This week, we tried something a little different. All three classes were working with the scientific method, but the activities they used to explore the different steps varied a little. I did go over a few basic lab rules with all three classes--read all directions, no horseplay, never eat your lab supplies, wear goggles and gloves when working with dangerous items, and finally--ask questions! Now, we should be safe this year :) the different steps and how to record everything carefully, and with detail. Today, they paired up and, using a small set of Legos, wrote instructions on how to build a small structure. Then, the groups swapped instructions, and using an identical set of Legos, had to follow the instructions and see if they could create the original structure. After comparing the two structures, they were able to analyze their directions and see where they could have been more clear--maybe a better description of the piece being used, or a more exact location described of where it was going. I think they had a lot of fun with this activity, even if the final products weren't all the same. With the other two classes, after a discussion on the basic steps of the scientific method (although, as the video from last week pointed out, these steps can vary a little, and often involve and lot of circling back to repeat portions of the experiment), we did a lab testing if cookies will float in milk. The oldest group came up with their own questions to test (and didn't make it to the testing stage), so their actual labs will look a little different, where the other two classes were given the question Will all cookies float in milk? They made observations of the cookies they would be testing, made their hypothesis, and then tested the cookies.
Additional OptionsBooks: Aesop's The Crow and the Pitcher by Stephanie Gwyn Brown There are online versions of this, as well as videos that tell the fable of a crow that uses the scientific method to solve his problem. Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young. This book stresses the importance of details and obtaining as much information as possible to draw conclusions. How to Think Like a Scientist by Stephen P. Kramer Every day you answer questions-dozens, even hundreds of them. How do you find the answers to questions? How can you be sure your answers are correct? Videos: The Scientific Methods (Crash Course) Historically speaking, there is no one scientific method. There’s more than one way to make knowledge. In this episode we're going to look at a few of those ways and how they became more of the "norm." Independent and Dependent Variables Made Easy A clear, easy way to remember the difference between independent and dependent variables as well as constants in experiments. Myth Busters Interactive Watch the INTERACTIVE video and practice your skills at identifying the independent and dependent variables of an experiment. Activities: Brainstorm questions you have about the world. Look around your home, or outside, and make a list of questions you would like to figure out. Pick one that you have an idea of the answer (your hypothesis) and then come up with a way you could test your hypothesis. If you can actually perform the test, experiment. If not, do some research and see if another scientist has done your test. Practice making good observations and giving good instructions. Choose an item in your house, or head outside and choose a plant from your garden. Observe as many details about the item (size, shape, color, texture, smell, unique characteristics). Then, starting with the more general information (don't give away the best details first!), describe your item to someone else and see how many clues it takes before they can figure out what item you are describing.
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May 2020
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