West-Orange Cove CSD8th Grade Science –3rd Six Weeks2012 - 2013
The Third six weeks has 30 instructional days 11/5 – 12/2111/9
Early Release
11/19 – 11/23
Thanksgiving / Major Concepts
- During week 1, students will demonstrate and calculate how unbalanced forces change the speed or direction of an object's motion.
- During week 2 and 3, students will know that there is a relationship between force, motion, and energy by understanding and applying Newton’s Laws of Motion.
- During week 4 and 5, students will know that natural events can impact Earth systems by describing the historical development of evidence that supports plate tectonic theory.
- During week 6, students will interpret topographic maps and satellite views to identify land and erosional features and predict how these features may be reshaped by weathering.
- Demonstrate safe practices during laboratory and field investigations as outlined in the Texas Safety Standards
- Plan, design and implement comparative and descriptive investigations by making observations, asking well-defined questions, and using appropriate equipment and technology;
- Collect and record data using the International System of Units (SI) and qualitative means such as labeled drawings, writing, and graphic organizers;
- Use models to represent aspects of the natural world such as an atom, a molecule, space, or a geologic feature
- Construct tables and graphs, using repeated trials and means, to organize data and identify patterns; and
- Analyze data to formulate reasonable explanations, communicate valid conclusions supported by the data, and predict trends.
In order to use time, resources, and hold students accountable for their own learning, we must agree to continue using:
- Notebooking. Also, remember to refer back to files sent during the first six weeks to expand on the use of notebooks in the science classroom.
- SMART objective posted and used daily. For example, the TEKs for the lesson (week or weeks) is….
- Demonstrate and calculate how unbalanced forces change the speed or direction of an object's motion. 8.6A
- The SMART objective for the 1st week may be written in the following way,
- Today, we (or I, based on preference) will demonstrate how unbalanced forces change the speed or direction of an object's motion by using Rube Goldberg’s cartoons who created cartoon pictures of complicated machines to do simple tasks.
- The next day, the underlined part of the objective may change for the next part of the lesson such as Today, we (or I, based on preference) will demonstrate and calculate how unbalanced forces change the speed or direction of an object's motion bycompleting the Speed Challenge Lab.
- Developing Effective Science Lessons. During this first part of the semester, we explored how to develop effective science lessons by referring to Figure 1.1, from Designing Effective Science Instruction: What Works in Science Classrooms. As we continue to make an impact in the lives of children as they engage in the learning of science, we will focus on providing adequate time and structure for sense-making and wrap-up; enhancing the development of students’ understanding and problem solving through teacher’s questioning;providing a classroom culture in which the climate encourages students to generate ideas and questions; and having a quality classroom culture where intellectual rigor, constructive criticism, and challenging of ideas are evident (p.4).
- Creating a Positive Learning Environment. At the beginning of the school year, we presented Table 4.1, from Designing Effective Science Instruction: What Works in Science Classrooms, showing how to create a positive learning environment. During these third six weeks, we will explore the second strategy presented in this book. Strategy 2: Think Scientifically –Teach students to think scientifically p.140 - 150.
- Using technology and interactive games to support student engagement.
- Collaborative grouping
- Formative assessment in science and other formative assessment strategies that will work depending the needs of your class(once you are in the page, click on each formative assessment strategy to get more details)
- Use of the 5E scientific model:
- Engage
- Explore
- Explain
- Elaborate
- Evaluate
- Using a rubric or a criteria chart generated with the students, go over the expectations in the science lab as it concerns to safety, active participation, homework, research and other projects.
Week 1
November 5 –November 9
Learning Standards / Instruction / Resources / Products, Projects, Labs / Assessment
Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that there is a relationship between force, motion, and energy. The student is expected to:
Demonstrate and calculate how unbalanced forces change the speed or direction of an object's motion. 8.6A
Differentiate between speed, velocity, and acceleration. 8.6B
Force, motion, and energy. The student knows force and motion are related to potential and kinetic energy. The student is expected to:
Compare and contrast potential and kinetic energy. 6.8A / Vocabulary
Force, motion, energy, unbalanced forces, balanced forces, speed, acceleration, velocity, potential energy, kinetic energy, distance, Newton, resistance forces, gravity.
Engage students daily by
- Using Annotated Student Drawings, students will reflect on the question “What does the word Force makes you think about?” Students will share within the group and then choose a few to share with the class.
- Having students arm wrestle to show balanced forces (when the same amount of force is applied by each person) and unbalanced forces (when one person wins). The students will learn the effects of unbalanced forces by sharing what they felt as they were winning or losing.
- Using the Rollercoasters: Momentum and Energy in Action segment of the Physical Science: Motion video to have students discuss and describe the changes in position, direction, and speed when acted upon by various forces.
- Using the A & D statement, students will discuss the following statement “THERE HAS TO BE AN ENERGY CHANGE TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!”
- Prepare six stations with the following: (1) a straw and a Ping Pong ball, (2) a paper airplane, (3) a pinwheel, (4) marbles, (5) a pendulum apparatus with varied weights, and (6) a spinning top. Ask students the following questions: How can each object be made to move? How would you know if the object moved? How could you measure this movement? What will happen if different forces are applied to the objects?
- Using the Force and Motion segment of the Physics of Motion video to have students discover the forces that are at work when objects are in motion in a variety of different situations
- EXPLORE / EXPLAIN –Using the Velocity and Acceleration video segment to show students a visual of these terms.
- EXPLORE / EXPLAIN- Introduce the students to Rube Goldberg. He was an US cartoonist who created cartoon pictures of complicated machines to do simple tasks. Using This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version, students will practice the graffiti writing technique to write down observations and wonderings about what they observe. Observations and wonderings include identifying and describing the changes in position, direction, and speed of an object when acted upon by unbalanced forces. Keep poster paper or construction paper where students wrote down observations and wonderings to have students reflect on learning at the end of the lesson
- Using the Inquiry Boardthe teacher will scaffold students’ identification of independent and dependent variables in order to formulate a testable hypothesis or a testable question.
Use the following lessons to support students’ understanding and knowledgeby using
- Science Starter 31
- Science Starter 35Force and Motion
- Science Starter 36 Measuring and Graphing Motion
- Science Starter 37Speed
Science TEKS Toolkit
Rube Goldberg
Transfer of Energy
Teachers’ Domain
Florida Standards
Energy Education / Gateways to Science 8th grade Lesson Unit 3 Lesson 1 Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration T.E 168–188
Students will participate of this lesson to gain a better understanding of how speed, velocity, and acceleration differ from each other. Use engage card sort, task cards, data and graph paper, distance markers, walking description cards, and other resources are available; however, students can use notebooks to record information RM 1 - RM 5 in CD or SMART Notebook file
Students will participate in Speed Challenge Lab and complete a lab report to EXPLORE speed.
ELABORATE / EVALUATE
Students will create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast speed, velocity, and acceleration / EVALUATE
Using the Rube Goldberg's pictures (included in SMART Notebook Fileor teacher may select own pictures) student groups:
- explain the relationship between the force and the motion
- Identify and describe the changes in position, direction, and speed of an object when acted upon by unbalanced forces
- groups will explain their findings in the group’s picture.
Students willuse 3 - 5 examples from a set of pictures to identify and describe the motion.
Reflection- You and your friends got together for a game of Tug of War. During the game, one of the teams pulls with a force of 30N (Newtons) to the left and the other team pulls with a force of 50N to the right. Students will draw a diagram to represent the net force acting on the object. The students will describe how the forces will affect the motion of the object and determine if the forces are balanced or unbalanced.
Week 2 and Week 3
November 12 – November 30
Learning Standards / Instruction / Resources / Products, Projects, Labs / Assessment
Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that there is a relationship between force, motion, and energy. The student is expected to:
Investigate and describe applications of Newton's law of inertia, law of force and acceleration, and law of action-reaction such as in vehicle restraints, sports activities, amusement park rides, Earth's tectonic activities, and rocket launches. 8.6C / Students experiment with the relationship between forces and motion through the study of Newton's three laws. Students learn how these forces relate to geologic processes and astronomical phenomena. In addition, students recognize that these laws are evident in everyday objects and activities. Mathematics is used to calculate speed using distance and time measurements
Vocabulary
Force, motion, energy, Newton’s Laws, gravity, friction, net force, inertia, acceleration, speed.
ENGAGE daily using one of the following
- Throw a ball into the air and catch it. Roll it across theroom. Place a book on a table. Blow up a balloon and letthe air out. Ask the students what happened when you didthe preceding activities and why those things happened
- Using the Lodge McCammon Songs: Newton's First Law with Velocity, Acceleration, and Momentum to describe Newton's first law of motion while introducing such key terms as velocity, acceleration, and momentum. Students will have lyrics available….singing is highly encouraged!
- Using the imagery of NASA shuttle launch, students will reflect and share observations as it relates to motion and the study of Newton’s Laws of Motion.
- Students will work in groups of 2-3 to use Newton’s Laws of Motion picture sort. In this activity, students will classify the pictures based on the law that is best represented by each picture under the heading of First Law of Motion, Second Law of Motion, Third Law of Motion. Students will justify the placement of each card
- Students will watch the Laws of Motion video to show how gravity, friction, and inertia are related to mass, force, and momentum. Exciting graphics and re-creations allow students to see how Newton's laws of motion relate to real life.
- EXPLORE / EXPLAIN – the teacher will facilitate this activity by taking the class to the playground and have a student hit abaseball with a bat. Students will make observation and draw a diagram showing various forces. What happens to the ball? Why does ittravel? Have the class explain the relevance of this experiment to Newton’s third law of motion.
- EXPLORE / EXPLAIN – Students will use their knowledge about Newton’s Laws of Motion to successfully put together a puzzle. Students will place the Laws of Motion Puzzle pieces on the puzzle template so that every side of each puzzle piece is facing another puzzle piece that correctly matches the description. Refer to T.E 230 if needed.
Use the following lessons to support students’ understanding and knowledgeby using
- Science Starter 114
Discovery Education
Science TEKS Toolkit
Teachers’ Domain
Florida Standards
Energy Education
Gateways to science8th / Gateways to Science 8th grade Lesson Unit 3 Lesson 3 Newton’s Second Law of Motion T.E 198–209
Students will participate of this lesson to investigate and describe applications of the law of force and acceleration.
Gateways to Science 8th grade Lesson Unit 3 Lesson 4 Newton’s First Law of Motion T.E 210–220
Students will participate of this lesson to investigate and describe applications of the law of inertia. Use explore lab station cards, concept map, elaborate station cards, and observation chart. RM 25 – 28 in CD or SMART Notebook File
Gateways to Science 8th grade Lesson Unit 3 Lesson 5 Newton’s Third Law of Motion T.E 221 –228and the Rocket Races Lab
Students will participate of this lesson to investigate and describe applications of the law of action and reaction. Use explore lab station cards, picture cards, and balloon racer rubric. RM 30 – 33 or SMART Notebook File.
EXPLAIN
Students will create a foldable book to write down information and applications of Newton’s Laws of Motion. Students will draw a picture or a diagram to assist in understanding each law of motion. / EVALUATE:
Using magazines, newspaper or other pictures, students will create a poster describing how each picture demonstrate Newton’s Laws of Motion
Reflection
Think of an example from everyday life where you experience Newton’s Laws of Motion. Draw a diagram that illustrates the law or the laws of motion that applies to your experience. The teacher may scaffold using a favorite sport such as basketball, soccer, tennis, and football among others.
Week 4 - and 2 days of Week 5
December 3 - December 11
Learning Standards / Instruction / Resources / Products, Projects, Labs / Assessment
Earth and space. The student knows that natural events can impact Earth systems. The student is expected to:
Describe the historical development of evidence that supports plate tectonic theory. 8.9A
Relate plate tectonics to the formation of crustal features. 8.9B / Students identify the role of natural events in altering Earth systems. Students will illustrate how Earth features change over time by plate tectonics.
Vocabulary
Evidence, Plate tectonics, crustal features, continental drift, Alfred Wegener, supercontinent, Pangea,
Lithosphere, convection currents, asthenoshphere, divergent, convergent, transform, ridge, trenches, sea floor spreading, oceanic rift, strikeslip, subduction, faults, mantle, crust, magma, lava, volcanoes, mountain, earthquakes
ENGAGE students daily
- Ask students the following about the region where they live:
- Do you know if there have been any earthquakes in this area? Do you think an earthquake is likely to occur in the future? Why or why not?
- Are there signs of past volcanic activity in the area? If so, where? Do you think future volcanic activity is likely? Why or why not?
- Depending on whether or not there are mountains in the region, ask students to suggest reasons for their presence or absence.
- Students will use Commit and Toss to answer “Earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation all have a common cause. What might that be?”
- Students will watch segments of the video Continents Adrift: An Introduction to Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics to explore the causes of land masses splitting. Starting with the theory that continents can move (continental drift) to the idea that the earth’s shell is broken into plates that move (plate tectonics), the narrator explains divergent boundary, convergent boundary and transform boundary.
- EXPLORE / EXPLAIN- Students will conduct a research using encyclopedias, online databases, and library books. Include
- Information about the layers of the Earth
- Information about the formation of the plates
- Location of tectonic plates around the world
- Information on how tectonic plates move
- Plate boundaries. What forms at each boundary?
- Seafloor spreading
- Continental drift
- Earthquakes statistics and locations
The Web sites below are a good starting point for online research:
Extreme Science: A Lesson in Plate Tectonics
Major Tectonic Plates of the World
- Use the Plate Tectonics SMART Notebook File for supporting the presentation of these lessons.
Use the following lessons to support students’ understanding and knowledgeby using
- Science Starter 40Forces in Geology
- Science Starter 44Continental Drift
- Science Starter 45Plate Tectonics
Indiana University
Use SMARTBoard – Quiz 5 as bell ringer for students to answer 1 question daily. It can be used as a formative assessment to find out students’ previous learning and any misconceptions students may have. / Gateways to Science 8th grade Unit 5 Lesson 5 Evidence of the Plate Tectonics Theory T.E 427–438
Students will participate of this lesson to investigate, describe, and create models to learn and understand the historical development of the evidence that supports plate tectonic theory.