Authentic Instruction

Method of Authentic Instruction: Inductive Method


Standard: 1st Grade Science
S1E2. Students will observe and record changes in water as it relates to weather.
          a. Recognize changes in water when it freezes (ice) and when it melts (water).
          b. Identify forms of precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hailstones as either solid(ice) or liquid (water).
          c. Determine that the weight of water before freezing, after freezing, and after melting stays the same.
          d. Determine that water in an open container disappears into the air over time, but water in a closed container does not.


Students could work through this lesson and set of experiments over a period of 1-2 weeks. The students could come up with a series of questions they want to answer about water and the relationship it has to weather. The students could make a chart of predictions of what they think will happen.  Students could use Microsoft Word and/or Excel to create a chart to show what happens when they freeze water and when it melts.  They could create a chart as well to show what happened to the water.  The chart could show how long it took and the also illustrate what happened. As the students conducted the different experiements with water, they could use a digital camera to document their results. At the end of the experiments, the students could put their pictures and spreadsheets together in a PowerPoint presentation to put all of their results together.  The presentation could also show their predictions chart from the beginning of the week to show which predictions were true and which ones were not true. Using the technology could get the students actively involved in the experiments and give them more "ownership" of what was taking place. They could work together in a group to create the presentation at the end. The technology would also help to reinforce what they learned throughout the lessons.