PROJECT ENERGY
Teaching
and Learning for the 21st Century
Energy
Lessons for Elementary School
Dennis
W. Sunal
Cynthia
Sunal
William
Dwyer
Coralee
S. Smith
Holly
Loftin Holloway
Editors
Alabama
Science Teaching and Learning Center
The
University of Alabama
Box
870231
Tuscaloosa,
AL. 35487-0231
On the
web at http://www.bamaed.ua.edu/sciteach/energy
CONTRIBUTORS
Thelma Davis
Clidean Epps
Jeanelle Bland Hodges
Vicki Jenks
Audrey Rule
Cynthia Sunal
Dennis Sunal
Cheryl Sundberg
Partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Alabama DOE/EPSCoR Program and the University of Alabama.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LESSONS
Energy Flow in the Arctic
Biosphere (K-5)
Sunlight and Plants
(3-5)
Physical Science
Testing Materials for Electrical
Conductivity (4-8)
Early Concepts An Oil-Drop Model of a Splitting Atom
(4-6)
Modeling Nuclear Fission
(4-9)
Indirect Observations
(4-8)
Investigating Surface Tension
(4-8)
Energy Transformation (3-8)
Heat and Temperature: Is There a Difference?
(3-5)
Oil Reserves and Drilling
(4-8)
Orientation of Earth in Space
(4-5)
Water Cycle
(2-5)
INTRODUCTION
Project Energy is a consortium of university professors, leading scientists and classroom teachers committed to reform in science education. The project began in 1993 with a group of educators interested in increasing the energy literacy of teachers and students throughout the state of Alabama. Project Energy is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPSCoR Universities of Alabama.
The goals of Project Energy include (a) developing exemplary instructional strategies for teaching energy literacy, (b) enhancing and extending partnerships among students, teachers, energy researchers, and personnel in education, business, and industry, (c) encouraging teachers' professional growth through the development of energy literacy instructional activities and effective energy instructional resource materials which are supportive of the state science curriculum, (d) disseminating information relating to energy literacy, (e) collegial mentoring to expand the exemplary energy classroom model to other Alabama teachers and students, (f) increasing access and skillful use of technology which facilitate and strengthen communication among teachers and students and (g) monitoring and evaluating energy literacy performance through the use of summative evaluations and portfolio projects.
Since 1993, Project Energy teachers have participated in technology and energy related workshops in Tuscaloosa and Auburn, Alabama and Oak Ridge Tennessee. The workshops provided participants opportunities to increase their energy knowledge base and acquire skills in teaching energy topics using technology. In addition, the participants have presented energy literacy workshops at the Annual Alabama Science Teachers Association Conference in Birmingham, Alabama and the Annual National Science Teachers Association Conferences.
The science teachers constructed Learning Cycles focusing on energy related topics. A Learning Cycle has three phases: exploration, concept invention, and expansion. In the exploration phase, students participate with hands-on/minds-on activities that draw on their prior knowledge. During the concept invention phase, students find existing patterns and develop conceptual knowledge. The expansion phase allows the student to apply newly acquired knowledge or skills to other situations.
It is anticipated that the learning cycles developed in this text by Project Energy participants will enhance students' energy that the learning cycles developed in this text by Project Energy participants will enhance students' energy literacy for the 21st century.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to acknowledge Project Energy teachers and their students, the participating school sites, and graduate students for their input and time. We also would like to acknowledge the Department of Energy and the Alabama EPSCoR Universities for providing the necessary funding.
Energy Flow in the Arctic Biosphere
Sample Lesson for Grades K-5
Audrey Rule
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Objective: Students will access prior knowledge in arranging cards depicting Arctic organisms to show the network of energy flow in the Arctic biosphere.
Key Questions: The Arctic is a cold, often bleak place, yet many large animals (whales, walruses, polar bears, musk oxen, caribou, Inuit people) make their homes there. Where do these creatures get the energy to survive? What are the chains of energy in the Arctic? What is the ultimate source of this energy? How is energy passed from organism to organism?
Materials: A set of Arctic Energy Flow cards for each group of students
Preparation of card materials: Photocopy the accompanying pages of Arctic
energy flow cards. Cut them apart
outside the dotted lines and use glue stick adhesive to mount them on
cardstock. Glue the picture on one side
and the explanation on the back. You
may wish to laminate these cards. Pictures
may be colored with colored pencils or left as black and white images.
Exploration:
Divide students into small groups. Each group should have a set of Arctic Energy Flow cards. Tell students to arrange the cards into linked chains or a web depicting the energy flow in the Arctic biosphere. Students need not use all the cards. Students may discuss among themselves to help them determine the connections between organisms.
Evaluation: The teacher interacts with each group to see that students are on task and everyone is participating. The teacher can ask students to record their card work as a flow chart on paper. These can be collected and graded. Additional assessment will occur when groups report their results during the invention phase.
Invention:
Objective: Students will be able to trace the source of energy in the Arctic biosphere to the sun. Students will be able to correctly chart the flow of energy between organisms in the Arctic biosphere.
Materials: Reference Books that provide information on Arctic organisms
Arctic Energy Flow cards
Poster board or blackboard for recording example energy
flow chains
Markers/chalk for writing on board
Paper strips, stapler, and poster board ovals for
constructing chains in activity #6
Procedure:
A. Allow each group to report the way they arranged their Arctic Energy Flow cards. Discuss differences between the ways groups arranged them.
B. Construct several energy flow chains that everyone agrees upon. Record these examples on the board. Point out the sun as the source of energy in the Arctic biosphere.
C. Assign research to students in order to better place organisms that are not well known; or,
D. Read aloud books, magazine articles, or show videos that give information about the ecology of the Arctic. Zoobooks magazines that focus on seals, polar bears, whales, etc. provide interesting information. Another great resource for Arctic tundra ecology is: One Small Square Arctic Tundra by Donald M. Silver (New York: Scientific American Books for Young Readers; 1994). Then, as a whole group, lead a discussion about Arctic organisms and their sources of energy. Ask a student to choose a card featuring an organism. Read the information about the organism on the back of the card. Ask the student where the organism gets its energy. Find the card that shows that organism and place it below the first card to form a chain. Continue until the sun is identified as the energy source. Then see if the chain can be expanded on the other end. Ask, "Does anything get energy from this organism?" When the chain is complete, draw the chain and record the names of the organisms on the board. Ask the students to make other chains and record them.
E. Students may want to investigate organisms that were not included in this lesson. Use references to see what they eat and how they get their energy. Add them to the energy chains and webs.
F. A giant web showing all 29 organisms plus the sun will give students the big picture of how all organisms depend upon the sun for their energy. It will also show the numerous interconnections between organisms. Writing the organism names on poster board ovals and connecting them with stapled paper chains is a fun visual activity that will illustrate this well. See the accompanying Arctic Biosphere Energy Flow Chart Diagram for ideas.
Evaluation: Students can be asked to individually draw energy flow charts for the Arctic biosphere. These can be graded.
Expansion:
Objective: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of
Arctic energy flow chains by dramatizing them, making a menu or cookbook
depicting them, or writing a poem about them.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the way energy flows in the
biosphere by constructing a flow chart for a different ecosystem.
Procedure: Choose one or more of the following activities:
1. Students work individually or in groups to dramatize one of the Arctic energy food chains. They may make stick puppets or masks and write a play that illustrates the flow of energy from organism to organism. Alternately, students may want to make a series of colored transparency drawings or paint a mural to tell the story of the sun and organisms in the energy chain.
2. Students may make an "Arctic Restaurant Menu" or "Arctic Cookbook" featuring food energy dishes for different organisms. This should be a creative project with illustrations.
3. Students can write an "Ode to the Sun" poem that tells the sun's role in providing energy for life on Earth. Energy flow chains should be mentioned in this poem.
4. Students may choose a different biosphere such as the American southwestern desert or Florida everglades and construct energy flow charts for the organisms there.
Evaluation: Student projects can be presented to the class and graded.
Sample Lesson
for Grades 3-8
Dennis W.
Sunal
The University
of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Alternative Conception Addressed by the Lesson Plan:
Direct sunlight is necessary for green plants to live and grow. Direct
sunlight makes green plants healthy. Green plants always need direct sunlight .
Lesson Goal: To allow students to investigate and develop inferences
about the role of sunlight in the nutritional needs of a green plant.
Prerequisites: Can measure height to the nearest millimeter or one/eighth
inch.
Exploration:
Objective: The students
will investigate the effects of sunlight on germinating seeds and young green
plants.
Materials: For each group:
Four
lima bean or corn seeds,
Potting
soil, and
Four
styrofoam cups
Procedure:
A. Organize small groups of four
students; a materials manager, a reporter, one observer, and one illustrator. These roles could rotate over time.
B. Describe
the materials and instructions needed for students to carry out the activity
related to the effects of sunlight on growing plants. State the key questions: Is light necessary for plants to live
and grow? Does sunlight make green plants healthy? and Do green plants always
need light?
C. Provide
each group with four lima bean or corn seeds, potting soil, and four styrofoam
cups. Ask the students to design an
experiment to test the effects of light on the growth of plants using the lima
bean or corn seeds. An example of an
experiment that might be designed by a group would involve students putting
three inches of potting soil into each cup. Then the students could plant the
lima bean seeds about one inch below the surface of the soil. They would add three tablespoons of water to
each cup. One cup would be set on the
windowsill or some bright spot in the room.
One cup would be put in a closet or in a box that is sealed off from
light. The other two cups should be put
in parts of the room that are partially lit.
One across the room from the windows and one behind or under a large
object in the room. The students would
keep a daily diary indicating at least the following observations: the date, a
description of the seed or plant, a measure of the height of the plant and the
number of leaves. The illustrator
would make a sketch of the plant each day in the diary.
An experiment such as the one above
will probably involve a week to ten days of plant growth time. Seeds generally require two to three days to
germinate (when they break through the soil) and another week to grow tall
enough to have leaves so that the effects of light become evident. The illustrator should draw the plants at
regular intervals. The observers should
record a description of the plant at the same intervals and use it to construct
a table or bar graph of plant growth.
D. At
appropriate points, the group should be allowed to discuss the results of the
experiment they designed.
Evaluation: Each group
should have a complete description of their hypothesis, procedure, data, and
results. Group skills should be
assessed by observing that students should join their groups quickly when asked
and the group should review what needs to be done before starting.
Invention:
Objective: The students
will describe the effects of sunlight on green plant growth during germination
and on green plants after they have broken through the top of the soil (after
germination).
Materials: For each student:
A lima bean
seed soaked in water for 24 hours
Procedure:
A.
Have each group present to the whole class their hypothesis, procedure, and
results. Help students communicate the
results of their activities using tables and/or bar graphs to justify their
conclusions. Continuously help the
students compare the results of each group’s experiment.
B.
Write the key questions from the exploration on the board. Ask the student
groups to discuss these questions based on the class discussion of their
experiments. Ask them to report their
answers to the whole class.
C.
Explain that the discrepancy here involves the observation that seeds will
germinate whether or not they are in the presence of light. Once germinated, the plants in the dark will
grow faster than the plants in the light.
However, they will be spindly and will have fewer leaves. If the experiment were stopped before the
plants in the dark condition die, the students will be left with the
alternative conception that light is not necessary for plants to live and
grow.
D.
Provide soaked lima bean seeds and a sheet of paper to all students. In groups, have them take apart the lima
bean seed and tape the parts to the paper.
At the bottom of the paper, ask the groups to discuss the function of
each part. As an extension, another
lesson could be performed where the students plant these parts to determine
which one grows. The students should
find the following parts: cotyledon(s), seed coat, cover, and an embryo. Tell the students that the embryo is the
plant and that the cotyledons are food sacs (starch) that the embryo uses to
develop roots and a stem with which to reach the soil surface. Corn seeds have only one food sac or cotyledon.
The students should have observed this growth during the germination phase of
the plant. State that the germination
process does not require sunlight, as they have found in their experiments.
E.
Ask the students to display the illustrator’s pictures of plant growth
following germination in dark and light conditions. Explain to the students that even though the plants in the dark
grew faster before they started dying they did not look healthy. They did not have a very green color and
they had very few leaves. Sunlight is
necessary for the health of green plants.
It is needed by green plants in order to make green chlorophyll and to
make additional food. Without this
additional food production, the green plant’s food sac soon becomes used up and
the green plant dies because it lacks the materials and the energy that the
food provides for growth and maintenance.
F.
Closure: Light is not necessary for seeds during the germination phase of
growth. It is necessary following
germination for health and continued growth.
Evaluation: Ask the students
to create a poem about two plant seeds, one that landed on soil in a field and
one that landed on soil in a cavity under a rock or in the woods. Assess students group skills by observing
that they stay with their group while it is working and that pay attention to
how much time they have to carry out each activity.
Expansion:
Objective: The students will solve everyday problems
involving the role of sunlight on green plant growth.
Materials: for each student:
A map or drawing of an area with three vegetation zones:
deep forest, low shrubs, and meadow (figure1)
A sheet of paper with a 3 x 4 matrix
Procedure:
A.
Provide the following problems and ask the groups to discuss their answers and
report them to the class. The students
should provide supportive evidence for each of their responses to the
problems. Write the following problems
on the board. For problems one and two
give the students a map (it may be teacher-drawn) of an area of mixed height
and foliage. It may have an area of
deep forest, an area of small bushes, and a meadow.
1)
In which area will a squash seed planted three centimeters below the soil
surface reach the soil surface the fastest.
The temperature of the soil is the same in all areas.
2)
Small squash plants are planted in each area.
Draw the plants after 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks. Provide each group with a 3 X 4 matrix on a whole sheet of paper.
3)
A farmer purchased an abandoned coal mine to produce mushrooms for sale in
grocery stores. The farmer spread lots of horse manure from his stables on the
floor of the coal mine. The farmer
successfully produced lots of large mushrooms for sale.
Teacher’s note: Mushrooms are part of a class of plants
called fungi. This class includes
molds, mildew, rusts, and smut. They
lack chlorophyll so they do not produce their own food. Fungi get their food from organic soil
materials dissolved in water.
B. Ask the
students to present their answers to each problem in a report to the
class. Discuss the results in an
interactive discussion.
C.
Summarize the lesson by describing each of the activities in the order in which
they were experienced in the lesson.
Briefly indicate the main point developed in each activity.
Evaluation: Each student will respond to the following
problem. The moon has a day that takes
twenty-eight of our earth days. For
fourteen earth days it is dark at a certain location on the moon and for
fourteen earth days it is light. Describe
by illustration and narrative the growth of a lima bean planted on the moon in
a greenhouse in the middle of the lunar night. Remember that there will be two weeks of sunlight followed by
two weeks of darkness every lunar month. Describe its growth for two lunar
months. identify, investigate, and develop inferences about
the role of sunlight in the nutritional needs of a green plant.
Figure 1:
Vegetation zones.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Testing Materials for Electrical Conductivity
Sample Lesson for Grades 4-8
Clidean Epps
Russell Elementary
Russellville, Alabama
Student Misconception Addressed by the Lesson Plan: Liquids cannot be conductors.
Lesson Goal: Students will investigate electrolytes and nonelectrolytes.
Prerequisites: Students must be able to build a simple electric circuit. Students must be able to apply problem solving techniques to electric circuits.
Exploration:
Objective: Students will investigate the electrical properties of electrolytes and nonelectrolytes.
Materials: Electric circuit test (also called a conductivity tester)
Bulb, bulb holder, battery (A size or 9V)
Wires for connecting components
3 pieces of bell wire
distilled water
sugar
baking soda
vinegar
ink
lemon juice
apple juice
plastic spoons
small beakers or plastic cups to hold solutions
Procedure:
A. Place the students in groups of four and assign roles: materials manager, reader, observer, and recorder.
B. Describe materials and instructions needed for groups to carry out the activity of making a circuit tester and mixing solution.
C. State the key question: Can you find a way to predict what will happen if you put the free ends of the electric tester into a beaker of distilled water and other solutions?
D. Sample teacher led discussion: The problem is "If you put the free ends of the electric conductivity tester into a beaker of water, what will happen to the bulb? Lemon juice, apple juice, salt water, etc." Write down your predictions for each test solution. If the material is solid, place a teaspoon of each solid in half a cup/beaker of distilled water and stir.
E. Instruct the students in the construction of an electric conductivity tester. Students should investigate the conductivity of metals before they test electrolytic solutions. Attach one wire to one terminal of the bulb connector. Attach the other end of this wire to one terminal of the battery. The second wire is attached to the second terminal of the bulb and its end is left unattached to anything. The third wire is attached to the second terminal of the battery and its end is left unattached to anything. (Demonstrate each step of the procedure as the students work. Check groups for successful completion of each step.) If you have successfully constructed your circuit, the bulb is connected to the battery on only one side. Two wires are left dangling: one on one side of the bulb and the other on one side of the battery. If you touch the dangling wires for a second, the bulb should light up. If it does not, raise your hand and wait quietly for help.
Rest the dangling wires, without letting them touch each other, on the edge of the beaker/cup. Place enough distilled water into the cup so that the wires are in the water. What happens to the bulb?
Now add 1 teaspoon of salt to the water and stir. What happens to the bulb? Rinse the cup/beaker. Continue testing each of the solids and liquids.
The recorder should place a copy of the data collected in the data table for the group on the board/overhead. Each person in your group should record the results in your notebook.
Evaluation: Recorders for each group should place their results in a data table on the board or overhead. Teacher led large group discussion should cover results and conclusions drawn from the data collected.
Invention:
Objective: Students will classify common household liquids as conductors or nonconductors.
Materials: Liquid soap
Ketchup
Cola
Mustard
Syrup
4 beakers/cups
Electric conductivity tester
Paper towels
Plastic spoon
Procedure:
A. Place students in cooperative groups and assign roles: materials manager, experimenter, observer, and recorder.
B. Teacher discussion: An electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity when it is dissolved in water. A battery contains an electrolyte in either a liquid or paste solution. When an electrolyte dissolves, it releases equal numbers of positive and negative ions. These ions move through the solution and carry electric charges (current) between the electrodes immersed in the solution. The electrodes in your electric conductivity tester are the dangling wires.
C. Instruct students to test the liquids with the conductivity tester and record their results in their notebook. The group recorder should write results for the group on the board or overhead. Focus questions: Does the bulb light the same in each solution? Which liquids conducted electricity? Which liquids were strong conductors of electricity (strong electrolytes) and which were weak conductors of electricity (weak electrolytes)? How did you decide? Which liquids did not conduct electricity at all? How did you decide?
Closure: Explain to students that strong electrolytes release many ions and conduct electricity well. These electrolytes include strong acids and bases and most salts. Weak electrolytes do not conduct electricity as well and do not release as many ions. Sugar is a nonconductor because it does not form ions.
Evaluation: Student predictions, notebook entries, completion of tasks and group participation should be used to assess the students' performance.
Expansion:
Objective: Students will continue to test various objects for conductivity.
Procedure:
A. Place students in groups of four and assign roles: materials manager, reader, observe, and recorder.
B. Set up stations around the room and outline the procedure for moving from one station to another. Place on the board the order in which groups will rotate from one station to another. Set a time limit on each station.
Station 1: A battery contains an electrolyte in either a liquid or paste solution. Using the materials at the station, make a circuit that will light the bulb. Draw a picture of your circuit. Place the picture in your notebook. The recorder will make a copy of the picture to place on the bulletin board.
Materials: 2 bell wires (25 cm with ends stripped)
1 bulb holder
D-cell battery
Masking tape
Station 2: Classify the following mixtures as either an electrolyte or a nonelectrolyte. Describe your procedure for finding which is an electrolyte or nonelectrolyte. Draw a diagram of your circuit in your notebook. Make a data table in your notebook to record your results. The recorder should make a copy of the data on the board/overhead.
Materials: milk
orange juice
lemon juice
honey
cups
(Hint for teacher: Place the solutions in cups and label. This will reduce clean-up time.)
Station 3: You have learned an electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity when it is dissolved in water. When something allows electricity to pass through, it is called a conductor. Use your electric conductivity tester to find out which of the solid objects at this station conduct electricity. Make a data table of your results in your notebook. The recorder will make a copy of the results on the board/overhead.
Materials: coin key
glass bobby pin
marble button
screw pencil (unsharpened)
nail pencil (one sharpened)
bar magnet pencil (both ends sharpened)
balloon pen
rubber ball eraser
Closure: Discuss the results of the stations' activities in a large teacher led discussion. Summarize key concepts of electrolytes, nonelectrolytes, batteries, conductors, and nonconductors.
Evaluation: Ask students to define and give examples of electrolytes and nonelectrolytes. Ask students to define and give examples of conductors and nonconductors. Ask students to define a battery and to draw a circuit that will light a bulb.
Fusion and Fission Energy - Early Concepts
An Oil-Drop Model of a Splitting Atom
Sample Lesson for Grades 4-6
Cynthia Sunal
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Prerequisites: The students should have an understanding of the structure of an atom and the atom's role as the basic building block of matter. The students should also know the difference between fusion and fission.
Background: After scientists discovered atoms, machines were designed that caused atoms to split in a process called fission. In nuclear fission reaction, energy is released when the nucleus of an atom is split apart. Scientists are able to make uranium atoms split or undergo fission. This process releases energy as heat, nuclear products, and one or more neutrons.
When neutrons cause additional uranium atoms to fission, there is a chain reaction. The heat from the fission chain reaction is used at nuclear power plants to make steam, which turns turbines to generate electricity.
Scientists and engineers also plan to build nuclear power plants that will produce heat to generate electricity in the future by forcing atoms of hydrogen isotopes to fuse or join together, in a reaction called nuclear fusion.
Exploration:
Objective: The students will demonstrate what happens when an atom is split during nuclear fission.
Materials: For each group: Drawing paper and markers
Procedure:
A. Place the students in cooperative learning groups of four: Assign roles of artist, recorder, materials manager, and spokesperson.
B. Tell the students they are going to draw a model of an atom and demonstrate what has to happen for an atom to undergo fission (splitting of an atom). Encourage the students to discuss among themselves how the model should be drawn. Have the students use drawing paper and markers to draw a model of a splitting atom. Tell them to show in their pictures what they believe has to be done to split an atom. Again, ask the students to discuss with the class what they are trying to explain in the picture.
C. Display the pictures for later references to possible misconceptions.
Invention:
Objective: The students will investigate the effects of a force exerted on an oil-drop model of an atom.
Materials: Small water glass
Six ounces of rubbing alcohol
An ounce or so of cooking oil and water
A teaspoon, butter knife and paper towels
Procedure:
A. Place the students into cooperative groups of four: assign roles of experimenter, observer and recorder.
B. Tell the students they are going to make an oil-drop model of atom. Assign new roles to the group: materials manager, observer, recorder and technician.
C. For each group, tell the students to fill the water glass about half-full with alcohol, then add enough water to fill the glass about two-thirds full. Stir the alcohol - water mixture with the teaspoon. Next, wipe the teaspoon dry and fill it with cooking oil.
D. Tell the students: Now here comes the tricky part - Carefully bring the spoon with the cooking oil close to the surface of the alcohol-mixture in the glass, then gently tip the spoon over. You may need to demonstrate this to the students before allowing them to try it. If you've done the job right, a single blob of oil will slide into the glass.
E. If the blob of oil is floating on the surface, carefully add a bit more alcohol to the mixture (use the teaspoon); if the blob has sunk to the bottom of the glass, spoon in some more water. The idea is to change the blob of oil into an oil drop that hovers somewhere in the middle of the glass. Note how perfectly spherical the drop is in the glass. The forces that hold the oil drop together are analogous to the forces that hold an atom together.
F. Now tell each group to take the butter knife and carefully prod the drop apart. At first the blob will resist being torn into two parts and will just form a larger bulge. Only after exerting a force several times will the blob tear apart into two perfectly round oil drops. Atoms behave in much the same way. Atoms will resist splitting (fission) until a sufficient amount of force is exerted on them.
G. Provide a closure for the lesson by asking the students to relate their observations of an oil-drop model of an atom to how an actual atom behaves when it is bombarded with a low speed particle -- the neutron.
Expansion:
Objective: To describe the events which occur during a nuclear fission reaction.
Materials: Drawing paper and markers
Procedure:
A.
Place the students in cooperative learning groups of four. Assign the same
roles as above to different
students in the group.
B.
Tell the students they are going to explain how their
observations of the oil-drop model of an atom will relate to the bombardment of
the U-235 nucleus (uranium-235) by a low speed neutron. Tell the students to use resource materials
related to the fission of the U-235 nucleus and describe the process in their
cooperative learning groups.
Evaluation: Tell the students to draw diagrams which show what happens to the U-235 nucleus when it is bombarded with a low speed neutron. The diagrams should include:
1. indications of the forces which hold the atom together,
2. the forces which are exerted to split the atom, and
3. the products of nuclear fission (heat energy, Krypton-92 nucleus, three neutrons, Barium-141 nucleus).
Have the students compare these diagrams to the diagrams drawn in the exploration phase.
Sample Lesson for Grades 4-9
Thelma M. Davis
Parker High School
Birmingham, Alabama
Misconception Addressed by the Lesson Plan: Atoms break into equal halves when they split, (undergo fission).
Lesson Goal: To illustrate that the fission process produces two new unstable atoms of different masses. To illustrate that some mass is lost during the fission process.
Exploration:
Objective: The students will demonstrate what happens when an atom is split during nuclear fission.
Materials: For each group of four students: Drawing paper and markers.
Procedure:
A. Place the students in cooperative learning groups of four. Assign roles of artist, recorder, materials manager, and spokesperson.
B. Facilitate discussion by asking the following questions:
1. How would an atom look after it has split?
2. Where does the energy come from to cause an atom to split?
3. How much energy is needed to splt an atom?
4. What holds an atom together?
C. Tell the students to draw a model of an atom. The model/picture should show what has to happen to cause an atom to split, and what the atom will look like after it has been split.
D. Encourage group discussion and tell them the group must be ready to defend everything in their picture.
Closure: Have each group explain their picture. Display the pictures for later references to possible misconceptions.
Invention:
Objective: To demonstrate what happens when an atom is split.
Materials: For each group of four students:
Play doh modeling clay metric scale
Straw
blindfold
Procedure:
A. Give each group the materials.
B. One person in the group should make a spherical ball out of the modeling clay. Tell the students the clay represents an atom.
C. Have the students weigh the ball of clay (atom) and record its mass.
D. Now blindfold one student in the group and give him the drinking straw. Instruct the student to hit (bombard) the atom with the drinking straw.
E. Tell the student to remove the blindfold. Have the student separate the clay ball at the point of contact made by the straw.
F. Tell the student to form two new spherical balls. Have them to weigh the new atoms and record their masses.
G. Tell the student to remove the clay from inside the straw and make 2 or 3 tiny balls. Lay these aside with the new atoms.
Closure: Engage discussion by asking these questions:
A. What did the original clay represent?
B. What was the mass of the original clay ball?
C. Are the masses of the two new clay balls (atoms) the same?
D. What do these two new clay balls represent?
E. Is there any clay in the straw? What does the clay in the straw represent? (neutron particles and heat energy)
Evaluation: Have each group construct a new picture showing the results of an atom that has undergone fission.
Ask the following questions:
A. How do the two new clay balls represent fission of an atom?
B. What is the extra mass used for?
Expansion:
Objective: To investigate the fission process of a Uranium - 235 atom. To investigate the production and usage of nuclear energy.
Materials: Media resources, the internet, science encyclopedias, etc.
Procedure: Have each group research the questions: What happens during the fission process of a Uranium - 235 atom? What is a nuclear chain reactor? What type of energy is produced and why is the energy important to mankind? After the research is completed each group will use materials of their own choosing to construct a three dimensional model of the fission of a Uranium - 235 atom. The model must show forces exerted on the atom and products produced.
Closure/Evaluation: Have each group present their research findings and explain their model representation.
Sample Lesson for Grades 4-8
Cheryl Sundberg
Jefferson County International Baccalaureate
Leeds, Alabama
Misconception Addressed by the Lesson Plan: You have to see an object to measure its dimensions.
Lesson Goal: To determine the shape and orientation of an object by indirect observation, simulating the interaction between a beam of electrons and a nuclear target.
Exploration:
Objective: Students will observe the path of an object after striking an unseen object.
Materials: poster paper
white typing paper
carbon paper (Make sure the carbon paper is new.)
masking tape
objects with different shapes (triangle, rectangle, circle, cylinder, and square)
Note: You can use pre-cut wooden shapes available in the toy department.
steel balls (at least 1 inch in diameter. You can get steel balls from a hardware or auto supply store, i.e. ball bearings, wheel bearings)
pie pans
inclined plane (You can prop a board at a 45 degree angle with books.)
protractor
marbles
tennis ball
Procedure:
J. Place the students in cooperative groups and assign roles: materials manager, experimenter, observer, and recorder.
K. For station 1, place poster paper on the lab table. Tape carbon paper to the poster board. In the center of the poster paper, secure a triangular shaped object with masking tape. (Roll the tape and secure the bottom of the object.) Cover the object with a pie pan so that the steel ball will roll under the pan, but the students cannot see the object. (You may have to use other blocks of wood, etc. to raise the pie pan to the appropriate height.) Set up the inclined plane so the steel ball rolls down the plane and strikes the object. (Make trial runs before the students try the experiment to ensure the carbon paper is in the right position for the steel ball to leave an impression.)
L. Ask the students to measure the angles made by the steel ball using the trail left by the ball rolling over the carbon paper.
M. Stations 2-5 are set up in the same manner, using different shapes.
Closure:
A. The recorder for each group should draw a representation of the trail on the board or overhead with the angle given.
B. Each group should make hypotheses on the shape of the object under each pie pan.
C. The recorder for each group should write the hypotheses for the group on the board or overhead. A group discussion should follow when all groups have completed the lab.
Evaluation: Each student should submit a lab report.
Invention:
Objective: Students will gather information on the interaction of marbles after being struck by a tennis ball, simulating a beam of electrons (a probe) hitting a collection of atoms (target).
Materials: For each group:
5 marbles
tennis ball
protractor
meter stick
Procedure:
K. Place students in cooperative groups and assign roles: materials manager, experimenter, observer, and recorder
L. Align five marbles as shown in Diagram A. Walk three meters away from the marbles in a straight path. Roll the tennis ball towards the marbles in a straight path. After each roll, each member of the group should draw the direction of the marbles after they are hit by the tennis ball. The students should also measure the angles made by the collision of the marbles.
(Note: It would be better to have the students measure three meters with a meter stick prior to the experiment. They should mark the place with a small amount of masking tape. If the floor is tiled, the students could use the tile as a way to line up the marbles. If the floor is not tiled, the students can use masking tape to create a "bowling lane". Remind the students they are to roll the ball. Students who throw the ball in the air at any time will be asked to sit out the lab.)
Closure: Ask the students the following: How do the angles produced by the marbles relate to how hard the ball was rolled? What do you think would happen if you used a golf ball as a probe? a baseball? a ping pong ball?
Evaluation: The recorder should record the group's hypotheses on the above questions on the board or overhead. A group discussion should follow when all the groups have completed the lab. Each student should place a copy of the group's results and class discussion in his/her lab notebook.
Expansion:
Objective: Students will design mystery boxes to show how to determine the shape and orientation of an object by indirect observation.
Procedure: Place students in their cooperative groups as before. Students will design a box with a shaped object attached to the bottom of the box. The end of the box will be cut off so a steel ball will go into the box. They are to line the box with a sheet of plain typing paper covered with a piece of carbon paper. The students swap boxes. From the patterns on the typing paper, each group of students should try to determine the shape of the object.
Closure: The recorder for each group should record the group's hypotheses on the board. A group discussion should follow and the contents of each mystery box revealed. The teacher should use these activities as a springboard to discuss how scientists probe the nucleus of an atom. This is a good beginning for a lesson on Rutherford's gold foil experiment or nuclear bombardment to form a new element.
Evaluation: The students could do library research on nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, Rutherford's gold foil experiment, nuclear power, nuclear medicine, X-rays, gamma rays, the Manhattan Project, etc. The students could design a multimedia presentation on the topic assigned. This could be a group or individual project.
Sample Lesson for Grades 4-8
Thelma Davis
Parker High School
Birmingham, Alabama
Misconception Addressed by the Lesson Plan: Students believe the molecules of water are not attracted to each other because water flows when it is not contained within a boundary.
Lesson Goal: To illustrate the cohesive property of water. To demonstrate that surface tension is a result of cohesiveness (molecules clinging together).
Exploration:
Objective: To demonstrate that water molecules form bulges on surfaces as a result of cohesion.
Materials: Large supply of dry pennies
Cold water
Tap water
Hot water
Paper towels
Salt water (1%)
Concentrated soap solution
Eyedropper
Procedure:
A. Place the students in groups of four. Allow students to decide on the roles of leader, materials manager, recorder, and environmental manager. Depending on the age group of the class, the teacher may need to assign roles.
B. Allow the materials manager to gather the materials.
C. Have the students predict the number of drops of each liquid they can get on the surface of a penny.
D. Encourage them to run at least three trials and calculate an average count of drops.
Note: Make sure the students use dry pennies every time, and also have the same student dropping the drops for all the liquids.
Closure: Allow for group discussion by asking the following questions:
1. What happened as you added drops to the coin?
2. What shape did the water take as the drops were added?
3. Which liquid allowed you to place the most drops? Which allowed you to place the least number of drops?
4. Was there a significant difference between the hot and cold water?
Teacher Note: Introduce the terms cohesion and surface tension after discussion of question number two.
Evaluation: Have each student explain cohesion in their own words. Have each student to give examples of water surface tension that they have observed in everyday life.
Invention:
Objective: To investigate factors that affect surface tension.
To observe surface tension in action.
Materials: Paper clips Milk Water
Food coloring Liquid Soap
Shallow pan (Aluminum pie pans work great)
Procedure:
Part One:
A. Instruct each group to fill the aluminum pie pan approximately 2/3 full of water.
B. Challenge the group to float a paper clip on the surface of the water. The students will think it is impossible, and they will become frustrated. Offer bonus points to the first group that accomplishes the task. Continue competition and give additional bonus points to the group who floats the most paper clips.
Teacher Note: Observe the groups to see if they are using any new knowledge from phase one of the lesson.
Part Two:
A. Instruct the students to fill the pie pan approximately 2/3 full of white milk.
B. Place one drop of each food coloring into the milk at different locations.
C. Add 2-3 drops of liquid soap and observe. Write down your observations.
Teacher Note: The students should observe an explosion of colors similar to a kaleidoscope.
Closure/ Evaluation: Allow the groups to write down their thoughts explaining why the paper clip floated on the water surface. Look for usage of new knowledge. Have each group explain what happened to the milk and food coloring when the soap was added. Ask each group to discuss what affect the soap had on the surface tension of the milk, and be ready to debate their answer.
Expansion:
Objective: Students will determine if certain common household products affect the surface tension of water.
Materials: Suggested products to use:
Bleach, comet, vinegar, ammonia, shampoo,
hair spray, etc.
Procedure: Each group will be responsible for designing
an experiment to determine if certain products affect the surface tension of
water.
Closure/Evaluation: The groups will carry out their experiments and present their findings to the class.
Sample Lesson
for Grades 4-8
Dennis W.
Sunal
The University
of Alabama
Tuscaloosa,
Alabama
Alternative Conceptions Addressed
by the Lesson Plan:
Energy is not measurable.
Energy transformations involve only one
form of energy at a time and only if they have perceivable effects. For example, transformation of motion energy
to heat energy (air friction) is usually not obvious because there is no
observable temperature increase.
Lesson Goal: To allow students to investigate, develop inferences, and
differentiate between the concepts of motion
energy and heat energy, and the part played by friction in the transformation process.
Prerequisites: Can measure temperature to the nearest two degrees with a
thermometer.
Exploration
Objective: The students
will investigate the effects of motion on an object.
Materials: For each group:
Two baby food jars filled 1/2 full of sand
Two thermometers
Newspaper to cover desks or tables
Paper towels
Paper to make a bar graph and for recording
results
Procedure:
A. Tell the students that you are going to give them a
thought problem. Have them discuss and
write their answer on a sheet of paper. “You are riding in a car traveling down
the interstate highway. The driver
takes his foot off of the gas but doesn’t put his foot on the brake. The car comes to a stop on the side of the
road. Why does the car stop?”
B. Place the students in groups of four and assign roles:
materials manager, two timers/recorders, and one helper. All students will also serve as shakers.
C. Describe materials and instructions needed for student
groups to carry out the activity of shaking jars containing sand at different
rates and times. Discuss safety precautions relating to glass jars and
thermometers.
D. Key question: What happens to the material inside a jar
when you shake it? Draw and describe a
jar one-half full of sand after it has been shaken for five minutes.
E. Provide each group
of students with two baby food jars half-full of sand, newspaper, and a
thermometer. Tell the students to wrap each jar with a
piece of paper towel folded over several times to form a strip about two inches
in width. This will provide insulation
to keep the jars from being warmed by hands.
F. Ask the students to measure and record the temperature of
the sand in each jar. Have the students
examine the contents of the jar. Ask
the students to infer what will happen to the contents of the jars if they are
shaken for a long time. Have the
students record their inferences.
G. Next, ask the students to close each jar tightly and to
shake each jar for six minutes. One jar
should be shaken rapidly. The other jar
should be shaken moderately. The
students in the group can take turns during the shaking process. Each student should shake the jar for one
minute at a time.
H. After shaking, the students should immediately put
thermometers into the jars. After sixty seconds, they read the
thermometers. While waiting, the
students the students can examine the the contents of the jar.
I. Ask the groups to report their results to the whole
class. Help them communicate the
results of their activities using tables and/or bar graphs to justify their
conclusions.
Evaluation:
Collect the students’ responses to the thought problem in “A”
above. Evaluate them considering the
type and extent of knowledge expressed.
Evaluate group skills by assessing whether all participated equally in
the activity.
Invention
Objective: The students
will investigate a variety of materials and determine that the heat energy of
an object can be changed by transforming motion energy into heat through
friction.
Materials: For learning stations:
Small wood block (about the size of an ice cube) for each
group
Ice cube for each group
Hammer
A dozen three to four inch nails
Six large boards (a one foot long, 2 inches by 4 inches
board)
Wax paper
Seven pieces of sandpaper (8 1/2 inches by 11 inches)
Paper towels
Paper for recording results
Procedure:
A. Place the students in groups of four and assign roles:
materials manager, readers/observers (two students), and recorder.
B. Have them discuss the key question from the Exploration
in their groups. During the discussion introduce the alternative conception
that the energy of motion from the hand caused the sand particles to move. The motion of the sand particles bumping
against each other is called friction. The friction of the sand, stopping the motion
of the sand, created heat.
C. Ask each group to perform the following activities at
learning stations. Instructions for
each station will be given on a laboratory guide available at the station.
Station 1: Slide a small block of wood and an ice
cube across a sheet of sandpaper. Each
member of the group should do the task.
Discuss what happened.
Station 2: This station will involve using one
large piece of wood, two books, and a piece of wax paper. Put the two books on top of the wood and
push the wood along the floor. Then,
pile the wood and the two books on top of the wax paper and push it along the
floor. Draw and describe what happened
each time.
Station 3:
Take two large pieces of wood and rub them together as hard as possible
fifteen or more times. Every member of the group should feel both pieces of
wood afterwards. Discuss what happened when you carried out the activity.
Station 4:
For this station you will need two boards and one piece of
sandpaper. You will use the sandpaper
on just one of the boards. Rub a piece
of sandpaper fifteen times across a large wood board. Every group member should feel the board. Compare the board that was just rubbed with
sandpaper to the board that was not rubbed with sandpaper.
Next,
rub the sandpaper thirty times across the large wood board. Every group member should feel the board
again. Feel a board that has not been
just rubbed with sandpaper. Compare how
both boards feel.
Station 5:
In this station you will use a hammer, a nail, and a large board. Put the board on the floor and carefully
pound the nail about halfway into the it.
Discuss safety precautions relating to use of the hammer. Use the claws
of the hammer to pull out the nail. Every member of the group should feel the
nail. Then, discuss how it felt.
D. Lead a whole group discussion concerning motion,
friction, and its effects. Student
participation should include evidence from the learning stations and other
experiences they have had with friction.
The discussion should lead students to draw the conclusions that some of
the energy of motion is transformed into heat energy in the objects involved
and the greater the amount of friction, the more heat energy is transformed
from the energy of motion.
E. As a closure, state that the greater the energy of motion
the greater the heat energy produced.
The rise in temperature of the thermometer indicates that a transfer of
energy took place. The motion energy
provided to the grains of sand or wood in the station activities was transformed
as a result of friction, into increased heat energy in each grain of sand and
in the wood.
Evaluation: Ask each member of the groups to write out a
summary of the actions undertaken by group members at one of the stations. Each member should address a different
station.
Expansion
Objective: The students
will investigate and describe the chain of events by which motion energy is
transformed into heat energy in an everyday situation.
Materials:
For problem stations (as possible, ask the students to bring in these
items)
Bicycle pump
Bicycle tire
Bicycle
Shoe
Kite
Lunch tray
Toy car
Procedure:
A. Provide each group of four students with problems written
on three inch by five inch cards. Ask
each group to perform the problem situation if possible. Whether or not they can act out the
situation, they are to think about the problem and describe the chain of events
by which the energy of motion in the problem becomes transformed into heat
energy possessed by the objects involved.
Write the key questions on the board.
For each situation draw and describe “What is moving?” “What becomes
warm?” and “How did the energy of motion become heat energy in the object?”
Problem 1: Your group
must pump a bicycle tire for three minutes.
After three minutes, feel the pump and the bicycle tire. Discuss the answers to the key questions.
Problem 2:
You
are riding in a car traveling down the interstate highway. The driver takes his foot off of the gas but
doesn’t put his foot on the brake. The
car comes to a stop on the side of the road.
Discuss the answer to the key questions. You
may use the toy car to act out the problem.
Problem 3:
A boy is riding a bicycle and stops it using hand
brakes.
Discuss the answers to the key questions.
Problem 4:
A kite is
flying in the sky in a strong wind. You
notice smoke from a fire blowing into the kite. When it passes the kite, the smoke moves slowly and in swirls.
Discuss the answers to the key questions.
Problem
5:
For lunch
today, you put pizza and french fries on your tray and slid the tray on the
counter to the cashier.
Discuss the answers to the key questions.
D. Summarize the lesson by stating that when we started the
activities, the students may not have been able to tell the difference between
the words motion energy and heat energy,
and the part played by friction in
the transforming one to the other. The activities with sand in jars, stations,
and problems should help them in applying these ideas successfully in your
everyday lives. By observing events
where something in motion is being heated, they should be able to identify the
“source of friction” and apply the terms “motion energy” and “heat
energy.” Whether they are talking about
bicycles or in-line-skates they should be able to use the idea of heat energy
being transformed from motion energy.
Evaluation: Ask the students to respond to the
following situations. First, a girl is
riding her bicycle and stops by dragging her feet. Write out your
the answer to this question: “What is moving?” “What becomes warm?” and “How
did the energy of motion become heat energy in the object?” Second, you are
pushing a brick six feet along on a waxed tile floor, an unpainted cement
floor, and through dirt on the playground.
“On which of
these will more heat be created?” Write out your
the answer to this question. Evaluate
the answers to these questions based on their appropriate application of the
concepts motion energy and heat energy, and
the part played by friction in the
transforming one to the other. A
performance checklist will be applied.
Level of Performance
1. May Identify heat
as a result of the action and the source of friction in one or both situations.
Does not identify or apply energy transformation as the cause of the actions observed.
2. Identifies heat
as a result of the action and the source of friction. Identifies the reduction in motion energy and increase in heat
energy variables in each situation.
Does not apply energy transformation as the cause of the actions observed.
3. Identifies heat as a result of the action and the source
of friction. Identifies the reduction
in motion energy and increase in heat energy variables in each situation. Applies the idea of transformation of energy
as the source of heat.
Some examples
of people who made significant contributions to the physical sciences, but have
been underrepresented in the mass media are listed in Figure 1 along with their
major contributions. Additional
information can be found in library references such as an encyclopedia. The book Nobel Prize Women in Science:
Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries by S. McGrayne (1993) is
one resource example. An added
Expansion activity to most any physical science energy lesson would be to read
a current newspaper item on the contribution of a related energy scientist or
use of energy science concepts by members in the community to make him or her
seem more real. Older students could
create library research reports and short plays on the contributions of these underrepresented
scientists.
____________________________________________________________________
Figure 1
Scientists are
Diverse!
Some Who Have
Contributed to Our Knowledge of Physical Science
____________________________________________________________________
Arnald of Villanova
He was an
alchemist who worked with tinctures in Spain.
Callinicus
In Egypt, he
explained the nature of combustion.
Har Khorana
An Asian
American from India who invented the first artificial gene.
Tsai Lun
He invented
paper in China.
Dorothy Wrinch
Working in
Argentina, she found that the amino acids are where genes have their specific
coding.
Benjamin Banneker
An African
American who carried out research with honeybees and with a wooden striking
clock.
Marie Curie
A Polish woman
who discovered radium and polonium and receive the Nobel Prize for her work.
Bertha Lamme
She worked
with the theory and design of motors and generators in the USA.
Lewis Latimer
He was an
African American who developed the carbon filament for the electric light bulb.
Samuel Ting
An Asian
American who discovered the J particle in the atom.
Heat and
Temperature: Is There a Difference?
Sample Lesson
for Grades 3-8
Dennis W.
Sunal
The University
of Alabama
Tuscaloosa,
Alabama
Alternative Conception Addressed
by the Lesson Plan: Heat and temperature are the same thing.
Lesson Goal: To allow students to investigate, develop inferences, and
differentiate between the concepts heat and
temperature.
Prerequisites: Can measure temperature to the nearest two degrees with a
thermometer.
Exploration
Objective: The students
will investigate mixing hot and cold water by making predictions of the
resulting mixture accompanied with observations of the results.
Materials: For each group:
Two styrofoam cups per group
A source of hot water (from a tap or hot plate at about 50
Celsius or 122 degrees Fahrenheit)
Cold water with floating ice cubes in it (with a temperature
of about 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit)
One thermometer per group
Paper towels
Paper to make a bar graph and for recording
results
One kitchen measuring cup with metric or English measures
Procedure:
A. Place the students in groups of four and assign roles:
materials manager, readers/observers (two students), and recorder.
B. Describe materials and instructions needed for student
groups to carry out the activity of mixing various temperatures and quantities
of water.
C. State the key questions: “What happens when we mix
together two water samples that have different temperatures?” “Can you find a way to guess, or predict,
what the temperature will be when you mix together two water samples that have
different temperatures, one that is warmer with one that is colder?”
D. Let’s start with a thought problem. Discuss it in your groups. Decide on an answer and write it down. Then begin your group activity. Here is the problem: if you mix one-fourth
cup of very hot water with three-fourths cup of very cold water, what will be
the temperature of the mixed water? Write down your prediction..
E. Ask the groups to do the activity explained above in
number one of Discrepant Activities in Heat and write down what they find. The data could be recorded in a bar graph or
data table.
F. Ask each group to discuss the results of Activity E and
the questions from Activity C above.
Evaluation:
Each group of students will have completed all predictions for the
Exploration activities. Their
predictions should be evaluated for prior knowledge and monitor their
participation as a group by observing whether groups stay together while
working and each person has a chance to share their ideas.
Invention
Objective: The students
will investigate properties of heat and materials and determine that the heat
energy possessed by an object is related to both the quantity of matter present
and its temperature.
Materials: For each group:
Eight clear plastic drink cups
A source of hot water (from a tap or hot plate)
Crushed ice (do not use ice cubes)
Paper towels
Paper to make a graph and for recording
results
One kitchen measuring cup with metric or English measures
Teaspoon
Procedure:
A. Place the students in groups of four as was done in the
exploration.
B. Ask the students to report the results of their
exploration activities. Help students
communicate the results of their activities using tables and/or bar graphs to
justify their conclusions. Continuously
help students compare the results of one group with another.
C. Write the following questions on the board and ask the
groups to discuss them. What can you
decide about mixing two equal samples of water that have different
temperatures? What can you decide about
mixing a very small amount of water at one temperature with a lot of water at
another temperature? What is more important, the temperature of the water with
which you started or how much water you started with?
While the
students are reporting their results, at appropriate points discuss an alternative way of looking at
the properties of heat and temperature as a means of describing matter. The
students can be expected to have some difficulties at this point because their
preconceptions create a barrier to understanding that both properties, the
original temperature and the volume of the water involved, are important and
real. The amount of water at a specific
temperature is related to the amount of heat internal energy present. Temperature relates only to how fast the
molecules of water move (the energy of a single molecule) which causes the
thermometer column to expand and rise.
It may that single molecules have a large amount of heat energy but if
there are not a lot of molecules there will not be a lot of heat in the entire
sample.
D. Provide each
group with a set of instructions on paper or three by five inch index
cards. This activity will relate the
concept of heat to the amount of internal energy that various quantities of
water possess. Ask students to put
together different amounts of hot water with the same amount of crushed
ice. Mix one-fourth cup of crushed ice
with three-fourths cup of hot water. Repeat the activity by mixing one-fourth
cup of crushed ice with different amounts of hot water. Put one-half cup of hot water, one-fourth
cup of hot water, and one teaspoon of hot water in separate cups.
To begin
the activity, the students should place one-fourth cup of crushed ice in each
of five clear plastic drink cups. Then
they should measure out the four different amounts of hot water into other cups. Finally, they should quickly pour the hot
water out of one cup into a paired crushed ice cup. They should repeat the
process as fast as possible with all the other cups of hot water. The groups should make observations of all
five mixtures for five minutes. At the
end of five minutes they should be asked to note how much crushed ice is left
in each of the five cups. Finally, they
should relate the amount of crushed ice left in a cup to the amount of hot
water (heat) added to the cup. Older
students can perform a second activity by adding the same amount of water,
three-fourths cup, at different temperatures to the crushed ice. Similar results will be observed.
E. Ask the students to record the results of their
activity. At the end of each group report,
the teacher should ask that group why different amounts of ice were found in
the five cups at the end of the five minute observation period. The groups should also be asked to state the
evidence by which they made their inference.
At this point the students may report that the amount of ice left is
related to the amount of water added to the cup. The teacher should explain that the added water was all at the
same temperature. The temperature did
not vary. Only the amount of water
varied. Everything else was the
same. If more hot water was added to
the ice it was the same as adding more heat to the ice, which caused the ice to
melt. Help the students focus on the smallest
amount, a teaspoonful, of water added to the ice. Even though that water had a high temperature, it did not melt
much ice. So, very little heat was
added to the ice.
F. As a closure, explain to the students that heat and
temperature are two different properties of materials. Temperature is measured with a
thermometer. It indicates the amount of
quickness of motion or speed energy each particle of water has. An increase in speed causes matter to
expand, so liquids will rise in a thermometer. Heat energy can be measured by its effect on the amount of ice
it can melt. This is a practical way of
measuring heat energy. Heat is a
measure of how much energy all the particles in an object have lost or
gained. It indicates the total amount
of internal energy transferred to or from a specific amount of water.
Evaluation:
When asked during the Invention to make an inference about the ice and
water, the group reports the evidence upon which the inference was made. The evidence should relate in a logical way
to the inference. Group participation
will be assessed by noting whether all members were part of the plan and had a
chance to do their part.
Expansion
Objective: The students
will solve everyday problems involving the properties of heat and temperature.
Materials:
Ten clear plastic drink cups
Crushed ice
Paper towels
Paper for recording
results
One kitchen measuring cup with metric or English measures
A source of hot water (from a tap or hot plate at about 120
degrees Celsius)
Cold water with floating ice cubes in it (with a temperature
of about 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit
Thermometers
Tablespoons
Procedure:
A. Place the students in groups of four and assign roles:
materials manager, readers/observers (two students), and recorder.
B. At stations set up around the room, the groups will be
asked to solve a variety of problems.
Station 1. Ask students to take one-half cup of very
cold water and predict the final temperature when one-half cup of hot water is
added to it.
Next, ask them to follow these
directions. Get one of each
sample. Measure the temperature of each
cup of water. Then, pour the hot water
into the cold water cup. After thirty
seconds, take a measurement of the temperature of the mixed cup of water and
compare it to their prediction. (The students should find a temperature midway
between the temperatures of the starting cups of water.)
Station 2. Present the
following problem.
Mom is having a cup of coffee after
dinner. She pours almost a full cup of
coffee. The temperature of the coffee
is about 120o Fahrenheit (F).
She adds one tablespoonful of cold milk to the coffee. What temperature is her coffee now? Write your prediction on a sheet of
paper. Describe the reasoning behind
your answer.
Next, ask them to follow these
directions. Get one cup almost full of
hot water, a second cup one-fourth full of cold water, and one tablespoon. Measure and record the temperature of the
hot water and of the cold water. Pour
one tablespoon of cold water into the hot water cup. Measure and record of the temperature of the mixed cup of water
and compare it to their prediction. (The students should find a temperature
that is still warm, perhaps 105 degrees Fahrenheit.)
Station 3. Present the
following problem.
You are having hot chicken soup for
dinner. Mom always serves it too hot
for you to eat, about 120o F You are really hungry so you do not
want to wait for it to cool down. You
want to eat it right away. So, you are
going to add some very cold water to it.
There is about one cup of soup in your bowl. How much very cold water should you add to your soup so that its
temperature will be below 90 degrees Fahrenheit? Write your prediction on a sheet of paper. Describe the reasoning behind your answer.
Next, ask
students to follow these directions.
Try out your guess using the hot water, cups, and thermometer at this
station. If your guess didn’t work, measure out more or less water until you
get it to about 90 degrees. Record all
work. (The students will need to measure out about one-third of a cup of very
cold water.)
Teacher
Note: The following three stations may
be discussed without performing the task.
If time is available, the teacher may wish to have the students carry
out the activity at the station or one group of students could demonstrate the
station’s activity to the whole class.
Station 4. Present the following problem: Which will have a higher
temperature after one minute on a burner: a small pot with one cup of water in
it or a small pot with one-fourth cup of water in it? Write your prediction on a sheet of paper. Describe the reasoning behind your answer. (For every
degree of temperature increase, the larger amount of water requires more heat
than does the smaller volume of water.
Since the burner is giving off the same amount of heat during every one-minute
period, the larger amount of water will rise to a lower temperature when
compared to the smaller amount of water.)
Station 5. Present the following problem: Which will cool to the
lower temperature in ten minutes: a plastic glass containing one cup of very
hot of water or a plastic glass containing one-fourth cup of very hot water?
(The larger
amount of water has more heat and therefore takes longer to cool down.)
Station 6. Present the following problem: Which has a higher
temperature: a cup of boiling hot water or a swimming pool of water at air
temperature? Which has more heat: a cup
of boiling hot water or a swimming pool at air temperature? (The cup of
water has the higher temperature. The
swimming pool has more heat. If the students are having difficulty with this
question, ask them “Which can melt more ice: A cup of boiling hot water or
swimming pool of water at air temperature?”
“Which had more heat?” )
C. Discuss the results of their station activities in a
whole group. The teacher can summarize
their ideas on the board.
D. Summarize the lesson by stating that when we started the
activities, the students may not have been able to tell the difference between
the words “heat” and “temperature.” By mixing different amounts of water and by
melting ice with different amounts of water, they should be able to apply the
terms “heat” and “temperature” to their everyday lives. Whether they are talking about soup or
coffee they should be able to use the idea of heat to guess how long it will
take things to heat or cool. They
should also be able to guess how much cool water they need to mix into hotter
water to make it cool.
Evaluation: Tell the following story to the
students:
Juan
had a carton of cold milk sitting on his lunch tray. Jill came by and said that she did not like the soup that came
with lunch. It was steaming and looked
like it was too hot to eat. She took a
tablespoonful of her hot soup and poured it into Juan’s milk. After yelling at Jill to “Stop it!” Juan
decided to drink his milk even though there was some soup in it. He was surprised to find out that his milk
was still cold. Write down your
ideas about whether or not Juan should have been surprised that his milk was
still cold.
Sample Lesson for Grades 4-8
Jeanelle Bland Hodges
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Misconceptions Addressed by the Lesson Plan: Oil is located in large underground pools.
Lesson Goal: To allow student to investigate and develop inferences about where and how oil is discovered and recovered.
Exploration:
Objective: The students will develop inferences about finding a hidden treasure from outside a house with no windows or doors.
Materials: For each group:
A note card with the following story: "You are told that there is a hidden treasure inside a house that will be yours if you find it. But there's a catch…the house has no windows, no doors, and you can not get inside. You must decide how you will find the treasure."
Procedure:
A. Place the students in groups of four and assign roles: materials manager, readers/observers (two students), and recorder.
B. Describe the materials and the instructions needed to carry out the activity.
C. State the key questions: "How will you find the treasure inside the house?" "How easy would it be to carry out your method?"
D. Ask the groups to do the activity explained above on the note card and write down their method(s).
E. Ask each group to discuss the results of Procedure D and the questions from Procedure C above.
Evaluation: Each group of students will have completed the Exploration activity. Their methods of finding the treasure should be evaluated for prior knowledge and their participation as a group should be monitored by observing whether the groups stay together. All members of each group should have a chance to share their ideas.
Invention:
Objective: The students will investigate the similarities between finding treasure in a house and drilling for oil.
Materials: Overhead projector
Transparencies of houses (see masters)
Xeroxed copies of the transparencies for each group
Empty, clear plastic soda bottle or sports drink bottle
with cap
Water (enough to fill bottle 3/4 full)
Procedure:
H. Place the students in groups of four as done in the Exploration.
I. Ask the groups to report the results of their Exploration activity to the class. Help the students compare the results of one group to another.
J. Show Transparency 1 on the overhead. Make sure students are following along with their copies. Explain that this house is all empty space and that drilling for oil (put Transparency 2 on the overhead) would be easy. Ask the groups to place an X on the roof-line where they would drill to get the oil out of the house. They should then draw a line straight down through the house to represent a well.
K. Show Transparency 3 on the overhead. Ask the students if this is the only possible drilling site. They should realize that drilling could take place at any site along the top roof-line
L. Put Transparency 4 on the overhead. Ask the students to place an X on their handout of Transparency 4 to match their drilling site from Procedure C. Ask the groups to decide if their site is still useful. Some students will say "No" since they have run into walls.
M. Put Transparency 5 on the overhead. Ask the groups if they would have struck oil with their well chosen for handout 4. Have the groups answer the following questions: "Which rooms in the house would represent porous rock?" "Why would your well be a poor or a good site?" Monitor their discussions. Most groups should understand that the rock represented by the empty rooms serve as barriers or seals through which oil can not flow. This would be an appropriate time to introduce this new vocabulary word.
N. As a closure, explain that porous rocks and nonporous rocks are layered in the ground at different levels. This is why geologist must take core samples of the various areas that they think might contain oil. Explain that core samples are about the size of a 1 inch PVC pipe and may be hundreds of feet long. Geologists study these samples to tell where the best oil bearing rocks are located. It would be beneficial to also show the drink bottle that contains the water and oil. Turn the bottle upside down so that you are holding the cap. Point out that the bottle is representative of an oil deposit in three ways. First, there is a seal (the bottom of the bottle). Second, there is air in the bottle. This would represent the methane that is found in the reservoir. Third, the oil is floating on top of the water. This represents the way that the oil is brought to the surface. Since the oil floats on water, the water pushes the oil up the pipe to the surface of the well. For seventh and eighth grade students, you may want to go further with this lesson. The older students need to know that not all wells are gushers. Most wells must have water forced into them to make the oil rise up the well. In fact, 90% of the wells in the United States are pumpers, meaning that the oil must be pumped out of the ground.
Evaluation: When students are asked during the Invention to evaluate their drilling site, their explanation should show some understanding of the concept of porous and nonporous rocks. The group participation should be assessed by noting whether all students in each group were part of the discussion and had a chance to voice their opinions.
Teacher Note: Please be sure that students understand oil is not found in huge pools like rooms in a house, but that it is actually found in porous rock. If students still do not seem to understand this concept, it would be okay to empty the bottle used earlier, fill it 3/4 full of sand, and pour a darker colored oil (perhaps motor oil) over the sand to demonstrate what porous rock with oil between the grains actually looks like.
Expansion:
Objective: Students will study two sets of core samples in order to make drawings of the shape of the reservoirs.
Materials: Overhead of the Sample Oil Field Cross Section
One set of core samples of both cross sections already cut out and clipped together (per group). These core samples are the five slender rectangles simply cut out of the Core Sample I and II master sheets.
One mapping sheet for each set of samples (per group)
Procedure:
A.
Place students in groups of four as used in the Invention.
B.
Show students the sample oil field cross section overhead with
the core samples marked on it. Explain
to them that this is what a map of an oil field would look like when core
samples are used.
C.
Give students Core Samples I.
They should also be given the mapping sheet. They should follow these directions:
Get the five core samples and lay them on the mapping sheet on the dotted lines. The black areas represent rocks that contain oil and the clear areas represent rocks with no oil. Move the samples around until there seems to be a pattern to the black areas that represent oil deposits. Next, with the strips of paper in place, draw lines to represent where the oil deposits are located.
D. Repeat procedure B with Core Samples 2. These are more difficult and may take a bit longer to complete.
E.
Have the groups show their maps to the class and explain why
they chose to draw them the way they did.
Keep in mind that there may be several ways that each of these can be
drawn. If differences arise, remind
students that geologists sometimes make mistakes in the field when using core
samples because of the distances between samples and constant changes in rock
formations.
Evaluation: Students should be asked to draw a concept map using the seed phrase "petroleum recovery" or "drilling for petroleum." Evaluate the concept maps for content and logical order. Students should once again be assessed as a group on how well the group stayed together and how well each member of the group communicated his or her thoughts to the other group members.
Orientation of
the Earth in Space
Sample Lesson
for Grades 4-8
Dennis W.
Sunal
The University
of Alabama
Tuscaloosa,
Alabama
Alternative Conception Addressed by the
Lesson Plan:
The Sun is directly overhead at
noon. The daylight is the same length
as the local day on any part of the Earth.
Lesson Goal: To allow students to investigate and develop inferences
about the orientation of the Earth to the Sun and the amount of energy the
Earth receices.
Prerequisites: Can measure height to the nearest quarter inch. Know the cardinal points of the compass.
Exploration:
Objective: The students
will make inferences about the location of the Sun in the sky when seen from
the Earth.
Materials: For each group:
One
copy of Figure 1
Figure
1: Half circle for students to record
observations of the sky.
Procedure:
A. Organize small groups of three
students; a materials manager and reporter, one observer, and one
illustrator. These roles should rotate
over time.
B.
Describe the materials and instructions needed to carry out the activity. Provide each group with a sheet of paper
with a large half circle drawn on it (see Figure 1). State the key questions, write them on the board, and ask each
group to discuss and complete their answers by drawing on the half circle.
“Where is the Sun at noon today?”
“Where is the Sun early in the morning and late in the evening?” Draw the path of the Sun throughout the
entire daytime period.
C.
When the students have completed their work ask the reporter from each group to
present their results to the entire class.
D.
Ask the groups to discuss the following questions written on the board. Is the amount of daylight hours the same for
all people on the Earth today? In the
winter, there are less hours than in the summer. Why does this happen? Ask
the students to write out their responses and illustrate their ideas. Also, ask the students to devise a plan for
providing evidence for their answers here and above.
Evaluation: Each group
should have a complete response to each question and a plan for obtaining
evidence to support their answers to
each question. Group skills should be assessed by observing that students
should join their groups quickly when asked and the group should review what
needs to be done before starting.
Invention:
Objective: The students
will investigate and describe the location of the Sun and the duration of
daylight over different regions of the Earth.
Materials: For each group:
One
copy of Figure 2
One
globe
Small
lump of clay
Toothpick
Procedure:
A. Have each group present to the whole class
their responses to Item D in the Exploration above and their plan for providing
evidence for their ideas. Help students
communicate the results of their activities using possible observations to
justify their conclusions. Help the
students compare the results of each group’s plan for providing evidence.
B.
With the Sun visible in the daytime sky, plan a short field trip to the school
grounds. Give each group a large copy
of Figure 1. Ask each student to make a
sketch of the sky facing south and the horizon. Students are to draw in the location of the Sun and important
objects visible on the horizon and their own location on the school
grounds. This field trip can be completed
in less than ten minutes. The activity
should be repeated three to five times throughout the day, twice in the
morning, once at noon, and twice in the afternoon. Each observation should be an hour apart. Record all observations on the same drawing. Each drawing of the Sun should include the
time. Warn the students not to look directly at the Sun. Damage to the eye can occur in just a few
seconds.
C.
Write the key questions from the Exploration (part B) on the board. Ask the student groups to answer these
questions based on their observations.
Ask them to compare these answers to the answers they inferred during
the exploration. Have them report their
answers to the whole class.
D.
Bring out and explain the discrepancies between the student inferences and the
observations just made. It should be
clear to the students that their original ideas could not be supported by
evidence they have just gathered.
During a brief discussion, ask them where they got their ideas about the
Sun’s location and motion in the sky.
How different were their original ideas from the observations they have
made? The Sun never is overhead. The path of the Sun keeps it in the southern
part of the sky all day long. During the
fall and winter months, the Sun rises in the southeast, moves to a high
position in the south, and sets in the southwest. As an additional assignment, some students may be asked to
observe the location of sunrise on a weekend morning while others observe the
late afternoon Sun and a third group observes the sunset. Providing students with a compass may help
them with directions.
E.
The following activity requires a clear day with a bright Sun. Obtain one globe for each group. The best
type of globe to use in this activity is one that is detachable from its’
stand. Model how they are to use the
globe when they go outside. Out of
posterboard, ask each student group to cut a strip one inch wide and one foot
long. Form it into a circle and staple
the ends together. Demonstrate how to
set up the globe in front of the students.
Take the globe out of its stand and set it on the floor into the base
formed by the posterboard circle (Figure 2).
Put your city or town location on the exact top of the globe. Point the north pole of the globe toward the
direction of north. Instruct the
students to do the same with their globes when they go outside. Outside this activity should be done on
blacktop or grass to reduce the glare of sunlight on the globe. Tell the students that with the Sun shining on
the globe, this is exactly the way the Earth looks to an astronaut on the moon. He would see part of the Earth lit up by the
Sun and other parts in shadow. He would
also see where the day and night come together and the edge of the shadow. The shadow’s edge would occur on both sides
of the Earth.
Figure 2: Setting up the globe.
To demonstrate a method for
students to determine the amount of sunlight any city receives during a day,
ask the students to find places on the Earth at a specific latitude that are
turning from night into day and day into night. This is the shadow’s edge.
Count the number of longitude lines from the shadow’s edge on the right
side of the earth around to the shadow’s edge on the left side of the
Earth. These longitude lines generally
are fifteen degrees apart. This is how
much the Earth turns in one hour. If
there are ten fifteen-degree intervals from one shadow’s edge to the other,
then for that latitude there will be ten hours of daylight during a twenty-four
hour period.
Before taking the students outside provide each group with a small
lump of clay and a toothpick. Then give
each group a sheet of paper with the following questions. Where is the Sun
overhead right now on the Earth? How
many hours of daylight exist for cities in the following latitudes: 50 degrees north? the latitude of your town?
the equator? and 40 degrees south of the equator? Ask the students to explain and illustrate
each group’s answers to these questions.
F.
Return inside and have each group report its findings. Discuss these, adding information as
necessary.
G.
Closure: The Sun is overhead someplace on the Earth at any time. At night the Sun is overhead on the other
side of the Earth someplace. The Sun is
never overhead for any portion of the USA, except Hawaii. Cities on the Earth at different latitudes
have differing amounts of daylight hours on most days of the year. Only on March 21 and September 21 are the
days for every city on the Earth the same -- twelve hours of daylight. This can be seen on a globe outdoors on these
days as the shadow’s edge lights up half of the Earth so that the shadow cuts
exactly through the north and south poles.
At other times the shadow’s edge falls to one side of the poles.
Evaluation: Each group
should have a complete response to each question and illustrations that provide
evidence to support their answers to each question. Assess students group skills by observing that they stay with
their group while it is working and that pay attention to how much time they
have to carry out each activity.
Expansion:
Objectives: The students
will compare the height of the Sun
in the sky as
seen from different locations on the Earth.
The
student will determine that the Arctic and Antarctic are places where the Sun
will not rise today or will not set.
The
students will determine in what cities on the Earth the Sun is rising or
setting at the time of the lesson.
Materials:
Materials
from the Invention activity
Copies
of Figure 2 for each student
Copies
of a drawing of the earth showing North and South America for each student
Procedure:
A.
Give the students a handout containing the following directions and
information.
Do
this activity outside just as you did the last one using a globe, a small lump
of clay, and a toothpick. The shadow of
an object gives information regarding how high the Sun is in the sky. Compare the height of the Sun as seen in the
sky from various locations on the Earth.
Do this for the following locations:
zero degrees (equator), plus and minus thirty degrees, plus and minus
sixty degrees, and plus and minus eighty degrees. Where on the Earth today will the Sun never rise? Where will it not set? Name two cities where the Sun is just
setting (in Africa or Europe). Name two
cities where the Sun is just rising at this time (in Asia or Australia). Describe and illustrate your answers to
these questions.
B.
As an extended expansion activity, have the students note the sunset and
sunrise times over a two week period as reported in the newspaper and comment
on the day-to-day changes in the times.
The students should report their findings to the whole class.
C.
Another extended expansion activity could involve the students in obtaining the
sunrise and sunset times for the town’s latitude for an entire year. Students could be asked to record and graph
the length of the daylight period on the first day of each month. The students
should report their findings to the whole class.
D.
Summarize the lesson by reviewing the activities and major findings of the
various parts of the lesson.
Evaluation: Ask students
draw the Sun’s path on Figure 1 during the day from sunrise to sunset. On a drawing of the Earth showing North and
South America, ask the students to circle the area where the Sun is overhead at
this time. On the same drawing of the
Earth ask the students to indicate cities where the daylight hours today are
the greatest and where they are the smallest.
Sample Lesson
for Grades 2-5
Dennis W.
Sunal
The University
of Alabama
Tuscaloosa,
Alabama
Alternative Conceptions Addressed by
the Lesson Plan:
When water
evaporates, it ceases to exist.
When water
evaporates, energy is not involved.
When water
evaporates, it changes its location but always stays a liquid.
When water
evaporates, it turns into another visible kind of thing like steam or fog .
Lesson Goal: To allow students to investigate, develop inferences, and
differentiate between different elements of the water cycle.
Prerequisites: Can measure time
intervals of a whole minute. Has
experienced activities investigating the properties of matter and the phases of
matter -- solid, liquid, and gas.
Exploration:
Objective: The students
will investigate the observable characteristics of evaporation and condensation
over specific time periods.
Materials: For each group:
A
plate
A
piece of construction paper
A
sponge
A
styrofoam cup
A
jar with a lid
A
small glass
Water
Potting
soil with a spoon for dipping it out of its container
Nine
ice cubes
Container
for the ice cubes
Procedure:
A.
Form groups of three students: materials manager, observer, and recorder.
B.
The materials managers should go to the equipment station and pick up the
following: a plate, a sponge, a piece of construction paper, a styrofoam cup
which they half fill with soil, a jar with a lid and a small glass which they
fill one half full of water.
C.
While the group’s materials manager is getting the equipment the other members
should make a matrix with six boxes on a piece of paper. The boxes should be labeled as follows:
plate, sponge, construction paper, cup with soil, jar with lid, and small glass
with water.
D.
Ask the materials managers to go to the ice cube station and put nine ice cubes
in a container. When they return to
their group the other students should place the ice cubes as follows: put one
ice cube on a plate, a second on a sponge, a third on a piece of construction
paper, a fourth on top of potting soil in a styrofoam cup, a fifth in a jar
with a lid, and four cubes in a small glass of water.
E.
Ask each student group to illustrate and describe their observations as they
respond to the following questions on the matrix sheet. What is happening to each of the ice
cubes? What happens to the water
dripping from the ice cubes? Where did
the water go? Is Energy involved?
F.
Ask the students to examine their ice cubes one hour later and to respond to
each of the questions again.
Evaluation: Collect the students’ observations from the
exploration. Evaluate them considering
completeness and specificity of the observations drawn or described. Evaluate group skills by assessing whether
all participated equally in the activity and that individuals offered help and explained ideas or what to
do for others in the group .
Invention:
Objective: The students
will develop inferences about recurring events as related to evaporation,
condensation, and precipitation in the water cycle.
Materials: for each group:
One styrofoam cup of hot
water
One glass of cold water
with an ice cube in it
One copy of
transparencies of Figures 1, 2, 3
Drawing paper and
materials
A mirror cooled with ice
cubes plus one cold
Mirror
for the teacher
Procedure:
A.
Ask the students to report the results of their exploration activity to the
whole class. During the reports
highlight statements made by students that relate to evaporation and
condensation. Introduce and define the
terms at this time using concrete examples from the students’
observations. Demonstrate condensation
by blowing across a cold mirror and noticing the haze. Give the students cold mirrors and challenge
them to do this also.
B.
Discuss the three states of matter that water is found in: solid, liquid, and
gas. Water can change from one form to
another. While in any one form it can
be moved to another location.
C. Have students return to their groups. To
illustrate the forms of water and the water cycle, give each group a styrofoam
cup of hot water. Meanwhile, ask the
materials manager to obtain a paper cup of very cold water with an ice cube in
it from a materials station. Ask the
observers in each group to hold the glass of cold water above the hot water and
make observations. Ask students to
discuss what they see and to record and illustrate their observations.
D.
Select a few groups to report their observations to the whole class. They
should be able to report the effects of water condensing on the cold glass and
dripping back into the glass of cold water.
Tell the students that the dripping water is similar to rain. As a result of condensation in nature,
precipitation occurs. Precipitation can
be in the form of rain (liquid), snow, sleet, or hail (solid). Condensation in nature can be in the form of
dew, frost, or fog. Evaporation can
occur from rain when it hits the ground and “dries up”, fog when it
“disappears” or evaporates, dew when it “disappears”, and from lakes, streams
and oceans.
E.
Challenge the students to observe all three forms of water: gas, liquid, and
solid. They should not be able to
observe the gas because water vapor is invisible. We can tell its presence, however, because it condenses on cold
glass or metal when the gas brushes against it. Sometimes, we see fog or “steam” around our cup or outside (e.g.
in clouds). These are not examples of
water as a gas. But, they are examples
of water vapor condensing into liquid droplets so that you can see it.
F.
Ask the students to illustrate how water turns from one form or phase to
another using the hot cup of water and the cold glass of water they
observed. They should use arrows to
show the various stages of the water cycle.
Ask one group to discuss their drawings with the class. Bring out the cyclic nature of the water
cycle: that water rises, evaporates from the cup, travels to the glass,
condenses on the glass, and drops back into the hot water where it can
evaporate again. Although this can
happen repeatedly, energy must be present to cause water to evaporate (hot
water). Show the students Figure 1 in a
transparency.
Figure 1: A cup and glass water cycle.
G.
Provide every group with a sheet of paper and marking pens and ask them to
illustrate a water cycle that answers this question: Where does rain that falls
on the land come from? Ask the students to include in their drawings a large lake
and a flat land area. When they have
finished, ask two of the groups to present their illustration to the
class. Then, give a copy of Figure 2 to
each group. Have them compare this
drawing with their drawing. Finally,
ask one of the groups to explain Figure 2. See also Figure 3 providing sample
answers.
H.
Closure: The discussion should lead the students to draw the conclusions that
the water cycle is a never-ending sequence of events, that water is never used
up nor does it disappear, and that water changes form and perhaps moves to
another location where it changes form again, possibly into rain.
Evaluation: Collect the
water cycle drawings and descriptions from each student. Evaluate the completeness and accuracy of
each drawing. Evaluate group skills by
assessing whether the groups review what to before starting.
Figure 2: A water cycle out of doors.
Describe what is happening.
Expansion:
Objective: The students
will apply the concept of the water cycle to recurring events as related to
evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Materials: for each group:
Three colors of
construction paper
Scissors
Glue
One gallon-size baggie
One cup of potting soil
colored with blue food coloring dyed water
Procedure:
A.
Ask each group to cut out one-inch strips of colored construction paper. There should be three strips per student in
each group. Have each student in the
group write one term “evaporation,” “condensation,” and “precipitation” on each
strip. Have each student glue the
strips together to make a paper chain illustrating the water cycle. All students in the group should connect
their separate chains to form a continuous, circular chain of water
cycles. This should help illustrate the
idea that water cycles have no beginning nor end but recur over and over
again. Ask the students to describe
what their chain means.
B.
In front of the class have a student prepare one pound of potting soil by
adding two cups of water with blue food dye in it. Have the materials manager from each group come up and collect a
small styrofoam cup of soil and a one gallon sized zip-closing baggie. The other members of the group should put
the soil in the baggie and zip it tightly closed. Ask the students to predict what might happen if their baggie
were left in the sun or on their desk overnight. Students should put their baggies near a window with sunshine, if
possible. Periodically during the day
and on the next day they should check their predictions by making observations
of the baggie. When they make
observations, ask them to answer the following questions. What do they observe? What happened to the water in the soil? Where did the water go? How did the water get from the soil to the
top or roof of the bag? What color is
the water that is condensed on the top of the bag?
C.
Briefly summarize the main points and sequence of activities during the lesson.
Evaluation: Ask students
to draw the water cycle occurring in the baggie. Collect the water cycle drawings and evaluate their completeness
and accuracy.
Figure 3: A water cycle out of doors.
A sample explanation.
Some
examples of people who contributed significantly but have been underrepresented
in the mass media regarding the earth sciences are listed in Figure 4 along
with their major contributions.
Additional information can be found in library references such as an
encyclopedia. The book Women in
Science: Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century by M. B. Ogilvie (1986)
is one resource example. An Expansion
activity to add to most earth science lessons would be to read a paragraph on
the contribution of a related scientist or the use of earth science ideas by a
member of the community to make them seem more real. Ask older students create research reports and short plays on the
contributions of these underrepresented scientists.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 4
Scientists are
Diverse!
Some Who Have
Contributed to Our Knowledge of
Earth Science
Florence Bascom
A female
scientist in the USA studying optical crystallography.
Hisashi Kuno
A Japanese
male scientist studying magma.
Matuyama Motonori
A Japanese
male scientist studying magnetic field reversals of the Earth.
Mela Pomponius
A male
studying climatic regions and doing early geographical work in Spain.
Doris Reynolds
An
Englishwoman who studied how granite formed.
Shen Kua
A Chinese male
who discovered the magnetic compass.
____________________________________________________________________