METEROLOGY: Atmosphere Composition [Sample Lesson Plans]

INTRODUCTION:______________________________________________________________
The following lessons are the introductory activities to the first unit on Meteorology. The purpose of this section of the unit is to introduce students to the atmosphere and its components. These activities build on students ideas of what exactly makes up the air that surrounds them. Specifically narrowing down the exact gases, their relative percent composition and how this relates to the density of air. Eventually this discovery will lead into an investigation of air pressure and its relationship to density.

BIG IDEAS:___________________________________________________________________
Life on the planet Earth is partly made possible by the envelope of gases that surrounds it. This layer is called the atmosphere. Earths atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor and other gases as well as extremely small particles of solids. Nitrogen is the most common element in the atmosphere. It is a building block for many nutrients required by living things. Oxygen is the second most common element in the atmosphere. Animals use oxygen directly in a process that releases energy from the food that they eat. Carbon dioxide is a compound that contains carbon and oxygen atoms chemically bonded together. Although there is only a small amount in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide is essential to plant life as they use it to produce food for themselves. Water vapor, or water that is a gas, contains hydrogen and oxygen atoms chemically bonded together. The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere varies over time and location. Some places may contain little water vapor while others contain a lot. There are traces, or small amounts, of other gases such as Argon, Neon, Helium and Methane gas as well as particles of solids such as dust, ash and salt. Students, during the following three activities, will specifically identify the following: Air has volume; if we take a deep breath, our lungs expand. Air has mass; its not much mass but it can be measured. There are gases in the air that contribute to airs mass. These gases include oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc. Each of these gases is kept in balance to help sustain life on Earth. Nitrogen makes up the majority of the atmosphere, followed by oxygen then carbon dioxide, with traces of other gases, too.

OBJECTIVES:_________________________________________________________________

Next Generation Science Standards:

MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air mass results in changing weather conditions. E.FE.07.12 - Compare and contrast the composition of the atmosphere at different elevations. E.FE.07.11 - Describe the atmosphere as a mixture of gases. Collect, analyze and interpret data on the relative composition of gases and other particles in the Earths atmosphere. Analyze and interpret data on the physical properties of the atmosphere at different elevations. Develop a model to show the relative locations and size of the four main layers of the atmosphere (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere).

Michigan State Standards:

Synthesize Objectives:

INVESTIGATION: DOES AIR HAVE MASS? Michigan State Standards:

E.FE.07.11 - Describe the atmosphere as a mixture of gases.

Synthesized Objectives:

Collect, analyze and interpret data on the relative composition of gases and other particles in the Earths atmosphere.

Instructional Guide:
Essential Question/Goal and Expectations:
Essential Question/Goal =
We cant see air, right? Yet its surrounding us, its filling up this room, we breathe it in and exhale it, too. Today we are going to be investigating whether or not air has mass. Later, we will predict where the mass that air has comes from.

Instructional Guide:
The teacher should introduce the essential question and provide context for the lesson (2min). Present to the students a list of the materials and ask them to work in groups to identify a way in which to test whether or not air has mass (810min). Scaffolding may be needed. Have protocols checked by the teacher before moving on the next step. Selected groups will present their protocol to the class (5min). Have students perform their experiment using their protocols and completing the observation guide (20min). During a whole class discussion, identify observations and explanations (10min) Create a hypothesis checklist where students predict where the mass in air comes from (15min).

Assessments and Transitions:

Assessment =
Students will turn in their protocols, observations and explanations for a formative assessment grade.

Transition =
Today, we identified that the air around us does have mass and we started talking about where that mass might come from. Tomorrow, we will begin to identify what makes up air, or what the composition of air is.

Expectations =
Students will individually complete the protocol design and observation sheet. They will work in groups of four, however, to develop and perform the protocol.

Materials and Hand-outs:

Investigation: Does Air Have Mass? Worksheet (180 copies) Each lab station will receive the following items (8 groups): - String/yarn - Triple Beam Balance - Meter stick - Various chemistry glassware (i.e. graduated cylinder, beakers) - Large balloons (4) - Masking tape

EXPANDED INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE: Investigation: Does Air Have Mass? Materials:_____________________________________________________________________

Investigation: Does Air Have Mass? Worksheet (180 copies) Each lab station will receive the following items (8 groups): o String/yarn o Meter stick o Large balloons (4) o Masking tape o Triple beam balance o Various chemistry glassware (i.e. graduated cylinder, beakers)

Activities:_____________________________________________________________________
5 Minute Silent Read (5 minutes) Introduction and Posing the Essential Question (2 minutes) o I want everyone to go ahead and take a deep breath. What did your lungs fill with? They filled with air, right, that came from the room around us? If we were standing on an oversized triple beam balance and we took a deep breath in and held it for a couple seconds, do you think our mass would stay the same? Would it increase? Would it decrease? Today we are going to be investigating whether or not air has mass and we are going to be investigating this using just balloons, meter sticks and yarn. o Pass out the Investigation: Does Air Have Mass? worksheet to students and make sure they write their name, date and hour on it. Protocol Development (15-20 minutes) o We are going to break up this investigation into a couple different parts. First, we will make a prediction as to whether or not air has mass. Next, working in your groups, you will develop a protocol, or a procedure, that you will use to test your prediction. Finally, we will come together as a class and discuss our results. o During this stage it will be important for students to follow a guideline in protocol development: What do you think needs to be kept the same throughout the experiment? What things can we change? What are we going to be measuring? How will we take our observations? How many times will you perform the test? o At this part, it may also be beneficial to provide scaffolding to students to help them get started on developing a protocol. For some students, the fact that the meter stick will be used as a balance will be a crucial part in getting them started. o The teacher should walk around and make sure that each group has a fully functional protocol to work by. Once everyone does, the next stage should commence. Performing the Protocol (15-20 minutes) o Everyone should now have a protocol that you and your group could follow in order to investigate the question Does air have mass? Remember that if you have corrections or changes to your protocol that you add them to your worksheet. You will have the next twenty minutes to work on collecting some observations. o While walking around to each group, the teacher should ensure the following scaffolding is performed:

If students have changes to their protocol, they should make notes of that. Draw AND label their set up. Describe what they observe as they perform their experiment. What can you conclude about whether or not air has mass? Whole Class Discussion (10 minutes) o Once you have completed your procedure and have collected your observations, lets regroup and see what conclusions we can make. Each group will be responsible for reporting to the class a brief summary of their set-up and procedure as well as one or two observations. o After summaries have been given, ask students to reflect on the experiments: Based on the results from all of these experiments, what can we conclude? Now that we know that air has mass, what do you think air is made of? Transition/Hypothesis Checklist (If time permits) o This section will require students to brainstorm and think about where the mass comes from.

Assessment:___________________________________________________________________
Students will turn in the worksheet they used to write their prediction, explanation, protocol and conclusions. o Do you think that air has mass? o What evidence do you already have that supports your prediction? o Identify the variables, constants and controls. Also, you will work with your group members to develop a procedure that will help answer the question Does air have mass? o Draw AND label your experimental set-up. o Describe what you observed. What can we conclude regarding whether or not air has mass?

HYPOTHESIS CHECKLIST: WHAT IS AIR MADE OF? Michigan State Standards:

E.FE.07.11 - Describe the atmosphere as a mixture of gases.

Synthesized Objectives:

Collect, analyze and interpret data on the relative composition of gases and other particles in the Earths atmosphere.

Instructional Guide:
Essential Question/Goal and Expectations:
Essential Question/Goal =
Yesterday, we performed a lab that proved that air does, indeed, have mass. Using a meter stick that acted as a balance, we attached balloons to show that when we inflate the balloons with the air from our lungs, the balance became unbalanced. Thus, air does have mass. Now, we want to investigate what causes air to have mass. What is air made of?

Instructional Guide:
Graphing Wednesday (15 minutes) Recap from Air Mass Lab Review what was concluded about the mass of air. (5 minutes) Individual hypothesis Ask students to reflect on what they already know about air (5 minutes) Small group hypothesis Students will collaborate to write and explain one hypothesis about air composition (10 minutes) Whole class hypothesis checklist Groups report out their hypotheses to be recorded and reviewed later (20 minutes) Summary and transition (5 minutes)

Assessments and Transitions:

Assessment =
Students will turn in their hypothesis checklist for a formative assessment (no grade).

Transition = So we are starting to gather ideas about what the air around us is made of. In the next few days we will start our investigation so that we can collect data about what the composition of air is. Specifically, we will start a lab that involves test tubes, candles and matches!

Expectations =
Students will individually develop their hypothesis and record it on the worksheet. Students will, however, discuss hypotheses with their classmates and critique others.

Materials and Hand-outs:

Hypothesis Checklist: Where does the mass of air come from? Worksheet (180 copies) Projector and projector screen

EXPANDED INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE: Hypothesis Checklist: What Is Air Made Of? Materials:_____________________________________________________________________
Hypothesis Checklist: Where does the mass of air come from? Worksheet (180 copies) Projector and projector screen

Activities:_____________________________________________________________________
Graphing Wednesday (15 minutes) o The purpose of this portion is to get students used to reading different kinds of graphs. The graphs used will be in the same format as some of the graphs that students will need to interpret later in the unit. Recap from Air Mass Lab (5 minutes) o Yesterday, we figured out that mass does indeed have mass. We proved that by using a balance and balloons. We put deflated balloons and on the balance first. Then we inflated one of the balloons with air from our lungs that we inhaled. What did we observe when we reattached that balloon to the balance? [student response] We should have seen the side of the balance with the inflated balloon start to lower from its original, balanced position. o Pass out the Investigation: Does Air Have Mass? worksheet to students and make sure they write their name, date and hour on it. Individual hypothesis what do you know about air already (5 minutes) o For the next five minutes, I want you to think about the things that you already know about the air that is surrounding us. What is it made of? How do you know that or where have you heard that before? o Possible scaffolding questions: When you take a deep breath in, what exactly are you inhaling? Do plants breathe? If so, what are they inhaling when they breathe? What makes one part of the world hotter and more humid than another part? Small group hypothesis as a group, what do you know about air (10 minutes) o With your group members, talk about the things that you have written on your sheet. After sharing your ideas, work together to develop one hypothesis that predicts what air is made of. Be prepared to share these group hypotheses to the class. o In this phase, the goal is to get the students to collaborate with each other to write a collective list of all of the components of the air around us. While walking around Whole class hypothesis checklist groups report out their claims (20 minutes) o Each group will share their hypotheses to the class and I will record them on this large paper here. When we reach the end of this topic, well take a look back at the list of hypotheses to see if we can accept any of them or which ones we should reject based on knowledge we have gained. o Note that in this phase, additional scaffolding questions may need to be developed based on answers submitted by the students. In addition, if there are overlapping hypotheses, only one should be written down. Summary and transition (5 minutes) o So we are starting to gather ideas about what the air around us is made of. In the next few days we will start our investigation so that we can collect data about what the composition of air is. Specifically, we will start a lab that involves test tubes, candles and matches!

Assessment:___________________________________________________________________
Students will turn in their individual hypotheses as well as their group hypothesis recorded on it. o What do you already know about air? o What do your group members know about air? o Write a hypothesis that describes what your group thinks air is made of.

INVESTIGATION: HOW MUCH OXYGEN IS IN THE AIR? Michigan State Standards:

E.FE.07.11 - Describe the atmosphere as a mixture of gases.

Synthesized Objectives:

Collect, analyze and interpret data on the relative composition of gases and other particles in the Earths atmosphere.

Instructional Guide:
Essential Question/Goal and Expectations:
Essential Question/Goal = Yesterday, we started brainstorming what exactly it is that air is made of. [Ask students to recall some of their ideas] We created a list of our thoughts and ideas on the matter and today we are going to start our investigation so we can being to accept or reject those different hypotheses. Expectations = Students will work in groups of three or four to complete the lab. All safety procedures should be followed or else the student will sit out the lab during class and will need to make it up during lunch or after school with a teacher.

Instructional Guide:
5 Minutes Silent Read (5 minutes) Recap from Hypothesis Checklist Review what was ideas students had about what air is made of (5 minutes) Materials, Procedures and Data Collection Overview Students will read over the experiment and will watch a quick demonstration by the teacher (10 minutes) Performing the Lab Students will work in small groups to complete the lab (30 minutes). Data Analysis and Collaboration Students will work on calculations and will contribute findings to a whole class data table (20 minutes) Summary and transition (5 minutes)

Assessments and Transitions:

Assessment = Students will turn in their laboratory worksheet with answers to the associated questions.

Transition = Weve now identified, roughly, how much oxygen is in the air. As you can see from our data, oxygen makes up about 21 percent of the atmosphere. But what about the other 80 percent? Tomorrow, we will investigate the rest of that 80 percent and what gases make it up.

Materials and Hand-outs:

Large test tubes 250mL beakers Graduated cylinders Candles Water Matches Safety Goggles Pennies

EXPANDED INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE: Investigation: How Much Oxygen Is In The Air?

Materials:_____________________________________________________________________
Large test tubes 250mL beakers Graduated cylinders Candles Pennies Water Matches Safety goggles

Activities:_____________________________________________________________________
5 Minute Silent Read (5 minutes) Recap from Hypothesis Checklist: What is air made of? and Introduction to the Lab (5 minutes) o Yesterday, we started brainstorming what exactly it is that air is made of. [Ask students to recall some of their ideas] We created a list of our thoughts and ideas on the matter and today we are going to start our investigation so we can begin to accept or reject those different hypotheses. o Pass out the Investigation: How much oxygen is in the air? worksheet to students and make sure they write their name, date and hour on it. o Many of you said that oxygen was one of the components of the atmosphere. When I asked you further you told me that you remember talking about it previously this year when we were going over combustion reactions and I told you that when you breathe in you are inhaling oxygen and when you breath out you are exhaling carbon dioxide; the same that is produced when we ignited methane gas. But how much oxygen is there in the air? Today, we will be investigating the percentage of oxygen gas in the air. o Point out that this is also stated in the background information and the problem statement. Materials, Procedures and Data Collection Overview (10 minutes) o Ask students to take 5 minutes to read over the materials list and procedures with their group members and identify any unclear steps. o Ask students for any questions that they may have and address them as needed. o The teacher should perform a demonstration (without water) to show students how to properly put together the manifold. o Make special note that students should check each step that they do to keep track of what they are working on. o The teacher should also stress the importance of cleanly keeping data records for this lab so that numbers do not get mismatched. Performing the Lab (30 minutes) o Make clear the expectations for group work: One student is the materials manager (i.e. getting goggles for the entire group). The lab station should be cleaned before leaving. One student will in charge of the matches. That student can retrieve matches from the teacher when the group has set up their manifold. Data Analysis and Collaboration (20 minutes)

As your group finishes, you can make sure that all materials are back in order and the goggles are put away. You can return to your desks and start working on the calculations. o At this point some groups may be finished and will start working on their calculations. Other groups may still be working. o These calculations are a little tricky and should be demonstrated in front of the whole class. Allow students some time to work in groups to perform the calculations after the demonstrations. o Compile all groups data into a data table to compare and contrast answers. o Discuss briefly errors and modifications. o If needed, address questions students have on the formative assessment questions. Summary and transition (5 minutes) o Weve now identified, roughly, how much oxygen is in the air. As you can see from our data, oxygen makes up about 21 percent of the atmosphere. But what about the other 80 percent? Tomorrow, we will investigate the rest of that 80 percent and what gases make it up. o

Assessment:___________________________________________________________________
Students will turn in their laboratory worksheet with answers to the associated questions. o Would the same result for the %Oxygen in the air be obtained if a larger test tube was used? Explain. o Would the same result for the %Oxygen in the air be obtained if a larger candle was used? Explain. o What percentage of oxygen would you predict would be present if we used 5 liters of air in this experiment? Explain. o If I told you that As altitude or elevation increases, the density of the atmosphere decreases, how could you explain why it is more difficult to breathe in Denver, Colorado, which has an elevation of more than 1500meters, than Houston, Texas, which is at sea level (0meters).