LET S DO IT! Science Is A Verb! Elementary Part 2 ISBN 978-1-847003-58-4
Contents INTRODUCTION Lab Title What Happens When Steel Rusts? Students know that during chemical reactions the atoms in the reactants rearrange to form products with different properties. How do atoms form molecules? Students know all matter is made of atoms, which may combine to form molecules. What do metals have in common? Students know metals have properties in common, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity. Some metals, such as aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), silver (Ag), and gold (Au), are pure elements; others, such as steel and brass, are composed of a combination of elemental metals. How Would You Organize Atoms? Students know that each element is made of one kind of atom and that the elements are organized in the periodic table by their chemical properties. How are Atoms and Molecules Organized? Students know scientists have developed instruments that can create discrete images of atoms and molecules that show that the atoms and molecules often occur in well-ordered arrays. How can you separate mixtures? Students know differences in chemical and physical properties of substances are used to separate mixtures and identify compounds. What are some common properties of matter? Students know properties of solid, liquid, and gaseous substances, such as sugar (C 6 H 12 O 6 ), water (H 2 O), helium (He), oxygen (O 2 ), nitrogen (N 2 ), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). What are the most common atoms? Students know living organisms and most materials are composed of just a few elements. What are the properties of salt? Students know the common properties of salts, such as sodium chloride (NaCl). Page 1 6 12 19 26 31 37 45 51
Lab Title How Do materials Move Through Plants? Students know many multicellular organisms have specialized structures to support the transport of materials. Students know how sugar, water, and minerals are transported in a vascular plant. How does Exercise Effect the Amount of Carbon Dioxide We Exhale? Students know how blood circulates through the heart chambers, lungs, and body and how carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and oxygen (O 2 ) are exchanged in the lungs and tissues. How Does Your Digestive System Work? Students know the sequential steps of digestion and the roles of teeth and the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and colon in the function of the digestive system. How Do Our Kidneys Filter Out Impurities? Students know the role of the kidney in removing cellular waste from blood and converting it into urine, which is stored in the bladder. How Do We Know Photosynthesis is Happening? Students know plants use carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and energy from sunlight to build molecules of sugar and release oxygen. What is a Waste Product In Respiration? Students know plant and animal cells break down sugar to obtain energy, a process resulting in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and water (respiration). How does water evaporate and form precipitation? Students know when liquid water evaporates, it turns into water vapor in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water. Students know water vapor in the air moves from one place to another and can form fog or clouds, which are tiny droplets of water or ice, and can fall to Earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow. How is Water Recycled? Students know most of Earth s water is present as salt water in the oceans, which cover most of Earth s surface. Students know the influence that the ocean has on the weather and the role that the water cycle plays in weather patterns. Page 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 85
Lab Title How much fresh water is on Earth? Students know that the amount of fresh water located in rivers, lakes, underground sources, and glaciers is limited and that its availability can be extended by recycling and decreasing the use of water. Students know most of Earth s water is present as salt water in the oceans, which cover most of Earth s surface. Where do we get our water? Students know the origin of the water used by their local communities. What are the different Spheres of Earth? Students know uneven heating of Earth causes air movements (convection currents). How Does Weather Affect the Environment? Students know the influence that the ocean has on the weather and the role that the water cycle plays in weather patterns. What Do I Do in Severe Weather? Students know the causes and effects of different types of severe weather. How Do We Measure The Weather? Students know the causes and effects of different types of severe weather. Students know how to use weather maps and data to predict local weather and know that weather forecasts depend on many variables. Students know that the Earth s atmosphere exerts a pressure that decreases with distance above Earth s surface and that at any point it exerts this pressure equally in all directions. Why Do Stars Look Small? Students know the Sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar system and is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. What s In A Galaxy? Students know the solar system includes the planet Earth, the Moon, the Sun, seven other planets and their satellites, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets. What is the Role of Gravity? Students know the path of a planet around the Sun is due to the gravitational attraction between the Sun and the planet. Page 94 99 105 111 119 121 130 134 144
Introduction to the lab manual: This lab manual provides structure for teachers who wish to engage students in hands-on interactive learning but also provides support for teachers who are more comfortable with inquiry based learning. If you are a teacher who is taking their first dive into hands-on Science, the background material is designed to provide enough structure to help support the organization of the lab and its materials. Most of the materials are commonly found in local supermarkets and department stores at a nominal cost. A few materials, like scales and hand microscopes can be found on-line. The lab sheets can be given to students so they follow step by step, or they can be told a general structure to follow. The critical portion of any lab is to have a thorough discussion of the results and their thinking after the experiment is completed. It is suggested that you take as much time as the experiment to have this discussion with students. The real learning occurs not from the hands-on experiment, but from a deep discussion of the experiment, while making connections to the concept they are learning. For this reason, it is suggested that the students do the experiment FIRST, and then have the students learn the concepts. They will have a better understanding of the concept if they first conduct an experiment, gain the experience, and then discuss a new concept. Even without a strong Science background, get into the habit of asking questions. The process of asking questions and being inquisitive will generate more excitement for students and will engage them in a deeper way of learning Science. I don t know is as important to learning as having all the answers. Together you can learn Science and discover the major ideas that Scientists research. If you are an experienced teacher, the Teacher Guided Questions to Inquiry are designed to provide prompts for students. These questions are not intended to be assessment questions, but ones that will engage students in the general direction of the benchmark. The teacher may select one or two, but not all of them, to have students start on an open inquiry approach to learning. The students will engage in their own experiment, create their own procedures, and make conclusions from their data. For this reason, there are no answers to those questions. They are open ended and can be used to formulate interesting experiments for advanced students. The slight variation in some of the questions in each of the labs is designed to provide a sufficient number of prompts at various levels of Blooms Taxonomy to engage students. Throughout the year, encourage questioning, student dialogue, and the scientific process. There is no one exact scientific method as is often suggested. The process of learning about the world and universe, drawing conclusions from facts, and building these facts into strong scientific theories is the work of Science. Science is always growing, stretching, and expanding its knowledge base. It is about challenging well supported ideas to discover weakness. This exactly what students should be encouraged to do! And in the end, Science is not something to study, it is something to do! Science is a VERB!
Science Core Curriculum What Happens When Steel Rusts? Description: Students will examine how the effect of water and oxygen on steel wool, causes it to rust, and identify how the characteristics of the starting material are different from the ending material. Student Materials (per group): Steel wool 2 Cups 2 zipped plastic Bags Water Salt Spoon Background and Misconceptions: A chemical change results in a new compound or substance with different properties as compared to the starting substances. A cake goes through a chemical change as heat is applied to the ingredients causing them to combine in different ways to form a substance that is different from the original starting products. While it is truly difficult to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred, there are various clues that can be used to determine if a chemical reaction is a possibility. Keep in mind that these clues in themselves are not a guarantee that a chemical reaction has occurred! The only true way is to determine if a new substance has been formed. The following are some characteristics to examine in this experiment to determine if a new material or substance has formed: Color a color change or new colors formed. Temperature if there is an increase or decrease in temperature while the substance is changing. Gas bubbles may be given off during the change. Precipitate a new solid is formed that collects in a liquid. Teacher Edition
2 In this experiment, the steel wool changes when it is exposed to water and oxygen. The chemical reaction produces rust. The rust is a reddish-orange compound that forms in the back and is produced from the combination of the steel wool and the water and oxygen in the air. Amazingly, completely submerging steel wool in a cup of water will prevent the formation of rust because oxygen is an important ingredient in the formation of rust. (If you elect to try this as a demonstration, use water that has sat for a few days. A freshly poured cup of water will have dissolved oxygen in the water that will result in the formation of rust. After a few days, the dissolved oxygen will evaporate from the water). The salt will aid in the formation of rust. Steel structures on the coast will rust faster than those that are in fresh water environments. During this reaction the steel wool may feel warm. This is a result of the chemical reaction that is taking place as the steel wool reacts with water and oxygen to form the rust. Teacher Guided Questions to Inquiry: Use these questions to get the students started on their own inquiry!. 2. 3.. How do you know a new substance has formed? What is rust? How is cooking similar to rotting plants? What is evidence that a new substance has formed? Additional Hints: After the steel wool is placed in the bags, have students feel them after 30 minutes. There may be a noticeable temperature difference. Most steel wool has an oily substance protecting it from rusting. Teacher Edition
3 What Happens When Steel Rusts? TEACHER ANSWER KEY Description: Substances such as steel can change into other substances with different properties. In this experiment, you are going to examine how some things can change into different substances. Materials: Steel wool 2 Cups 2 zipped plastic Bags Water Salt Spoon Procedures: 1. Observe the steel wool. Write down how it looks, what it feels like, and what colors you see. Looks dark/black or gray. Is rough. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Pour water into the cups so the cups are half full. In one cup, pour a teaspoon of salt and stir. Dip the steel wool into each cup. Allow to sit for 1 minute. Write Water Only on one zipped plastic bag. Write Salt Water on a second zipped plastic bag. Remove the steel wool from each cup and place it into the bags, making sure you put the steel wool into the correct bags. Seal and allow to sit for 1 day. Examine the bags after 1 day. Teacher Edition
What Happens When Steel Rusts? What does it look like? Steel wool in water only There is some orange and red. Steel wool in salt water There is some orange and red, but likely there will be more. How is it different? There are additional colors There are additional colors. What colors do you see? Orange and red, and some of the gray from the steel wool. Orange and red and some of the gray from the steel wool, but there may be more here. What other observations can you make? The bag may be warm. This bag may have more deterioration, rusting than the water only. Teacher Edition
What Happens When Steel Rusts? Questions 1. How do you know that a new substance was formed in the bag? There are new colors present. Also, some of the steel wool seemed to disappear and change. 2. When you bake a cake, how do you know that the ingredients have changed? The new cake has a different look and feel as compared to the original ingredients. 3. Another change that can occur is when plants die and rot. How do you know that a change is occurring? The new substances that are formed are different than the starting plants. Also, smells may be given off. This all means that the starting ingredients had different characteristics than the ending ingredients. Teacher Edition