Madison Backus
Weather Fronts
Grade Level: Second Grade
Lesson Objectives:
Students will predict what will happen when the cardboard is removed from the plastic container.
Students will describe what happened with the two liquids after the cardboard was removed.
Students will describe a weather front using the words warm, cold, and air.
Ohio Science Content Standards:
Long- & short-term weather changes occur due to changes in energy.
I can recognize that a weather front is an area where different air masses collide.
Assessment Plan including attachments:
Formative Assessment (attached): “What happens when cold air meets warm air? Draw a picture and explain.”
Summative Assessment (attached): “What is a weather front? Draw a picture and explain?”
Academic Language (what science terminology do you want students to learn?):
Weather front
Cold air
Warm air
Learning Trajectory:
Before: Students understand that weather changes during the day and from day to day; students understand that there are
long- and short-term weather changes; weather changes can be measured and have patterns.
After: Students understand that when warm air and cold air collide, a weather front is the result.
Lesson Materials (provide copies of all instructional materials):
Vegetable Oil
Formative Assessment (attached)
Plastic Container
Investigation Log (attached)
Water
Summative Assessment (attached)
Food Coloring
Clipboards
Plastic Wrap
Pencils
Source for Lesson: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/0743936671_030-031.pdf
Madison Backus
The Teaching Process
(should included planned, open-ended
questions to monitor student learning,
and how the lesson will be modeled)
1. Engage: Students will complete
the formative assessment with
what they think will happen
when warm and cold air meet. I
will them let them know that we
will be learning what actually
happens when they meet after
lunch.
2. Explore:
 Students will return from
lunch with the experiment
already set up on the
carpet. They will get a
pencil and find a clipboard
on the carpet. The set-up
experiment is a plastic
container divided in half
by a piece of cardboard
wrapped in plastic wrap.
Vegetable oil will be on
one side of the cardboard,
while the blue water is on
the other side of the
cardboard.
 Students will then predict
what will happen when
the cardboard is removed
Rationales for Teaching Actions
1. The formative assessment serves
as the engage part of the lesson. It
will get the students to start thinking
about what happens when cold and
warm air meet, creating curiosity. It
will also help me to see where every
student is in their thinking about
weather fronts. I will keep them
thinking about it by telling them that
we will learn what really happens
when they meet after lunch.
2. Explore:
 The experiment will already
be set up, so that the students
are not waiting idly. It will
also help to pique their
curiosity as they come back
into the room. I am having
the students complete their
investigation log using a
clipboard, so that they do not
have to keep going back to
their desks to fill out their
paper.
 Having students predict what
is going to happen before the
experiment is performed
Reflection on Teaching
The engage phase went pretty
well. Students were a little uneasy when
they had to answer a question they
knew nothing about, but this caused
them to become more curious about
what would actually happen when cold
and warm air meet. I also told them that
we would explore what would happen
later in the afternoon. This formative
assessment was a great way to spark the
students’ curiosity.
Overall, the explore phase went
really well. The students were excited
about the demonstration and were
generally very curious. One success
during this phase was while the
students were making predictions. I
could see how curious they were and
hearing what they thought would
happen also helped to guide my
questioning during the explain phase. If
I had to do this again, I would change a
few things about the explore phase. I
really liked the idea of having the
students predict what was going to
happen before they knew what any of
the substances in the plastic container
Source for Lesson: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/0743936671_030-031.pdf
Madison Backus
from the plastic container
on their investigation log.
We will then share a few
predictions. “What do
you think is going to
happen when I remove
the cardboard?”
 After their initial
predictions, I will tell
them what each liquid is
in the plastic container. I
will then ask if their
predictions change
because they now know
what is in the container.
“Do your predictions
change now that you
know what each liquid
is?”
 I will remove the
cardboard from the
container (the oil will rise
over the blue water,
showing a weather front).
3. Explain
 I will ask the students to
explain what happened
with the vegetable oil and
blue water when I
removed the cardboard.
“What happened the oil
and water when I
forces them to think about
what they may see.
 Telling them what liquids are
in the containers after their
initial predictions will give
them a better idea of what
will happen once the
cardboard is removed.
Asking them if it changes
their initial predictions will
get them to thinking about
what would change and why.
 I will be the one to remove
the cardboard from the
container, so that everyone
has a chance to observe and
ask questions while the
experiment is happening.
3. Explain:
 The explain phase allows for
students to explain the
knowledge they constructed
from the explore phase.
Posing the initial question of
what happened will lead into
a discussion between the
students of what they saw.
 After the students have
explained and discussed what
they saw, I will reveal what
each liquid represents which
will help them apply what
were. The one thing I would change
about that is to tell them what the
substances represented before the
experiment began. I would also include
a spot on their investigation log that
says “now that you know what the
liquids in the plastic container are and
what they represent, does that affect
your first prediction?” Adding this step
to the explore phased would have
helped the lower ability students see
that the liquids represent warm and
cold air and not just that they were oil
and water.
What I would change for the
explore phase also goes into what I
would change about the explain phase.
Based on their investigation logs and
assessments, I think I waited way too
long to tell them that the liquids
represented cold and warm air. One last
thing I would change about the explain
phase is to illustrate a weather front
using the SmartBoard to aid the visual
learners. My initial explanation really
only targeted the auditory learners. I
made the explanation kinesthetic during
the elaborate phase. A success during
the explain phase happened after I
explained what each liquid represented.
I asked the students to explain what
happened again, except in terms of cold
Source for Lesson: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/0743936671_030-031.pdf
Madison Backus
removed the
cardboard?”
 After the students have
shared their explanations,
I will explain that the
vegetable oil represents
warm air, while the blue
water represents cold air.
“In terms of warm air
and cold air, can
someone explain what
happened?” Students will
then explain what
happened and I will
reiterate with an
explanation of a weather
front. When warm air (the
oil) and cold air (blue
water) meet, warm air
always rises over cold air,
creating a weather front.
 Students will then draw
what happened on their
investigation log.
4. Evaluate: Students will draw a
weather front and explain what a
weather front is (after the
morning meeting elaboration,
listed below).
happened to the water and oil
to warm and cold air. Having
the students explain what
happened in terms of warm
and cold air will help them to
build their knowledge on a
weather front before I even
say the term weather front.
 The students will draw what
actually happened and
explain in terms of warm and
cold air will help to reiterate
what I just explained.
4. Evaluate: This phase allows
for the students to show what
they gained during the weather
front lesson. This data from the
assessment will help to inform
me on who may need more
assistance with understanding
the concept of a weather front. It
will also help me to see what
could be improved for teaching
this lesson in the future.
air and warm air. This really helped
their understanding when I brought in
the term “weather front.”
Even though it was not required, I
still decided to do the elaborate phase
because I recognized that a few of the
students did not understand that the
liquids represented warm and cold air.
This activity really helped them to
generalize the idea of a weather front
only to warm and cold air. It also helped
the kinesthetic learners see a weather
front in the way they learn best.
Lastly, the evaluate phase
completely served its purpose. I was
able to see which students understood
and which students still had no idea
what a weather front even was. It also
helped me to see what I can do better for
further lessons.
Source for Lesson: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/0743936671_030-031.pdf
Madison Backus
Extended Activities (for the Elaborate Phase): For the morning meeting activity on Thursday, February 13, students will act
out a weather front after it has occurred. I will label half of the students as cold air and the other half as warm air. The cold air
students will squat and walk around the carpet. The warm air students will walk on their tip-toes around the carpet, showing
that warm air rises over cold air when they meet, creating a weather front.
Source for Lesson: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/0743936671_030-031.pdf