Description
What our Elements: Oxygen lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Elements: Oxygen is a high-interest reading comprehension lesson plan. As such, students will practice various close reading and comprehension skills. In addition, they will learn about one of the most common elements in the Periodic Table of Elements. This lesson is for students in 5th grade and 6th grade.
Classroom Procedure
Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the yellow box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand.
Teacher Notes
The paragraph on this page provides a little more information or guidance on what to expect from the lesson. It explains that you can teach this lesson in a whole-class setting or as an independent, small-group activity. You can use the blank lines to record any thoughts or ideas you have as you prepare.
ELEMENTS: OXYGEN LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Discovery and Practical Applications
The Elements: Oxygen lesson plan contains two content pages. Two independent scientists discovered oxygen in the 1770s: Joseph Priestley in England and Carl Wilhelm Scheele in Sweden. Historians often credit Priestley with the discovery because he published his findings first. He used a magnifying glass to heat a compound called mercuric oxide. He noticed it released a gas that made candles burn brighter and mice live longer. Scheele, who had already found the same gas a year earlier, called it “fire air” because of its ability to fuel combustion. Another scientist, Antoine Lavoisier, later named the gas oxygen, from the Greek words for “acid producer,” after figuring out how it reacts with other elements.
Oxygen isn’t just something we breathe; it has many practical uses. Hospitals use oxygen to help patients who have trouble breathing, and it’s also used in scuba tanks for underwater diving. Industries rely on this special element for cutting and welding metals because it creates very high heat when combined with other gases. In space exploration, oxygen is vital for astronauts in their spacecraft and space suits. Even the water you drink contains oxygen. It combines with hydrogen to form H2O, one of the most necessary substances on Earth.
Oxygen Facts and Why the Element Matters
Oxygen is a superstar in nature. It makes up about 21% of our air and is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust. Plants produce oxygen during photosynthesis by using sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into food and oxygen. But the element is also used in some fantastic technologies. For example, it is a key component of rocket fuel to help rockets escape Earth’s gravity. It even creates ozone (O3), which forms a protective layer in our atmosphere to block harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun.
There are some surprising facts about oxygen that you might not know. Did you know that pure oxygen is actually dangerous to breathe for long periods? It can damage your lungs if inhaled in high concentrations. Another fun fact is that it isn’t always a gas; in its liquid and solid forms, it’s pale blue and has powerful magnetic properties. While oxygen is essential for life, some forms, like ozone, can be harmful at ground level and cause air pollution.
Oxygen is a vital element that supports life and drives many natural and human-made processes. It has helped us explore the ocean’s depths and the far reaches of space. Plus, it powers industries, cleans water, and protects us from harmful solar radiation. Understanding oxygen helps us appreciate the delicate balance of life on Earth. Scientists continue to find ways to use this fantastic element to benefit us all. Whether you’re breathing it, drinking it, or watching it fuel a rocket launch, oxygen is always at work making life possible.
ELEMENTS: OXYGEN LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Elements: Oxygen lesson plan includes two worksheets: an activity worksheet and a review worksheet. Each one will help students solidify their grasp of the material they learned throughout the lesson. You can refer to the classroom procedure guidelines to know when to hand out each worksheet.
FLAME EXPERIMENT ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For the activity, students will follow the steps on the page to conduct a flame experiment. They will write their observations and predictions as they go through the experiment.
REVIEW WORKSHEET
The review worksheet lists 5 questions based on the content. These questions all relate to the content pages, so students will need to refer to them often for the answers. In addition, each question provides which reading tool the question corresponds to, such as text feature, vocabulary, or comprehension.
Worksheet Answer Keys
At the end of the lesson plan document is an answer key for the practice worksheet. The correct answers are all in red to make it easier for you to compare them with students’ responses. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.
