Week-At-A-Glance
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Fronts
High and low
pressure systems
Formative
Tornadoes
Hurricanes and fronts
Grade level: 7th grade
Subject: Science
Lesson Topic: Water cycle
Teacher: Lusk
Date: Sept 18th
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Standards (CCS/ES):
Key Ideas from the Standards:
7.E.1.3: Explain the relationship between the movement

Changes in air pressure readings indicate the
of air masses, high and low pressure systems, and frontal
passing of high and low pressure systems.
boundaries to storms (including thunderstorms,
 Low pressure systems are associated with
hurricanes, and tornadoes) and other weather conditions
clouds and precipitation that minimize
that may result.
temperature changes.
 High pressure systems are normally associated
with dry weather and mostly clear skies with
larger temperature changes due to greater
radiation at night and greater sunshine during
the day.
What will the students be able to do?
Vocabulary:
SWBAT connect our air pressure labs to high and low
Warm front
pressure systems and their effect on the weather.
Cold front
Stationary front
Occluded front
SWBAT
Sources/Materials/Technology:
__ __Literary Text:
____ Informational Text (articles):
_ __Charts/Graphs: National geographic
____Videos:
____Art:
__X__Technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_PR8Qjrl1Y
Formal:
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Informal:
Exit Ticket:
1. What is a high pressure system?
2. What is a low pressure system?
Stage 3 – Opening Activities
Warm Up: (5 minutes)
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Stage 4- Learning Plan
Lesson Focus “I DO” (10 mins)
 Teacher will introduce the concepts of high and low air pressure
Guided Practice “WE DO” (45 mins)
 Students will be working at stations modeling high and low air pressure systems
o Station 1: Potato and a straw
 Students will take a straw and a potato. Leaving the end of the straw uncovered, students
will try to stab the straw through the potato. This will result in students being able to
only insert a small portion of the straw into the potato. Students will try this experiment
again, this time placing their finger over the end of the straw. This time, the straw will
fully go through the potato. This is because the air has nowhere to go. This demonstrates
a high pressure system because all of the air molecule have nowhere to go. This
correlates to a high pressure system, because like a high pressure system the air is tightly
packed together. Connecting to weather, this is like a cold air mass.
o Station 2: Blowing between the balloons
 Students will stand between two suspended balloons. They will blow air between the two
balloons. They will initially think that the balloons with repel against each other.
However, the opposite occurs and the balloons actually come together. This is because
us blowing between the balloons creates a low pressure system. The inside of the balloon
has an equal pressure as the outside of the balloon. The air inside of the balloon pushes
the latex outside, while the air outside the balloon is equal to the pressure inside. When
you blow between them, it creates a difference in air pressure. Because the balloons have
air pressure on the inside that is equal to the outside, the balloons try to equalize
themselves and hence come together.
o Station 3: Blow up your book
 Students will take a zip lock bag, straw, and a book. The bag will represent cold air and
the book will represent warm air. The student will place the straw into the ziplock bag so
that they are able to blow into the straw and fill the bag. The students will see that the air
is able to move the book upwards. This demonstrates a cold front.
Independent Practice “YOU DO” (15 minutes)
 As students are working on their stations, they will be completing the JMMS lab write up sheets.
 After practicing in the labs, students will complete an exit ticket.
Potato and a straw
Materials:
1. 1 potato
2. 1 straw
Procedure:
1. Carefully grab your potato and straw.
2. Leaving the end of the straw uncovered, CAREFULLY try to stab
the straw through the potato.
3. Record your results in your notes.
4. Try to stab your straw through your potato again, making sure this
time that you place your finger over the end of the straw.
5. Record your results in your notes.
Explanation:
When you left the end of your straw uncovered, you noticed that your
straw did not puncture through the potato. However, once you covered the
end of the straw, the straw was able to successfully go through the potato.
What’s the difference? The air pressure! When we closed the opposite
side of our straw, the air had nowhere to go and thus stayed within the
straw. This demonstrates a high pressure system because all of the air
molecule have nowhere to go. This correlates to a high pressure system,
because like a high pressure system the air is tightly packed together.
Blowing between the balloons
Materials:
1. Balloons hanging from ceiling
2. Air
Procedure:
1. Stand between two suspended balloons.
2. Take a big deep breath in and then release, making sure that you are
releasing your air in between the two balloons.
3. Record what happens.
4. Answer the following question in complete sentences. What did you
think was going to happen and how was this the same/opposite of
what actually occurred?
Explanation:
I’m not sure about you, but I initially thought that this experiment would
result with the balloons repelling against each other, meaning that they go
opposite directions from one another. However, the opposite occurs and
the balloons actually come together. This is because us blowing between
the balloons creates a low pressure system. The inside of the balloon has
an equal pressure as the outside of the balloon. The air inside of the
balloon pushes the latex outside, while the air outside the balloon is equal
to the pressure inside. When you blow between them, it creates a
difference in air pressure. Because the balloons have air pressure on the
inside that is equal to the outside, the balloons try to equalize themselves
and hence come together
Blowin up your book!
Materials:
1. 1 zip lock baggie
2. 1 straw
3. 1 super fancy 7th grade science book
Procedure:
1. Place your ziplock bag underneath your text book with the zipped
side facing outwards.
2. Place your straw into the ziplock, placing it so you can still blow into
the straw.
3. Seal the ziplock around the straw.
4. Carefully blow into your straw.
5. Record your observations.
6. Try to blow up two books.
7. Record your observations.
8. Continue to add more books until you are unable to blow the books
up.
Explanation:
For this experiment, the bag represents cold air and the book represents
warm air. This demonstrates what we learned yesterday about cold fronts.
As you recall, cold fronts force warm air masses to rise above them.