Air Pressure Curriculum

Introduction

Overview

This introduction provides an overview of the module. It gives a rationale for why it is so important to teach the causal concepts presented here in order to develop a deep understanding of air pressure phenomena. It makes suggestions for how to encourage a classroom culture that supports the development of the understanding goals of the module.

This curriculum module consists of nine lessons to infuse into a broader unit on pressure. The lessons are designed to address persistent difficulties that students have when learning about air pressure. These difficulties stem from how students reason about the nature of cause and effect.

The module is formatted as follows: there are three sections. Each section introduces one of three ways of thinking about causality that students need to master in order to develop a deep understanding of air pressure. The sections, and the multiple lessons within each section, are sequenced to build understanding. For each lesson, background information describes the difficulties that students typically have in learning about air pressure, and how each way of thinking about causality is important in addressing the difficulties. Each lesson includes subject matter goals and more general goals about the nature of causality. This module is designed for middle school, but can be adjusted for use with younger and older students.

Embedded within the lessons are special activities called RECAST activities. These activities are designed to REveal CAusal STructure, or help students RECAST their understandings so that they fit with the causal patterns that scientists use. RECAST activities have outcomes that don't fit with what students typically think, so they may serve as an impetus for students to restructure their understandings.

The curriculum is designed around "best practices" in science education. Lessons involve students in inquiry-based activities that ask students to observe and construct understandings. Lessons typically begin by asking students to examine their current beliefs, and invite opportunities for students' ideas to evolve during the course of the unit. Student discussion is a central activity and teachers are encouraged to create an environment where students are comfortable sharing their ideas. Through discussion, students will realize that science involves revising ideas in a process that leads to the best explanation of the phenomenon in question.

Explanation of Photo

The shape of a balloon results from the balance between inside and outside pressures surrounding the balloon, a type of relational causality.