Pushing on Air

1st Grade
Giselle Taraboletti
I.
II.
III.

IV.

V.

VI.

Integration of Learning Outcomes

a. Students will use syringes and plastic tubing to experiment with air pressure.
Standards
a. 3.2.K.A1 Identify and classify objects by observable properties of matter.
Compare different kinds of materials and discuss their uses.
Anticipatory Set
a. Ask the students what theyve learned about air so far in the week. Tell the
students that today they will be experimenting with some tools to learn more
about air.
b. Bring out the supplies and tell the students what each item is and demonstrate
how they will be used.
c. Also outline the rules of using the materials to the students:
i. Do not point the syringe at another person. The back of the syringe should
be pointed only towards the ground.
ii. Do not play with the syringes by pretending to be doctors giving shots.
Procedures
a. Pass out a syringe and a piece of flexible tubing to each student. Give the students
time to explore with the materials.
i. Students can feel the air coming out of the syringe.
ii. Students can see how hard it is to push the plunger down when the end of
the syringe is covered.
b. Suggest to the students that they partner up and see what happens if they put two
syringes into one piece of tubing.
i. Students can wrestle by pushing on the air at the same time.
ii. Students can complete the pop-off trick by causing one plunger to
launch out of the syringe by pushing on the other.
c. Collect materials at the end of center.
d. During Content in the afternoon, have students share the discoveries they made
and demonstrate those discoveries to the class using materials from the morning.
Have one students help with the demonstrations.
e. Discuss with the students what happens inside the syringes during the various
demonstrations.
f. Using the SMARTBoard, introduce the students to the days new vocabulary
words and discuss how they fit in with what they learned that day.
Differentiation
a. With the lower groups, go through the various explorations with the students,
having each of them doing the same thing at the same time. Instead of allowing
the students to do the pop-off trick themselves, demonstrate it to them with the
help of one student.
Closure
a. Have students return to their seats. Pass out the Air and Weather journals. Have
the students write two to three sentences about what they learned that day on page
4 of their journals.

VII.
VIII.

IX.
X.

XI.

b. Have the students share what they wrote with the class and/or the members of
their table (depending on time).
c. Collect the weather journals as students pack up for Encore.
Formative/Summative Assessment of Students
a. Formative: Air and Weather journals will be collected and checked for accuracy
and relevance to the material taught.
Materials/Equipment
a. Syringes (6)
b. Flexible Tubing (6)
c. Air and Weather journals
Technology
a. SMARTBoard
b. Pushing on Air SMARTBoard slides
Reflection on Planning
a. This lesson was easy to plan and prepare for thanks to the FOSS kit and lesson
plans left behind by previous student teachers. One thing that will be important to
make sure students understand is that they cannot be aiming the syringes at each
other. The lesson could very quickly become dangerous if the students do not use
the materials properly.
Reflection on Instruction
a. I felt that this lesson went extremely well. At the time of my Air Pressure lesson, I
had been completing a science unit with the students for a week, and they were
excited every day to find out what fun thing they would be doing during my
morning center. One thing that Im glad I changed from my original plan was the
added mini-closure at the end of each center. It allowed me to stop the students a
few minutes early, collect and reassemble the materials in a calm manner, and
prepare the students mentally to move on to their next activity. It also allowed me
to further cement in the students minds what they had learned through their
experiments.
One thing I would definitely do to reduce distractions for the students not
currently involved in the activity would be to preview the activity beforehand, during
morning routine. That way, the students werent surprised when they heard a pop
from across the room. This would also be a good idea in case there were any students
who would become afraid at the sound of a sudden loud noise. Unfortunately, I did
not think about that before doing the lesson. Luckily, none of the students were
seriously frightened by the sound, but I will have to keep that in mind in the future if I
do any loud activities with other classes.