This module about light and air quality includes an illustrated book, coloring pages, and outdoor activities that will bolster student learning and stimulate inquiry.
Students will learn about light, how different natural and human-made conditions affect air quality, and how air quality affects the color of the sky.
Subjects: Science, English Language Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, Health
Authors: Becca Hatheway, Kerry Zarlengo, Lisa Gardiner, The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center
The illustrated book is available in several formats and languages, including PDF, ebook, Arabic, German, French, Norwegian, and Spanish.
Students will enjoy applying the concepts learned in the book to the hands-on experiments included in the module.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be able to follow one and two step directions in order to complete the experiments.
In order to complete all the experiments included in this module, you will need the following materials: blue paper, clear cups, water, milk or creamer, eye droppers, spoons, pencils, coloring supplies, prisms, hot glue sticks, penlights, white paper, contact paper, cardboard, clear tape, magnifying glass, six-sided dice, and copies of the materials provided within the module.
Differentiation
Younger students may need vocabulary defined first and the experiments can be completed as demonstrations if needed.
Cross-curricular connections can be made for lessons about how the environment impacts health, art lessons to practice coloring and drawing, or classes about how people interact with their environment.
This module would work well as a mini-unit. In terms of pacing, consider reading the book and discussing in one session, using the coloring pages as a reflection after reading, and then working through the experiments in the order listed on the module.
The experiments in this module would work well in a station-rotation model, where groups move through the stations on a schedule. This would especially work well if supplies are limited.
Consider making copies of the printable book for students to reread during the experiments, as needed.
As an extension, consider providing students with a log to record the air quality in their neighborhood and discuss their findings.
Scientist Notes
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About the Partner Provider
CLEAN
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