off into many different other areas also. This could lead to the explanation of the Great Divide.
Hopefully I will be able to have a lesson plan such as this accomplished in three days with testing. I first went into this by assuming this lesson was covered in a day, but I soon realized that this feat was impossible. To have a child learn, assess, and show me they understand in one class period is not conceivable. I do feel, with time, this lesson could be taught completely with the children’s understanding. I wish to go only as fast as they are capable of learning. I’m sure, this, I will be able to learn in time.