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Lesson plan Grade 1 Science

Closing One Valve on the Cloverdike School Line

A 45-minute grade 1 lesson where students run a two-branch bottle model with clothespin valves, then solve within-20 problems about who loses water during a repair.

Objectives

  1. Students will show that closing one valve stops water in one branch pipe while the other keeps running.
  2. Students will draw and label a two-branch pipe model with a valve on each branch.
  3. Students will solve add-to, take-from, and put-together word problems within 20 about a water shutoff.

Vocabulary

Valve
A valve is a device in a pipe that operators can open or close to control where water flows. Valves let crews shut off one street for repairs without turning off the whole town.

Also: branch, shut off, crew, repair

Teacher overview

A pipe cracked in the street in front of Cloverdike School, and the town crew has to dig it up without leaving the whole neighborhood dry, so they close a single valve and shut off just that one branch of the line. In this lesson students build the idea with a bottle model: two straws leave one bottle, a clothespin pinches each straw, and closing one clothespin stops water in that branch while the other branch keeps pouring. The misconception this lesson corrects is that the town's water runs through one single pipe with one off switch, so that shutting water off anywhere shuts it off everywhere, and the two-branch model gives students something to watch that shows otherwise. The lesson closes with word problems within 20 about how many sinks, valves, and houses were affected by the repair in the town of Cloverdike.

Procedure

Hook (5 min): Hold up a prepared bottle with a straw taped into each of its two holes and both clothespins open. Fill it from the pitcher over a tray and let both straws run into two cups. Ask students what they think will happen if you pinch one straw shut, and record the predictions with a show of hands.

Direct instruction (10 min): Tell the class about the cracked pipe in front of the school and the crew that has to dig. Explain that a valve is a part on a pipe that a crew can close to stop water in one pipe without stopping it everywhere. Demonstrate: clip the left clothespin closed, pour, and let the class watch the left cup stay empty while the right cup fills. Open the left clothespin, clip the right one, pour again, and let students describe what changed. Name the two branches out loud each time, so students connect the closed clothespin to the empty cup.

Guided practice (12 min): Groups of four run the model themselves over a tray, with one pourer, one valve keeper, one watcher, and one recorder, trading roles after each pour. Groups try three settings in order: both valves open, left valve closed, right valve closed. After each pour the recorder marks which cups have water. Circulate to check that the clothespin is clipped firmly across the flat part of the straw, since a loose clip is the usual reason both cups fill when students expect one to stay dry.

Independent practice (13 min): Students complete the handout. Read items 4 through 8 aloud one at a time, pausing so students can use counters or drawings, and let students finish the sketch in item 3 while classmates are still working.

Closure and exit ticket (5 min): Ask the exit question, "The crew closed one valve on our street. Did every house in town lose water?" Have each student answer with a thumbs-down for no or a thumbs-up for yes. If more than five students answer yes, run the left-valve-closed pour one more time and point to the cup that still fills.

Closing One Valve on the Cloverdike School Line — Grade 1 Science
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

Our test. Mark each pour. Write W for water and E for empty.

Both valves open. Left cup: _____ Right cup: _____

Left valve closed. Left cup: _____ Right cup: _____

Right valve closed. Left cup: _____ Right cup: _____

  1. The crew closed the valve on the left pipe. The right valve is open. Which cup fills, the left cup or the right cup?
  2. Both valves are open. Which cups fill, the left cup, the right cup, or both cups?
  3. Draw the bottle with its two pipes. Label the two valves.
  4. Cloverdike School has 12 sinks. The closed valve shuts off 5 of those sinks. How many sinks still have water?
  5. The crew closed 2 valves on Elm Street and 3 valves on Fern Street. How many valves did the crew close in all?
  6. On Maple Street, 8 houses lost water in the morning. Then 4 more houses lost water. How many houses lost water in all?
  7. In all, 12 houses lost water. Water came back on in 9 of those houses by lunch. How many houses are still waiting?
  8. The crew has 15 valves on its map. The crew closed 3 of them. How many valves are still open?
  9. Why does the town put valves on its pipes? Tell one reason.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: The right cup.
    The clothespin pinches the left straw shut, so water can only leave through the open right branch.
  2. Answer: Both cups.
    With nothing pinching either straw, water leaves the bottle through both branches at once.
  3. Answer: A drawing of the bottle with two pipes and both valves labeled.
    Look for two separate branches leaving one bottle and a label on each branch where the clothespin sits.
  4. Answer: 7 sinks.
    12 - 5 = 7.
  5. Answer: 5 valves.
    2 + 3 = 5.
  6. Answer: 12 houses.
    8 + 4 = 12.
  7. Answer: 3 houses.
    12 - 9 = 3.
  8. Answer: 12 valves.
    15 - 3 = 12.
  9. Answer: So the crew can shut off one part and fix it.
    Accept any answer saying that a valve lets the crew stop water in one pipe, or that the rest of the town keeps its water while one pipe is repaired.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a model with only one clothespin already clipped in place so the setting never changes mid-pour, and provide 15 counters for items 4 through 8 so each problem can be built and taken apart by hand before an answer is written.

Extension

Ask a group to add a third branch to the bottle model with a third straw and clothespin, then write a new question for the class in the same form as item 4, telling how many sinks would still work if two of the three branches were closed.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "valve," "branch," and "shut off" by clipping and unclipping a clothespin on a straw while saying each word, and post the two answer words "water" and "empty" beside the model. Allow items 1, 2, and 9 to be answered by pointing at the cups or by giving a one-word answer.

Extensions

Walk the class down the sidewalk near the school to look for the small metal lids set into the pavement that cover street valves and meters, and have students count how many they find between the school door and the corner.