T E
A C H E R ’ S
N O T E S
Focus:
Students explore the importance
of air and water to living things. They will
also learn why living things need air and
water, how we use wind, the water cycle,
the three states of water, and why it is
important to keep our water and air clean.
Learning Goals:
Students will have opportunities to learn
• how to correctly use the terms absorb,
carbon dioxide, oxygen, electricity, energy,
environment, wind, crop, fresh, salty,
surface, evaporate, cloud, precipitation,
weather, water cycle, chemical, pollute, well
• why living things need air and water
• how we use wind in our lives
• where water is found and how we use it
• how the water cycle works
• that there are three states of water
• how polluted air and water is a danger to living
things
• how humans can work together to keep air and
water clean
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Discussion Prompts:
• Why are air and water so important for life?
• How is wind created and how do we use it?
• What are the different sources of water? How are
they different?
• How does water circulate on earth?
• What are the three different states of water? How
do they change in different weather?
• How do humans cause water and air pollution?
• How can humans keep water and air clean?
Assessment Prompts:
• Do students demonstrate, in their discussions and
answers to questions, understanding of the science
vocabulary used in the cards for this unit?
• Are students able to carry out the skills of scientific
inquiry, following activity procedure steps safely
and accurately, making observations when
appropriate?
• Assess students’ responses during discussions.
- Do students understand that clean water and air
are essential for life?
- Do they understand how wind is moving air?
- Do they understand where water comes from and
that it is found in several forms (for example, ice,
frost, dew, rain, fresh, salty)
- Can students explain why it is important to keep
our air and water clean?
- Can students suggest ways to reduce air and water
pollution?
Links to PCSP Student Book Air and Water:
Card 1: see lessons 1-3, and 5
Card 2: see lessons 2 and 3
Card 3: see lessons 4, 5, and 11
Card 4: see lessons 7-10
Card 5: see lessons 13 and 14
Focus:
Students explore why living things need
air and water.
Activity Description: A new screen answers the Think question.
Students can click on the orange icon to have the wind blow the seeds
away from the next two screens.
Learning Goal: Students learn that wind helps plants to distribute their
seeds.
Ask Students: How does the wind help plants?
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Assessment: Are students able to describe two examples of how the
wind helps plants to spread their seeds?
Introduce students to the topic
with the video of different living
things using air and water. Discuss
the video and any comments or
questions students may have.
Activity Description: A new screen answers the Think question when the student clicks on a picture of the
human body to discover how much water is in it. Students click on the orange icon on each picture to discover
how much water is in each living thing. Students then click on another orange icon to match pictures that go
together. The task is completed when students drop the proper labels onto the pairs of pictures.
Learning Goal: Students learn that all living things are composed of water.
Ask Students: How much water is in living things?
Assessment: Are students able to describe how much water is in several different kinds of living things?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
2
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Activity Description: In the new screen that appears, students learn more information about the celery
experiment.
Learning Goal: Students enhance their understanding of air pressure and force.
Ask Students: What is happening to the water in this experiment? What is happening to the celery?
Assessment: Are students able to do the experiment and explain what is happening with the water and celery?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
3
Focus:
Students discover the source of
wind and how we use wind.
Activity Description: In the screen that appears, the Think question is
answered by clicking on each picture.
Learning Goal: Students explore how wind is at work.
Ask Students: What happens to objects in our world when it is windy?
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Assessment: Can students describe/draw how wind moves things in
our world?
Introduce students
to the topic
with the video
showing a windy
day. Discuss the
video and any
comments or
questions students
may have.
Activity Description: In the new screen that appears, the
text and pictures answer the Think question. Students click
on the orange icon and then on the wind icon on the map to
complete the Think question.
Activity Description: In the new screen that
appears, the text and photos answer the Think
question. Students click on the orange icon and
then correctly answer the questions presented to
make the windmill spin.
Learning Goal: Student explore how wind influences life
around the world.
Learning Goals: Students review their
understanding of the force of wind.
Ask Students: How can the force of wind be dangerous?
Ask Students: How do wind farms use wind?
Assessment: Do students understand how wind can have
dangerous consequences? Can they describe some of these
dangerous situations?
Assessment: Can students describe how wind
is used to help humans?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
4
Activity Description: Students drag the cursor and highlight the wind vocabulary
words.
Learning Goal: Students will consolidate their understanding of wind and wind
vocabulary.
Ask Students: Do they know what all of the wind words mean?
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Assessment: Can students explain/draw what each wind word
means?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
5
Focus:
Students discover where we
find water and how we use water.
Activity Description: Students complete a timed word
scramble to complete each sentence and answer the Think
question.
Learning Goal: Students discover how we use water for
energy.
Ask Students: How is water used to create energy?
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Assessment: Are students able to describe how water is
used to create energy?
Introduce students to the topic
with the video that shows
people using water in different
ways. Discuss the video and
any comments or questions
students may have.
Activity Description: Students click through the text and pictures presented on several
screens to answer the Think question. Students can then click on the arrow icon to learn more
about each picture.
Learning Goal: Students learn where fresh water is found.
Ask Students: Where in the world do we find fresh water?
Assessment: Can students describe where we find fresh water and why it is important to
have fresh water?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
6
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Activity Description: This screen shows how fresh water is distributed in the world. Students
click on the orange icon to move the slider and the pie graph shows the percentage of fresh water in
the world. Students lock in their answers and answers are confirmed when correct.
Learning Goal: Students will expand their knowledge of how much fresh water is actually in the
world.
Ask Students: How much water on our planet is fresh? Where does it come from?
Assessment: Can students describe the distribution of water on earth and how much can be used
by people? Can they explain why this is important to life on earth?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
7
Focus:
Students explore the water cycle and
the three states of water.
Activity Description: A new screen appears that shows the water cycle.
Students click on “Start” to watch the water cycle in action. Students can then click
on the numbers in the picture to find out more about each part of the water cycle.
Students then click on the orange icon to drag and drop the captions to match
each section of the water cycle.
Learning Goal: Students will explore how the water cycle works.
Ask Students: How does the water cycle work?
Assessment: Are students able to draw/describe how each part of the water
cycle works to create a never-ending cycle?
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Activity Description: Students match labels to a
picture to complete the Think question. Students then
click the orange icon to learn about clouds and complete
the timed naming activity on the next screen to identify
clouds.
Learning Goal: Students will explore how clouds form.
Ask Students: How are clouds made?
Assessment: Are students able to give several
examples of how clouds are made, and can they name
several different kinds of clouds?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
Introduce students to the topic
with the video that shows clouds
moving across a mountainous
landscape. Discuss the video
and any comments or questions
students may have.
Activity Description: Students click the orange icon
to see the next screen, and click the blue plus icons to
answer the Think question for each picture.
Learning Goal: Students will explore the many
states of water seen in different types of weather.
Ask Students: What are the different states of water
seen in different types of weather?
Assessment: Can students describe/draw how water
comes in many states in different forms of weather?
8
Activity Description: Students choose a weather picture from this screen, drag it into
the centre of the chart, choose a weather symbol to match, and drag matching captions for
their pictures to complete the task.
Learning Goal: Students learn the connection between weather and the water cycle.
Ask Students: What part of the water cycle is each kind of weather? How is the state of
water different?
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Assessment: Are students able to explain/draw several kinds of weather and explain the
state of water unique to that weather?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
9
Focus:
Students discover why dirty
air and water are a problem.
Activity Description: The text and pictures on the
next screen answer the Think questions. Students can
drop sections into the photographs to learn more.
Learning Goal: Students discover what causes
pollution in cities.
Ask Students: What causes pollution in cities?
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Assessment: Are students able to describe some of
the factors that create pollution?
Introduce students to the topic
with the video that shows air
and water pollution. Discuss
the video and any comments or
questions students may have.
Activity Description: Sudents click on purple dots on a map on the next screen to answer the Think question.
Students can then click on the orange icon to drop labels onto the correct places on the diagram. This activity is timed
and self-checking.
Learning Goal: Students will discover where in the world fresh water is limited and plentiful.
Ask Students: Why is the fresh-water supply in the world different in different places?
Assessment: Are students able to describe why fresh water is limited and plentiful in different places in the
world?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
10
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Activity Description: Students answer the Think question by clicking on the water drops in the picture to
learn more about what they can do to keep our air and water clean.
Learning Goal: Students learn that humans are responsible for much of the air and water pollution in the
world and that we must take steps to try to keep our air and water clean.
Ask Students: What are some of the things that humans can do to keep our air and water clean?
Assessment: Are students able to describe some of the actions they can take or people they can influence
to keep air and water clean?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
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