AIMS Education Foundation

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1 TM Developed and Published by AIMS Education Foundation This book contains materials developed by the AIMS Education Foundation. AIMS (Activities Integrating Mathematics and Science) began in 1981 with a grant from the National Science Foundation. The non-profit AIMS Education Foundation publishes hands-on instructional materials that build conceptual understanding. The foundation also sponsors a national program of professional development through which educators may gain expertise in teaching math and science. Copyright 1998, 2013 by the AIMS Education Foundation All rights reserved. No part of this book or associated digital media may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means except as noted below. A person purchasing this AIMS publication is hereby granted permission to make unlimited copies of any portion of it (or the files on the accompanying disc), provided these copies will be used only in his or her own classroom. Sharing the materials or making copies for additional classrooms or schools or for other individuals is a violation of AIMS copyright. For a workshop or conference session, presenters may make one copy of any portion of a purchased activity for each participant, with a limit of five activities or up to one-third of a book, whichever is less. All copies must bear the AIMS Education Foundation copyright information. Modifications to AIMS pages (e.g., separating page elements for use on an interactive white board) are permitted only for use within the classroom for which the pages were purchased, or by presenters at conferences or workshops. Interactive white board files may not be uploaded to any third-party website or otherwise distributed. AIMS artwork and content may not be used on non-aims materials. Digital distribution rights may be purchased for users who wish to place AIMS materials on secure servers for school- or district-wide use. Contact us or visit the AIMS website for complete details. AIMS Education Foundation 1595 S. Chestnut Ave., Fresno, CA aimsedu.org ISBN Printed in the United States of America CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING ii 1998 AIMS Education Foundation

2 Animal Cycles and Trends Plant Cycles Earth Cycles Sky Patterns Cycles of Knowing and Grow ing Table of Contents Look At Me Now! I Am Growing (Song) Tell Me When Your Birthday Comes A Time of Their Own Butterfl y Cycle (Song) Silkworms Just a Little Sprout Golden House Pump kin Song Observing Bulbs Grow ing Bulbs What a Corny Life A Snap of Time Season-O Fallen Leaf Dirt Baggers Sky Watchers Mr. Groundhog, Mr. Groundhog Look at the Moon Earth-Friendly Cycles Paper A Pressing Issue A Sign of The Times Paper Back Song After Lunch A New Look for an Old Bag Bibliography CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING iv 1998 AIMS Education Foun da tion

3 Cycles of Knowing and Grow ing Introduction Mary Baratta-Lorton in the book Mathematics Their Way (Addison-Wesley. Read ing, MA ) says, Looking for patterns trains the mind to search out and discover the similarities that bind seemingly un re lat ed in for ma tion to geth er in a whole. A child who expects things to make sense looks for the sense in things and from this sense develops un der stand ing. A child who does not see patterns often does not expect things to make sense and sees all events as discrete, sep a rate, and un re lat ed. Cycles of Knowing and Growing is based on the overarching theme of science, patterns of change. Cycles and trends are two types of patterns explored in this book. At an early age, children begin to ask questions and observe pat terns in their world. What child doesn t notice the repeatable pattern of day and night? What child isn t in trigued by a pile of fallen leaves? What child hasn t stopped to look at a flower that bloomed from a bud they no ticed the day before? What child hasn t boasted about how big he/she has gotten? Children are observers of patterns, but frequently they have not been pro vid ed the op por tu ni ty to analyze them or to view them as parts to whole. This book, Cycles of Know ing and Growing, offers young learn ers the op por tu ni ty to attend to real-world pat terns as they emerge over time. As children become familiar with their world, they can be guided to observe chang es, including cyclical changes like night and day, the phases of the moon, and the seasons. They can look at the changes in themselves or other animals such as cat er pil lars. Given enough experience and focused ob ser va tion, they can make predictions about what will happen next. By focusing on a natural object such as a tree and ob serv ing it over time, chil dren start to make gen er al i za tions about changes in other natural ob jects. Experiences for young children should con cen trate on observations, de scrip tions, and the finding of patterns. Given these beginning ex pe ri enc es, chil dren will later be able to make more sophisticated observations and predictions in relation to change. In later years they will be able to make explanations and ap pli ca tions that are based on those pre vi ous ex pe ri enc es and observations. Benchmarks for Science Lit er a cy (American Association for the Ad vance ment of Sci ence, p. 272) rec om mends that Children should attend to change and describe it. Only after they have a store house of ex pe ri ence with change of different kinds are they ready to start thinking about patterns of change in the ab stract. Cycles of Knowing and Growing is optimistically based on the hope that teach ers be tween kindergarten and third grade will share in providing chil dren with op por tu ni ties to analyze these natural cycles and trends over several years. It makes sense that the seed from the pump kin grown in Just A Little Sprout be the same seeds planted the fol low ing year in grade one, two, or three. It also makes sense that the pump kins grown from the year be fore, be the pumpkins observed in Golden House. Students that have observed the moon in first grade can continue their Moon Watch ers Jour nal in sec ond and even third grade. We hope that Cycles of Knowing and Growing will provide primary teachers a forum of sharing and collaboration so that chil dren will be come pat tern seekers for the rest of their lives. CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING v 1998 AIMS Education Foun da tion

4 Project 2061 Bench marks for Science Literacy* AIMS is committed to re main ing at the cutting edge of pro vid ing curriculum ma terials that are user-friendly, ed ucationally sound, developmentally appropriate and aligned with the rec om men da tions found in national education reform documents. The Nature of Science The Physical Setting The Living Environment People can often learn about things around them by just observing those things careful ly, but some times they can learn more by doing something to the things and not ing what hap pens. Tools such as ther mometers, magnifiers, rulers, or bal anc es often give more in for ma tion about things than can be ob tained by just ob serv ing things with out their help. The sun can be seen only in the daytime, but the moon can be seen sometimes at night and some times during the day. The sun, moon and stars all appear to move slowly across the sky. The moon looks a little differ ent every day, but looks the same again about every four weeks. Like all planets and stars, the earth is approximately spher i cal in shape. The rotation of the earth on its axis every 24 hours pro duc es the night-and-day cycle. To people on earth, this turning of the planet makes it seem as though the sun, moon, planets, and stars are orbiting the earth once a day. Some animals and plants are alike in the way they look and things they do, and others are very different from one another. There is variation among individuals of one kind within a population. Most living things need water, food, and air. Describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their ob ser va tions with those of others. A lot can be learned about plants and animals by observing them closely, but care must be taken to know the needs of living things and how to pro vide for them in the classroom. Some events in nature have a repeating pattern. The weath er changes some from day to day, but things such as tem perature and rain (or snow) tend to be high, low, or medium in the same months every year. Change is something that happens to many things. Animals and plants sometimes cause changes in their surroundings. Things can be done to ma teri als to change some of their properties, but not all materials respond the same way to what is done to them. Animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants (or even other animals) for shelter and nesting. Many materials can be re cy - cled and used again, sometimes in different forms. CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING vii 1998 AIMS Education Foun da tion

5 The Designed World The Mathematical World Common Themes Habits of Mind Some kinds of materials are better than others for making any particular thing. Ma te - ri als that are better in some ways (such as stronger or cheaper) may be worse in other ways (heavier or harder to cut). Simple graphs can help to tell about observations. Some things are more likely to happen than others. Some events can be pre dict ed well and some cannot. Sometimes People can keep track of some things, seeing where they come from and where they go. Keep records of their in ves ti g- a tions and observations and not change the records later. Several steps are usually involved in making things. Some materials can be used over again. people aren t sure what will hap pen because they don t know everything that might be having an effect. Some changes are so slow or so fast they are hard to see. * American Association for the Advancement of Science. Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Oxford University Press. New York CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING viii 1998 AIMS Education Foun da tion

6 National Science Education Stan dards* Abilities Necessary to do Scientific Inquiry Understandings About Scientific Inquiry Properties of Objects and Materials Position and Motion of Objects Life Cycles of Organisms Organisms and Their Environment Properties of Earth Materials Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses. Scientists use different kinds of investigations de pending on the questions they are trying to answer. Types of in ves ti ga tions include describing objects, events, and or gan isms; clas sifying them; and doing a fair test (ex per i ment ing). Simple instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers, provide more in for ma tion than scientists obtain using only their senses. Objects have many ob serv able properties, including size, weight, shape, color, tem per a ture, and the abil i ty to react with other substances. Those prop er ties can be measured using tools, such as rulers, bal anc es, and thermometers. The position of an object can be described by locating it relative to another object or the background. An object s motion can be described by tracing and mea suring its position over time. Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, de velop ing into adults, re pro duc ing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different or gan isms. All organisms cause changes in the environment where they live. Some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial. Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water and the gases of the atmosphere. The varied materials have different physical and chemical prop er ties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we use as food. Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use. Soils have properties of color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of many kinds of plants, in clud ing those in our food supply. Objects in the Sky Changes in the Earth and Sky Types of Resources The sun, moon, stars, clouds, birds, and airplanes all have properties, lo ca tions, and movements that can be ob served and described. Objects in the sky have pat terns of movement. The sun, for ex am ple, appears to move across the sky in the same way every day, but its path changes slowly over the seasons. The moon moves across the sky on a daily basis much like the sun. The ob serv able shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month. The supply of many re sourc es is limited. If used, resources can be extended through recycling and de creased use. * National Research Council. National Science Education Standards. National Academy Press. Washington, D.C CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING ix 1998 AIMS Education Foun da tion

7 Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics* Mathematics as Communication Mathematical Connections Estimation Number Sense and Numeration Geometry and Spatial Sense Relate physical materials, pictures and diagrams to mathematical ideas Use mathematics in other curriculum areas Apply estimation when work ing with quantities, mea sure ment, computation and problem solving Construct number meanings through real-world ex pe ri enc es and the use of phys ical materials Understand our numeration system by relating count ing, grouping, and place-value concepts Investigate and predict the results of combining, sub di vid ing, and changing shapes Develop spatial sense Recognize and appreciate geometry in their world Measurement Understand the attributes of length, capacity, weight, mass, area, volume, time, temperature and angle Develop the process of measuring and concepts related to units of measurement Make and use mea sure ments in problem and everyday situations Statistics and Probability Collect, organize and de scribe data Construct, read and in ter pret displays of data Formulate and solve prob lems that involve collecting and analyzing data Patterns and Relationships Recognize, describe, extend and create a variety of patterns * National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. NCTM. Reston, VA CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING x 1998 AIMS Education Foun da tion

8 Topic Light and shadows Key Questions 1. Will we see Mr. Groundhog s shadow? 2. What will happen to Mr. Groundhog s shad ow as we observe it during the day? Learning Goal Students will observe, trace, and discuss the shad ow of a groundhog throughout a day. Guiding Documents Project 2061 Benchmarks Like all planets and stars, the earth is ap prox i mate ly spherical in shape. The ro ta tion of the earth on its axis every 24 hours produces the night-and-day cycle. To people on earth, this turning of the planet makes it seem as though the sun, moon, planets, and stars are orbiting the earth once a day. Keep records of their investigations and observations and not change the records later. NRC Standards The position of an object can be de scribed by locating it relative to another object or the background. An object s motion can be described by trac ing and measuring its position over time. The sun, moon, stars, clouds, birds, and airplanes all have properties, locations, and move ments that can be observed and de scribed. NCTM Standard Relate physical materials, pictures, and diagrams to mathematical ideas Math Measurement Science Physical science Earth s rotation shadows Integrated Processes Observing Comparing and contrasting Communicating Collecting and recording data Interpreting data Materials For the class: Mr. Groundhog pattern (see Management 1) stick with pointed end, 30 inches long hammer large sheet of butcher paper (see Man age ment 2) five markers of different colors Background Information Young learners usually experience shadows in re la tion to themselves. My shadow keeps following me. My shadow sure is getting tall and skinny. These ob ser va tions, along with reflective discussions about them, form a very important foundation for later understandings. These prior observations are essential for stu dents to eventually develop un der stand ings about the re la tion ship of the angle of the sun at differ ent times of the day and the resulting change in an object s shadow. Many young learners do observe that the sun s position seems to change, as does their own shadow and the shadows of other objects (such as Mr. Groundhog in this activity). It is quite a leap, how ev er, to assume that they make the connection in the observed changes in a shadow and the relative po si tion of the Earth and sun. We as teachers of young chil dren need to have a great er understanding of what causes the changes in the shadows students are ob serv ing. It helps us ask appropriate questions that will direct children to reflect about the changes they are seeing. At this age level, the focus is on the ob ser va tion of a shadow s change rather than the why of the change. It is im por tant for us as adults to know that shadows are cre at ed as objects block the sun s rays. The chang es in shadows occur because the Earth ro tates on its axis in a counterclockwise motion caus ing the sun to be seen in the eastern sky in the morn ing and in the west ern sky in the evening. Shadows that are cast be cause of the sun s apparent motion can be marked and measured. As the Earth rotates, the an gle of the sun s rays on an object changes. As the angle of the sun changes in relation to the object blocking its light, the shadow of that object will change in length, width, and position. Early in the morning, when the sun is low on the ho ri zon, the resulting shadow is rel a tive ly long, thin, and located to the west of the object. As the day progress es, when the sun seems to move higher in the sky, the shadow gets shorter and plump er. When the sun is nearly overhead, the shadow will be at its shortest. Lat er CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING AIMS Education Foun da tion

9 in the day, the sun s relative position caus es the shadow to lengthen again, but it now appears on the other side (east) of the object. Other chang es in the shadow s position and length will occur with sea son al changes. Management 1. The groundhog figure is constructed by mak ing a transparency of the picture provided. Place it on the overhead projector and then move the projector until the projected image is approximately 24 inches tall and 15 inches wide. Cut a piece of brown butcher paper twice the length and width of the groundhog. Fold the paper in half and trace the ground hog shape onto the double thickness. Cut the doubled pa per. Staple the two layers all around the groundhog s body, leaving the bot tom open. Stuff the the ground hog s body with news pa per, then staple the bottom closed. 2. Create a mat on which to trace the ground hog s shadow by taping side-by-side two five-foot lengths of butcher paper. 3. Look for an area outside where shadows from build ings, trees, or poles will not interfer with the ground hog s shadow. It must also be an area where the class can form a circle and be seated around Mr. Ground hog and the tracing mat. 4. Hammer the stake into the ground in the center of the mat. Insert the stake up through the bottom part of Mr. Groundhog s body. 5. If wind is a problem, either put heavy objects on each end of the mat or use plant stakes around the edg es to keep the wind from moving the mat. 6. Make sure to use a different color each time you trace the groundhog s shadow. It is difficult to trace so the teacher may need to do the tracing. 7. If you wish to do the shadow prediction part of the activity, you will need to make a graph by enlarging the one provided. Prediction markers are in clud ed. Procedure 1. Read one of the stories suggested in Curriculum Correlation about groundhogs and shadows. Ask the students if the groundhog would see its shad ow to day. If desired, the students can use the pre dic tion markers provided on the enlarged chart. Discuss the pre dic tions be fore going outside to check. 2. Take the students outside and have them form a cir cle around the groundhog and the tracing mat. Ask about the shadow and discuss their observations. Trace the groundhog s shadow as the students watch. Ask stu dents what time it is and record the time in side the traced shadow. Also inside the shadow out line, record some of their observations about the shad ow. Ask stu dents what they just did at school before com ing out to see the shadow. Record their responses in side the traced shadow. (For ex am ple: 8:30 A.M. The ground hog s shad ow is long er than the ground hog is tall. We just had calendar time.) 3. Wait about an hour and ask the children what they think Mr. Groundhog s shadow will look like now. Af ter students make their predictions, go out again and make a circle around Mr. Groundhog and the tracing mat. They should discuss what they observe. Trace the ground hog s shadow and inside record the time of ob ser va tion, what chang es they have observed in the shad ow, and what they have just done before com ing outside. (For example: 10:00 A.M. Mr. Groundhog is shrink ing. He is getting fatter. We just finished snack.) 4. Repeat this process as many times as possible, each time observing the students and noting their observation skills. 5. Ask the students to describe how the ground hog s shadow changed. 6. Ask them what changes might happen to their shadows during the day. 7. If possible, repeat this experience several times during the year. Connecting Learning 1. What causes a shadow? 2. Describe how Mr. Groundhog s shadow changed. 3. What changes did you observe? 4. Tell about your own shadow. 5. Explain how the game of shadow tag might change if you played it in the morning and then at lunch. 6. What did you learn by doing this activity? Assessment A few days after this activity, ask students to trace their own shadow in the early morning. After they have traced their shadow, ask them to think about Mr. Ground hog and then explain how their shadows will change. This can be done in writing or by having stu dents dictate their predictions to you if they are not yet fluent writers. Extensions Students can observe, trace, and discuss the chang es in the shadow of the sunflower, scarecrow, or other figures at different times of the year. Curriculum Correlation Kroll, Steven. It s Groundhog Day. Scholastic, Inc. New York Tompert, Ann. Nothing Sticks Like A Shad ow. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING AIMS Education Foun da tion

10 Make a transparency in order to enlarge Mr. Groundhog. CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING AIMS Education Foun da tion

11 WILL THE GROUND HOG SEE ITS SHADOW? YES NO CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING AIMS Education Foun da tion

12 Prediction Markers CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING AIMS Education Foun da tion

13 CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING AIMS Education Foun da tion

14 CYCLES OF KNOWING AND GROWING AIMS Education Foun da tion