SubjectNest · Where did the water go?

Day 33 · Drops on the outside

Start: “Where could these outside drops come from?”

Purpose: Explain condensation as vapour becoming liquid droplets and use a comparison clue carefully.

Prepare

Read today's complete model and two contexts before the session. Paper, a pencil and the full written picture words are sufficient. Optional actual water work follows ordinary preparation; the teacher chooses suitable familiar materials/instruments. Use today's three routes without assigning a fixed learning-style label.

Run the session

  1. Reconnect: use the invisible vapour card; gas in air is water even when no drops are visible.
  1. Model: supplied source shows two dry sealed containers at the start, one cool and one room-temperature. Later tiny outside drops are shown on the cool one. Condensation is a supported explanation; this is not a leak test proving every wet container has the same cause.
  1. Try: sort labels “vapour in surrounding air”, “cool outside surface”, “liquid drops”. Optional adult-prepared safe sealed cool container observation uses a towel, no touching requirement and actual before/after records.
  1. Compare: ask why a dry starting outside, sealed top and comparison container help. If conditions are not matched or a spill occurs, record that limitation. We do not force a visible result.
  1. Make: label the direction vapour → condensation → liquid drops. Explain that these outside drops are not precipitation from a cloud.
  1. Exit: “Condensation changes __ into __. The supplied clue is __.” Retain source access.

Three ways in

Outside-drop diagram

Label the given sealed-cup comparison without touching water; use the written source table when the picture is hard to see.

Worked ordinary reasoning: Vapour in air changes into drops on the cool outside surface; condensation is supported by the supplied dry-start comparison.

Watch and record

Observe the teacher-prepared containers and dictate a before/after observation; describe whether drops actually appeared, including no visible change.

Worked ordinary reasoning: I saw __ on the outside at __; if nothing appeared I record that rather than copying the model result.

Direction puzzle

Choose which of two arrows fits “outside droplets formed”: liquid→gas or gas→liquid, then give the scientific name.

Worked ordinary reasoning: Gas→liquid; condensation. This source does not measure how many drops formed.

Look and choose the next teaching

Correct state direction, relevant supplied/actual clue and no rain/leak overclaim.

For a reversed arrow, compare this direction to Day 32 and use new bottle/window examples.

Today's complete resources

A03 · whole labelled picture · A03 · complete picture words

A05 · whole labelled picture · A05 · complete picture words

C05

C06

H03

X03

Short child start · Written read-aloud · Water Trail and paper

Partial opportunities: AC9S4U02, AC9S4I01, AC9S4I02, AC9S4H01 · Full mapping and limits

Grown-up help

Allow source access and neutral reading/support. Keep supplied story, child response, helper actions and actual observation distinct. Use component-specific criteria after the response, not a model answer before it. Suggested six-move timing 4/7/12/8/6/3 minutes may be split; there is no performance timer.

Modified from Year 4 Science alignment, standard elaborations and Years 3–4 techniques and conditions, © State of Queensland (QCAA) 2023, covered CC BY 4.0 with exceptions. Our task criteria are original; these are not official A–E bands. Actual folio and on-balance professional judgment remain necessary.