Science Unit Plan



Science Unit Plan

Physical Science Lesson on the Properties of Matter

A two week lesson taking place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

This unit will be about the properties of matter including volume, mass, density, and vacuum. The unit is full of hands on activities, each giving students an opportunity to see science working and to experiment with it themselves.

The unit includes the following lessons:

▪ Introduction/ Density

▪ Density

▪ Volume

▪ Volume

▪ Mass

▪ Vacuum/ Conclusion

The make-up of the classroom includes 24 fourth graders. There is one Asian student and one African American student. They are very bright students, willing to learn and to please the teacher. There are, of course, some of the more rambunctious students who are separated in different groups. Groups within the classroom are made up of at least one excelling student and one struggling student.

Purpose:

This information is important to learn because students need to learn more about the world that they live in. Volume, mass, and density can all be used daily through cooking, mathematics, and other events that can occur like moving. Students also need to learn about this information because it will be on the MEAP test and since the MEAP test funds the schools, it will be a necessity.

Objectives:

After this unit students will be able to understand the concepts of mass, volume, density, and a vacuum through experimentation and observation. They will know how to figure density by dividing mass by volume and understand that a vacuum in the absence of matter.

Goals:

▪ To have students understand the concepts of mass, volume, density and vacuum and how they all relate to matter.

▪ To realize that science is a fun way to learn about the world.

▪ To learn that science happens through doing it and that experiments are a way to see how science works through hands on experiences.

Michigan Curriculum Framework Science Benchmarks

▪ Changes in Matter (PCM) IV. 2- All students will investigate, describe, and analyze ways in which matter changes.

▪ Matter and Energy (PME) IV. 1- All students will measure and describe the things around us.

Unit Map:

The goals or ideas of this unit are connected to each other through the common theme of properties of matter. Each lesson focuses on a different property of matter and provides students with the opportunity to experiment with each property. Density is learned first to introduce students to the idea that objects have certain properties, density being one of them. From density, the lesson is broken down, first into volume and the different ways to measure volume, then mass or how much “stuff” is in something, and then finally a vacuum or the absence of matter. The experiments and activities in this lesson allow students to see science happening for themselves so that they can tie all of the concepts in together.

Week 1:

Monday- Introduction/ Density- how much matter is packed into something.

Wednesday- Density Continued- will items float?

Friday- Volume:

Week 2:

Monday- Volume:

Wednesday- Mass: what it is, how we find it, and why it is important.

Friday- Vacuum/ Conclusion- students will watch as the teacher creates a vacuum and they will learn how it works. To conclude the lesson students will write in their journal under different sub topics. The sub topics will be density, volume, mass, and vacuum. They will write everything they know in regards to that subject. Once they have complete that, they will work in groups to draw out how all four elements are tied together.

Density Lesson 1 – The main Idea

I. Density refers to the amount of matter packed into the space an object fills.

II. Students need to be familiar with the basic concept of density because they will be tested over it on the MEAP and because they will see it again in secondary education.

III. TLW: describe and compare objects in terms of their density. They will explain the differences between the density of their school’s population and their class alone.

IV. Content

a. Introductory Activity:

1) Have the students scatter around the classroom and tell them that they have just become “particles” or “pieces” that make up a “whole object.”

2) The students will then be directed to look around them and note how much distance there is between one another.

3) The students will then take a number of steps closer to one another until they are finding themselves “packed in” and extremely close to one another. Each time the students are directed to move, they will take note of the lack of distance between themselves. Finally, the teacher will tell the students to think of themselves as a tightly packed can of sardines. This will demonstrate the concept of being dense. To extend the idea, the students can consider how much more dense they would be if the entire school were clustered together in the same way they just were.

b. Lecture:

i. Give students the general definition of density: “Density refers to the amount of matter in a given space. Particles that are more ‘packed together’ are going to make up an object that is denser than something else which has more ‘separated’ particles. “

ii. Give another example of how items are packed more closely together than others with a pillow and bag of flour. Explain, “these two items have a different MASS (which is a concept that Ms. Champion will expound on, or explain further in a little while), which means that one must contain more tightly packed matter than the other. Which one of these looks to you like its particles are packed more tightly together? Give me a “thumbs-up” when I show you the item that you feel is more dense (or has matter that is packed more tightly together).

V. Check for Understanding: Review the basic concept of density by asking the students to answer the following questions:

1) What is density?

2) How did you see density demonstrated when you were packed in together at the front of the class?

3) Show me some other examples of items from objects around the room that have different densities.

V. Evaluation: The class will take a school-wide population survey over the next few days and will then compare the density between the entire school and their own 4th grade classroom. To extend the activity, the students could also make singular grade-to-grade comparisons of density.

Lesson Two: Density Continued

I. Density Determines whether or not an item will float.

II. Students should be familiar with density because they will see this material again in secondary education; the students should also be able to make a connection to how they can float on water with a life vest.

III. TLW explain how certain substances make an object float or sink.

IV. Content

1) Review the concept of density

a. What is density?

b. Compare the density of given objects and substances.

2) Introduce the idea that density determines whether or not an item will float. “To demonstrate this concept, we are going to do an experiment. I am going to pass out an observation sheet I have made for you to use as we work through this together. Pay close attention to the steps we take to come to a conclusion of how density determines whether or not an object will float, and if it DOES float, HOW?”

3) The students will perform the following experiment in small groups. The following materials will be utilized to do this experiment:

a. Measuring cup (for one cup of water)

b. Jar or glass

c. One uncooked egg

d. Salt

e. Data sheet (attached)

Experiment procedure:

a. Pour approximately 1 cup of water into a jar (or glass).

b. Put the egg (un-cooked) into the water.

c. Have the students refer to their chart and note the position of the egg.

d. Remove the egg.

e. Put a spoonful of salt into the jar (or glass), stir, and refer back to the chart to note the egg’s position.

f. Add two more spoonfuls of salt (3 spoonfuls should be in the jar or glass at this time) and replace the egg. Note the position.

g. Remove the egg one final time – add two more spoonfuls of salt (5 spoonfuls should be in the jar or glass at this time).

h. Replace the egg one final time and note its position on the chart.

4) Discuss the following questions:

a. “How did the way the egg floats change as the amount of salt in the water changed?” – A: the egg rose higher in the water as more salt was added.

b. “At which stage was the water most dense? The least dense? How can you tell?” – A: the water was most dense when the most salt was added. It was least dense without the salt. Evidence of this is shown by the position of the egg in the water

c. Do you think this experiment can have connections to how a life vest helps us float in water?

5) Final check for understanding: The teacher will ask the following questions:

a. What defines density?

b. How did we just see density at work in our experiment?

6) Evaluation: The students will devise their own further experiments to see how density determines whether or not an object will float. Students’ progress or understanding will be measured by the procedures they use to determine whether or not the item will float as well as their findings.

Lesson plan on Volume:

Subject: The subject of this lesson is volume. Volume is the amount of space that an object takes up. Students will also learn how volume is measured in solids and liquids, solids are measured in centimeters cubed or inches cubed. Students will gain an understanding of how to measure the volume of solids and the volumes of liquids, by applying the formulas to figure out the volume of various objects.

Purpose: The purpose of teaching volume is to develop a greater understanding of the student’s surroundings. Students have a natural curiosity to the world, and like to know how and why things work. Volume is one of the basic properties that help students understand the world around them. The world around us is full of the properties of matter, and understanding what they are and how they work, will allow the student to enhance their understanding of the world and gain a better understanding of how things work.

Materials:

1. 4-6 solid items, (shoe boxes, containers, cubes)

2. 4-6 beakers or measuring cups (some sort of device students will be able to measure in liters or milliliters on.

3. 4-6 liquid or irregular shaped objects

4. 4-6 rulers

5. String to attach the irregular objects to.

6. Handout or chart that is labeled length, width, and height at the top, and going down is labeled 1, 2, 3 (depending on the number of items the student will measure).

7. Pencil and Scrap paper for the students use.

8. 40 minute time slot within the day.

Objectives:

TLW calculate the various formulas to arrive upon a volume for each object.

TLW apply the definition of volume to create an understanding of matter in a real world context.

TLW indicate understanding and comprehension of the concept of volume by correctly calculating volume for various objects.

Content Outline form:

1. Let’s review for a second. Can anyone tell me what matter is?

a. Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass

2. What is mass?

a. Mass is the amount of matter making up an object.

3. Does anyone here know what volume is?

a. Volume is describes how much space an object takes up. You can find volume in two ways, either in solids or in liquids. In solids volume is measured in terms of inches or centimeters squared. In liquids volume is measured in liters of milliliters.

4. Why do you think Volume is important to you?

a. It helps us to understand the physical world around us, as well as understanding how to measure liquids.

5. How do you measure the volume of a solid?

a. Multiply its length by width by height.

6. How do you measure the volume of a liquid or an irregular shaped object?

a. Submerge an object in water, and the water will rise by an amount equal to the volume of the object.

7. Volume measures a three dimensional shape-length by width by height.

8. DO you think that the shape of an object changes volume? Why or why not?

a. No, it doesn’t, because the object still has the same amount of mass, it is just in a different shape. Think about clay; compare a clay ball to flatten out clay. Demonstrate that 1 cup of water is the same in two different sized containers.

9. Now, that the students have a general idea of what volume is, how it’s measured and why it’s important for them to understand, we will go into applying their knowledge by using experiments. During both of these experiments the students will be broken up in to groups, the size of the group depends on the number of students in the class.

10. The first experiment the students will be working with is to figure out the volume of some rectangular containers. All of the containers are shaped differently, and therefore allows the student to visualize and apply the formula in a variety of ways.

11. The second experiment the students will be participating in is to measure the volume of several different objects that are irregularly shaped. A few of the examples that will be used in this experiment are batteries, paper clips, rocks, markers, and film containers.

12. Brief Synopsis:

a. Students will review with the teacher what matter is, what volume is, why it’s important, and the two ways you measure volume.

b. Students will then apply their knowledge in two different scenarios. Students will apply their knowledge of measuring volume of solids, by calculating the volume of various rectangular objects. Students will then apply their knowledge by calculating the volume of various irregular shaped objects.

Strategies and Activities:

The teacher will check for prior knowledge of the concept of volume by asking various questions about volume (what is it, why is it important, and how does it apply to you). The teacher will demonstrate the usage of the formulas, how to use them, how to find them, and on what objects they should be used. The teacher will then demonstrate how to find the volume of one object that is a solid and one object that is irregularly shaped or a liquid. The students will then take their knowledge and apply it to several different objects, where they will be expected to calculate the volume of a variety of different objects. The two activities the students will be participating in are to measure the volume of several different solid objects, and the other activity is to measure the volume of several different irregular or liquid objects.

Plans for individual differences:

In order to accommodate this lesson to the various learning styles within a classroom, the teacher will definitely want to explain and demonstrate the activities, have the students participate by measuring the volumes of the objects, and then discussing their results. This setup should fit most every learning style, because the students are hearing the process, watching the process, and participating in the process. Students will also be working in groups, allowing them to confer with their partners and gain various perspectives on how to approach the measuring of volume.

Evaluation: I will know that students have grasped the concepts of volume, if they are able to apply, calculate, and demonstrate their knowledge of volume. A successful student will be able to calculate the volume of solid objects, irregular shaped objects, and liquid objects. The successful student will also be able to relate the importance of volume to a real life scenario.

Lesson Critique:

My thoughts on my lesson were that it went pretty well. One of the things that I could have improved upon would be to get my materials on time. I had planned on using graduated cylinders, but they fell through at the last minute and then I had to quickly come up with a way to do this lesson without graduated cylinders. A second thing I could have improved would have been to be more thorough in my explanation. I felt like we spent a lot of time on the activities but not enough on instruction. One thing I thought that went really well was the activities. The students seemed interested for the most part, and they worked really hard and really well. I think I also managed the class really well, although I had unknowingly put some of the more rambunctious kids together in the same group.

Another thing that I thought I managed really well was the activities. I think that the activities that I planned for the group could have been difficult to manage because there was water involved, but I addressed the issue before passing out the materials. I think that this was important because students can get excited and they need to be reminded how to handle materials that is used in activities.

Lesson on Volume 2

Subject: The subject of this lesson is volume. In this lesson students will be practicing their skills of finding the volume of different objects. Students will be using what they have learned and what they already know about volume to figure out the volume of various tin cans and pill bottles.

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is for students to become proficient in finding the volume of different objects. Students will be reviewing what volume is, how it applies to them, and why it is important to them. Students will enhance their understanding of volume by working with it in different settings than in the first lesson, which will create a greater understanding.

Materials:

6 Empty pill bottles

6 Graduated cylinders

Water

Metric Rulers

Graph paper

Objectives:

TLW select appropriate units and tools to measure to the degree of accuracy required in a particular situation.

TLW extend their understanding of the process of measurement

TLW compute with whole numbers, decimals, and integers.

Content Outline form:

We will begin by reviewing what we learned on the previous day about volume.

1. What is volume?

a. Volume is the amount of space that an object holds.

2. How do you measure the volume of an object that is irregular?

a. One way to measure the volume of an object that is irregular is to submerse the object in a graduated cylinder and subtracting the original amount of water from the increase in water.

3. How do you measure the volume of an object that is a solid with dimensions of length, width, and height?

a. You multiply the length, width, and height together to get the volume of the object.

Once the review has been completed, the students will be asked to rank the items in order of which they think has the greatest volume to the least volume. Each student will then be asked to estimate the amount of liquid volume that each cylinder holds (in mL). The students should record their estimates on a graph or chart. Each cylinder should then be filled with water, once all cylinders have been filled, the students should take one cylinder and pour the water into the graduate cylinder. The amount of water that each cylinder holds can be read on the outside of the graduated cylinder in mL. Once the students have completed this process for all of the cylinders, then have the students check to see how many they got right. Have the students find the differences between the actual volume and their estimated volume by subtracting the estimated volume by the actual volume.

Now that the activity has been completed, the students should discuss their findings with the rest of the class. Here are some discussion questions to help probe the class’s discussion.

1. Which cylinder held more water than you thought?

2. Which cylinder held less water than you thought?

3. Why?

4. Did the tallest cylinder have the greatest volume?

5. Why or why not?

6. Do you think the tallest cylinder will always have the greatest volume or not have the greatest volume?

7. What leads you to that conclusion?

Extension:

Challenge the students to find cylinders that would have volumes equal to each other but are different sizes.

Strategies and Activities:

The teacher will check for prior knowledge of the concept of volume by asking questions about volume while reviewing what the students learned the previous day as well. The students participating in the activities will explore the concept of volume to a deeper level. The students will be creating a deeper understanding of volume by exploring volume in different scenarios by using various techniques. The students have already gained knowledge about how to measure volume, but through this activity they will comprehend how volume works. Students will be able to understand that volume does not necessarily have to do with height or width, but that various factors need to be taken into account before making an analysis of volume.

Plans for Individual Differences:

In this lesson, my plan for individual differences is that students work together and use each others ideas to come to a conclusion on why a container that is taller may not hold more volume than a cylinder that is wider. The purpose of this lesson is for the students to explore volume; the students should use what they know about properties of matter to gain a deeper understanding. Exploration of volume is taking what students know and helping them to arrive at a deeper understanding and some students will have a greater understanding than others, but the purpose is to increase everyone’s understanding to the next level.

One way to accommodate for individual differences is to put the students in groups with other students of multiple intelligences so they can teach each other and help one another discover a deeper understanding.

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on their ability to estimate cylinders that have a great volume based on the size of the containers. The students should be able to determine which cylinder has a greater volume by looking at it; this will demonstrate the student’s ability to understand volume rather than size. Students should also be able to calculate volume of solid objects and liquid objects, and explain why liquid objects can not be measured in the same manner as solid objects.

As Allotted time- 1 hour

Subject- Mass

4th grade

Materials:

Granola Bars

Fruit Cups

Cracker Jacks

Bag of Chips

Marshmallows

Fruit Snacks

Raisins

Gum

Suckers

Ball

Can of soup

Objectives:

Matter and Energy (PME) IV.1- all students will measure and describe the things around us. They will describe and compare objects in terms of mass, volume, and density.

Engage:

Because this activity could get loud with students working in groups I would implement the 1-2-3 clap strategy. If the students start to get to loud I count “1-2-3” and after 3 students clap and then are silent.

Teacher talk: Who can tell me what mass is? –students raise their hands. If no hands, then I will ask students to name some things that have mass. Does a _______ have mass? How about ______?

Mass is a measure of the amount of “stuff” in something. This differs from weight. Weight is the apparent force due to gravity on an object- or how much gravity is pushing down on us. If we were on the moon would we weight the same as we do here on earth? Why or why not? Would we have the same mass? Why?

Have student come up and hold ball.- Mass is different from volume. Can anyone raise their hand and tell me how? Something, say like this ball here, has a large volume, but not a large mass.

Have student take the can of soup- This can of soup here has a smaller volume, but a larger mass.

Explore:

Directions- “There are different stations set up around the room. At each station are 10 different items. When I send you to your station with your group please do not touch any of the items. Take this sheet of paper and you are going to arrange the items starting with the smallest mass at number one and the largest mass at number 10. When you are done estimating you are going to write in how much mass each you think each object has in grams. Finally you will weigh and record the actual mass of each item. When you are finished, work on figuring out the difference between what you estimated the mass to be and what the actual mass was.

Students will be paired into groups by counting off by whatever number of balances are available. Each group will be sent around the room to the different stations.

Explain:

Questions for discussion afterwards:

How did you do when you predicted the ordering of the objects?

How many had all of the objects in the correct order?

What object did you have the least difference between the actual mass and the estimated mass?

What object had the greatest difference? Why do you think that happened?

Did the object with the greatest mass also have the greatest volume?

Can you think of an object not in this classroom that would have a large volume, but a small mass?

What about a small volume and a large mass?

Elaborate:

What do you think this investigation is trying to help you learn?

How will we use what we have learned today in our daily lives?

Evaluate:

Students will be observed as they work in their groups. Students will be asked to turn in their chart so that it can be graded. Grading criteria will be based on if students did the assignment or not. The teacher will use the final questions to find out if the students had learned anything and what else they would like to know about mass.

Name______________________________________________

Directions:

1. Without touching the objects rank them in order from least mass to greatest mass.

2. Estimate The mass of each object.

3. Find the actual mass by using the balance and masses.

4. Find the actual rank by looking at the actual masses.

5. Find the difference by using the estimated mass and actual mass. Subtract the smaller number (of the two) from the larger number.

Exp> Larger number – Smaller number = Difference

|Rank |Object |Estimated Mass |Actual Mass |Actual Rank |Difference |

|1 | | | | | |

|2 |  |  |  |  |  |

|3 |  |  |  |  |  |

|4 |  |  |  |  |  |

|5 |  |  |  |  |  |

|6 |  |  |  |  |  |

|7 |  |  |  |  |  |

|8 |  |  |  |  |  |

|9 |  |  |  |  |  |

|10 |  |  |  |  |  |

Allotted Time- 1 hour 30 minutes

Subject- Vacuum

4th grade

Materials:

One cup of colored water

Ceramic plate

Peppermint Patty

Matches

Drinking glass

Bottle

Hard-boiled egg

Objectives:

Changes in Matter (PCM) IV.2- All students will investigate, describe and analyze ways in which matter changes.

Engage:

Ask students to watch closely. Light a match and gently drop it into the bottle. Set the hard-boiled egg on top of the glass bottle. Wait and watch as the egg gets sucked into the bottle.

Explore:

Have students work together in small groups to try and figure out what happened and why it happened. Have students write down their guesses and after about 10 or 15 minutes have each group share their predictions and ideas.

Explain:

The teacher will explain to students that when a flame is sealed off, which is what the egg does in the experiment, the flame quickly uses up all of the oxygen that is in the bottle. The lack of oxygen creates the vacuum and since there is still gravity pushing and pulling on the egg, it gets sucked into the bottle. A vacuum is a place where there is no matter.

Elaborate:

The teacher will then perform another experiment by dumping colored water on a plate. A peppermint patty will be placed in the center on the liquid and four matches will be placed into the peppermint patty. The teacher will light the matches and put the drinking glass over the flames. Students can observe what happened and explain back to the teacher why the liquid was sucked into the glass.

Evaluate:

The teacher will observe students as they work in their groups. They will be evaluated on how they generated their ideas and if everyone participated.

To conclude the entire lesson:

To conclude the lesson students will write in their journal under different sub topics. The sub topics will be density, volume, mass, and vacuum. They will write everything they know in regards to the subject. Once they have complete that, they will work in groups to draw out how all four elements are tied together. Students will be graded on whether or not they included all of the main ideas of each unit in their writing. Group work will be graded, not only the product that was created, but how well the groups worked together as well. The teacher will observe each group in action and rank each group on a scale of 1 to 10 based on productivity and cooperation.

Assessment Strategies:

▪ To have students understand the concepts of mass, volume, density and vacuum and how they all relate to matter.

o In each lesson students will have the opportunity to experiment for themselves and see how each property of matter works and why it is important. In each lesson they will be able to apply what they have learned to real world context, we will see this through observation and having students raise their hands and give examples. This will be about 10% of their grade, evaluated on participation.

o To assess how much the students have learned about the different concepts listed above we will use a journal assessment so that students can write out as much as they know about each property of matter. This way the teacher can not only evaluate how well the student is doing, but can also evaluate areas where the teacher may have been unclear in his or her teaching. If all students do poorly in an area, that area may need to be taught over. This will account for about 50% of the overall lesson grade.

o Having students work in groups to demonstrate how each property is tied together will help students work together towards a common goal, which is how many things in the real world work, especially in science. Struggling students will be in groups with excelling students so that the excelling students can help the struggling students. This will account for about 25% of the overall grade.

▪ To realize that science is a fun way to learn about the world.

o Teachers will observe group work to be sure that all concepts are tied together correctly. The posters that students create will be hung up in the classroom to serve as a reference, as well as a form of motivation, so students can see how science works and how it demonstrates order in the world around them. Students will be graded on creativity and correctness, serving as 10% of their grade.

▪ To learn that science happens through doing it, and that experiments are a way to see how science works through hands on experiences.

o Students will gain hands on experience with science, learning by doing instead of reading through a text book that is almost obsolete anyway. They will observe for themselves how things work, thus creating an intrinsic motivation to learn. This will be another participation grade, serving as 10%.

Evaluation:

We all enjoyed our teaching experience. The fourth grade class that we were in was a great group of kids. They were very smart, excited students who really wanted to know what we had to teach them. They, for the most part, followed directions and the only problems that we did have could have been solved through better classroom management skills. The rules that we did make regarding our lessons were followed, however, that was mostly due to the fact that their full-time teacher was still in the classroom observing their behavior.

Overall, we feel pretty good about doing lesson plans. It would have definitely been easier planning for our teaching if we would have known what resources were available within the classroom, how many students there were, and the arrangement of the classroom. However, we adjusted well and were able to present our lesson with relatively few problems. If we were teaching this lesson again we would have come up with better classroom management strategies, because at times the students got some what out of control.

The only question that we have regarding teaching is how do you divide time for science lessons. Some of the activities that we presented or would like to present good probably go for almost two hours. Is that okay? Are short lessons okay too? Or do you recommend having a routine or schedule- 1 hour of science every other day?

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