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Grade: Elementary
Subject: Science
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Physical Science UnitLesson 1: Introduction
Goal: Students will understand that all matter, including living organisms like humans, is composed of invisible bits called atoms.
Materials: video ¡§Power of Ten¡¨
Standard: PS1.b.
ƒÌ Ask students what humans are made of. Have a discussion that pushes students to think about what makes up whatever they say. For example, S: ¡§Skin and blood.¡¨ T: ¡§What are skin and blood made of?¡¨ S: ¡§Cells.¡¨ T: ¡§What are cells made of?¡¨ etc.
Real order:
- Organs
- Tissues
- Cells
- Macromolecules
- Molecules
- Elements
- Atoms
- Particles of matter
ƒÌ Introduce notion that this question led scientists many years ago on a quest. Finding out what we are made of, what everything in earth is made of, is going to be the focus of our next unit of study.
Watch ¡§Power of Ten (Eames)¡¨ (two times) that shows a close-up look of what humans are composed of. Also on: http://earthscience.wordpress.com/2007/01/05/day-83-powers-of-10/
Also on GooglevideoƒÌ Debrief: What did you see? What did you learn? What questions do you have?
Lesson 2
Goal: Students will understand the meanings of the words physical, property, and classify. Property can be used synonymously with characteristic.
Materials: baggies with a variety of objects (a nail, a penny, a chunk of carrot, a cotton ball, balloon, string, etc.); large newsprint or white paper; two pieces of metal, one aluminum, one steel, that look exactly the same in size, shape, and color.
Standard: IE6.a., intro to PS1.c, d, g, i
ƒÌ Pass out baggies to each group.
ƒÌ Ask groups to classify the objects however they want, but they must have reasons for why they¡¦re grouping them.
ƒÌ Each group presents. They should say, ¡§We classified the objects like this because¡K¡¨
ƒÌ Ask what the physical properties are for a few of the objects in the bag. Chart.
ƒÌ Hold up cotton ball. Ask what the physical properties are of a cotton ball (fluffy, white). (Have students answer ¡§The properties of a cotton ball are¡K¡¨)
ƒÌ Ask:
o ¡§Is anything fluffy and white cotton?¡¨
o Hold up piece of cotton T-shirt. ¡§Is this cotton?¡¨ ¡§Is this (T-shirt swatch) the same as this (cotton ball)?¡¨
o What makes cotton cotton? What makes cotton special?
ƒÌ Show two pieces of metal. Ask:
o ¡§Are these the same? What makes them the same?
o Pass them around. ¡§Are they still the same?¡¨ (have different weight)
o ¡§What makes them different?¡¨ (weight) ¡§Why do they have different weights?¡¨Lesson 3
Goal: Students will understand that metals have different properties in common
Materials: baggies full of various objects, like aluminum nails, swatches of copper, real nails, paper clips, string, etc. (can use same baggies from Day 2, with some additions); magnets
Standard: PS1.c.
ƒÌ In pairs, students hypothesize which items will be magnetic, and which won¡¦t
ƒÌ Students test each item, comparing to their prediction
ƒÌ Based on this information, have students classify the items (possibilities: metal-magnetic; metal-non-magnetic; non-metal)
ƒÌ Debrief the investigation by discussing the physical properties of the different groups of objectsLesson 4
Goal: Students will understand that metals have different properties in common
Materials: baggies full of various objects, like aluminum nails, swatches of copper, real nails, paper clips, string, etc. (can use same baggies from Day 2, with some additions); D batteries; bulbs with wires; masking tape
Standard: PS1.c.
ƒÌ In pairs, students hypothesize which items will conduct electricity, and which won¡¦t
ƒÌ Students test each item, comparing to their prediction
ƒÌ Based on this information, have students classify the items (possibilities: metal-conductive; metal-non-conductive; non-metal)
ƒÌ Debrief the investigation by discussing the physical properties of the different groups of objectsLesson 5
Goal: Students will understand that all elements were created from hydrogen, and hydrogen is a product of the Big Bang that created the Universe; students will understand that the Sun is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium
Materials: video ¡§Eyewitness: Planets¡¨ (clip of Big Bang); wire, string, and clay to make hydrogen atom (see Janice Van Cleaven)
Standard: PS1.b., ES 5.a., 5.b.
ƒÌ Ask students what the universe is made of.
ƒÌ Watch clip from ¡§Eyewitness: Planets¡¨ that features the Big Bang and how hydrogen was produced.
ƒÌ Draw or make with clay a model of the hydrogen atom. Introduce vocabulary electron, proton, neutron, etc.
ƒÌ Draw/demo how gravity caused condensation, whose intense pressure led to a thermonuclear reaction, causing hydrogen molecules to squash together to create helium. Draw model of helium atom to demo how this happened.
ƒÌ The hydrogen-helium combination creates stars.
ƒÌ Draw (or show clip??) of stars growing old and exploding into stardust, sending forth surges of energy whose pressure and heat create larger and larger atoms.
ƒÌ Our sun was created through this process, along with a family of planets.
ƒÌ Walk students through the drawing and labeling of this sequence of events on large paper, folded into eight sections, so that each square represents one of the steps below.
1. The Big Bang happened 15 billion years ago.
2. Energy and matter shoot out in all directions.
3. Hydrogen was created (draw model).
4. Clouds of hydrogen began to spin and condense. Intense pressure caused a thermonuclear reaction. (BAM!)
5. Hydrogen atoms were squashed together so hard that they fused to become helium (draw helium model). (Show two balls of play-dough to emphasize what is meant by ¡§fuse¡¨).
6. The combination of hydrogen and helium create stars¡K
7. ¡Klike our Sun. (draw our Solar System)
8. When stars get old and die, they explode, sending massive amounts of energy into the universe.
(On the back:) This energy causes the atoms to fuse with other atoms, creating all the elements in the world.Lesson 6
Goal: Students will understand that scientists have created discrete images of atoms and molecules that show that they occur in well-ordered arrays.
Materials: materials to make models (paper? magnetic balls?); atom cards template
Standard: PS1.b., 1.e.
ƒÌ Make models of different atoms¡Xstarting with hydrogen and then acting out thermonuclear reactions that would lead to new, heavier atoms.
ƒÌ Draw and label each one of these new atoms on a small square. On the other side, students should write the abbreviation, the number of protons (atomic number) in the corner, and color it according to a key: white for hydrogen, yellow for alkali, green for transition metals, red for nonmetals, brown for alkaline earth metals, light blue for other metals, magenta for noble gases, orange for lanthanide series (?) and purple for actinide series (?). Kids don¡¦t need to know the different exact names, so perhaps just mention something like ¡§gas¡¨ or ¡§metal¡¨ or ¡§almost metal.¡¨
ƒÌ Vocabulary: electron, proton, neutron, nucleus
ƒÌ Make 11 most common elements that appear in living organisms, and then later, provide kids with the rest as they¡¦re determining organization.Lesson 7
Goal: Students will classify objects in accordance with their own criteria; students will create rationale for their choices that address both vertical and horizontal variables.
Materials: paint samples of completely different colors (red, blue, yellow, green, brown) cut up, one set of colors (i.e. one red strip, one blue, one yellow, etc) in each envelope (one for each group)
Standard: IE6.a., intro to PS1.d.
ƒÌ Pass out envelopes to each group. Groups should decide how to classify them, with the intent of having commonalities both vertically and horizontally.
ƒÌ When circulating, be mindful to hold groups accountable for their rationale, in addition to having there be a system of classification for both vertical and horizontal strands (e.g. all the blues in one row, whereas the lightest in each group makes up a column).
ƒÌ Glue samples on large piece of white paper.
ƒÌ Have groups share out, providing rationale for their choice of classification.Lesson 8
Goal: Students use one set of atom cards and arrange them in a sequence that makes sense, taking into consideration the colors and the atomic number. Students will understand that scientists have created discrete images of atoms and molecules that show that they occur in well-ordered arrays; that there are 92 different kinds of atoms; and that everything in the world is a product of these 92 elements.
Materials: atom cards from Lesson 3; large white paper; gluestick; other cards representing other elements (pre-made, colored, and cut); copies of periodic chart (OR Mixtures and Solutions p. 36) and large periodic chart
Standard: PS1.d., IE6.a.
ƒÌ Pass out atom cards from other day and other pre-made cards with more elements. Groups only need one set.
ƒÌ Have each group present their organization and the rationale behind their choices.
ƒÌ Show and pass out copies of real periodic chart (or refer to p. 36 in the Mixtures and Solutions student book) and discuss why they were organized as they were.
ƒÌ Discuss what the periodic chart represents: the building blocks of all life!Mixtures and Solutions FOSS Kit
Total days: 9 days
Don¡¦t do all of them, just:
Investigation 1 (Separating Mixtures): Part 1 and Part 2 (total 3 days)
Investigation 2 (Reaching Saturation): Part 1 (total 1-2 days)
Investigation 4 (Fizz Quiz): Parts 1-3 (total 4 days); optional: Choose Your Own InvestigationTotal length of unit: 17 days (not including assessment)
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