Thursday September 26th - "Sea" Trials for the Aluminum Boat Lab

Students were immersed in the study of buoyancy.

Students created great designs, constructed amazing boats and had lots of fun!

Here are some photos from todays's class!

Tonight they will be going back to the drawing board.   They will reflect on their observations, analyze their results and modifying their designs.  Re-testing will occur tomorrow!

Monday September 23rd - Wednesday September 25th

The kids are doing great work experimenting like scientists!

So far the student have been challenged to take on two different experiments:

The Penny Lab  and  The Aluminum Foil Boat Lab.

Additional Information on Parts of an Experiment.
Here are the notes from a Guided Note Sheet for Students to Access.  
Here also is a link to an example breakdown of an experiment on the Effect of Sunlight on the Growth of Plants.
Finally here is a link to the Lab Conclusion and Post-Lab Question Expectation Sheet.

The Week of September 16th

The students were digging into parts of an experiment this past week.

We completed focused readings on "The Scientific Method- Variables and Controls" as well as "Bill's Cake."  Our goal was to expose the students to vocabulary used in experiments and a specific example to ground their understanding.

Here is a list of the essential vocabulary:

• question
• hypothesis
• experiment
• procedure
• data
• variables- independent variable and dependent variable
• constants
• control
• conclusion

Friday September 13th - Exploring Parts of and Experiment

Today we explored parts of an experiment through a reading called, "Life Saver."  The reading explores a study conducted to see if softer baseballs are actually safer than harder baseballs.

Click the image of the article to access the entire article and questions.  

Our students will become familiar with the vocabulary used in conducting an experiment such as:

• independent and dependent variables
• control
• constant
• hypothesis

Once familiar with the language and expectations then we will perform some of our own experiments in class, collect the data and create our own conclusion!

Tuesday and Wednesday, September 10th and 11th

In the past two days we worked with Mystery Tubes and kicked off the Unit Project- The Greatest Scientific Discovery.

The Mystery Tubes got at the basis behind science inquiry.  Students are asked to determine the interior construction of the covered mystery tube.  They worked in small groups, posed hypothesis, tested their hypothesis, and often needed to rework their initial thoughts

The Greatest Scientific Discovery information can be found here on our shared Google Site.

We started the class by reading Snowflake Bentley and making connection of what is good science and his contributions to the world.  Students will have the task to choose a great invention or discovery and persuade us why it is the "Greatest Scientific Discovery" of all time.

Friday September 6th and Monday September 9th

We read an article on Asteroids and Dinosaurs which discussed good scientific practices and the study of how dinosaurs became extinct.  After we completed the reading as a class highlighting the main ideas in each paragraph the students were challenged to attempt some follow-up questions.

The final question was a constructed response.  We supplied the students with:
1. A product descriptor on a scientific constructed responses and
2. A rubric on how we assess scientific constructed responses.

The students have until Wednesday to make any changes to their responses.  Today we supplied them with anchor constructed responses showing them what a "meets" and "exceeds" looked like.

Thursday September 5th

Today we reviewed the Mystery Box Activity and allowed students to sketch and discuss what they felt was on the bottom of the cube.  Here is a look into some of their work:

We followed up this activity with a reading on Asteroids and dinosaurs: unexpected twists to an unfinished story,  explaining Walter Alverez exploration into the extinction of dinosaurs.  All of this draws out practices that describe "good" practices in science.

Today, we brainstormed some ideas about our essential question, "What does good science look like?" We will continue to build on these ides over the next few days.

We also worked to apply some good science by observing and collecting data on a Mystery Cube. Can you figure out what's on the hidden panel? Remember, use evidence to support your ideas and don't jump to conclusions!

September 3rd - Tuesday

Today in class we took some time to organize our binders and look at the following quote:

“The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of every- day thinking” (Einstein, 1954, p. 283).

We will look at science practices in terms of having a science toolbox and build on the skills needed to be successful.