communication – Middle School Science Blog

Scientific and Engineering Practices (SEP 1 to SEP8) Consolidated

August 24, 2016September 14, 2016Liz BelasicLeave a comment

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Images above are from: http://www.nap.edu/read/13165/chapter/7#50

This post highlights the eight Scientific and Engineering Practices and spotlights a few lessons related to each practice. I had this as eight separate posts but decided to consolidate for easier viewing.

For more details and examples about the Science and Engineering Practices, visit NSTA.

Tag: SEP8 – click for more lessons that cover this practice

Exploring the Solar System – Past, Present, and Future Missions: How has each mission contributed to the advancement of the exploration of outer space?
D&T Activity: How do scientists come up with different explanations even when presented with similar data?
What is Mining?: Where do we find our natural resources? How do we use them?

Tag: SEP7 – click for more lessons that cover this practice

SpongeBOB Safety Rules: What evidence shows that a safety rule has been broken?
Physical & Chemical Change Sorting Activity: What evidence shows that a physical or chemical change took place?
Environmental Issues Presentation: How do humans impact their environment?

Tag: SEP6 – click for more lessons that cover this practice

Law of Superposition: How can we determine the relative age of fossils and rocks?
Rocks ROCK!: How do different types of rock form?
NOAA Tides Data: Why do tides occur? Is there a pattern?
Atomic Theory Timeline: How do we make a model of something we can’t see?

Tag: SEP5 – click for more lessons that cover this practice

Finding the Volume of a Rectangular Prism: How can we find the volume of rectangular prisms using length, width, and height?
Triple Beam Balance – Bottles of Stuff: How can we estimate mass using the metric system?
SpongeBOB Bikini Bottom Genetics: Determining the probability of passing on genetic traits.
Mass, Volume, and Density: How can we solve for the missing variable?

Tag: SEP4 – click for more lessons that cover this practice

Rainbow Test Tube Activity: What combination of primary colors makes the best secondary colors? How many different colors can we make using primary colors?
Adopt a City – Weather Report: How is the weather in our home city similar to weather in different parts of the US? How is it different?
Planet Trading (Fact) Cards: How are the planets in our Solar System similar to Earth? How are they different?
Graphing Spring Tides, Neap Tides, and Moon Phases: What is the relationship between tide height and the phase of the Moon?

Tag: SEP3 – click for more lessons that cover this practice

Chocolate Chip Mining Simulation: How can I run a mining company that will make the most profit and leave the least impact on the environment?
Sugar Density Columns: How does the amount of sugar added affect the density of the solution?
Cartesian Divers: How does the amount of paperclips affect the buoyancy of the diver?

Tag: SEP2 – click for more lessons that cover this practice

The Atoms Family: What does the Atomic Model look like?
Pangea Puzzle Activity: How did the continents change over time?
Making Molecular Models: How do atoms bond with each other to form new substances?
Shoebox Planetarium: How can we recognize patterns in the night sky?

Tag: SEP1 – click for more lessons that cover this practice

Density Bottle Demo: How much matter fits into each bottle?
Plotting Earthquakes: Where do earthquakes occur, is there a pattern?
Mystery Socks: How we determine what something is without seeing it?
Environmental Issues Presentation: How do humans impact their environment?

Making & Sharing Observations: A Telephone Game

June 30, 2015July 29, 2016Liz BelasicLeave a comment

Ischnura_heterosticta02 — Image Source – Wikipedia Commons

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

Cup Stacking Collaboration Challenge

June 25, 2015July 26, 2017Liz Belasic27 Comments

Goal

Students will collaborate, problem solve, and persevere to accomplish each challenge

Materials – per group of 3-4 students

Task Cards – cut apart, laminate, and secure with a metal ring or brass brad
6 cups
1 rubber band
4-6 pieces of string of equal length

This is one of the team building exercises I plan to use with my 6th graders during the first week of school. Many variations of this lesson can be found online. For this version, I created 6 different challenges for the students to tackle – each one increasing in difficulty. Not every group will get to complete all 6 challenges, and that is OK. The objective is to learn to work together as a team and not give up.

July 26, 2017 – One recommendation I have for this activity is placing the cups on the floor, when the cups fall off the table it makes it more difficult to complete the task in a timely manner.

Updated: Pictures September 2015

Discussion & Reflection

Which challenge was the easiest for you group to complete? The most difficult? Why?
Did your techniques change as you advanced to each challenge? Explain why or why not.
Describe a technique that worked best within your group.
Compare using two hands vs. one hand when holding the string to guide the cups. List advantages and disadvantages for each.
Compare using verbal and nonverbal communication, what were some of the challenges your group faced?
If you were to complete this activity again, what would your group do differently? What would you do the same?
Why are collaboration and communication skills important characteristics for scientists to have?
Did you feel like giving up at any point? How did you and your group deal with frustration?

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