ESS.5.1.4: Use models to explain how the sun’s energy drives the processes of…

Earth and Sky at Home Grades K–5 · partly supports this outcome

Make a rainbow on the kitchen floor, grow crystals on a windowsill and build a cloud in a jar. Three classic home experiments that actually work, with the real science explained for grown-ups.

• How does a cloud form? 40 min

  Children watch the grown-up set up two jars of hot water with ice on top, add a wisp of smoke to one, and compare the clouds. They finish able to explain that clouds form when moist air cools and water collects on tiny specks.

Winter Science at Home Grades K–5 · partly supports this outcome

Make frost on the outside of a can, race ice cubes with salt and sugar, lift an ice cube with a piece of string, and look inside a real snowflake. Three kitchen-table winter experiments that actually work, with the real science explained for grown-ups.

• Can you make frost in a can? 40 min

  Children crush ice, pack it into two cans, add salt to one, and watch water and then frost appear on the outside. They finish able to explain that the water and frost came out of the air, not through the can.

Our Living Planet Grade 4 · partly supports this outcome

Air, water, land and living things, and how each one depends on the others. Students build a sealed jar ecosystem to keep for a month and catch the water cycle in a bag on the window.

• Where does rain come from? 45–60 min, plus a 5 min look later the same day or the next morning

  Students tape a zip-top bag of blue water to a sunny window and another to a shady wall, and catch a cold cup 'sweating' in the room. They follow the water from the bottom of the bag to the clear drops at the top, and explain how the Sun, air and clouds bring rain back down.

Clean Water Challenge: Mixtures, Dissolving and Separating Grade 5 · partly supports this outcome

Where does the salt go when it disappears in water? Can a filter make muddy water safe to drink? How do you get fresh water out of salt water? Three hands-on lessons on dissolving, separating mixtures and the solar still, with nothing tasted and nothing boiled by children.

• How can you get fresh water out of salt water? 50 min to set up and test, plus 2–3 hours of strong sun (or a 30-minute warm-water still indoors)

  Teams build a solar still from a bowl, a cup and clear plastic film, and watch salt water turn to vapour and back to liquid in the cup, leaving the salt and blue dye behind. They weigh the whole still before and after, and test the collected water with a drop on a dark plate. Cloudy days and cool rooms get an adult-run warm-water version.

Solids, Liquids and Gases Grade 5 · partly supports this outcome

Where does a puddle go? Why does ice float? A first look at the tiny particles that explain the stuff around us.

• Where does a puddle go? 50–60 min

  Teams race wet paper towels in still air, in wind, in a warm spot and under a cup to find out what makes water disappear faster. They catch the 'missing' water on the inside of the cup and explain evaporation with particles.

Printable practice for ESS.5.1.4

These pages practise a closely related idea; the match to ESS.5.1.4 is partial.

• Our Living Planet workbook included with the unit

  2 English-support pages, 2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• The Water Cycle, Start to Finish workbook included with the unit

  2 English-support pages, 2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

• Weather Detectives workbook included with the unit

  2 practice pages, 2 readings, 1 word wall, 1 English-support page, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.

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