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Lesson plan Grade 1 Science

Testing Two Rain Catchers at Marigold Lane: A Grade 1 Lesson

A 40-minute grade 1 engineering lesson where students test a funnel-shaped and a flat rain catcher, then compare how much water each one collects.

Objectives

  1. Students will test two differently shaped rain catchers to see which one collects more water.
  2. Students will compare data from the two tests to decide which shape works better.
  3. Students will explain how the shape of an object helped or hurt its job of catching water.

Vocabulary

Key words: catcher, funnel, collect, compare

Teacher overview

Marigold Lane's community garden wants a rain barrel that fills quickly whenever it rains, and the class is asked to help decide what shape of catcher should sit on top of the barrel. This lesson gives first graders a hands-on way to test that question: pouring the same amount of "rain" over two differently shaped catchers and counting how much water each one collects. A common misconception in this lesson is that a wider top always catches more water, whatever its shape; the flat catcher in this test has a wide top but a narrow hole, so most of the poured water misses it and spills away, while the funnel's sloped sides guide water down into the hole. Comparing the two side by side, with real counted cups, makes the idea of "shape helps function" easy to see.

Procedure

Hook (5 min): Ask the class: "If it starts raining right now, which shape do you think would catch more rain: a funnel or a flat plate?" Take a few guesses and tally thumbs-up for each shape on the board without telling students the answer yet.

Direct instruction (8 min): Show Catcher A (the funnel taped over a cup) and Catcher B (the flat lid with a small hole, taped over a second cup). Explain that each catcher will get the same amount of "rain" poured over it, from a pitcher, and the cup underneath will show how much water actually made it in. Model the test once as a class: pour 10 small cups of water, one at a time, over Catcher A, then count how many cups of water landed in the collecting cup below (for example, 8; record the real count on the class chart under "Catcher A"). Repeat with Catcher B, pouring 10 more cups and counting what collects (for example, 3; record the real count on the class chart under "Catcher B").

Guided practice (12 min): In groups of three or four, students repeat the same test with their own set of catchers: one designated pourer per group pours 10 small cups of water over their group's Catcher A, and the group counts and records how many cups collected. They repeat with Catcher B. Circulate to make sure every group pours the same amount over each catcher, so the comparison is fair, and keep each catcher in a tray so spilled water stays off the floor.

Independent practice (10 min): Each student fills in their own copy of the two-column chart with their group's numbers, circles which catcher collected more, and draws or writes one sentence answering, "Why do you think that shape collected more water?"

Closure / exit ticket (5 min): Groups share their results aloud. As a class, agree on one sentence: "The funnel shape catches more rain because its sloped sides guide water down into the hole." For the formative check, ask for a thumbs-up if a student's own group results matched the class's funnel-collects-more finding; if fewer than three-fourths of hands go up, revisit the demonstration data together before moving on.

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

Answer Key

Counts depend on the class test; the values below are illustrative. Look for the funnel collecting more than the flat lid.

  1. Catcher A in the demonstration: 8 cups. In the example run, Catcher A (the funnel) collected 8 of the 10 poured cups because its sloped sides guided the water down into the hole.
  2. Catcher B in the demonstration: 3 cups. In the example run, Catcher B (the flat lid) collected only 3 of the 10 poured cups because most of the water landed on the flat top and spilled off the sides instead of reaching the small hole.
  3. Which collected more: The funnel shape (Catcher A) collected more water. Its sloped, narrowing sides directed the poured water toward the hole, while the flat lid gave the water nowhere to go but off the edge.

Differentiation

Support

Pre-fill the recording chart with the class demonstration numbers so struggling groups only need to circle the larger number and complete the sentence frame "The ___ catcher collected more water because ___."

Extension

Challenge groups to sketch a third catcher shape they predict would collect even more water than the funnel, and explain in one sentence what feature of their design should help.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "catcher," "funnel," "collect," and "compare" with the physical objects in hand, pointing to each part as the word is said. Allow students to answer the written question with a labeled drawing of the two catchers instead of a full sentence.

Extensions

Take the winning catcher shape outside during the next real rain with no thunder or lightning (or set it under a downspout) and let students check it after 10 minutes to see the idea work with actual rainwater instead of a poured pitcher.