The Properties of Air

Dores H. Cook                   Gallistel Language Academy
                                10347 S. Ewing Avenue
                                Chicago, Il. 60617
                                312-933-6540

Objective:

First Grade

Students will be able to describe the properties of air.  They will be able to 
conclude that air is a gas, that air has weight, that air exerts pressure and 
that moving air is called wind. 

Materials needed:

The following list is for a class of thirty students.  Each student should have 
one:

small plastic zip-lock bag       straw
balloon                          9x12 sheet of construction paper
bubble gum
                                                 

The teacher will need:

two  2 liter bottles             string
two  pans                        hot water
eight balloons  (same size)      ice
tape                             meter stick
styrofoam cooler                 clamp
hot plate (heat water)           metal pot


 
Strategy:

  These activities and experiments are teacher directed.  Each lesson should
take approximately fifteen minutes to complete.  The exception is the second
lesson, which could not be timed.

1. Initially the students should inhale deeply and slowly exhale to ascertain
   whether or not they see anything.  They should inhale again, hold their
   breath and roll the air around in their mouth to determine whether or not
   they can taste the air.  Finally, the students take three short "sniffs" of
   air to determine if they smell anything.  After each of these activities,
   the students should conclude that air is a colorless, tasteless and odorless
   gas. 
   
2. Take two empty plastic bottles and place a balloon over the mouth of each
   bottle.  Put one bottle in a pan of hot water and put the other bottle in a
   pan with ice.  Observe the results.  The consensus should be that air exerts
   pressure.

3. Suspend a meter stick from a curtain rod.  Tie three balloons on each end.
   Make sure the meter stick is balanced.  Remove three balloons (from the same
   end) inflate them and tie the end of each.  Then rehang the inflated 
   balloons.  The students should conclude that air has weight.

4. Inflate a balloon.  Inflate a plastic bag using a straw.  The students 
   should note that air takes up space and that air has no definite shape.
 
5. Fold a sheet of paper several times to make a fan.  Move the fan rapidly
   back and forth in front of your face.  The students should feel the air.
   They should conclude that moving air is called wind.