Understanding By Design

Stage 1 - Desired Outcome

Established Goals:
At the end of this lesson the students should be able to explain how boiling, air-pressure,
and elevation are related to each other and their effects in the real world.
Sols:
PS.7

The student will investigate and understand temperature scales, heat, and thermal energy
transfer. Key concepts include
b) phase change, freezing point, melting point, boiling point, vaporization, and
condensation;
PS.5 The student will investigate and understand changes in matter and the relationship of
these changes to the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy. Key concepts include
a) physical changes;
PS.10 The student will investigate and understand the scientific principles of work, force, and
motion. Key concepts include:
c) work, force, mechanical advantage, efficiency, and power;
PS.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the
nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which:
n) current applications of physical science concepts are used.
PS.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the
nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which
j) valid conclusions are made after analyzing data;
k) research methods are used to investigate practical problems and questions

Understandings:
Essential Questions:
Students will understand that

When energy (heat) is added to water, what happens to the particles?

What is boiling?

Why happens to the particles once they have become a gas?

Does air exert a force on objects?

What factors effect the this pressure?

Is there a way to manipulate air pressure?

When there are two different areas of pressure, does that cause movement

When trying to boil something is there anything that could be preventing it to

boil?

Is it possible for air to prevent something from boiling?

When you go up in elevation does pressure increase or decrease? Why?

When going up in elevation then is the boiling point of an object effected?

Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence

Skills:
Previous information of kinetic theory from melting/freezing.
The idea that heat is a form of energy.
The idea that all matter is made up of atoms.
Basic knowledge of force and its effects on objects.
The basic gas laws and that air is a mixture of gases.
They will need the information from the previous two lessons.
They also will need to have some skills of researching.
Performance Tasks:
Acceptable evidence would be them being able to explain boiling in terms of kinetic theory.
Acceptable evidence would be students being able to explain different examples of how air pressure can
cause certain events to act differently then you would expect.
Acceptable evident would be the ability to explain why air pressure gets lower as you go up in elevation.
Evidence would also be that they can explain why this pressure then has an effect on the boiling point of an
object.
Other Evidence:
A comprehensive project to show that the idea on how all of the seperate lessons come together as one
main idea about how pressure, boiling, and elevation are connected.

Stage 3 - Learning Plan

Learning Activities:
Day 1:
An engaging video to start them thinking about the fact that all items boil.
A K-w-l Sheet to be used to track what they are learning, knew, and want to know. This to be used
throughout explore and explain.
An element presentation to have them explain the to the class the effects of boiling point to the class.
They will then be assessed on their presentations and their K-W-L sheets.
Day 2:
An engage of either a demonstration or video showing how a balloon increases and decreases size based
on the air pressure around it.
Group pairings for the egg in the jar experiment.
Explanation through a video and commentary.
Then each group will be given separate experiments to run, and then try to figure out why they do what they
do and then present to the class.
They will be assessed on their presentation and sheet for experiments.
Day 3:
The first thing is to engage them with a demonstration and video that will lead them to see think different
then they have in the past.
The second step is to let them get into groups to discuss what they saw and try to figure out what was
happening and why.
Then there would be a power point presentation and video to explain what is the effect of pressure on
boiling and thus elevation.
The final stage will be them either using computers and a simulation or a work sheet with a graph to figure
the boiling point at different places. They then will be assessed with this.
Overall:
At the end of the lesson a final summative assessment would be used. They will make an infographic to
show how all of these concepts are connect and present to the class.

Day One Backwards Design

Step one: What are the desired results results of this lesson?
The desired results of this lesson play for day 1 is that the student will understand the base
understanding of boiling. They are to know that when energy is added the particles move faster, and
when they get fast enough they escape from the water in the form of gas.
Step two: What essential Questions will anchor students to learning?
When energy (heat) is added to water, what happens to the particles?
What is boiling?
Why happens to the particles once they have become a gas?
Step three: What skills are needed to achieve desired results?
Previous information of kinetic theory from melting/freezing.
The idea that heat is a form of energy.
The idea that all matter is made up of atoms.
Step four: What is acceptable evidence to show desired results?
Acceptable evidence would be them being able to explain boiling in terms of kinetic theory.
Step five: What is the sequence of activities, learning experiences, etc. that will lead to desired results?
An engaging video to start them thinking about the fact that all items boil.
A K-w-l Sheet to be used to track what they are learning, knew, and want to know. This to be used
throughout explore and explain.
An element presentation to have them explain the to the class the effects of boiling point to the class.
They will then be assessed on their presentations and their K-W-L sheets.

Prior Knowledge Lesson Plan Day 1

Boiling
Purpose/Rational: The purpose of today's lesson is to explain what is happening when you boil
something, what is usually added to cause an item to boil, and that all items have a
boiling point.
Safety Issues: None.
Relevant Virginia SOLs:
PS.7 The student will investigate and understand temperature scales, heat, and thermal energy
transfer. Key concepts include
b) phase change, freezing point, melting point, boiling point, vaporization, and
condensation;
PS.5 The student will investigate and understand changes in matter and the relationship of
these changes to the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy. Key concepts include
a) physical changes;
Materials and Resources: computers (if available, or textbooks/research books), K-W-L sheets, and
rubric for presentation.
Lesson Plan Outline:
Engage: (5 minutes) At the beginning of class we will start with the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PIZUjhzrKw. In this video it shows an object that
most would not think could boil. Hopefully this will start to make them wonder what
other materials have the ability to boil.
Explore: (10 minutes) At this point students will break into small groups and each will be given
a K-W-L sheet and instructed to fill out the K and W sections while talking it over with
their group partners. They are to focus on the aspect of boiling.
Explain: (15 minutes) The class will then come back together into one large group where the
students will first go around and share the things that they know about boiling, and then
continuing on to what they want to know about boiling. Then after all the children have
shared, the use of the videos and explanations of the properties of boiling and that in
most cases temperature is added to cause the boiling. During this time the students will
be filling out the L portion of their K-W-L sheets and then hand them in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZBt4_Ds3lI
Extend: (20 minutes) Having learned that everything can boil, the students will break into
groups of 3 and instructed to pick an element to research. If computers are not present
then textbooks or other resources would need to be on hand. They will find out about the
element, it's boiling point, where boiling could occur, and the relationship to water
boiling. They will be given about 5 minutes to gather their data and then the last 15
minutes will be used to present to the rest of the class.
Evaluate:
Formative: K-W-L sheets will be the formative assessment used.
Summative: Using the rubric below the students will be assessed on what they learned
about boiling through their presentation.

Day Two Backwards Design

Step one: What are the desired results results of this lesson?
The desired results of day two's lesson is to give the students the understanding of air-pressure. They
are to be able to understand that since air can put a force on objects. This force is invisible since we
cannot see the air.
Step two: What essential Questions will anchor students to learning?
Does air exert a force on objects?
What factors effect the this pressure?
Is there a way to manipulate air pressure?
When there are two different areas of pressure, does that cause movement?
Step three: What skills are needed to achieve desired results?
Basic knowledge of force and its effects on objects.
The basic gas laws and that air is a mixture of gases.
Step four: What is acceptable evidence to show desired results?
Acceptable evidence would be students being able to explain different examples of how air pressure
can cause certain events to act differently then you would expect.
Step five: What is the sequence of activities, learning experiences, etc. that will lead to desired results?
An engage of either a demonstration or video showing how a balloon increases and decreases size
based on the air pressure around it.
Group pairings for the egg in the jar experiment.
Explanation through a video and commentary.
Then each group will be given separate experiments to run, and then try to figure out why they do what
they do and then present to the class.
They will be assessed on their presentation and sheet for experiments.

Prior Knowledge Lesson Plan Day 2

Air-Pressure
Purpose/Rational:The purpose of the lesson for day two is to go over air-pressure. The fact that the
atmospheric pressure does exert a force which can cause interactions.
Safety Issues: Fire safety.
Relevant Virginia SOLs:
PS.10 The student will investigate and understand the scientific principles of work, force, and
motion. Key concepts include:
c) work, force, mechanical advantage, efficiency, and power;
PS.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the
nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which:
n) current applications of physical science concepts are used.
Materials and Resources: pressure chamber (if available), balloon (if pressure chamber is available),
jars, boiled eggs, matches, paper, Ruler and Paper Experiment sheet, Paper and Air
Experiment sheet, Jumping Soda Can Experiment sheet and projector
Lesson Plan Outline:
Engage: (5 minutes) The class will be shown the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcnuQoEy6wA, or if the equipment is there, the
activity will be done as a demonstration.
Explore: (15 minutes) After seeing the video or demonstration, the students will break into
small groups and given the Jar Activity sheet. Each group will then be given a jar, boiled
egg, matches, and paper. Then they will be told that they will light the paper on fire,
drop it in the jug and place the egg at the mouth of the bottle. Before they do this they
will answer the questions about what they think will happen. After doing the experiment
they will get back in a large group to disuss.
Explain: (10 minutes) At this point as a group the class will discuss what happened and why in
the activity. To explain to them what is happening the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmQ8FWnM0fA will be used explain the forces
behind air-pressure.
Extend: (20 minutes) The class will break into 3 groups each one given one of the experiments:
Ruler and paper, blowing on paper and Jumping Soda Can. Each group will be given the
directions on what to do, but not told why. They will be given 10 minute to do the
experiment and then they will spend that last 10 minutes explaining what they did, what
had happened, why it happened and what place they thought it could be found in the real
world.
Evaluate:
Formative: Jar Activity Sheet
Summative: Rubric applied to the students presentations on their experiment to the class.

Day Three Backwards Design

Step one: What are the desired results results of this lesson?
The result that is desired from the students is that they will be able to take their information about air
exerting a pressure and boiling to come to the understanding that air pressure can effect how much
energy is required to boil something. This then will lead to them understanding that elevation will
effect boiling since the air pressure changes.
Step two: What essential Questions will anchor students to learning?
When trying to boil something is there anything that could be preventing it to boil?
Is it possible for air to prevent something from boiling?
When you go up in elevation does pressure increase or decrease? Why?
When going up in elevation then is the boiling point of an object effected?
Step three: What skills are needed to achieve desired results?
They will need the information from the previous two lessons.
They also will need to have some skills of researching.
Step four: What is acceptable evidence to show desired results?
Acceptable evident would be the ability to explain why air pressure gets lower as you go up in
elevation.
Evidence would also be that they can explain why this pressure then has an effect on the boiling point
of an object.
Step five: What is the sequence of activities, learning experiences, etc. that will lead to desired results?
The first thing is to engage them with a demonstration and video that will lead them to see think
different then they have in the past.
The second step is to let them get into groups to discuss what they saw and try to figure out what was
happening and why.
Then there would be a power point presentation and video to explain what is the effect of pressure on
boiling and thus elevation.
The final stage will be them either using computers and a simulation or a work sheet with a graph to
figure the boiling point at different places. They then will be assessed with this.

Prior Knowledge Lesson Plan Day 3

Boiling, Pressure, and Elevation
Purpose/Rational: The purpose of this days lesson plan is to take the knowledge from the first two
lessons and put them together to find out what effects elevation has on boiling and why.
Safety Issues: Teacher's demonstration could cause a safety issue of burning if students are not kept
away from the demonstration.
Relevant Virginia SOLs:
PS.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the
nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which
j) valid conclusions are made after analyzing data;
k) research methods are used to investigate practical problems and questions
Materials and Resources: soda cans, ice, water, Tupperware, hot plate, projector/smart board, Elevation
and Boiling activity sheet, Investigation Sheet, computers (if available), and
colligative gizmo (if computers available).
Lesson Plan Outline:
Engage: (5 minutes) We start the class with a demonstration which will show the power that airpressure can have, by taking a soda can and heating it. Then the teacher will invert the
can and put it in the water, causing the can to crush. This should make the students
wonder what could do that. Then the teacher will use the smart board/projector to show
the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etGabk4baxo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glLPMXq6yc0This shows water boiling at
room temperature, which is a discrepant event since they always thought you had to heat
something to boil it.
Explore: (10 minutes) At this point the student will be broken into small groups to discuss what
they saw and try to figure out what was happening with the two demonstrations. They
will be given an investigation sheet (below), which will help facilitate them into trying
to discover what was happening. During this time the teacher will circulate and stimulate
the investigation.
Explain: (15 minutes) After having time to discuss their ideas of why those things happened, we
would get back into a large group. At this point we would use the two slides under VI in
the presentation included to explain what was happening and why. These notes will
serve as a guideline, which would then be adapted with additional explanations and
examples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj7bnjfpGu8 will be used as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVr9WdPjJ-s
Extend: (20 minutes) To further their understanding and to give them real world examples of
this, they will again split into groups where they will be given computers with internet
access and sent to the gizmo simulation: http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?
method=cResource.dspDetail&ResourceID=511. Then they will be given the Elevation
and Boiling Activity Sheet (below) to finish and hand in by the end of the class. Again
the teacher will circulate the room to help facilitate the students.
Evaluate:
Formative: Investigation sheet
Summative: Elevation and Boiling Activity sheet.

Overall Summative Assessment: After all the 3 days of instruction they are to build a poster if they
would rather or an infographic about what they learned about how boiling and pressure are
connected. They are to include the experiment they did on the second day in their explanation,
as well as the information from the first day to explain boiling. Then they are to present this to
the class in a short 5 minute presentation on another day. This will be graded by the rubric
included below.

Day 1 K-W-L Sheet

Day 1 RUBRIC
Assignment

Presented
proper boiling
point of the
element.
Places that
would boil
Basics of the
element.
Relationship to
the boiling
point of water.
Presentation

Feedback

Awesome!
Had the boiling point
correctly.
Included accurate
description of places
that are hot enough to
achieve boiling.
Includedaccurate
informationaboutthe
element.
Presentationincluded
anaccuratedescription
ofrelativeboilingof
water.
Presentationwaswell
organized

Improvement
needed
Had boiling point
included but no
correct.

Major revision
needed
No boiling point
included

Had examples of
where the element
could boil, but
werent accurate.
Hadinformation
abouttheelement,
butwasincorrect.
Presenteda
comparison,but
wasnotaccurate.

No locations for
boiling included.

NA

Instructor
assessment
/10

Nobasicinformation
oftheelementwas
included.
Nocomparisonwas
givetotheboilingof
water.
Presentationwasnot
organized.

/10

/10

/10

/10

/50

Jar Activity Sheet

Materials: Boiled egg, Empty glass jar with hole smaller than an egg, but not too small, matches, and
paper.
Procedure: Place the jar with the hole up. You will light the paper and drop it in the bottle at this point
put the egg on the hole. Watch and observe what happens to the egg.
What do you think will happen to the egg?

What did happen?

Draw below what you think was happening to the egg.

What forces or laws are at work in this experiment.

How do you think you can get the egg out of the jar?

Try.

Day 2 RUBRIC
Assignment

Presented what
they had done.

Awesome!
Accurately described
the experiment they
did.

What happened
in the
experiment.

Explained what had

happened in the
experiment correctly.

Why did they

get their results.

Includedthewhy
behindtheir
experimentand
explaineditcorrectly
Hadarealworld
examplethatwas
accurate.

Real world
example.

Presentation

Feedback

Presentationwaswell
organized

Improvement
needed
Described the
experiment but
missed steps or
information.
Explained what
had happened but
missed
information or
wrong
information.
Includedthewhy,
butwasincorrect
aboutit.

Major revision
needed
Did not address what
they had done in their
presentation.

Didincludeareal
worldexample,
butonethatdid
notshowthe
principle.
NA

Norealworld
examplegiven.

Did not address what

had happened in the
experiment.

Didnotincludethe
whybehindthe
experiment.

Instructor
assessment
/10

/10

/10

/10
Presentationwasnot
organized.

/10

/50

Investigation Sheet
In the demonstration done in class, what do you think happened to the can?

What factors do you think caused what happened?

Draw what forces you think had an effect on the can.

In the video what happened to the water?

What was removed and what was created in their experiment?

With what you know about kinetic particle theory (discussed in class), Draw what you think caused the
water to boil.

Boiling Point Activity Sheet

Name:_______________________
What if someone asked you what the boiling point of water was? Well in a way it would be a trick question! You
see it is not a constant, and it depends on a few things. One thing that is depends on is the elevation which you are trying to
get it to boil. This means that at different locations in the U.S., or even the world, you will get a different answer. To
investigate this, you will use the graph below to look up the boiling point of certain cities.

City

Use the graph to find the boiling point of water at each of the places listed below. The elevation of each
city is the number of meters it is ABOVE sea level.
Elevation
(m)

Pittsburg, PA

227

Charleston, WV

182

Montpelier, VT

148

Newark, NJ

17

New Britain, CT

61

Washington, DC

Pittsfield, MA

309

Providence, RI

24

Stone Mountain,
GA

400

Wilmington, DE

41

Buffalo, NY

200

Salem, VA

324

Questions:

Boiling Point(C)
100
99.75
99.5

Boiling Point (Degrees Celcius)

What To Do:

99.25
99
98.75
98.5
98.25
98
97.75
97.5

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
Elevation (m)

1) Why is the boiling point here in Salem, VA. Not exactly 100C?

2) Which of the cities would allow you to cook potatoes the fastest in water?

3) In a place like Death Valley, CA the elevation is 15m BELOW sea level. What would
you expect from the boiling point there?

4) Explain the relationship between elevation, air pressure, and the boiling point of
water.

Overall RUBRIC
Assignment

Awesome!

Explains a
relationship
between boiling
and pressure.
Included the
experiment they
did in class.

Includes an accurate
relationship between
boiling and pressure.

Included
information on
boiling.

Includedall
informationaccurately
onboiling.

Elevation

Referencedcorrect
informationon
boiling.

Presentation
Infographic

Feedback

Included the
experiment in their
infographic and
presentation.

Presentationwaswell
organized
Infographicis
complete.

Improvement
needed
Includes a
relationship which
is incorrect.

Major revision
needed
Did not address the
relationship

Included the
experiment in
either the
presentation or the
infographic but
not both.
Includedeither
incomplete
informationor
wronginformation
aboutboiling.
Included
informationon
boiling,but
incorrector
incomplete.
NA

Did not include their

experiment in either.

NA

Instructor
assessment
/30

/20

Didnotinclude
informationon
boiling.

/20

Didnotinclude
informationon
elevation.

/20

Presenationwasnot
organized.
Infographicis
incomplete.

/10
/10

/110

Ruler and Paper Experiment

Procedure: What you will be doing is is placing a ruler on a desk with a few inches off the table. Then
you will place a piece of newspaper on top of the ruler (the ruler will be in the center of the
newspaper). After answering the first question below, you will strike the ruler with your palm a few
inches from the desk.
What do you think will happen? Why do you think this?

What did happen?

With what you just saw, what forces do you think were at play?

Draw below a diagram of what you think was happening when you hit the ruler

What do you think could affect what happened in this experiment?

Name one example in real life that displays this principle.

Paper and Air Experiment

Procedure: What you will do is take a piece of paper and hold it by the short edge with your fingers
pinching the two corners. Let the paper droop in front of you. You will then predict what would happen
if you blew air across the top of the paper and why. Next you will blow air across the top of the paper.
What do you think will happen when you blow across the top of the paper? Why?

What did happen?

What forces do you think were at play with this experiment?

Draw a picture of what you think happened, showing the forces involved.

What factors do you think could affect this experiment and cause a different outcome?

Name something in real life that you think uses this same principle.

Jumping Soda Can Experiment

Procedure: You will take the empty soda can and place it in the first coffee cup hole up. Place the
second cup farther away. Then you will predict what will happen when you blow air into the first cup
below and why you think that. Next, blow air in the cup and see what happens.
What do you think will happen when you blow in to the cup? Why?

What did happen?

What forces do you think caused this to happen and why? What force tries to prevent this from
happening?

Draw a diagram below of what you think was happening in this experiment.

What do you think would happen if you put more weight in the can? Could you still make the can
jump?

Name one real life application of this principle.

VI) Boiling and Pressure

A) Boiling Point All pure substances
have a specific Boiling Point
B) B.P. is affected by air pressure
1) Higher the pressure = Higher the B.P.

VI) Boiling and

Pressure (Continued)
C) Elevation & B.P.
1) Higher the elevation, the lower the

pressure, thus the lower the B.P.

Denver, Colorado Water boils at 95C