We have Earth Science binders available to the first six 5th grade teachers who respond to this blog post in the comments below. If you attended the Earth Science training for teachers new to 5th grade Science last week, you already received one.
8 Comments
Since clouds are made of water droplets that are denser than air, why do they float?
The water droplets in clouds aren't actually floating like a log on water. They are constantly falling. However, they are so tiny that they have a large surface area compared to their mass. That creates a lot of friction as they fall through the air and really slows them down. They are also falling through an air mass that is moving upwards. So, they are moving up faster than they are falling down. If the tiny water droplets collide with enough other droplets, they may become large enough to overcome this effect and fall as precipitation. Read more here and here. Why are clouds sometimes different colors? White clouds - Small water droplets in clouds scatter all the wavelengths in white light equally so the clouds appear white to us. Gray clouds - Very thick, dense clouds full of large raindrops, block and absorb sunlight so they appear dark to us. Red clouds at sunset/sunrise - At sunset/sunrise light has to travel farther through the atmosphere before it reaches us. Most of the short wavelengths from the blue end of the spectrum have already scattered away leaving mostly light waves from the red end of the spectrum. If thin clouds are present, they can reflect these red/orange light waves down to us. Iridescent clouds (rainbow colored) - Rarely, sunlight will travel through a thin cloud with very tiny ice crystals or water droplets and be diffracted into different wavelengths creating a rainbow effect. Read more here and here and here. Draft Recommendations for Science TEKS Streamlining The draft recommendations below were developed by the science TEKS streamlining committees appointed by members of the SBOE. Informal feedback will be accepted in response to the draft recommendations through December 16, 2016. Comments on the draft recommendations will help to inform the streamlining committee's final recommendations. If you provide specific comments and recommendations for any of the student expectations, please identify the grade level and the specific student expectation number that is included in the draft recommendations document. (For example, grade 1 (1)(A)) You may submit your comments to TEA at [email protected]. Please indicate “Science TEKS Streamlining” in the subject line. Click on each item below to download a PDF. Use the bookmarks on the left-hand side of the document to navigate to a specific grade level or course:
Successful teachers have discovered students need relevance, repetition, and reinforcement in order to master new content. In Science, relevance is easily observed in making Science connections to everyday life. Because Science is literally everywhere, teachers who know the Science TEKS/content can provide many opportunities for distributed practice and application without having to find the time to do so using full-blown lessons. Below are some examples of how this may be done: Destiny Jones (Hodges) has archives from previous lessons set up at the back of the room. These items might include vials of concentrated and dilute solutions, cups of water with floating and sinking objects, electrical components for series or parallel circuits, etc.. Her students are encouraged to make use of "sponge" time to go back to the items and make observations or connections to help them remember the activities and concepts from those lessons. The items also serve as reminders to the teacher to remember to ask questions about those concepts throughout each week. Your interactive word wall and anchor charts also serve the same purpose. Homero Sanjuanero (McWhorter) creates real-life scenarios like the one below. These scenarios provide students opportunities for application and connection of concepts previously taught. Homero shows the photograph above and tells the students a "story" about his weekend: Last weekend I worked as a soccer referee. The weather was very hot, and I did not have enough drinking water; I only had the items that are in the photo. How could I have solved my problem?
He then guides his students to link concepts such as condensation, evaporation, insulators, light and thermal energy, how light travels (shadow), etc.. Frequently providing students with these types of scenarios helps students understand that Science happens everyday, everywhere. |