Title: Everything’s Under Control -- Author(s): Kimberly Wells -- Grade Level: 5th -- Subject Matter: Science -- Synopsis: Students will use skills they have learned to create a controlled study and will invite parents to a "Mad Scientist Fair".

Title III Technology Literacy Challenge Grant

Learning Unit

LU Title: Everything's Under Control	Author(s):Kimberly Wells
Grade Level: 5th	School : Sylvan-Verona Beach School
Topic/Area: Science	Address: PO Box 246 Verona Beach, NY 13162
Email:	Phone/Fax: (315) 762-4404

Written Overview:

This 3 week integrated unit incorporates standards from MST and ELA. At the end of the unit, students will use the skills they have learned to create a controlled study. Students will invite parents in to participate in a "Mad Scientist Fair."

During this the teacher must check students work on a continual basis so that they are able to meet the expectations. Personally I choose to use random checks and keep anecdotal notes on each students so that way they always have to be on task and meeting deadlines. One strategy that I use is "On The Clock." During this time, students have a very specific task that needs to be accomplished in a specific time period. When done consistently, this method is very effective in helping with classroom management.

Content Knowledge:

Declarative Students will:	Procedural Students will:
learn the parts of a controlled study, (hypothesis, materials, controlled variable, manipulated variable, dependent variable, procedure, observation, conclusion)	create a Controlled Study
learn how to write up a controlled study using the scientific method	conduct experiments
recognize the validity of a classmates classification	make and record observations
observe what is necessary in order for an experiment to be reliable and the results to be valid	classify "specimens" according to observable characteristics
	prepare a key showing their classification system
	compare results to given hypothesis

Essential Questions

1. Why is it important that scientists use controlled studies?

2. How have scientists used controlled studies?

3. How do controlled studies influence the way we live?

Initiating Activity

Every student will be given an ice cube (see initiating activity attachment). Students will put their ice cube in its assigned spot. A stopwatch will be used to keep track of time and a recorder will record melting times as they happen. Once all of the ice cubes are melted, the teacher will ask students to share the location of their ice cube and how long it took to melt. The teacher will record results on the overhead so that students can compare and discuss the results. After the discussion, choose one melting time from each location and have students create a graph that shows results.

Once this is complete, discuss the unit they are going to be studying, making sure to include the culminating assessment and rubric.

Connection to State Learning Standards

Mathematics, Science, and Technology

Standard 1: Analysis, Inquiry, and Design Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.

Standard 2: Information Systems Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Standard 3: Mathematics Students will understand mathematics and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, by applying mathematics in real-world settings, and by solving problems through the integrated study of number systems, geometry, algebra, data analysis, probability, and trigonometry.

Standard 4: Science Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Standard 5: Technology Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.

Standard 6: Interconnectedness: Common Themes Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.

Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions.

English Language Arts

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the Accepted conventions of the English language for effective social Communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and Listeners, they will use the social communications of others to Enrich their understanding of people and their views.

Day One

Procedure:

***Hand out definition packets

***Give students several minutes to flip through and become familiar with the terms.

***Read through the words together, have students’ practice saying words.

***Explain to students what each word means

***Introduce the scientific process record sheet.

***Place a copy on the overhead.

***Have students reflect on their experiences with the melting ice cube.

***Model (using a think aloud) how the ice cube experiment should be written up, ask students for help completing the task.

***Answer any questions

***Tell students they must keep this the entire year, as a model for how experiments should be written. They also need to keep their packets all year long.

Materials: definition packets, data from ice cube experiment, and scientific process sheets

Day Two

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Procedure:

***Quick on the spot check for understanding on definitions and parts of a controlled study

***Hand out Peanut Butter and Jelly Anyone? (see attachment)

***Give students several minutes to read through and become familiar with the experiment.

***Read through the experiment together.

***Introduce the scientific process record sheet.

***Answer any questions

***Monitor student progress as they complete the experiment.

***Once students are done, have them present their procedure to sixth graders who are familiar with the process. If procedures and materials are not listed correctly, they will be redone. The final product will be written and hung in the hallway with a picture.

Materials: peanut butter, jelly, bread, knives, napkins, Peanut Butter and Jelly Handout

Day Three

Aren’t We Sweet?

Procedure:

***Quick on the spot check for understanding on definitions and parts of a controlled study

***Hand out bags of mixed candies (sweet tarts, jelly beans, rolos...) DO NOT OPEN THE BAGS!!!

***Discuss the similarities and differences of the bags.

***Ask one student to divide candies into 2 groups using observable characteristics.

***Record results. (see attached)

***Continue to use observable characteristics to break down groups until there is only one type of candy left in each group

***Divide class into groups of 3

***Give each group a new bag of candies

***Have them develop a new key that is different from the class key

***Record information

***Monitor student progress

***EAT THE CANDIES!!!! Students can guess the brands!

Materials: 8 different candy, colored pencils, paper, and plastic bags, record sheet

Day Four

COLORED WATER #1

Procedure:

***Hand out Colored Water Experiment Sheet

***Give students several minutes to read through the experiment.

***Explain to students that this is the first complete experiment they will be conducting.

***Go step by step through experiment, reviewing parts and showing where materials are.

***Answer any questions

Materials: colored water write up, materials for experiment

Day Five

COLORED WATER #2

Procedure:

***Have students get out colored water sheet from Day Four

***Hand out blank controlled studies sheet

***Answer any questions.

***Review science rules.

***Have students begin experiment. (see attachment)

***Monitor pupil progress

***Have students in small groups compare their findings

***Model writing a conclusion

***Have students write their own conclusions based on findings

***Use checklist to evaluate personal strengths and process (see attachment)

Materials: colored water write up, 4 identical clear containers, 4 identical Celsius thermometers, 6 drops of blue, red, yellow food coloring, 6 drops of water, eye droppers, blank controlled study sheets, check list

Day Six

Vroom Vroom!!!

Procedure:

***Hand out VROOM VROOM!!! (see attached)

***Have students read through the sheet

***Orally explain to students what they are going to do (see below)

***Put materials out

***Have students use information given to them to create a controlled study.

***Have students conduct experiment and record materials, procedure and results

***Monitor student progress

***Have students compare and evaluate each other’s solutions

***Self, partner and teacher evaluation

***Discuss the different variables and what can change results

Materials: 2 feet of wood (1 per student), Materials such as sandpaper, oil, fabric, waxed paper, toys cars, controlled studies sheet, stop watch

Explain that each person will be conducting a race. They will be competing against their peers. The person who can make their car reach the bottom of the incline will win the Controlled Studies 2000!

Culminating Project

Students will develop two controlled studies. One will be modeled and one will be completed by parents and peers at the "Mad Scientist Fair." Students are responsible to come up with original ideas that they can test. They must gather resources and equipment that they need. Any materials in the classroom can be used as well as those from home. Students will meet daily with the teacher to share progress. Students will be assessed by the rubric (see attached) as well as by comment sheets (see attached). Students are not allowed to work at home on this project. They will be given 5 days in class to develop ideas, write up controlled studies, prepare materials and create a template on the computer for their solutions.

Controlled Studies Rubric

	Element #1 Scientific Process	Element #2 Content	Element #3 Presentation	Element #4 Mechanics and Spelling
4	Shows a sound understanding of all parts of a controlled study	Shows a sound understanding of all scientific processes involved	Neat in appearance Ideas presented in an orderly fashion, controlled study is easy to follow	Writing is free of mechanical, spelling and grammatical errors
3	Shows some understanding of all parts of a controlled study	Shows some understanding of the scientific processes involved	Neat in appearance Most ideas presented in an orderly fashion, controlled study is easy to follow	A few mechanical, spelling and grammatical errors
2	Shows little understanding of the parts of a controlled study	Shows little understanding of the scientific processes involved	Some ideas flow, but some areas are lacking order Format is not easy to follow	Many mechanical, spelling and grammatical errors
1	Shows no understanding of the parts of a controlled study	Shows no understanding of the scientific processes involved	Project incomplete Material in no apparent order Controlled study cannot be followed	Mechanical, spelling and grammatical errors interfere with intended meaning

Have You Considered These Yet?

Prerequisite Skills:

Students need to know how to create and label graphs and diagrams.

Students need to know how to use a stopwatch.

Students need to be familiar with a word processing program.

Assessment Modifications:

Because this unit is taught in chunks, students of all abilities will be able to complete the daily and culminating assessments. The checklist will be used for all students but students will be assessed on an individual basis not compared to the rest of their classmates.

Unit Schedule/Time Plan

This unit can be completed in 2-3 weeks when managed correctly. It is important however to be flexible if this is your student’s first experience with this type of project. It is also important to plan more time then you feel will be necessary for your class if this is the first time you have tried this.

Attachments

As Cold As Ice...

You will be told a specific place, ex: hand, mouth, empty cup, cup with warm water, cup with cold water...

When you get your ice cube you are to put it in this location and watch it until it melts.

You will have a stop watch to determine how long it takes.

Once the cube has melted, you are to report to the recorder how long it took, where you were in the room and any other important details.

***If you think it will take your cube a long time to melt, have a free reading selection ready!

THE GREAT ICE CUBE MELT
RECORDER SHEET

Name _____________________ Date _________________________

It’s All Under Control

Problem: ________________________________________________________________

Hypothesis: I think that ____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Variables:

Manipulated:_____________________________________________________________

Dependent:______________________________________________________________

Controlled: ______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Materials (list all or you can’t use them):

_____________________ _____________________

Procedure (please number and list in order):

____________________________________________________

Observations (if you draw or chart your observations, they must be labeled):

I am going to ___draw/chart information __give a written explanation of what I observed.

_______________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

Conclusion: Based on my observations, ____________________

____________________________________________________

Peanut Butter and Jelly Anyone?

You have just been hired at PBJ Cafe. Your job is to teach all of the new cooks how to prepare PBJ for the thousands of people that eat lunch there everyday. The thing is, your new staff members are from the planet Peanut and cannot hear or talk. They can only read.

Your task is as follows: 1) Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

2) List the materials needed for your sandwich.

3) Record the procedure for making it on the bottom of this sheet.

4) Share your directions with last years "Transplanted Peanuts".

5) Either rewrite or create a paper PBJ and write a final copy.

6) Hang in the hall.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in making PBJ Cafe a success!

Materials (list all or you can’t use them):

_____________________ _____________________

Procedure (please number and list in order):

____________________________________________________

Aren’t We Sweet?

Candy

______

________ ________

________ ________ ________ ________

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ______

Directions:

Using your paper as a place mat, separate the candy by observable characteristics. Once the candy is divided create a key so that is someone else were to pick up your bag, they could separate the candy the same way.

Name _____________________ Date _________________________

It’s All Under Control

Problem: Do some colored liquids absorb more heat from the sun than other liquids?

Hypothesis: I think that ______________________________________

___________________________________________________

Variables:

Manipulated: red, blue and yellow food coloring

Dependent: final temperature of liquids

Controlled: size and shape of containers, thermometers, amount of water, temperature of water, size and number of drops and location of containers

Materials (list all or you can’t use them):

4 identical clear containers 4 identical Celsius Thermometers

water (room temperature) 6 drops of blue food coloring

6 drops of red food coloring 6 drops of yellow food coloring

6 drops of water

Procedure (please number and list in order):

1. Pour equal amounts of room temperature water into each clear container.

2. Place 6 drops of blue food coloring into the first container.

3. Place 6 drops of red food coloring into the second container.

4. Place 6 drops of yellow food coloring into the third container.

5. Place 6 drops of water into the fourth container.

6. Place a Celsius thermometer in each clear container in exactly the same position.

7. Record the temperature of each sample after 5 minutes.

8. Place the clear containers with thermometers near a source of sunlight for 2 hours (away from other heat sources)\

9. Record the temperatures for each sample.

Observations (if you draw or chart your observations, they must be labeled):

I am going to ___draw/chart information __give a written explanation of what I observed.

____________________________________________________

Conclusion: Based on my observations, ______________________________

____________________________________________________

Format and experiment copied from CIMS Level 5-Module 1

CHECK YOUR PARTNER

CHECK THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSES.

If you did not check the yes column, go back and explain the problem to your partner. If you hand in a sheet with all yes marks, I expect that your partner will get a big A!

My partner’s scientific process is easy to read:

sentences are complete YES___ NO___

handwriting is legible YES___ NO___

thoughts are well explained YES___ NO___

My partner answered all of the questions. YES___ NO___

My partner included:

Problem YES___ NO___

Hypothesis YES___ NO___

Manipulated variable YES___ NO___

Dependent variable YES___ NO___

Controlled variable YES___ NO___

Materials YES___ NO___

Procedure YES___ NO___

Observations YES___ NO___

Conclusion YES___ NO___

My partner does _________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________ very well.

My partner needs work on: _______________________________________________________

Created by Kristi Engler

CHECK YOURSELF

CHECK THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSES.

If you did not check the yes column, go back and fix the problem. If you hand in a sheet with all yes marks, I expect to be able to put a big sticker right on the top!

My scientific process is easy to read:

sentences are complete YES___ NO___

handwriting is legible YES___ NO___

thoughts are well explained YES___ NO___

I answered all of the questions. YES___ NO___

I included:

Problem YES___ NO___

Hypothesis YES___ NO___

Manipulated variable YES___ NO___

Dependent variable YES___ NO___

Controlled variable YES___ NO___

Materials YES___ NO___

Procedure YES___ NO___

Observations YES___ NO___

Conclusion YES___ NO___

The part about this experiment I liked best was ____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________.

The thing that I improved most on was ____________________________________________________________________

I need work on: _______________________________________________________

Created by Kristi Engler

#10

Vroom Vroom!!!

Directions:

You are about to compete in the Controlled Studies 2000.

In order to qualify for this event you must read all directions and complete the Controlled Study Sheet (all parts).

Goal: To have your racecar travel down a ramp (board) the fastest.

Materials you are allowed to use are the ones I have provided.

Task: You need to use the boards that I have provided. You may add any of the given materials to your board, you may choose to change the incline or you may choose a combination approach.

The catch is you only get one board.

Take your time and have fun!