Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)

Lesson Idea Name: Clouds Everywhere

Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): 4th Grade

Content Standard Addressed: S4E4. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to predict weather
events and infer weather patterns using weather charts/maps and collected weather data.

Technology Standard Addressed: 3

Selected Technology Tool: Popplet

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable): http://popplet.com/

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☒ Level 4: Integration
☐ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): This technology tool supports different learners by:
1. Providing a clean and easy lay out to display information
2. Easy to use
3. Helps visual learners by incorporating pictures
4. Gives choice as to how students want to display their information
5. Can be worked on at home as it is accessible anywhere
6. Can be worked on in groups
Lesson idea implementation: The teacher will introduce the lesson by doing an experiment. The
experiment will provide a hands on experience for students to make clouds inside of a jar. This is a
way to engage the students and for them to see a cloud form right in front of their eyes! In the
experiment, the teacher will:
1. Cut the black paper to fit halfway around the jar, leaving about one inch of space at the bottom of the
jar. Tape it in place on the jar.
2. Add about two inches of warm water to the jar.
3. Fill the metal bowl or tray with ice cubes.
4. Have an adult light a match, hold it inside the jar for a few seconds, and then drop it into the water.
5. Quickly cover the jar with the container of ice.
6. Look into your jar from the open side (so that the black paper makes a background at the back of the
jar) and watch what happens.
7. You should start to see a cloud form! As the cloud gets bigger, it will be easier to see. To see the cloud
even better, turn off the lights and shine a flashlight into the jar towards the black paper.
8. After watching your cloud for a while, you can take the container of ice off the jar and watch the
cloud rise up and disappear!
The students will write down step-by-step what happened in the experiment (Should take 10 minutes).
They then will put their best guest forward as to what cloud they believe it formed. The students will
crumble their answers into a wad of paper and throw it to the front of the room. The students will then
move to a technology station and work on their Popplet in groups (4-5 per group). In their Popplet,
students will write about three different clouds: Cirrus, Stratus, and Cumulus. In their Popplet’s, the
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 Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)
students are able to write anything about the clouds (characteristics, how they form, a picture, where
they are found, in what temperature are they found in, weather patterns that are associated with these
clouds, etc.). However, each cloud must have the same information. If you put what a Cirrus cloud means,
the other two must have that information also. Each cloud must have at least 3 facts. Students will use
the internet, books, and other APPS to research different types of clouds (should take 45 minutes).

After the Popplets are done, the teacher will pick up the crumbled pieces of paper and make a tally chart
on the board with what cloud each student guessed (anonymous). The teacher will go through each
Popplet and share with the class. Based on the students Popplets, the class will decide as a whole, what
cloud the experiment made (should take about 45 minutes).

The teacher will have rubrics to grade each Popplet. Did it have at least 3 facts per type of cloud? Were
the facts correct? Were the students on task during work time?

Reflective Practice: I do believe this activity could impact student learning. I love the idea of them being able
to do their own research and teach themselves and then coming back as a whole for an official teaching. I
believe I could extend this activity by bringing in a meteorologist and letting them talk about clouds. I also
could make this a weeklong activity and each day the students walk outside and record what clouds they see
in the sky. I could also incorporate a BrainPop video or a Discovery Kids video to further educate and
incorporate more UDL in the lesson.

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