Update 9.9.15 – Link is updated
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Science Skills
Mystery Footprints – Observation vs. Inference
Materials:
- Updated for 2015 – Mystery Footprints – Observation vs. Inference (Google Slides Public link)
- You can download this Google Slide Presentation in any format
- Click “File” then “Download as” and choose ppt, etc
- You can download this Google Slide Presentation in any format
- Handout for Mystery Footprint Activity (pdf)
- projector
Background
This is one of my favorite activities to practice making observations and inferences, it really helps the students differentiate between the two. As I mentioned in my ‘Boy in the Water‘ post, students tend to clump their observations and inferences together, they think they are the same thing.
For example, after viewing the first panel of the image, they will say that they ‘see two animals running towards each other.’ and my response is, “I don’t see two animals running towards each other, but I do see two sets of tracks”. After a few tries, they refine their answers and start to see the ‘facts’ of the image. Then we talk about the ‘story’ behind the facts.
When doing this activity, before I show them the first panel for the image, I stress how important it is not to share, or shout out, their thoughts or answers as soon as they see the image. Why is that important? Why can’t we share our answers right away? I stress to them that when they share their answers, they are taking away opportunities for their peers to think about what they are seeing.
For example, if someone asked you to name a vegetable, and I shouted out BROCCOLI, my answer would creep into everyone’s thoughts and BROCCOLI would push away any ideas about vegetables that didn’t have a chance to develop. Instead of sweet potatoes, or even yucca, you are now thinking about broccoli. It is important to let everyone have a chance to see the image, think about it, and to process and form their ideas. Their ideas may end up being the same as yours, but they may also think of something totally different. Once everyone has had a chance to process their thoughts, we can share our ideas and have a discussion where everyone can contribute and develop their thoughts further.
This activity was originally published in Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science (1998) and the book is available as a free download. You can find more details on pages 87-89 for this lesson.
Tangrams or Geometric Puzzles
Students can create their own Geometric, or Tangram-like, puzzles. A classic tangram has 7 pieces (link), but with this template, students can make their own puzzles with as many pieces as they would like to use.
In the sample photos above, I created a puzzle with 12 pieces. After students have made their puzzles, they can trade puzzles and try to solve them. You can also combine/shuffle 2 puzzles together and try to create one large rectangle, or 4 puzzles together to create one large square.
When coloring in the puzzle, darker colors help hide the grid lines. You can also use the patterns each student has created as a cutting template – glue the template onto a piece of construction paper, cut out the pieces, flip, and use the construction paper side as your puzzle pieces.
Download the puzzle template (Geometric Puzzle Template pdf )
SpongeBob Safety Rules and Scenarios Activity
Materials:
- SpongeBob® Safety Rules and Scenarios Activity Teacher’s Edition (pptx)
- this power point can be modified as needed
- 47 slides with answers for each scenario
- Scenarios – Student Handout/Notes (pdf)
- Safety Rule Task Cards
- Pencils and highlighters
Procedures Part 1:
Prior to the students starting the activity on their own, I read the scenarios out loud for the class. As I read the text, students independently made a light pencil mark in each paragraph to indicate broken safety rules – anything that they thought might be an infraction. After I read the story, they worked with their partner to find the broken safety rules using the task cards. After a few minutes, I modeled the first broken safety rule to make sure everyone was on the right track and understood the directions.
- Each student will have a handout with all 5 of the scenarios.
- Each group will have one set of safety rule task cards.
- Groups will need to identify the safety rules that were not followed for Scenario #1 and pull the safety rule task cards related to Scenario #1. The rules that were not broken will be placed in a pile to the side.
- Students will lightly underline where the rules weren’t followed in their notes and write the number of the rule for each violation along with a brief 2-3 word description of the rule that was broken in the margin of their notes.
- Once they have found and identified all the safety violations for Scenario 1, they will do the same for Scenarios #2-5.
- Students will find as many of the 18 violations as they can.
- I don’t tell the students how many safety violations there are, then they can use process of elimination for the last scenario, I tell them that each safety rule task card will be used at least once so they know that there are at least 16 violations to find.
Procedures Part 2:
- Once the groups have completed the 5 scenarios, they will share their findings with the class.
- On the ppt, advance to Scenario 1.
- Ask one group to start – What was the first safety violation in this scenario? Which rule did SpongBob’s crew break?
- Advance the slide and the answer will be highlighted in either yellow or green font (see image below).
- The number in parenthesis is the safety rule number.
- All students will use a highlighter to highlight the phrase and make corrections if needed.
- Ask the next group if there are any other violations in the scenario, if so, what is the next one?
- Each group will contribute an answer until all of them have been identified for Scenario 1.
- Do the same for scenarios 2-5.
- Discuss your results/debrief.
Additional Resources for this activity:
- The original worksheet for this activity is from ScienceSpot.net (pdf)
- Interactive Notebook version of this worksheet (pdf)
- Marcia has some nice additional activities for Safety on her website (link)
- This ppt was modified from the original source found at (link)
- SpongeBob SquarePants® and all related characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
- For more lessons on Science Skills, click on this page (link)
Finding the Volume of Irregularly Shaped Objects Using Water Displacement
(For lessons and resources on reading and using graduated cylinders, please see my related blog entry)
Materials:
- 2 graduated cylinders per group of 4 students
- 1 container of water per group
- 1 plastic tray per group
- 1 plastic spoon per group
- this is used to stop item from falling into the container and to fish out items if needed
- paper towels or cloth towels
- green or blue food coloring – a few drops per 500 mL
- adding food coloring helps the students to make accurate readings since it easier to see the water, plus it is fun to work with 🙂
- I don’t like to use red or yellow, they tend to stain more than the blue and green food coloring
- an assortment of small objects such as pennies, rubber stoppers, marbles, pebbles, etc…
- Water Displacement – Volume Lab Handout (pdf)
Additional Resources:
- Measuring Liquid Volume Practice Sheet (pdf)
- Common Core – Graduated Cylinder Worksheets (link)
- Volume by Water Displacement Worksheets (pdf)
- Finding volume using an overflow can (pdf)
For more lessons related to Properties of Matter click here (link)
First Day of School – Science Classroom Scavenger Hunt
The first day of school is always so exciting and the kids are eager to explore their new surroundings. As part of my first-day procedures, along with expectations and all the things I need to cover/explain, I like to do a scavenger hunt. This usually takes place during the last 20 minutes of the class period (we have 50 min periods) to help students become familiar with their new classroom, satisfy their curiosities, and burn off some of that energy.
While the students are completing the scavenger hunt, it really gives me a glimpse into the dynamics of each class. Some students like to work alone, some like to work with a partner, some are super focused and task driven, some students prioritize what they want to find first and make a plan, some students are more relaxed and let the answers find them as they walk around making quiet observations, some students pair up and find half of the items and share their information, some will trade answers for things they can’t find. It is really interesting to watch it unfold.
The scavenger hunt will continue into the first 10 minutes of the second class and then we will go over the answers. (If they don’t find all the answers, that is OK, it isn’t graded.) Each student checks their work, making corrections as needed. (This also gives me a good segway into talking about corrections – many students view corrections as something they did ‘wrong’ and I want them to view them as opportunities.) This will stay in their notebook and can be used for reference. There are always a few tricky ones that very few students have correct, for example, the outlets for the laptops are hanging from the ceiling on rolled up extension cords – we don’t use the wall outlets.
Just for fun, at the end, I have all the students stand up. We then determine who found the most items. If they have 5 or more correct, they stay standing, if not, they sit down. We continue until the last person is left standing for each class. I write their name on the board and write “Sally – 25”.
To view my version of Scavenger Hunt handout click on the image above or here (pdf)
“I am a Scientist” – Social Media
September 2016 – Social Media Platforms Edition
Oct. 2015 – Instagram Edition
Resources:
- What does a scientist look like?
- ppt slides (free ppt) or (Google Slide) –
- You can download the Google Slide Presentation in any format:
- Click “File” then “Download as” and choose ppt, etc
- please do not request editing access, that will alter my copy of the slides
- “I am a Scientist” directions (pdf)
- Free Instagram template located on TPT @ “Fun’s Not Just for Elementary” (link)
- Click here for cell phone templates: LINK
- Fun scientist puzzles @ ScienceSpot.net (link)
My 6th graders did a really nice job and had a lot of fun creating their Scientist Instagrams. Each student picked a field of science that they were interested in and imagined themselves in those roles. The students also enjoyed seeing each other’s drawings and tapped on the bulletin board to like the images 🙂
July 2015
Each year, as part of my “Becoming a Scientist” Unit, I ask the students to envision themselves in their favorite field of science. What would they like to do? Where would they be located? What tools would they use? What would they wear? What would they be working on?
I thought it would be fun to have their drawings be Instagram snapshots depicting themselves as scientists in their field of choice. One other option is they can draw scientist selfies using a cell phone template (free downloads @ link)
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices
For my posts, I am tagging the Science and Engineering Practices (SEP) that I think best fit the lessons on my blog. To find lessons related to each practice, you can use the search box to find them or click on the tags on each post to find similar lessons:
SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES (SEP) (Details from NSTA)
- SEP1 – Asking Questions and Defining Problems
- SEP2 – Developing and Using Models
- SEP3 – Planning and Carrying out Investigations
- SEP4 – Analyzing and Interpreting Data
- SEP5 – Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
- SEP6 – Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
- SEP7 – Engaging in Argument from Evidence
- SEP8 – Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Making & Sharing Observations: A Telephone Game
Updated July 2016
Materials:
- Google Slides (Public) – includes directions and photos of damselflies
- Lesson Plan – (pdf-Instructions)
- Images to print out and laminate (pdf)
- 1 Index card per team
I used this activity with my 6th graders to emphasize observations, communication skills, and team work. It is a variation on the classic Telephone Game that many students are familiar with. Depending on the number of students you have, I found that 7-8 per team worked really well. The more students on a team, the more difficult it is to relay the information to each student, and less than 7 was much easier. If your teams aren’t exactly even, that is ok. When grouping students, be sure to mix abilities and plan accordingly for teams that are larger/smaller.
How the game works is I have 10 color photos of damselflies, and each team will make & share observations for one of the photos. The only person who will see the photo, however, is person #1. The rest of the team will not see the photo, and they don’t know what the photos are of. The only information they will have are the 10 observations person #1 will give them. Once each group determines who #1 is, #1 will come up to make and record 10 observations about their photo for 3 minutes. The rest of the team will determine who will receive the information from #1 and the order they will go in. Some strategies will go into determining the order, for example, someone who has a really good memory may want to be person #2.
Students will spread out around the room and take a seat. When the 3 minutes are up, person #1 will go to person #2 and whisper the 10 observations to them for 1 minute. Person #1 will have their index card, but can not give the index card to person #2. Person #2 can ask questions and repeat the information until the 1 minute is up. #1 will take #2’s seat and #2 will go to #3 and share the 10 observations from memory. This will continue until all members have had a turn sharing the observations.
The last member of the team will share the observations with the class and then pick out the photograph from the 10 I have. We will then compare the last set of observations to the original 10 and find out if they were able to choose the correct photo.
This was a fun and challenging activity, and it lead to some really great discussions about making and sharing observations. Many groups had difficulty picking out the original photograph because the information changed or went missing somewhere along the line, just like when they play the game telephone.
NGSS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES (SEP 1, SEP 4, SEP 8)
- Asking Questions and Defining Problems
- Analyzing and Interpreting Data
- Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
NGSS Graphics – great to place in your planbook for quick reference
Click on the image above to download the NGSS posters.
Middle School Science Blog 