A table and a matching circle graph give the gases in dry air on page 1 of this 5th grade science sheet: nitrogen 78%, oxygen 21%, and argon and other gases 1%. A footnote says carbon dioxide is about 0.04% of the air. Students name the most common gas, read the oxygen percent and add nitrogen and oxygen to reach 99%. Page 2 has three written questions on the gas we breathe, the gas plants take in and why air holds water vapor when the table is for dry air.
“Read percentages from a data table and a circle graph.”
Items 1 and 2 on page 1 use the 78% and 21% values.
“Add percentages to find the share of two gases together.”
Item 3 asks for 78% plus 21%.
“Name the gases we breathe and the gas plants take in, and say why the table shows dry air.”
Page 2 items 1, 2 and 3.
A color-coded data table beside a circle graph with the same three slices. Three boxes ask which gas makes up most of the air, what percent is oxygen and what nitrogen and oxygen add up to.
Three written questions with dotted lines: the gas we need to breathe, the gas plants take in for photosynthesis, and why the air around us contains water vapor when the table is for dry air.
Nitrogen, 21% and 99% for page 1, then oxygen, carbon dioxide and an explanation that water vapor varies from about 0% to 4% depending on the day and the place.
Find the thin slice
Ask students to find the 1% slice on the circle graph first. It is a sliver, and the footnote puts carbon dioxide at only about 0.04% inside it.
Check the sum
After item 3, have students subtract 99% from 100% and say what that remaining 1% is made of. It ties the table to the circle graph.
Dry air talk
Breathe onto a mirror or a cold window before students answer the water vapor question on page 2. The fog is the evidence.
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