Monday, July 20, 2015

3.S.1A.4- Analyze and interpret data from observations; measurements; or investigations to understand patterns and meanings.

The teacher will start the class by describing to the class how patterns work and how they come in contact with us in our daily lives. The activity the students are going to work on is observing patterns using paper airplanes. The students will pair up and be given a yard stick, a ruler, a pencil, their science journals, and construction paper. The groups will fold a few airplanes each and the teacher will lead the students outside to the blacktop. The teacher will have several things set up; two benches, a long slab of 3 inch tall wood, stools, and a large piece of playground equipment. The teacher will also have some assistance from other teachers during this activity. The students will be given directions and behavioral expectations. The students will take turns flying their airplanes off of different height platforms and record how far their airplanes go. The pairs will measure and record all of their "flights" from all of the platforms. The students will go inside when everyone is finished and the students will try to figure out if there are patterns between the different heights of platforms and the distance of their air planes. The students will take part in a discussion with the teacher who will listen and record their data of different averages of distance for each platform. The students will look for patterns and see which height platform made their plane fly the furthest.


Good questions to ask during the activity:

  • Which platform is giving your airplane a considerable disadvantage in distance? Why?
  • Do you observe any patterns yet?
  • Do you think the size of the airplane makes any difference in flight distance?

Hands on measurement activity requiring students to fly paper airplanes and then measure the distance traveled! Students love it :)

http://talesofateachaholic.blogspot.com/2014/04/five-for-friday-saturday-edition.html

3.P.2A.2- Construct explanations using observations and measurements to describe how matter can be classified as a solid, liquid, or gas.

The teacher will start the lesson by showing the music video "Matter Chatter". The students will be able to participate and sing along. The video will go over what the lesson will be about: the three forms of matter. The teacher will teach on the three forms of matter, and the physical and chemical changes of matter. The students will then participate in an activity where they can see all three forms in one experiment. The teacher will pass out clear cups with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, spoons, and walk by with root beer. The teacher will pour the root beer in the students cups and show them how the root beer and ice cream forms three forms of matter. The root beer is the liquid, the ice cream is the solid, and the bubbles from the chemical reaction is the gas. The students will better understand how things can go from one form to three forms of matter.

Questions to ask during the activity:

  • Can you think of anything that isn't made of matter?
  • What criteria would you use to judge the gaseous state of matter?










3.P.2A.1- Analyze and interpret data from observations and measurements to describe and compare the physical properties of matter (including length, mass, temperature, and volume of liquids.

The teacher will teach a lesson on the different physical properties of matter. The class will be given a bowl with M&Ms, pretzels, raisins, juice, marshmallows, and gummy bears. The teacher will pass out an activity sheet and ruler to each student. The students will be instructed to observe and measure the matter (food) before they eat the matter and to record their results. The students will observe the smell, color, weight, texture, and taste. After the students record all their data, the class will go over their observations.

Questions to ask throughout the lesson:

  • Why is matter important to everyday life?
  • What are three stages of matter?
  • Can you give me an example of an object that can be a solid, liquid, and gas in the same day?

www.schoolandthecityblog.blogspot.com

FOOD IS MATTER: physical properties of matter experiment and snack


3.E.4B.1- Develop and use models to describe the characteristics of earth's continental land forms and classify land forms as volcanoes, mountains, valleys, canyons, plains, and islands.

The teacher will show a video on the different land form's of earth. The students will have a brief discussion to ask any questions and add any comments to what they just learned. The teacher will pass around a box for the students to draw a piece of paper out of. Each paper drawn has a different land form written on it. The students will be put in pairs according to the drawn land forms. The teacher will take the students to the library to research their land forms. The students will get as much information as they can on their land form before the class heads back to the classroom.The teacher will have supplies laid out on the supply table. There will be shoe boxes, markers, construction paper, sand, glue, and modeling clay. The teacher will go over the behavioral expectations and instructions. The pairs of students will get their supplies needed to make their land form model and start working. They will use their imagination and facts from what they learned to make a model diorama of their land form. The students will present their land form to the class when everyone is finished and the students will take notes on the information given during each presentation. The teacher will assess the presentations and dioramas for accuracy and add information when needed.

Good questions to ask during the lesson:

  • How would you compare a mountain to a valley?
  • What is the most dangerous land form to live near?
  • Which type of land form could be the most beneficial?



3.E.4A.3- Obtain and communicate information to exemplify how humans obtain, use, and protect renewable and non-renewable earth resources.

The teacher will start the class by having the students sit at the front of the class on the rug. The teacher will conduct a read aloud using the book, The Lorax by Dr. Suess. The teacher will read the book to the class, then ask the students questions about what they understood from the book. The teacher will have the students get into groups of three and will teach the class about renewable and non-renewable resources. The teacher will pass around 120 goldfish crackers to each group. Each student in each group will play a role during this activity "Over fishing". The roles are the protector, recorder, and fisherman. The protector will take 50 of the goldfish from the beginning and the pond will have 70 goldfish in it. Every round the protector will put four goldfish in the pond, and the fisherman will double the number of fish he "catches" every round starting at "1 fish". The group has to make predictions about how many rounds they will get to before they have no more fish in the pond. This activity shows the students that sometimes humans take more than they need and that we should conserve our resources.

Questions to ask during the lesson:

  • What do you think about the overuse of renewable resources?
  • How would you construct a plan for your community to help them understand and want to use less natural resources? 
  • Do you agree that natural resources are limited and could run out in the future?


science-mattersblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/natural-resources-over-harvesting.html


3.E.4A.2- Develop and use models to describe and classify the pattern distribution of land and water features on earth.

The teacher will pass a globe around the classroom while teaching the students about water and land distribution. The students and teacher will have a discussion about this distribution and ask and answer questions. The teacher will have the students go to the back of the class to look at graphs and maps of the world and go over the land and water distribution. The students will use inquiry-based learning to study the land topography maps and graphs and make observations about where the most land and water reside and why they predict this is the case. The students will go back to their desks when they are finished looking at the maps and write in their journal what they learned about their world. They should cover the issues with the amount of land versus the growing population and take what they learned from a previous lesson about conservation and tie it into their writing about the limited freshwater on the earth's surface. The teacher will take up the student's journals and assess their writing and understanding. The class will then discuss the issues they infer for the future and any ideas they may have about the freshwater distribution issue.

Questions asked throughout the lesson:

  • Why is water distribution on earth significant?
  • Do you think it would be more useful to have more fresh water on earth or a greater amount of sustainable land? Defend your reasoning.
  • What solutions would you suggest for making salt water into fresh water?

3.P.3A.3-Analyze and interpret data from observations and investigations to classify different materials as either an insulator or conductor of electricity.

The teacher will teach the class about insulators and conductors while having the students take notes. The teacher will have stations set up around the room consisting of two wires, a battery, and a light bulb at each "electricity" station. The teacher will pass out the materials to the class for each table of students to use, consisting of a key, toothpick, nickel, penny, rubber band, and a brass paper fastener. The teacher will go over the behavioral expectations and instructions. The teacher will hand out the activity sheet and the students will get started. The students will observe the objects and predict if they are insulators or conductors. After they make their predictions, the students will test their predictions at the electricity stations. The students will discuss with their neighbor their predictions and and make observations on different objects, on whether they are conductors or insulators.

Good questions to ask during the lesson:

  • What might happen if you combine two conductors together and then test their help with an electric current?
  • Would an insulator and a conductor touching, still make the light bulb come on at the "electricity" station?
  • How would you classify the conductor objects against the insulator objects? Do you see any trends?

www.superteacherworksheets.com/insulators-conductors

Test various household objects to see if they conduct electricity.