Title III Technology Literacy Challenge Grant

Learning Unit

Overview | Content Knowledge | Essential Questions | Connection To Standards | Initiating Activity | Learning Experiences | Culminating Performance | Pre-Requisite Skills | Modifications | Schedule/Time Plan | Technology Use

 This is a unit developed for fourth grade students. This unit will take approximately 6 - 8 weeks. I meet with the children three days out of a six - day cycle for 45 minutes each day. In order to complete this unit at least 1 set of materials per group of 4 - 5 students is needed. The following is a list of materials needed; assortment of pictures, meter stick, pan balance, gram and kilogram weights, 2 bars of soap each having different density, ruler, cardboard, 2 paper cups, 3 - 4 inch nail, toothpick, 2 large books, pennies or paper clips, graduate, marble, screw, c - clamp, 50 gram mass, string, 3 inch block of wood, tape, thermometer, 4 jars with lids, piece of wool, piece of cotton, piece of polyester, 1 each of the six simple machines, balloon, 1 x 12 pan, plastic foam, 2 bar magnets, dawn soap, and electricity kit (copper wire, size c dry cell battery, and light bulb).

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

What are the properties of matter, and their significance?

What is energy, and what forms can it come in?

How can energy be changed from one form to another?

How do simple machines make the students life easier?

MST 4: Key Idea 3.1: Students will observe and describe properties of materials using appropriate measurement tools.

MST 4: Key Idea 3.2: Students will describe chemical and physical changes in matter.

MST 4: Key Idea 4.1: Students will describe a variety of forms of energy (e.g., heat, chemical, light) and the changes that could occur when they interact with other forms of energy.

MST 4: Key Idea 4.2: Students will observe the way one form of energy can be transformed into another form of energy present in common situations.

MST 4: Key Idea 5.1: Students will describe the effects of common forces (pushes and pulls) on objects, such as those caused by gravity, magnetism, and mechanical forces.

MST 2: Key Idea 1.1: Students will use a variety of equipment and software packages to enter, process, display, and communicate information

MST 2: Key Idea 1.3: Students will access needed information from printed media, electronic data bases, and community resources.

ELA 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding.

ELA 3: Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation.

Students will be asked to bring in 10 pictures of their choosing. These pictures will be sorted and classified according to the energy displayed. Along with this activity, the students will be given a worksheet with four headings and the necessary terms for the unit on it, in no particular order, and they will attempt to group these words however they feel is appropriate. The list of materials needed to complete this unit is in the overview.

Throughout this unit, all students will keep a notebook of terms, definitions, and materials used.

Hand out to students 5 pictures, each different, and ask the students what they have in common. (They are all matter - anything that has mass and takes up space.)

Properties - Describe the objects in the pictures you have in front of you. As the students call out descriptive words, the teacher will be writing them on the board in separate columns according to the property they are describing. After students have finished giving descriptive words, have them guess why the teacher grouped them the way they are on the board. From this the students will come up with the following headings: color, size, shape, hardness, and taste. The students will then recognize these as properties they learned about in previous grades.

Measuring mm, cm, m, km - Each group of students will be given a meter stick and asked what they could use this for and what is its scientific importance. Then they will measure their science book, the length of the room, and the distance to the office. Also, what would be the best measure for the distance from their home to school and the length of their pinky finger. From this students will have an understanding of millimeter, centimeter, meter, and kilometer.

Measurement using a balance - Using the balance provided, the students will measure the mass, (amount of matter in an object) of assorted objects given to them. A discussion of the weights of measure used and which are better for measuring specific objects (human, book, pencil). From this students will have an understanding of grams and kilograms. The students will also be measuring two objects that are the same size, yet are different weights, bringing in the idea of density (soap seems to work best for this).

Constructing a balance - Students will construct their own balance using a ruler, cardboard, paper cups, nail, toothpick, 2 large books, and either pennies or paper clips. Each of the groups will be measuring the same objects. The results of the measuring will be recorded by them in their science notebooks, and on the board by the teacher. A discussion will follow on why the results were so varied leading to an understanding of variables in an experiment.

Measuring Volume - Using the rulers from a previous day, the students will find the volume (amount of space an object occupies) of certain objects provided. Each group of students will then be given a marble, a screw, a cup of water, and a graduate and asked to find the volume and what variables there are. From this the students will have an understanding of area (L x W x H), milliliter and liter, that 1 cm cube is equal to 1 ml. of water, and that displacement is a good way to find the volume of odd-shaped objects.

Quiz - The students will now be given a quiz of 10 measuring matter terms and their definitions and pictures of objects which they will have to state which would be best to measure (balance, graduate, or metric ruler) the matter of the pictured object, i.e.: mass of a mouse, length of the tennis racket, etc..

Potential & Kinetic Energy - Choosing pictures from the bulletin board, from the initiating activity, the students will be asked what they have in common. From this it will be determined that they all use some type of energy, and a list of types of energy will be produced. (electrical, mechanical, chemical, light, sound, and heat). The teacher will then take those same objects and group them by potential and kinetic energy. The students should come up with a general idea with the teacher giving them the scientific terms. This activity will be followed by writing activities, in which the students will explain the type of energy that is taking place. Also, other dittos relating to where energy is, in use or not, and sources of energy will be used.

Mass - The students will be given a c-clamp, 50-gram mass, string, piece of tape, block of wood, and a meter stick. The students will be answering the following question: How is the height of a swinging mass related to its energy?

Heat - Ask the students if they know what a sailplane is. Show a picture of a sailplane. Discuss how the plane is able to stay in the air when it has no engine, and how it gets in the air. The term heat energy should result from the discussion and how it can be measured (temperature and degrees Celsius). The students will be given an experiment to be done at home using a string, light bulb, and spiral cut piece of paper. The results will be recorded in their notebooks the following day with a discussion of variables involved.

Temperature - The students will measure the temperature of a container of ice water, and warm tap water. Different thermometers will be shown to the students and how to read them.

Movement of heat through a solid - Why was the container holding the warm tap water, warm to the touch? The terms conduction and conductor will be introduced. How can you protect yourself from something that is too hot? The term insulator will be introduced.

Movement of heat through liquids and gases - How do we heat our classroom? The term convection and radiation will be introduced. The students will half fill 4 jars with hot tap water, place a thermometer in each, and then cover each jar with a different material (wool, cotton, polyester, and nothing). The students will then predict what will happen to the temperature of the water in each jar. They should now be able to determine which material was the best insulator.

Simple Machines - Using the overhead projector, put up the sheet "Six kinds of Simple Machines". Have the students identify each of the objects (lever, inclined plane, wedge, screw, pulley, and wheel and axle). Each student will have the opportunity to make lever (using all parts, fulcrum, load, force arm, and load arm), an inclined plane (including stairs), and work with pulleys and friction through assorted black-line masters. The class will take a walking tour of the school to identify simple machines in use. Once the students have an understanding of simple machines, a picture of a bicycle will be put on the overhead and the students will have to identify the simple machines in this compound machine. We will also identify any compound machines that are on the bulletin board, and what simple machines they are made of. This section will be concluded with a ditto of terms to be matched to pictures.

Static & Current Electricity - The students will be given a balloon and asked to blow it up, rub it on their head and try to stick it to something in the classroom. They should then be able to tell the teacher that static electricity (when negative and positive charges attract) was taking place. Show the class the overhead of Garfield and static. What other type of electricity is there? From the discussion, the term current electricity (when negative charges move along a path) will be discovered. Following this discussion, the students will be given a pan of water, plastic foam, and two bar magnets. Let them experiment with the magnets and how they attract and move the foam (which is holding one magnet in the pan of water). Then using this same pan of water and materials, the students will make a compass (soap will be added to the pan of water by the teacher, to relieve surface tension). Students will also test various items in the classroom to see which are magnetic and which are not.

Current Electricity - The students will now be given a piece of copper wire, dry cell, size c battery, and a light bulb and told to make the bulb light. Once the students have realized that 4 parts must be connected (terminals), they will have to find four different connections. This will be the beginning of an electricity unit by ESP where only certain parts are being used (complete circuit, incomplete circuit, brightness meter, hidden circuits, short circuits, conductors and non-conductors, compare / contrast short and long lengths of wire, compare / contrast types of wire, and compare / contrast sizes of wire). Were all objects that conducted electricity, also attracted by the magnets? The answer to this will be written in their science notebook.

 The students will be given the same worksheet as in the initiating activity and they will be able to correctly classify all terms. This worksheet will be given a number grade based on the number of terms that are accurately placed in the appropriate column. Students will also be graded on their notebook. In the notebook, the students will be required to answer the essential questions.

• Matter - the students will know the five senses that are used to determine properties.
• Simple Machines - Students will identify pictures shown to them (e.g.; screw, wheel & axle, pulley, lever, wedge, inclined plane)
• Energy - Students will identify different forms of energy from pictures.
• Electricity & Magnetism - Students will recognize an electrical circuit and different types of magnets.
• Computer knowledge - Students will be using Inspiration software and a word processing program.

 Students may work in partners for recording answers (for those who need a scribe).

Any writing may be read aloud to those who need it.

This unit is designed to take 6 to 8 weeks.

Mac - program Museum Madness

How a battery works - www.hepi.com/basics/how.htm

Electricity - http://www.the-education-site.com/emenu.html How modern plants generate electricity.

Simple Machines - http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirtrep/simple/index.html Students can report on a simple machine that they find around their home.

Elements of Machines - http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/InventorsToolbox.html click on "Gadget Anatomy" A lesson on the use of simple machines.

 Mechanics -http://family.go.com/Categories/Education/Features/family_1996_11/famf/famf199611_learnproj1/ This site reinforces the idea that many devices we use today are a combination of six very basic simple machines.

Machines - http://www.galaxy.net/~k12/machines/index.shtml 21different hands-on activities and one-paragraph descriptions of simple machines, followed by quick links to related Web sites.