Has another week already gone by? I think someone must be tampering with the time/space continuum.
This week was a little rougher than the first. The excitement over starting school has worn off, and the kids are settling into their 'oh we're going to be here for a loooong time' mentality. They're a little more grumpy this week.
As a department, all 3 science teachers decided to devote this second week to the Scientific Method. We thought this might be a good idea to prevent us from having to introduce it each and every time we do a lab.
Monday (holiday)
Tuesday- We covered Empirical Evidence, and scientific Explanations using our textbook. We also talked about good and bad sources (books, websites, journals, blogs, etc).
Wednesday- We discussed what Scientific Laws and theories are. We used a set of self-made cards with different laws and theories on them, and the kids had to sort them into stacks. We made a venn diagram in our science notebooks to compare and contrast the two. We also talked about what models were, and looked at the benefits and limits of using them.
We watched this mythbusters clip and the kids picked out the benefits and limits of the model they used. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu0uNPFCf68
Thursday- The kids designed an experiment to test how plant seedlings responded to light. The kids already knew that plants grow toward light. The purpose of the lab was to teach scientific method, to make them actually go through the steps.
I had the kids bring in small cardboard boxes (shoe boxes, cereal, cake mix, snack bar boxes) and I grew about 30 cucumber seedlings in plastic baggies. The seedlings were planted about 1 week before the experiment, and most were about 7 inches tall by this time. I transferred them to cups to separate them and help them stand up.
The kids were tasked with cutting a hole somewhere in the box and positioning their plant-in-a-cup.
I had them write up their lab like this:
This week was a little rougher than the first. The excitement over starting school has worn off, and the kids are settling into their 'oh we're going to be here for a loooong time' mentality. They're a little more grumpy this week.
As a department, all 3 science teachers decided to devote this second week to the Scientific Method. We thought this might be a good idea to prevent us from having to introduce it each and every time we do a lab.
Monday (holiday)
Tuesday- We covered Empirical Evidence, and scientific Explanations using our textbook. We also talked about good and bad sources (books, websites, journals, blogs, etc).
Wednesday- We discussed what Scientific Laws and theories are. We used a set of self-made cards with different laws and theories on them, and the kids had to sort them into stacks. We made a venn diagram in our science notebooks to compare and contrast the two. We also talked about what models were, and looked at the benefits and limits of using them.
We watched this mythbusters clip and the kids picked out the benefits and limits of the model they used. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu0uNPFCf68
Thursday- The kids designed an experiment to test how plant seedlings responded to light. The kids already knew that plants grow toward light. The purpose of the lab was to teach scientific method, to make them actually go through the steps.
I had the kids bring in small cardboard boxes (shoe boxes, cereal, cake mix, snack bar boxes) and I grew about 30 cucumber seedlings in plastic baggies. The seedlings were planted about 1 week before the experiment, and most were about 7 inches tall by this time. I transferred them to cups to separate them and help them stand up.
The kids were tasked with cutting a hole somewhere in the box and positioning their plant-in-a-cup.
I had them write up their lab like this:
Plant Growth Lab
Hypothesis: If _____________ then ______________________.
"If we place a seedling inside a box, with only one hole where light can enter, then the seedling will grow toward the light."
(I ask my kids to use If, then statements for their hypothesis)
Materials: small box, cucumber seedling, plastic cup, scissors, sunlight
Procedure:
1.
1.
2.
3.
(I had them write their procedure within their group)
Data:
Here I had them draw two boxes. They had to draw a before and after picture.
Conclusion: When we ______________ to ________________, _____________ happened. My hypothesis was (correct/incorrect).
"When we placed our seedling inside the box and left it outside, the plant grew toward the hole on the side of the box. My hypothesis was correct.
This is the form I generally like for their hypothesis to be in. It provides a summary, tells me their results, and goes back to their hypothesis.
We set our labs up on Thursday, and I put the boxes outside that afternoon. I retrieved them Friday morning and the kids did their conclusions Friday. I really should have left them out there for another day (moved what we did Wednesday in-between the two lab days) so the plants had more of a chance to grow. Oh well, lesson learned!
I will upload pictures of our plant labs, as well as the Law Theory cards soon. They're on my work computer and I completely forgot to bring them home!
Peace, love, and Science,
Ms. Kat
No comments:
Post a Comment