Topic: Water – the basis of life

Target group

Elementary school student (grades 7. and 8.)

Core curriculum:

Primary school. Chemistry.

II. Reasoning and applying the acquired knowledge to solve problems. Student:

5) uses knowledge to solve simple chemical problems;

6) uses the correct terminology.

General aim of education

The student discusses the water cycle in nature and the role of water in the life of living organisms.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• describe the water cycle in nature;

• discuss the role of water in the life of living organisms.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher hands out Methodology Guide or green, yellow and red sheets of paper to the students to be used during the work based on a traffic light technique. He presents the aims of the lesson in the student's language on a multimedia presentation and discusses the criteria of success (aims of the lesson and success criteria can be send to students via e‑mail or posted on Facebook, so that students will be able to manage their portfolio).

2. The teacher together with the students determines the topic – based on the previously presented lesson aims – and then writes it on the interactive whiteboard/blackboard. Students write the topic in the notebook.

3. Health and safety – before starting the experiments, students familiarise themselves with the safety data sheets of the substances that will be used during the lesson. The teacher points out the need to be careful when working with them.

Realization

1. The teacher initiates an introductory interview. He asks students: Why is water the basis of life? He asks his pupils to present the information they know in graphic form using the sketchbook in the abstract.

2. The students read a fragment devoted to the presence of water in nature, and then perform exercise No. 1.

3. Students, working in pairs, carry out the order no. 2: on the basis of illustration they explain how the water cycle in nature looks like and how it changes its state of concentration. The indicated couples discuss their studies on the class forum.

4. The teacher informs the participants that they will carry out the „Heating of the crushed cucumber” experiment. It divides students into groups and distributes the appropriate equipment, glass and reagents to perform the experiment. Students - with the help of a teacher - formulate a hypothesis and write it on the form in an abstract. Then they follow the instructions in the abstract. They record the observations in the form. The teacher asks questions in relation to the observations recorded. It initiates a discussion, the conclusions of which students write on the form.

5. The teacher announces a movie entitled „Testing for the presence of water in copper(II) sulfate crystals”. Instructs students to write a research question and hypothesis in the form provided in the abstract. Then it displays the video and the students record their observations and conclusions. The teacher encourages young people to discuss, referring to the conclusions presented earlier.

6. Students perform interactive exercise No. 2. The teacher together with them discusses the right solution.

Summary

1. The teacher plays a recording of the abstract. Every now and then he stops them, asking his students to tell what they have just heard in their own words. In this way, students consolidate information learned during the lesson and practice listening comprehension.

2. The teacher asks the students to finish the following sentences:

   • Today I learned ...

   • I understood that …

   • It surprised me …

   • I found out ...

   The teacher can use the interactive whiteboard in the abstract or instruct students to work with it

Homework

1. Carry out task number nr 5.1.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Water – the basis of life

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Water is one of the more widespread substances in nature. The surface of the Earth is covered with water in almost 71%. Of this, 97% is the water of the seas and oceans. The remaining part of the water is trapped in glaciers, permanent snow cover and permafrost, it forms rivers and water reservoirs, it is found in groundwater, soil, air and is a component of living organisms.

Only 2.5% of the volume of natural waters are fresh waters, which are essential for the life of all organisms. The remaining 97.5% are salty waters (seas and oceans, salt lakes and groundwater) that do not play role when it comes to providing humanity with drinking water. The name „salt water” derives from the taste of seawater, which mainly comes from the dissolved sodium chloride. It is not safe to drink, and its administration can be very dangerous – the body has to use more water to expel the substance introduced with it than it received in a drunken portion.
”Fresh water” contains much less dissolved chemicals. Drinking water is obtained from it.

Water is the only chemical compound that occurs on Earth in three states of matter. It is liquid in surface and underground waters, in the atmosphere it is a gas, and in precipitation (snow, hail) as well as glaciers and permafrost it exists in a solid state.

Water is indispensable to the life of plants, animals and people. In the hierarchy of all life needs of organisms, water is in the first place. There are even microorganisms that can live without oxygen, but they cannot live without water. Water is the most important component of organisms, for example, it constitutes about 60‑70% of human body mass. It is essential for its proper functioning: it participates in the regulation of body temperature, transport of nutrients, metabolic products and in all biochemical reactions taking place in the body.

• Natural waters, found in nature, are solutions of various solid substances and gases.

• Most of the substance are contained in the sea water, the least - water from precipitation.

• Almost 71%of the Earth's surface is covered with water.

• Water as the only compound on Earth that occurs in three states of matter.

• Water is the most important component of organisms.

• Due to the limited resources of available fresh water, we should save a drinking water.