KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate: Nicole Talarico

Date: Day 1

Cooperating Teacher: Dr. Varano

Coop. Initials

Group Size: 20 students Allotted Time 40 min

Grade Level 3

Subject or Topic: The Water Cycle

Section

STANDARD: 3.2.3.A1- Differentiate between properties of objects such as size, shape,

and weight and properties of materials that make up the objects such as color, texture, and
hardness.
Differentiate between the three states of matter, classifying a substance as a solid, liquid,
or gas.
I. Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes): Students will explain how precipitation
occurs
II. Instructional Materials
A. Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWb4KlM2vts)
B. Computer
C. Cups of water
D. Sponges
E. Bowls
F. Science notebooks
G. Anchor chart
H. Exit slips
III. Subject Matter/Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea, outline of
additional content)
A. Prerequisite skills
1. Students have observed some type of precipitation within their life
time
B. Key Vocabulary
1. Water Cycle- the movement of water which happens over and over
in the same way
2. Precipitation- water that falls in the form of rain, hail, snow, or sleet
3. Saturation- unable to hold or contain more water
C. Big Idea- The reason that we have precipitation is because of the water cycle.
D. Content

1. Define, name, and explain three kinds of precipitation.

IV. Implementation
A. Introduction
1. Teacher will play the Water Cycle Song Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWb4KlM2vts)
2. Teacher will introduce that the new unit for science will be on
learning about the water cycle
3. The teacher will refer back to the video and tell the class, Today we
will be focusing on precipitation which is one of the parts of the
water cycle.
B. Development
1. The teacher will ask students what kind of things they have seen
falling from clouds in their life.
2. The teacher will ask the class I was watching a storm beginning the
other day and wondered, how do you think the clouds know when to
let it rain, snow, hail, or sleet?
a. Teacher will call on a few students to hear their responses.
b. Teacher can ask, What gives the clouds the signal to go
ahead and release the snow, hail, rain or sleet? to facilitate
further discussion.
3. The teacher will assign students partners and give the partners a cup
filled with water, sponges, and a bowl. The teacher will provide the
class with her expectations about how to properly use the materials
given to them.
4. Students will be given a sheet to fill out as they create their cloud
model.
5. The teacher will tell the class that their sponge represents a cloud.
The teacher will ask, With your partner, experiment with your
sponges and water (over your dish). How can you cause the water
droplets inside the sponge (the cloud) to fall into the dish as rain?
a. The teacher will walk around to partners and listen and watch
them as they experiment.
b. At what point do you notice the water droplets fall?
c. Why do you think the droplets wait until this point to fall?
6. The teacher will bring the students back together as a class. Have the
students take out their science notebook and draw a picture of the
model on the model sheet.
7. The teacher will ask the class questions and have an open discussion
about the experiment.
a. What observations did you make about your cloud?
b. At what point do water droplets fall from the cloud?
8. The teacher will create an anchor chart with the following
information for the students to write down in their science
notebooks.

a. The teacher will write the word saturation on the board and
have the students write the word in their notebooks.
b. The teacher will ask the students based on the experiment
and what they have been discussing, what do they think
saturation means?
c. The teacher will record each students response on the board
and come up with a class definition.
d. The teacher will ask the students, Does anyone know what
we call it when a cloud becomes saturated and water droplets
fall to the earth as rain?
e. The teacher will write the word precipitation and the
definition and have the students record it in their notebook.
f. The teacher will ask the students what examples they have
seen or remember in the video of the kinds of precipitation.
g. The teacher will write the examples rain, sleet, snow, and
hail on the board.
9. The teacher will tell the students to pile up their science notebooks to
be collected and will hand out the exit slip for the students to
complete.
C. Closure
1. The teacher will explain to the class that they have just learned about
one of the many parts of the water cycle.
2. The teacher will ask the students the focus question again, How do
you think the clouds know when to let it rain, snow, hail, or sleet?
3. The teacher will ask the students to think about how they think the
cloud gets filled with water over time in order for precipitation to
occur.
4. The teacher will tell the students that the answer to that question is
the next part of the water cycle, which they will be learning about
tomorrow.
5. The teacher will fill up a cup of water and Kool-Aid mixture and tell
the students to think about what may happen to this mixture by class
time tomorrow.
D. Accommodations/Differentiation
1. E.M. has a hearing impairment and will be placed in the front of the
classroom to watch the video.
2. The lesson will be differentiated by having hands on learning,
videos, and written notes.
E. Assessment/Evaluation Plan
1. Formative-

a. The teacher will listen to student discussion based on the

experiment and check off each students name on a checklist.
b. The teacher will read the students science notebooks on what
they observed. The teacher will have a checklist using + and
next to each students name.
c. The teacher will provide the students with an exit slip on
precipitation. It will be graded out of three points, one point
for each question.
2. Summative
a. At the end of this unit, there will be a unit test.

V. Reflective Response
A. Report of Student Performance in Terms of Stated Objectives (Reflection on
student performance written after lesson is taught, includes remediation for
students who fail to meet acceptable level of achievement)
Remediation Plan
B. Personal Reflection (Questions written before lesson is taught. Reflective
answers to question recorded after lesson is taught)
1. Did the information that I wanted the students to learn get across to
them?
2. Was my lesson timed well and engaging?
VI. Resources (in APAformat)
Viewaplan.(n.d.).RetrievedSeptember26,2016,from
http://lessonplanspage.com/scienceowatercycle5precipitation4htm/
H. (2015). Water Cycle Song Video. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWb4KlM2vts

Exit Slip: Precipitation

Name: ___________________________________
1. Define in your own words what precipitation is?
(Answer: water that falls from the clouds)

2. Name at least 3 forms of precipitation.

(Answer: rain, sleet, snow, hail)

3. What term did we use to know that our cloud was full and could not hold any more
water until it started to rain?
(Answer: saturation)

Precipitation Anchor Chart (model for what to write on board)

Saturation

Student idea

Student idea

Student idea

Class definition: unable to hold or contain more

water

Precipitation

Rain

Snow

Sleet

Hail

Model of a Cloud
Draw a picture of your model.

What does the sponge represent?

At what point did you notice the water droplets fall?

Why do you think the water droplets wait until this

point to fall?