1. Engage: Start with the students going outside on a day that has clouds in the sky. Have them write down the shapes, colors, perceived textures, etc.
2. Explore: "Tissue Paper Clouds" - Give students a sheet of tissue paper and crumple it up. Have them blow on them with a straw and write down what they see. How are clouds similar/ different from my tissue paper cloud? Maybe have students make a lot of tissue paper clouds and place them in a bin and blow on them to observe a larger example.
3. Explain: A short lesson plan on clouds and their structure/ function/ use in different situations.
4. Elaborate: Provide a real world example showing how clouds act in different places on the globe. Show them places such as England and Ireland versus Costa Rica and Africa. Have them make hypothesis about which areas will have more clouds and what types and to defend their answers.
5: Evaluate: The students could do a multi-genre project! A multi-genre project is a compilation project that utilizes different modes of expression. For example newspaper articles, poems, interviews, obituaries, magazine ads, or photographs, the list is almost limitless! The students would compile 4-8 (depending on age and length of time on the unit) modes for their project to explain what they know about clouds. Each mode would highlight a different aspect of clouds such as shape, distance in the atmosphere, color, or how rain is produced.
For more information on steam, visit: http://stemtosteam.org/
Lesson plan adapted from: http://stemfun4kids.com/tag/stem-lesson-plans/