Early Elementary Science
Sample Learning Activities
A Resource for the Illinois
Learning Standards
The following pages
have suggested activities, aligned to the standards, that teachers may find
useful in their classrooms. Teachers
throughout the state have used these activities. This is just a partial list, which will increase over time as
teachers contribute additional activities to the document.
|
Goal 11:
Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological
design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems. |
|
Learning Standard 11A:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles,
and processes of scientific inquiry. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Investigating Mealworms/Butterflies:
Students make and record observations, develop questions about the
Mealworms’ life cycle, anatomy, and behavior, and conduct investigations to
explore the mealworms’ behavior relative to such variables as light, moisture,
and food. Students keep a written log
of the mealworms’ growth and development over time and compare their findings
with other students.
2.
Investigating Factors That Effect Seed
Germination: Students make and record observations of a
germinating seed, and develop questions about the factors that influence seed
germination. Students design and carry
out a fair test to identify factors that effect seed germination, such as
light, temperature, and moisture.
Students record growth on charts and display it on graphs and compare
their findings with those of other students.
3.
Investigating
Which Magnet is the Strongest: Students design and carry out a fair test to
determine which magnet is the strongest.
Students record data and compare their findings with those of other
students.
4.
Moon
Phases: Make and record a series of observations of
the moon, both at daytime and nighttime.
Describe the pattern of change.
|
Know and apply
the concepts, principles, and processes of technological design. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Clay/and
or Aluminum Boat Construction: Students design, build and float boats when
presented with the problem of how to make a ball of clay or piece of aluminum float. Students test designs, make necessary
modifications and communicate the process of boat design.
2.
Wind
Catching Device: Students design and create a wind catching
device. Students test their designs,
making necessary modifications and communicate the results. (e.g., kites, parachutes, wind socks, pinwheels, and seed dispersal
models.)
3.
Magnetic
Toy Devices: Students design, build and test magnetic toy
devices using prior knowledge of push-pull forces to propose design
solutions. Students communicate the
process of magnetic toy device design orally, in writing or through
drawings. Example 1: Using materials
found at home or in the classroom, plus two
magnets, students create a rolling object which uses the magnet’s forces
to move. Example 2: Design and develop a magnetic maze.
4.
Egg
Drop Design: Students design a device to protect an egg
when it is dropped from a specified height.
Students test and modify their design.
|
Goal 12:
Understands the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections
of the life, physical and earth/space sciences. |
|
Learning Standard 12 A:
Know
and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and
change. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Draw
and Label Plant Parts: Students
draw and label plant parts and
make predictions about how a change in one part of the plant will impact the
entire plant system.
2.
Sort
Pictures of Animals: Students sort pictures of animals by observable features such
as feathers, fur, scales and communicate a rule for their groupings.
3.
Dandelion Patterns of Growth:
Students make and record observations of dandelion growth on their
school grounds and a nearby park or wooded area comparing open sunny areas with
predominantly shady areas. Students can collect and record data using random
tosses or hula-hoops, counting and comparing numbers of dandelions in the
contrasting environments. Students use
collected data to draw conclusions about the environments in which dandelions
grow best.
4.
Investigate
Tree Buds and Leaves: Students observe and describe differences in
the developmental stages of tree buds and the emerging leaves. Students observe and describe differences
and similarities in leaf structure, using appropriate terminology, and sort
leaves sharing similar characteristics into common piles. Students will investigate the functions of
the leaves including food production and moisture release.
|
Learning Standard 12 B:
Know
and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other
and with their environment. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Investigating
Animals and Their Habitats: Students observe examples of the
interdependency of living things (e.g., a robin feeds upon a worm and builds a nest in a tree; a squirrel feeds upon nuts and builds a nest
of leaves in a tree; products of plants
and animals provide humans with food, clothing, and shelter. Students learn that two essentials for
survival are food and shelter.
2.
Identifying
Bird Beaks and Food: Students observe bird beaks in nature or
from pictures and tell what kind of food the bird would have to find in the
environment in order to survive.
3.
Plant
Investigations: Students
place plants in different environments.
(e.g., outside in bright
sunlight, outside under shade, inside by a window, in the closet, under a large
jar, under a paper bag). Students
determine and test other factors which could effect plant growth. (e.g., wet climate-lots of water, dry climate-very little water,
windy-place fan on plant) Record height
and description of each plant. Students
make predictions as to what will happen to each plant and observe, record and
display data. Students summarize and
draw conclusions of their results.
4.
Classroom
Terrarium: Students design
and build a classroom terrarium that will maintain a balanced ecosystem. Students analyze what is necessary for
living things to survive. (e.g., As
simple as placing soil and plants in a sealed two-liter bottle, or creating a
“food chain” by adding crickets, and a chameleon or a lizard.)
5.
Insect
Interaction: Students describe interactions of insects
with their environments (e.g., pollination). Students can
tell why different insects live in different places.
|
Learning Standard 12 C:
Know
and apply concepts that describe properties
of matter and energy and the interactions between them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Energy
Match: Students are given a set of pictures
representing different sources of energy and a second set of pictures
representing things that need energy to function. Students match energy
sources with things that need energy to function. (e.g., sun and plant;
battery and radio).
2.
Grouping
in Many Ways: Students list many attributes or properties
of a group of objects. Next they group
objects and communicate the rule for grouping either orally or in writing.
3.
Snow
or Ice Melt: Students discuss and try different ways to
melt snow or ice using various sources of energy. (e.g., i.e., hair dryer, light bulb, hot plate, sun, water).
|
Learning
Standard 12 D:
Know and apply concepts that describe
force and motion and the principles that explain them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Identify
the Motion: Students describe how the position of an
object changes when a force is applied.
This can be done from a demonstration or by showing pictures of objects.
2.
Working
With Magnets: Students work with magnets to determine
whether a push or pull force would occur when like poles of magnets or opposite
poles of magnets were put near one another.
3.
Share
a Toy: Students bring in toys and show what forces
are used to make them work. (e.g., small metal cars, rolling down a track; a
wind-up toy; a pull toy)
4.
Balloon
Rockets: Students attach plastic soda straws to
balloons. Straws are attached or strung onto a string that reaches from floor
to ceiling or across the room. Blow up
balloons and let go. The students experiment
with what could be done to make it go farther or higher.
5.
Friction: Move
objects over tile floor and carpeted floor, and make observations. What can be done to make objects move
similarly.
6.
Spring
Scale: Observe the effects of objects of different
weights.
7.
Design
a Musical Instrument: Students design a musical instrument and
describe what is vibrating to create the sound.
|
Learning Standard 12 E:
Know
and apply concepts that describe the features and processes of the earth and
its resources. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Grouping
Earth Materials: Students observe properties of earth
materials (e.g., rocks, soil, sand) by
grouping materials according to properties (e.g., color, particle size, hardness), communicating the rule for
grouping objects.
2.
Weather
Predictions: Students collect weather data over time and describe
patterns. Students record data on
graphs or charts and make predictions based upon the patterns observed. Students compare predictions with official
weather forecasts.
3.
Resource
Conservation: Students identify renewable and
non-renewable resources and describe ways in which resources can be conserved.
4.
Playground
Clean Up: Students clean up their playground eliminating
resources that are not natural ones. Teachers should set safety
rules before the project begins. Sort and compare collected items based on
properties (e.g., wood, plastic, metal,
glass, cloth, food). Research and
compare to percentages of refuse nation wide (e.g., or locally).
5.
Sun
Positions: Students observe and record positions of the
sun throughout the school day and year. (e.g., Caution: Do not look directly into the sun.)
6.
Cloud
Identification and Prediction: Students
identify cloud types and use for predicting weather.
7.
Water
Flow through Earth Materials: Students observe how water flows through
various earth materials. To do this,
holes are punched in the bottom of cups filled with various earth materials (e.g.,
sand, soil, rocks). Students describe how fast the water flows
and the clarity.
|
Learning Standard 12 F:
Know
and apply concepts that explain the composition and structure of the universe
and Earth’s place in it. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
How
Many Earth’s Fit Across the Sun?
Students demonstrate the relative size of the sun and earth by creating a scale
model. (e.g., i.e., 2ft. 3 in. sun, 108 earths represented by ¼ in. sticky
dots)
2.
Moon
Phases: Collect and record data on moon phases over
time. Data is then used to predict upcoming moon phases.
3.
Measuring
Shadows: Students measure shadows at different times
of the day and record data.. Data is
then used to make predictions about how shadows will look at different times of
the day.
|
Goal 13:
Understand the relationships among science, technology and society in
historical and contemporary contexts. |
|
Learning Standard 13
A: Know
and apply the accepted practices of science. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Safety
Demonstration: Students demonstrate the stop, drop and roll
technique for putting out fires.
2.
Safety
Rule Book: Students design
and illustrate a book of safety rules for science.
3.
A
Magnifying Experience: Students observe something and draw a
picture, observe the object again using a hand lens and draw a picture. Students then compare observations and
pictures and describe how scientific tools help improve our observations.
4.
Comparisons: Students
compare simple observations with and without scientific tools (e.g., i.e.,
volume - how much is in a container, temperature-how hot or cold, time-predict
the time, distance- how far).
|
Learning Standard 13 B:
Know
and apply the concepts that describe the interaction between science,
technology, and society. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Which
Instrument: Students are asked, for example, to measure
length. They are given three tools, such as a balance, a ruler and
a thermometer. They must select and
measure with the appropriate tool.
2.
Which
Works Best: Students are asked to estimate a length and
then are asked to compare their estimate with an actual measurement. They are then asked to describe the benefits
of measurement over estimation. (e.g., Use a “standard” measurement)
3.
Look
Up Information About A Scientist: Students write and illustrate a story about
a scientists contribution. Describe
what life would be like without the discoveries of that scientist.
4.
Waste
Free Lunch: Students apply what they have learned about
reducing, reusing and recycling by packing a waste free lunch.
5.
Science
is Fun: Students draw a picture and describe what a
scientist might do that they think would be exciting, stimulating and they
would love to do everyday.
Late Elementary Science
Sample Learning Activities
A Resource for the Illinois Learning Standards
|
Goal 11:
Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological
design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems. |
|
Learning Standard 11A:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles,
and processes of scientific inquiry. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Ice
Cube Investigation In this investigation students observe ice
cubes melting under three conditions; in the air, wrapped in an insulating
material (e.g., Styrofoam, felt, cotton
balls) and in water. Students will make
predictions and observations, identify and control variables, record
observations and data, and analyze the data.
Students will draw tentative conclusions and develop possibilities for
further experiments.
2.
Microworlds: Students observe a wide variety of both
living and nonliving specimens.
Students make and record observations both in writing and through
drawings. Students learn about the
properties of magnifiers, become skillful in using hand lenses, slides, cover
slips, microscopes, and related apparatus.
3.
Conduct
erosion tests Using a
variety of soil samples found throughout the community, students record results
and draw relationships between rates of erosion and of combating erosion
methods. Local community agencies such
as the Farm Bureau Coop. Ext. Services, Geological Society and lawn and garden
centers could assist students.
4.
Plant
Growth and Development: Students will learn about conditions that
must be present in order for plant seeds to grow. Each person in a group can grow a different kind of seed, or each
person could test a different variable, such as temperature, amount of light,
kind of soil, amount of water, types of fertilizer.
5.
Bouncing
Ball: Students set up a controlled experiment to
investigate the drop height Vs the
bounce height of various kinds of balls. (e.g., tennis ball, Ping-Pong ball and small rubber ball.)
6.
Gummi
Worm Lab: Students use gummi worms to find length and
circumference in cm, mass in grams, and volume in cubic centimeters. (e.g., Volume is found by
displacement.) Qualitative properties
such as color, shape, texture and taste can also be investigated.
|
Learning Standard 11 B:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of technological design. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Paper
rocket/airplane construction: In this activity students learn to design,
build, and fly paper rockets. Students
will be given the problem of designing, building, flying, and testing a paper
rocket that will fly a given distance.
Students should be free to use available materials and not be confined
to a specific design or pattern.
Students should be encouraged to test and make modifications on their
model.
2.
Rocket
Car: Given a set of materials such as cardboard,
straight pins, balloons, tape and straws, students will construct a
balloon-propelled car that will roll across the floor. This is a good small group activity that
gives the students a chance to design, build, test, redesign and retest.
3.
Soil
erosion: After students have worked with erosion
models (e.g., available from the Cooperative Extension Service) they will go
into the community and identify an area with an erosion problem. They could study the area and design
strategies (e.g., new or existing) to control the erosion problem. Students could then develop a model of an eroded
area and actually try some various interventions to test their strategies.
4.
Design
a Kite: Students are to design, construct, and fly
kites. Kites should be designed to
achieve an identified goal (e.g., high
altitude, maneuverability, or ease of flight.)
Results should be evaluated, and modified to better achieve the goal.
5.
Squirrel
proof bird feeder: Design, construct and test a bird feeder
focusing on limiting squirrels access to the seed.
6.
Egg
drop: Design and construct a container which will
prevent a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a specified height. Students should be encouraged to test and
make modifications on their models.
|
Goal 12:
Understands the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections
of the life, physical and earth/space sciences. |
|
Learning Standard 12 A:
Know
and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and
change. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Life
Cycle Investigations. Fruit flies, meal worms and Wisconsin FAST
Plants may be used to study the stages of life cycle and will provide an
opportunity for students to make and record observations of appearance,
behavior and time intervals. Offspring
can be compared to each other and to their parents.
2.
Fruit
Flies: Fruit fly generations can be controlled by
selecting parents of the same or contrasting eye color (e.g., or other
characteristic) and by observing the eye color of successive generations to
determine if it is subject to inheritance.
Plant or animal responses to light, temperature, gravitational
orientation can be used to determine if responses are consistent in different
generations and among a generation and are therefore inherited or learned.
3.
Learned vs. Inherited Traits:
Create a chart of the inherited traits such as handedness of those in
the class and of their biological parents.
To demonstrate learned traits, have students practice catching a meter
stick dropped vertically from a uniform height with their dominant hand and
record the measurement where the stick is caught on each subsequent drop.
4.
Planting
Bean Seeds: The same type of bean seeds are planted at
three-day intervals so the stages of development can be observed.
|
Learning Standard 12 B Know and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their environment. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Owl
Pellets:
Owl pellets can
be used to provide students with direct evidence of predator/prey relationships
and enables students to develop a food chain.
2.
Symbiotic
Relationships: Students study pairs of animals and classify
the pairs according to three major forms of symbiotic relationships: commensalism, mutualism or parasitism.
3.
Bird
Adaptations: Students identify
and describe advantages of bird adaptations, evaluate the importance of
adaptations to birds and create an imaginary bird designed for a specific
habitat.
4.
Food
Web: Students create a food web by connecting
strings to illustrate the dependency organisms have on plants or animals within
a community. Fabrics or colored
toothpicks can be scattered upon different environmental backgrounds to
illustrate how camouflage offers an advantage to some organisms.
5.
Animal
Tracks: Students can select an area (e.g., such as
near a stream) and cast mold the animal tracks found there with plaster of
Paris. Students keep a journal of the
living and nonliving things found in the area.
|
Learning Standard 12 C:
Know
and apply concepts that describe properties
of matter and energy and the interactions between them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Melting
Ice Cube Investigation: In this investigation, the temperature of a
cup of water is monitored before, during, and after an ice cube melts in the
cup. Students record data on a graph and discuss the transfer of heat energy
from the water to the ice cube, resulting in a change of state from solid to
liquid. The concepts learned are then
applied to how foods are cooled when placed in an ice chest and what happens in
the freezer to convert water to ice cubes.
2.
Properties
of Light: Diffraction grating lenses, prisms,
polarizing filters and colored cellophane windows wheels can be used in
activities to illustrate properties of light.
3.
Refraction: Students
(e.g., 2) can investigate refraction of light by placing a coin in the bottom
of a cup, backing up until they cannot see the coin and then adding water to
the cup to make the coin visible again.
4.
Density:
Students investigate
density by adding liquids of various densities to a test tube or colorless,
narrow glass container. Use liquids
such as water, vegetable oil and rubbing alcohol. Pour liquids separately into the same container to watch them
layer.
5.
Transfer
of Energy: Students can make an electromagnet to
illustrate the transfer of energy from stored chemical to electric to magnetic
energy.
6.
Greenhouse
Effect: Students place two thermometers in two jars
of the same size, put lids on them, and place one in the sun and the other in
the shade. Observe and record
temperatures.
7.
Ice
Cream: Freezing ice cream
illustrates changes of physical states.
Ice changes to water as it absorbs heat energy from the liquid ice cream
mixture and the ice cream mixture becomes solid as it gives up heat energy.
8.
Liquids
and Solids: In this investigation students use a mixture
of cornstarch and water to illustrate the interchangeability of properties of
liquids and solids. Place a 2 to 1
mixture of cornstarch to water in a bowl (e.g., 1/4 cup cornstarch to1/8 cup
water) and combine using fingers. Small
amounts of both substances may be added to gain the proper consistency.
9.
Static
Electricity: Students rub balloons together or rub a wool
cloth on a plastic comb to produce static electricity. Students investigate how and why small items
are attracted to the balloons or comb.
10. Bulbs
and Batteries: Students are given batteries, small light
bulbs and wires. They will light the
small light bulb(e.g., s) using series and parallel circuits.
|
Learning
Standard 12 D:
Know and apply concepts that describe
force and motion and the principles that explain them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Bouncing
Ball Investigation: Students drop a rubber ball from different
heights and then explain their observations.
The explanation must include constant motion (e.g., the ball falls in a
straight line), variable motion (e.g., when the ball hits the floor, the motion
changes), and periodic motion (e.g., the ball continues to bounce until gravity
stops it). The students will
demonstrate the relationships between actions and reactions of the ball by
varying the height from which the ball is dropped.
2.
Magnetism:
Students are given an assortment of magnetic and nonmagnetic objects (e.g.,
nails, aluminum foil, pennies, cotton
balls, Ping-Pong balls.) They classify,
test and record results.
3.
Pendulums:
Students build a
pendulum system and investigate how mass and length of the string affect the
number of swings that the pendulum makes.
4.
Parachutes:
Students design and
build a parachute with plastic food bags, string, and metal washers to
investigate the forces of gravity and drag on the parachute.
5.
Friction:
Students roll toy
cars or other objects across different surfaces (e.g., smooth floor, carpet, sandpaper) and make
observations. They then relate the
observations to everyday examples such as the shoes they wear and tread on
tires.
6.
Action/Reaction: To
investigate forces in motion, students can tape a balloon onto a straw, thread
a string through the straw and then release the inflated balloon. The balloon should move in the opposite
direction as the force.
7.
Simple Machines: Students
use simple machines (e.g., lever, wheel
and axle, ramp) to demonstrate how they make work easier.
|
Learning Standard 12 E:
Know
and apply concepts that describe the features and processes of the earth and
its resources. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Cycles
of Earth: The students will diagram and explain how
Earth is affected by weather, rock, water, and air cycles. Students will explain the effect weather has
upon the building up and breaking down of Earth. They will explain how water and air cycles replenish themselves.
They will investigate sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. This could be
accomplished through hands-on experiments, answering open-ended questions or by
constructing models explaining these processes.
2.
Earth
Disasters: Students learn about and research various
natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, erosion) which
occur on Earth. Students will explain how natural disasters are created and the
effects (e.g., both short and long terms) they have upon Earth. They will develop a plan of action for their
school to lessen the effects of such phenomenon.
3.
Let’s
Recycle It: Students are asked to create a recycling
center for their school. They must
identify and classify materials which can be recycled. This could be accomplished through a problem
based learning activity with the result being an actual or hypothetical program
established at school.
4.
Have
Drip Will Travel: Students will write a story describing what
happens to a drop of water as it travels through the water cycle.
5.
Weather
Person: Invite a professional (e.g., meteorologist,
geologist, or agronomist) to explain seasonal patterns of change.
6.
Weather
Instruments: Students can make and use simple weather
instruments and record information on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis.
7.
Air
Pressure: With teacher assistance, students heat a
small amount of water in a soda pop can and, using tongs, quickly invert the
can into a container of cool water. The
air pressure in the room is greater than that inside the can and will crush the
can.
|
Learning Standard 12 F:
Know
and apply concepts that explain the composition and structure of the universe
and Earth’s place in it. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Phases
of the Moon: Students research, identify, and demonstrate
the phases of the moon. Using circles
of the same size, they shade in portions of each moon to illustrate new, waxing
crescent, half, full, and waning crescent stages of the moon. Each student is given a 4 inch Styrofoam
ball on a stick. Students form a circle
around a darkened room, facing the center where a single light bulb is
illuminated. Holding the Styrofoam ball
in front of them at arms length they observe each of the balls held by
students. Students are directed to view
each of the balls in succession from left to right (e.g., clockwise). From their position they can see all phases
of the moon (i.e., new moon in their own hand, waxing crescent to their
immediate left, first quarter (90 degrees) to the left, full moon directly
across from them, and so on).
2.
Seasons: Students
use a flashlight (sun) and globe of Earth to illustrate how the tilt of Earth
creates seasonal changes as it revolves around the sun.
3.
Expansion
of the Universe: Students demonstrate the expansion of the
universe by placing dots, with a felt tip pen, on different places on a
deflated balloon. One of the spots is
designated to represent our sun. The
balloon is then blown up to illustrate the expansion of the universe.
4.
Star
Bright Star Light: Students will be given a star chart to
identify recognizable stars and star patterns including the North Star,
Cassiopeia, the Big Dipper, and Orion.
The students should locate these patterns in the evening sky.
5.
Toilet
Paper Solar System and The Thousand Yard Model: Students use
toilet paper or other familiar objects to model the scale of the solar system
and relative sizes of the planets.
6.
Where
the Sun Sets: Students observe and record, over a period
of time (e.g., several months), where the sun sets.
7.
Making
a Sun Clock: Students make a paper (or other material)
sundial and use it to observe the apparent motion of the sun and explain its
relation to time keeping.
8.
Locating
the Big Dipper: Students use a rotating star map to predict
how the Big Dipper will change its orientation, both daily and seasonally.
9.
Star
Show: Students punch holes in a pie tin to
represent major constellations. A
flashlight is used to project the image in a darkened room.
|
Goal 13:
Understand the relationships among science, technology and society in
historical and contemporary contexts. |
|
Learning Standard 13 A:
Know
and apply the accepted practices of science. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Safety
Checklist: For each activity where there is a safety
hazard or equipment risk, the students are provided with a safety checklist
that they check off prior to and at the end of the activity to include handling
and using equipment and materials, cleanup, and storage.
2.
Comparing
Class Data: The teacher purposely initiates an activity
where variables are ill defined in terms of amounts of material, time,
intervals, etc. As groups compare data
and conclusions it becomes obvious that the “same” experiment yielded
completely different results. The
importance of controlling variables, operational definitions, exact
measurements, etc. becomes obvious.
|
Learning Standard 13 B:
Know
and apply the concepts that describe the interaction between science,
technology, and society. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Recycling
Experimentation: Students will have a “garbage free”
week. The amount of garbage (e.g., food,
paper, liquids, and aluminum) will be weighed for each lunchroom. The weights will be compared by grade level
for each day of the week. Computers,
and other technological devices could be used to store, retrieve, analyze, and
to graph data.
2.
Hi
ho, Hi ho, it’s off to Mars We Go: Using a problem based learning approach,
students must prepare for a trip to and the subsequent colonization of
Mars. They must indicate everything
needed for a successful voyage and stay.
They will predict the effects that any new technology will have upon
society, how this excursion will affect peoples’ lives and career choices.
3.
Technology
in the Environment: Using a community map and telephone
directory, ask students to identify some of the prominent enterprises that
employ people and use technology to carry on daily activities (e.g., farms,
factories, restaurants, stores, radio stations). The class could be divided
into teams and have each team select and analyze one of the enterprises and
interview people who work there.
4.
Technology
in Construction: Review the buildings, structures, and
pathways commonly found in a community (e.g., factories, shopping centers,
houses, bridges, roads). Explain how
buildings, structures and pathways are built.
Include major processes like designing and engineering, preparing the
site, establishing the foundation, building the superstructure, installing
utility systems, enclosing and finishing, and marketing, Divide the class into groups and have each
group establish a mock construction enterprise and assign each member a role to
play (e.g., architect, contractor,
carpenter).
Sample Learning Activities
A Resource for the Illinois Learning Standards
|
Goal 11:
Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological
design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems. |
|
Learning Standard 11A:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles,
and processes of scientific inquiry. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Water
Clocks: Working with water clocks, students learn
how to plan an experiment, explore what happens to the water clock’s “sinking
time” when one variable is changed (Individual
and group results are graphed to examine the mean and mode of sinking time.)
2.
Experiments
With Plants: Students design controlled experiments to
test variables related to the requirements necessary for plants to grow.
3.
Plant
Studies: A germination study is done on various seeds
and students compare germination and growth of a monocot and a dicot.
4.
Chemical
Reactions: Students design controlled experiments to
determine how chemicals produce heat, gases, and color during a chemical
reactions.
5.
Experimental
Science Fair Projects: Students must design an experiment to
investigate a question or a problem and carry out that experiment (displays,
models, or collections are not considered experiments). The student selects a topic, researches the
topic, formulates a hypothesis, designs and carries out the experiment, collects
and records data, forms conclusions and reports results.
6.
Pop
the Top: Students investigate the amount of seltzer
tablet and water needed to just pop the top off of a film canister.
|
Learning Standard 11 B:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of technological design. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Experimenting
with Model Rockets: Students experiment with model rockets and
design controlled experiments to test design changes. They evaluate test results and incorporate findings into design
changes for further testing.
2.
Design
Vehicles: Students design a variety of moving vehicles
given a set of parameters to follow.
Students learn and utilize the technological design process to do
experiments with the variables that control and move vehicles.
3.
Rube
Goldberg Inventions:
Students will design and build a Rube Goldberg like device that demonstrates a
series of energy transfers to accomplish a task.
4.
Create
a New Paper Product: Given a product design challenge of creating
a new paper product, students design the product through a series of test
vehicles. They utilize the
technological design process to develop, test, redesign their products.
5.
Electrical
Circuits: Students investigate electrical circuits by
interacting with batteries, light bulbs and wires. After they have gained an understanding of the concepts of how
electricity travels through wires, they are challenged to plan, test, and
redesign a “city” made up of cardboard (e.g., shoe box) homes or buildings that
contain street lights and lights in structures using one power source (e.g., large
battery).
6.
Bridge
Building: Students design, test and redesign a bridge
that will hold a given load without breaking.
They utilize the technological design process to demonstrate their understanding
of the process.
7.
Invention
Convention: Students utilize the technological design
process to develop, test and redesign their products.
8.
Model
Car Construction: Students construct model cars and develop
gear ratios.
9.
Brick
Layers: Students study
creative engineering with Lego Constructions (e.g., inclined plane, lever,
wheel and axle, gears, cycloids, and stable structures).
|
Goal 12:
Understands the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections
of the life, physical and earth/space sciences. |
|
Learning Standard 12 A:
Know
and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and
change. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Microworlds: Students
make and record observations both in writing and through drawings. Students learn about the properties of
magnifiers, become skillful in using hand lenses, slides, cover slips,
microscopes, and related apparatus.
Students observe a wide variety of both living and nonliving specimens.
2.
Create
a Chart: Students can create a chart (e.g., with
drawings) explaining the differences between one-celled organisms and/or the
differences between plant and animal cells.
3.
Drawings/Models: Students
can create drawings or models of animal and plant cells with labeled structures. Written descriptions of cell structures and
cell function must accompany the student’s work.
|
Learning Standard 12 B
Know
and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other
and with their environment. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Observation Project:
Students select a living
organism, provide a proper habitat for it and observe and record data for ten
days. Graphs and charts would also be
kept on the growth or behavior of the organism.
2.
Fish
Habitats: Students design the environment for a fish
by placing rocks, plants and fish in an aquarium and determine how the biotic
and abiotic factors affect an aquatic ecosystem.
3.
Outdoor
Activities: Students participate in activities
demonstrating their understanding of adaptation as they construct a “plant” or
“animal” and place the organism in its proper “habitat.”
4.
Design
an Aquarium or Terrarium: Students design and maintain an aquarium and
terrarium to study the biotic and abiotic factors that affect living things and
observe the organisms/adaptive, competitive and survival techniques/potential.
5.
Scavenger
Hunt: This outdoor activity can be modified
depending on the outdoors that is utilized.
Students can collect items or write down their location depending on the
item (e.g., an animals home, a spider’s web, a rock that is layered, a seed,
something soft).
6.
Plot
Study Grid: Using 1-meter lengths of string, make a grid
(e.g., or make several) that will be
placed outside in a grassy area. Assign
each square (e.g., or row) to a different group of students. They draw what they see inside their grid
and record the living and nonliving things that are seen in their square. Students can place their grids together to
make a mural.
|
Learning Standard 12 C:
Know
and apply concepts that describe properties
of matter and energy and the interactions between them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Periodic
Table: Students
create a periodic table to classify everyday materials.
2.
Element
Brochure: Students create
an element brochure.
3.
3-D
Models: Students use gumdrops or marshmallows or
atom kits to demonstrate their knowledge of the parts of atoms and how they
combine to form molecules, mixtures, etc.
4.
Chemical
Reactions: As they observe
changes in state students design experiments to determine what occurs during a
chemical reaction and what reactant causes the given product.
5.
Surface
Tension: Students place drops of different liquids on
pennies to investigate surface tension.
Students use a dropper and count the number of drops added to the penny
until it “spills” over the edge.
6.
Changes
of State: Students place ice cubes in a beaker, record
the temperature, then heat the beaker while recording the temperature every 30
seconds.
7.
Testing
pH: Students investigate the pH of substances by using pH or litmus
paper as the indicator (e.g., baking soda, vinegar, ammonia, shampoo and clear
soda).
8.
Solutes
and Solvents: Students investigate how solutes such as
salt or sugar dissolve in a water solvent in 3 different water
temperatures: (i.e., hot, room
temperature or cold).
9.
Wooden
Splint Test: Students produce three gases inside of test
tubes, insert a glowing wooden splint, and observe and record the reactions as
follows: oxygen (e.g., hydrogen
peroxide and manganese dioxide), carbon dioxide (e.g., vinegar and baking
soda), and hydrogen (e.g., sodium hydroxide, water and aluminum foil).
10. Paper
Chromatography: Students will use filter paper to separate
the colors from a black marker. Place a
dot on a strip of filter paper, and hang over a container placing the paper
into a solvent. As the solvent moves up
the filter paper the colors will separate.
|
Learning
Standard 12 D:
Know and apply concepts that describe
force and motion and the principles that explain them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Moving
Vehicles Given a set of parameters to follow, students
design a variety of moving vehicles.
Students design controlled experiments to test and redesign vehicles and
develop an understanding of how forces affect motion.
2.
Science
Olympiad: Students can design, build, and test
mousetrap-powered vehicles to demonstrate their understanding of Newton’s third
law.
3.
Egg
Drop: Given the same materials, partners construct
a package to protect a raw egg from breaking when it is dropped from a teacher
selected high spot.
4.
Creating
Structures: Students study creative engineering with
Lego Constructions (e.g., inclined plane, lever, wheel and axle, gears,
cycloids, and stable structures).
5.
Inclined
Plane: Students set up an inclined plane. They record the “resistance force” of an
object and the “effort force” used to move the object up the inclined
plane.
6.
Pulleys: Students
set up a pulley system with single and double pulleys to investigate and
calculate mechanical advantage.
|
Learning Standard 12 E:
Know
and apply concepts that describe the features and processes of the earth and
its resources. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Drawings
and Clay Models: Students draw or make models and label
specific structures of Earth’s special features (e.g., layers of Earth, ocean
floor features).
2.
Tracking
Hurricanes: Predict the future course and when/where
watches and warnings are issued; Plot actual earthquake reports throughout
school year on a map and correlate with plate boundaries.
3.
El
Nino: Compare data of local weather conditions
between El Nino and non-El Nino years in various parts of the country,
world.
4.
Rocks
and Minerals: Students identify rocks and minerals using
properties of color, grain size, streak test, hardness, and acid (e.g., vinegar)
test.
5.
Hot
Air Balloons: Students can see how hot air rises by making
balloons made from large pieces of tissue paper, holding them over a heat
source, and releasing them into the air.
The solid fuel used for heating food is found in grocery stores.
6.
Maps: Draw
a contour map using a plastic (e.g., or clay) landform, keeping the same
contour interval for an accurate map.
|
Learning Standard 12 F:
Know
and apply concepts that explain the composition and structure of the universe
and Earth’s place in it. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Models: Students
can use models of the sun, earth and moon, to investigate rotation, revolution,
eclipses and seasons.
2.
Lunar
Journal: Students can construct a journal of lunar
observations.
3.
Life
Cycle of a Star: Students can draw and label stages in the
life cycle of a star.
4.
Planets: Students
can write detailed reports about the solar system and all the planets.
5.
Hertzsprung-Russell
Diagrams: Students construct a diagram comparing star
temperature to brightness.
6.
Staying
up While Falling Down: Using a ball, string, and weight, students
simulate a body kept in orbit by gravity.
7.
How
High Can You Jump on Another Planet? Students determine their weight and how high
they can jump on another planet.
8.
Solar
System Scale: Students create various scale models of the
solar system, relating size and distance on the same scale using toilet paper,
the classroom, or common objects.
9.
Make
a Comet Model: Students create a scientifically accurate
model of a comet and compare it to the properties of various planets.
10. Among
the Stars: Students cut out paper circles and use them
to visualize the range of sizes of stars compared with the sun.
11. Comparing
Stars of the Winter Circle: Using distance and temperature data,
students explain the apparent brightness of the stars of the Winter
circle. The Winter Circle can be
located in the winter and spring evening skies.
|
Goal 13:
Understand the relationships among science, technology and society in
historical and contemporary contexts. |
|
Learning Standard 13 A:
Know
and apply the accepted practices of science. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Career Safety: Students will
choose a career and determine what safety precautions would relate to that
job. (e.g., firefighters wearing special heat resistant garments, football
players wearing protective helmets, shoulder pads, and other safety equipment.)
2.
Laboratory Safety: Before
students take part in a classroom activity, they list all safety procedures
necessary for that activity. (e.g., carry the glass beaker in both hands, wear
safety goggles at all times)
|
Learning Standard 13 B:
Know
and apply the concepts that describe the interaction between science,
technology, and society. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Effects
of Deforestation: Students explore the effects of
deforestation of the rain forest in Brazil or a farm being subdivided for
housing.
2.
Great
Scientists: Students research and present the life of a
scientist.
3.
Career
Fair: Use parent and community connections to bring
science and technology related careers to students.
4.
Chocolate
Chip Mining Activity: By mining chocolate chips from a cookie,
students simulate strip mining to understand the effects on the land.
5.
Plastics
in Our Lives: Students examine issues involved in plastics
production and study characteristics of polymers/plastics.
6.
Debate
Issues: Students may debate such issues as animal
testing in medical research (e.g., DNA fingerprinting of all citizens, farmers
vs. wolves, endangered species vs. economic development, or loggers vs. forest
creatures).
7.
Endangered
Species VS Economic Development: Students investigate this issue or others
such as developing land for an industrial park, shopping mall, housing, etc, or
saving the habitat or a small endangered species.
8.
Recycling
Programs Within the School: Students apply knowledge of resources by
changing habits in their school.
Sample Learning Activities
A Resource for the Illinois Learning Standards
|
Goal 11:
Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological
design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems. |
|
Learning Standard 11A:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Household
Products: Test common
household products for their effectiveness.
2.
Determine
pH: Utilize acid base titrations to determine
the pH of an unknown sample.
3.
Melting
Ice: Determine the best solute for melting ice on
roads.
4.
Mixtures: Use
separation and identification methods to separate and identify substances in a
mixture.
5.
Seed
Germination: Conduct an experiment to determine the
effect of a variable (e.g., light, temperature) on seed germination.
6.
Exercise
and Heart Rate: Conduct an experiment to determine the
impact of exercise on heart rate or blood pressure.
7.
Trajectory:
Determine the relationship between the angle of trajectory and the
distance traveled by a projectile.
8.
Soil
Samples: Determine the rate and retention of water as
it moves through various soil samples.
9.
Soil
Samples: Examine a soil sample to determine composition.
10. Absorption
(e.g., Albedo) Rate: Determine albedo rate of dark colored
surfaces, light colored surfaces, topsoil and water.
11. Viscosimeter:
Construct a small viscosimeter and utilize it to calculate the viscosity
of fluids.
|
Learning Standard 11 B:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of technological design. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Calorimeter:
Design, build and calibrate a simple calorimeter, evaluating its
effectiveness, and reporting results to an audience.
2.
Invertebrate
Populations: Design and construct an apparatus which
collects invertebrate populations in a given environment (e.g., soil or water),
reporting the results to an audience.
3.
Solar
Oven: Design, construct and test a solar oven,
reporting the results to an audience.
4.
Simple
Machine: Design, construct and test a simple machine
to determine its efficiency.
5.
Barometer:
Design, construct, and evaluate a simple barometer by periodically
collecting data or pressure changes.
Report the results to an audience.
|
Goal 12:
Understands the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections
of the life, physical and earth/space sciences. |
|
Learning Standard 12 A:
Know
and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and
change. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Genotype: If
given a partial genotype of two potential parents, students will use a model to
explain the likelihood of offspring acquiring physical traits.
2.
Analogues: Students
will draw analogies between the structure and function of cell organelles and
other systems. (e.g., city, baseball team, political system, school
system.)
3.
Students
will explain the cell processes
through manipulation of living cells. (e.g., yeast, protists in pond water,
elodea.)
4.
Cells
and Osmosis: When supplied with a synthetic cell
membrane, students will use hypotonic and hypertonic environments to determine
how the cell uses osmosis.
5.
Stages
of Mitosis: By observing slides of fixed/stained tissue
with cells undergoing asexual division, students will identify the different
stages of mitosis and calculate the relative amount of time each stage of
mitosis takes.
6.
Write
an editorial: students write an editorial supported by
research that discusses the impact of antibiotics in animal feed, the increases
use of antibiotics in human populations, the use of pesticides to control
animal populations.
7.
Fossils: Students
use local fossils to determine and defend the likely evolution of organisms
over a brief history of time.
8.
Visual
Presentation: Students create a visual presentation to describe the development of
homologous and analogous structures. (e.g., embryos, vertebrate forelimbs, wings)
|
Learning Standard 12 B:
Know
and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other
and with their environment. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Food
chain: Using a poster,
explain the food chain in relationship to energy transfer (e.g., the second law
of thermodynamics). (e.g., world food supply, predator/prey.)
2.
Populations:
Students will design and construct a model which exhibits the influences
of environmental pressures on the size and stability of a population over time (e.g.,
physical model, mathematical model,
computer simulation).
3.
Ocean
Currents: Determine how ocean currents determine what
organisms are located in a specific area of an ocean and construct a map
showing their locations.
4.
Mars
Project: Design and construct a model of a space
station capable of supporting human life on Mars.
5.
Design
a habitat suitable for an
organism; addressing the interconnections of the organism with its environment.
|
Learning Standard 12 C:
Know
and apply concepts that describe properties
of matter and energy and the interactions between them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Design
and Make Models: Students will design, explain, and make
models of atoms, ions and isotopes using colored objects.
2.
Make
and Explain Orbital Chart: Students will make a chart and
explain/compare s,p,d, and f orbitals in terms of size, shape and energy.
3.
Use
an Energy Converter: Using a hand crank energy converter,
students will demonstrate the transformation of energy using appropriate energy
theories.
4.
Use
a Spectroscope: Using a spectroscope, students will
demonstrate the bright line spectrum and its emissions in terms of quantum
theory.
5.
Web
Page: Students compose a web page presentation on
nuclear energy and defend its pros and cons.
|
Learning
Standard 12 D:
Know and apply concepts that describe
force and motion and the principles that explain them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Amusement
Park: Use graphs to illustrate the effects of
Newton’s Laws of Motion on an amusement park ride.
2.
Seat
belts: Use Newton’s first and second laws of motion
to support the idea that seat belts save lives.
3.
The
effects of temperature changes: Visually illustrate the effects of
temperature changes on a volume of water, and apply your results to the
seasonal changes observed in a pond.
4.
The
effects of a nuclear meltdown: Create visuals (e.g., maps, graphs, time
lines) illustrating possible long and short term effects of a nuclear meltdown
on the environment.
|
Learning Standard 12 E:
Know
and apply concepts that describe the features and processes of the earth and
its resources |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Pangaea
Using knowledge of matching rock layers and fossil beds, construct a
model of the supercontinent, Pangaea.
2.
Convection
and Plate Tectonics: Construct a design to show convection and
explain how convection relates to plate tectonics, oceanography and
meteorology.
3.
Grand
Canyon: Using a photo of strata from the Grand
Canyon, develop a method of giving relative data to each layer.
4.
Earthquakes:
Develop a visual which illustrates the geological and societal impact of
an earthquake (intensity of 6.8 on the Richter Scale) at the New Madrid Fault.
|
Learning Standard 12 F:
Know
and apply concepts that explain the composition and structure of the universe
and Earth’s place in it. |
1.
Essay:
Write an essay explaining how spectroscopy can be used as evidence
supporting the Big Bang Theory.
2.
Model:
Using a given length of paper, students are to determine an appropriate
scale to create a model of the solar system.
3.
Map:
Develop an illustrated map describing the evolutionary stages of the sun
as compared to a massive star.
4.
Web
Page: Construct a web page presentation on a
particular planet explaining its chemical and physical features.
5.
Travel
Brochure: Develop a travel brochure which accurately
illustrates a potential vacation back to the beginnings of time.
6.
Solar
System Sports: Modify the skills, equipment, and rules of a
sport as it would be played on another planet in our solar system.
7.
Graph:
Plot recession speeds of light emitted from galaxies, using the Doppler
Effect, to represent the expansion of the universe.
|
Goal 13:
Understand the relationships among science, technology and society in
historical and contemporary contexts. |
|
Learning Standard 13 A:
Know
and apply the accepted practices of science. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Safety
Precautions: Given a specific experiment or activity,
develop a list of safety precautions prior to the completion of the
experiment.
2.
Assess
Risks: Given a specific scenario, assess risks and
make suggestions for their reduction. (e.g., working on a car, painting a house)
3.
Media
Claims: Analyze advertising claims made by the
media.
4.
Structure
of the Atom Explain the relationship between a
specific technology and the structure
of the atom.
5.
Hubble
Space Telescope: Compare data before and after the Hubble was
used and explain how the impact of the Hubble Telescope has advanced the
knowledge of the Universe.
6.
Human
Genome Sequencing: Debate the pros and cons of using
information from human genome sequencing.
7.
Peer
Review: Utilize the peer review process to review
procedures written by another lab group.
8.
Technological
Advances: Describe how technological advances (e.g., lenses for spectacles being used for
telescopes) have impacted astronomy.
|
Learning Standard 13 B:
Know
and apply the concepts that describe the interaction between science,
technology, and society. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Scientific
Research: Make a presentation which explores the basic
principle of pure science research (e.g., space program) to its applications (e.g., freeze dried food).
2.
Interview:
Conduct an interview with an adult regarding the influence of scientific knowledge within his/her
occupation.
3.
Evaluate
Claims: Experimentally evaluate claims made by
several commercial brands of antacids.
4.
Research
Chemical Applications in Farming: Research and evaluate data which relates
chemical applications in farming (e.g., pesticides, fertilizers) to increased
yields for a growing population.
5.
Water
Quality: Test water quality in a local area and
determine if human interventions have created a positive or negative impact due
to increasing population.
6.
Disposable
Items in School: Document and analyze the impact of the
consumption of disposable items used within the school. (e.g., paper, plastic
cups).
Late High School Science
Sample Learning Activities
A Resource for the Illinois Learning Standards
|
Goal 11:
Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological
design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems. |
|
Learning Standard 11A:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles,
and processes of scientific inquiry. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Composting: Students will design and conduct an
experiment which will measure the effectiveness of different invertebrates in
converting vegetable waste to usable mulch and investigate what conditions
speed up the chemical decomposition of the compost.
2.
Wave
Lengths: Students will design and conduct an
experiment to measure the effect on the process of photosynthesis in elodea of
different wavelengths of visible light as compared with the full spectrum of
white light.
3.
Reaction
Rates: Students will design and conduct an
experiment which will measure the rate of a reaction under various conditions.
4.
Volume: Students
will design and conduct an experiment to determine the changes in the volume of
a sample of gas as the temperature varies.
5.
Porosity
Tubes: Students will design and conduct an
experiment with porosity tubes using different soils from an area to determine
how organic matter changes a soil’s porosity.
|
Learning Standard 11 B:
Know
and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of technological design. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Radioactive Dating:
Students will successfully identify problems associated with radioactive
dating techniques.
2.
Electrochemical Cell: Given what you know about the factors that
affect chemical equilibrium, design an electrochemical cell that could produce
electricity indefinitely.
3.
Air
Foil: Students will design and conduct an
experiment which will test air foil designs (e.g., in a wind tunnel and/or
computer simulations).
4.
Bridge
Building: Students will design, build and test a
bridge per specifications given.
5.
Car
Building: Students will design, build and test a car
per specifications given (e.g., mousetrap, rubber band).
|
Goal 12:
Understands the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections
of the life, physical and earth/space sciences. |
|
Learning Standard 12 A:
Know
and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and
change. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Essay:
Write an essay explaining how Earth would be different if dinosaurs
would not have become extinct and how the earth would be different if humans
became extinct.
2.
Design
and Conduct an Experiment: Students will design and conduct an experiment
on elodea and blood cells when exposed to pure water versus salt water. Based on the above experiment, students will
develop a model that will explain how some organisms can survive in both pure
water and salt water.
|
Learning Standard 12 B:
Know
and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other
and with their environment. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Alien
Species: Students will identify an actual occurrence
of an introduction of an alien species.
Students will then speculate on a potential alien species in their
area.
2.
Food
Web: Students will predict the effects of a food
web if a key species becomes extinct.
|
Learning Standard 12 C:
Know
and apply concepts that describe properties
of matter and energy and the interactions between them. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Properties
of Crystals: Given an unknown crystal, students will
compare its properties to that of known substances and using collected data
appropriately determine the identity of the unknown.
2.
Energy
and Nuclear Reactors:
Students will give a detailed analysis of how a nuclear reactor is used to
produce energy. Students will explain
how nuclear reactors failed (i.e., Three Mile Island or Chernobyl.
3.
Density:
Students will determine the densities of rock samples, water samples and
air samples and use the idea of density to explain the structure of the
multi-layered Earth.
4.
Determining
Melting Point: Students will design and conduct an
experiment which will determine the melting point of an unknown material or its
product purity.
|
Learning
Standard 12 D:
Know and apply concepts that describe
force and motion and the principles that explain them. |
Sample Learning Activities:
1.
Draw
a Picture: Draw a picture of the motion of a charged
particle as it moves through Earth’s magnetic field near the North Pole. Explain why the particle moves in this way.
2.
Draw
Star Pictures: Draw a picture of a typical star indicating
how gravitational, electromagnetic and nuclear forces interact to produce a
stable star. Explain the processes that
produce this equilibrium.
3.
Motions
of Planets: Explain how a planet’s relative motion
across the sky can be determined by using parallax and triangulation caused by
the motion of Earth around the sun.
4.
Characteristics
of Planets: Explain how a planet’s physical
characteristics would differ if the sun’s gravitational pull became stronger or
weaker.
|
Learning Standard 12 E:
Know
and apply concepts that describe the features and processes of the earth and
its resources. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Climate:
Students will apply principles of climatology to predict the climate for
a given area.
2.
Weather:
From data gathered on the Internet, students will predict local weather.
3.
Earthquake: Students will design and build a model of
a building that will undergo earthquake testing.
|
Learning Standard 12 F:
Know
and apply concepts that explain the composition and structure of the universe
and Earth’s place in it. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Colored
balloons: Using different colored balloons for
different massed stars, explain how a star’s life cycle would evolve.
2.
Essay: Students
can write an essay explaining why the Hubble constant varies and how that
changes our perception of the age of the universe and what time-tested theories
might be found incorrect if a universal age is too young or too old.
3.
The
Expanding Universe: Students investigate wave behavior and the
Doppler Shift, and they plot recession speeds of galaxies to illustrate
Hubble’s Law.
4.
Visualizing
the Expansion of Space: Students use special overhead transparencies
to create a simulation of the expansion of the universe.
|
Goal 13:
Understand the relationships among science, technology and society in
historical and contemporary contexts. |
|
Learning Standard 13 A:
Know
and apply the accepted practices of science. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Laboratory
Safety: Given a laboratory experiment, students can
identify safety concerns and recommend appropriate emergency actions.
2.
Designing
a Safe Lab: Students will design a laboratory that
utilizes available information on safety precautions and procedures.
3.
Critique
Papers: Students will critique an appropriate
research paper and present the analysis to their peers.
|
Learning Standard 13 B:
Know
and apply the concepts that describe the interaction between science,
technology, and society. |
Sample Learning Activities
1.
Investigating
Waste Disposal: Students will research the environmental
impact of various waste disposal techniques.
Students will utilize the information to solicit support for one
particular method over another within their community.
2.
Impacts
of Technology and Science: Given a list of common occupations, the
student will determine the impact that technology and science knowledge has had
on that discipline.