ED 345 Calvin College Lesson Plan

Teacher: Kristina Wicks

Date: 11/7,11/8
Subject/Topic/ Theme: Science/Fresh water and Salt water basics/Hydrosphere
I. Objectives
What is the main focus of this lesson?
The main focus of this lesson is to acquaint students to what salt water and fresh water are, how much
of each there are, and where each is found.
How does this lesson tie in to a unit plan?
This lesson provides basic knowledge about fresh water and salt water. With this knowledge, students
can move forward and learn more in depth about the fresh water and salt water on Earth that is part of
the Hydrosphere.
Objectives:
Standards:
Assessments
Scott Foresman:
Students will:
1. Students will help teacher
1. Students will know what the
1. Define what hydrosphere,
define the words
hydrosphere is and what it includes.
salinity, fresh water, and
hydrosphere, fresh water,
2. Students will know where saltwater
salt water.
salt water, and salinity.
and freshwater can be found on
Earth and the proportions of each.
2. Infer what facts would be
2. Students will infer what
3. Students will know the definition of
true about fresh water
answers are true for the
the words salinity, fresh water, salt
and salt water based on
questions posed on
water, and hydrosphere.
prior knowledge.
Kahootit.com by using
3. Predict what percentage
previous knowledge.
of fresh water there is if
3. Students will predict what
the percentage of salt
information will be true about
water is about 98%.
fresh water or salt water
4. Recall facts about fresh
after they have learned
water and salt water.
information about one or the
other (such as percentage,
what they are, or where they
are found).
4. Recall facts about salt water
and fresh water on exit
cards.
II. Before you start
-

Differentiation

Materials

Do you need to set up

your classroom in any
special way for this
lesson? If so, describe it.

Laminated map will give a visual for students to connect water facts to
the real world. Hopefully this will help students like Arsema, Prashansa,
Tellios, and Kyla to visualize what is being discussed about fresh water
and salt water.
- Kahootit.com will give students a chance to answer, then they will see
what most students answer, and then the teacher will discuss the
correct answers. Also, students will fill out an exit card to review the Big
Ideas from the lesson. This gives students multiple chances during the
class period to engage with and learn the information.
Computer (Kahoot.it)
Whiteboard and marker
26 copies of Hydrosphere Notes
10 kindles
26 Hydrosphere pre-assessments
26 notecards
IPad (to project)
Laminated world map
Students are in two rows of 6-7 students each. A couple students will have
to push desks together to share kindles.

III. The Plan

Time Parts
20
Introduction/
mins
Motivation

Teacher Activities
Distribute Hydrosphere Pre-assessments to each student. Explain that it is okay if they do not know the
answer. Tell students to just try their best and that they will be learning this information for the next three
weeks.
You have become experts on the geosphere now. Youve learned about plate tectonics, the rock cycle,
weathering, and erosion. Now it is time for you to become experts on the hydrosphere. We will be
exploring the water on Earth that makes up the hydrosphere for the next three few weeks.
When all students are finished with the pre-assessment, tell them to get a kindle and log onto Kahoot.it.
(Pair up students if there are not enough kindles for each student.)

Explain that this time they are not earning points by having the correct answer. Instead, the teacher wants
to see what the students think about these questions about the hydrosphere.
20
mins

1 Q: What is the hydrosphere?

A: All the water on the Earth
Explain: All the water on Earth are a part of the hydrosphere. Water that is a solid, a liquid, or a gas is a
part of the hydrosphere.
Follow up questions:
What would be an example of solid water that is a part of the hydrosphere? (glaciers)
Can you think of a liquid water example that would be part of the hydrosphere? (Oceans)
What about a gas example of water in the hydrosphere? (When water evaporates, water is in the air. This
is called water vapor which you cannot see. But it is still there.)
2 Q: What percent of the Earth is water?
A: About 70% of the Earth is water.
Explain: When you look at a map of the Earth, you can see that there is a lot more blue where there is
water than there is green and brown for land.
Picture: Point out how there is more water than land on map.
3 Q: Salinity
A: This is the amount of salt that is dissolved in water
Explain: Certain kinds of water have greater salinity than other kinds.

Development

4 Q: What is freshwater?
A: not salty water
Explain: Freshwater is water that does not contain salt or contains very little salt. This means fresh water
has low salinity. We drink fresh water to stay alive.
5 Q: What is salt water?
A: salty water
Explain: Salt water has a lot of salt in it. We can say that it has a high salinity (amount of salt dissolved in
it).
6 Q: Is there more fresh water or salt water on Earth?
A: Salt water
Explain: There is much more salt water than there is fresh water on Earth.
7 Q: What percentage of water on Earth is salt water?
A: About 98%
Explain: This means that most of the water on Earth is saltwater. So 70% of the Earth is water and 98% of
that is salt water.
8 Q: What percentage of water on Earth is fresh water?
A: About 2%
Explain: Since the percentage of salt water is about 98%, we only have 2% left to be fresh water. 98% and
2% put together make 100%, which is all the water on Earth.
9 Q: Where is most of Earths salt water found?
A: Oceans
Explain: Oceans are the largest body of salt water.
Picture: Point out where oceans are on laminated map.
10 Q: Where is most of the Earths fresh water found?
A: Glaciers/Ice caps
Explain: Freshwater is found underground, above ground (surface water), and in glaciers. Most of the
freshwater on Earth is surprisingly not usable because it is in glaciers and icecaps. The water is glaciers
and icecaps are frozen.
Picture: Point out where glaciers are on laminated map; they are found in Greenland and Antarctica.
This activity will be used as a KWL. The teacher will see what students know already and what questions
they have about the hydrosphere. This will provide direction for the rest of the unit plan.

5
mins

Closure

If time allows, teacher will have students complete an exit card for the following questions:
1. What is fresh water?
2. Is there more fresh water or salt water in the world?
3. Where is most of the salt water found in the world?
4. Where is most of the fresh water found in the world?

Reflection:

I only gave students 20 minutes to complete the pre-assessment. There were only 1-2 students that were still
working on it after 20 minutes. If I had more time for science class I would have allowed students to take a
few more minutes on it.
Kahoot.it was not reliable on the kindles. Kids spent 10-15 minutes during class trying to log onto it. Since so
much time was wasted, this lesson took two separate days to do. The second day I did not rely on the kindles.
Instead I gave each student a multiple-choice card set. This is how they answered the questions instead.
Kahoot.it will not let you play unless one person is logged onto the site. So, I hooked up my phone with my
kahoot.it hydrosphere questions and wrote down how many students chose each answer. The students enjoyed
this even when they did not get to use the kindles and when we discussed the reason for each answer. I think
whenever I plan to use kahoot.it I will have these laminated multiple choice cards as a back-up.
Students were intrigued by the information revealed during this lesson. I never got to do the exit card because I
ran out of time on the second day.