Watching the Wind - K-2 The Wind Moves Things

Contributor
Type Category
Instructional Materials
Types
Lesson/Lesson Plan
Note
This resource, vetted by NSTA curators, is provided to teachers along with suggested modifications to make it more in line with the vision of the NGSS. While not considered to be "fully aligned," the resources and expert recommendations provide teachers with concrete examples and expert guidance using the EQuIP rubric to adapted existing resources. Read more here.

Reviews

Description

Students will identify that the wind (moving air) can move objects and has power.

Intended Audience

Educator and learner
Educational Level
  • Early Elementary
Language
English
Access Restrictions

Available for purchase - The right to view, keep, and/or download material upon payment of a one-time fee.

Performance Expectations

K-PS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object

Clarification Statement: Examples of pushes or pulls could include a string attached to an object being pulled, a person pushing an object, a person stopping a rolling ball, and two objects colliding and pushing on each other.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to different relative strengths or different directions, but not both at the same time. Assessment does not include non-contact pushes or pulls such as those produced by magnets.

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this performance expectation.

Comments about Including the Performance Expectation
After students have listened to the story Gilberto and the Wind, they investigate three different stations about wind power. Then they test various objects to see if they can be moved (pushed) by wind. The term push is not used in the lesson so it should be added in the questioning and discussion sections.

Science and Engineering Practices

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this science and engineering practice.

Comments about Including the Science and Engineering Practice
After exploring the wind stations, students are given materials to test in the wind (outside or inside with a fan) to see if the wind moves them. They collect data and compare the objects tested. To extend the lesson students may choose other objects to test in the wind to see how they move.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this disciplinary core idea.

Comments about Including the Disciplinary Core Idea
Students are exploring objects to see what different strengths are needed by a push from wind to move them. In some cases the direction of the wind may change the direction in which the object is moved. Students may think of objects they have at home they could move (push) by wind .

Crosscutting Concepts

This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this crosscutting concept.

Comments about Including the Crosscutting Concept
During the lesson various types of objects are tested by students to gather evidence to support or refute student ideas about the wind causing them to move. Students may write and illustrate a story about one of the objects they explore. Encourage students to design their own simple tests with objects of their choosing, in order to meet the full expectation of the crosscutting concept.

Resource Quality

  • Alignment to the Dimensions of the NGSS: Student are using questioning and prior experiences related to wind to make sense of the phenomenon about how objects move with force. They conduct investigations at stations that help them make connections, and there is discussion about the power of wind.

  • Instructional Supports: Students engage first hand in the phenomena of objects moving with force (push). They make observations to collect data for comparisons and use those observations to develop ideas about cause and effect. Opportunities are provided for students to express, clarify, justify, interpret, and represent their ideas and to respond to peer and teacher feedback orally and/or in written form as appropriate. Students may also choose objects and design their own tests as a way to challenge their thinking.

  • Monitoring Student Progress: The lesson begins with a pre assessment by asking students what they know about wind. Questioning and discussions take place throughout the lesson, and data is collected that the teacher can use for assessment. Students are conducting tests to observe and collect data to support the disciplinary core idea. They begin to understand the crosscutting concept of cause and effect through their observations.

  • Quality of Technological Interactivity: No technology is needed for this lesson.