Nature of Science Level: 6th Grade Time Frame: 1 Quarter  Description: Students will review lab safety rules and various forms of measurement.  They will study pond life and use microscopes.  Scientific inquiry is carefully illustrated and explained, as well as, the connection between science and technology.

Overview Activity List Learning Objectives Standards Resources

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Know the appropriate use of specific science equipment and materials.
• Know general rules of safe conduct in a science classroom.
• Review which units of measurement are appropriate to measure length, volume, and mass.
• Sequence the metric prefixes in order of magnitude.
• Convert from one metric unit to another.
• Define volume.
• Use a graduated cylinder to measure volume.
• Measure the volume of solids and gases by using the displacement method.
• Define mass.
• Use a balance to measure mass.
• Compare the relative size of a gram to that of a kilogram.
• Explain the relationship between the mass and the volume of a substance.
• Make two different types of balances.
• Differentiate among the parts of a microscope.
• Use a microscope properly to observe tiny objects.
• Prepare wet mounts of several kinds of cells.
• Describe who scientists are and what they do.
• Describe the nature of science.
• Distinguish among—and perform—the following things: observation, drawing a conclusion based on observation, forming a hypothesis, conducting an experiment, organizing data, constructing and reading charts and graphs, and comparing data. 
• Classify questions according to whether or not they are investigative questions.
• Identify variables and how they are controlled to provide a fair test.
• Distinguish between science and technology.
• Identify a design problem and propose reasonable solutions.

Standards

Illinois Learning Standards (Middle School)- As a result of their schooling students will be able to: 

11A.          Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of scientific inquiry.
11.A.3a      Formulate hypotheses that can be tested by collecting data.
11.A.3b     Conduct scientific experiments that control all but one variable.
11.A.3c     Collect and record data accurately using consistent measuring and recording techniques and media. 11.A.3d     Explain the existence of unexpected results in a data set.
11.A.3e     Use data manipulation tools and quantitative (e.g., mean, mode, simple equations) and representational
                methods (e.g., simulations, image processing) to analyze measurements.
11.A.3f      Interpret and represent results of analysis to produce findings.
11.A.3g     Report and display the process and results of a scientific investigation.
11B. Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of technological design.
11.B.3a      Identify an actual design problem and establish criteria for determining the success of a solution.
11.B.3b      Sketch, propose and compare design solutions to the problem considering available materials, tools, cost
                 effectiveness and safety.
11.B.3c      Select the most appropriate design and build a prototype or simulation.
11.B.3d      Test the prototype using available materials, instruments and technology and record the data.
11.B.3e      Evaluate the test results based on established criteria, note sources of error and recommend
                 improvements.
11.B.3f       Using available technology, report the relative success of the design based on the test results and criteria.
13A. Know and apply the accepted practices of science
13A2a.       Demonstrate ways to avoid injury when conducting science experiments.
13.A.3b      Analyze historical and contemporary cases in which the work of science has been affected by both valid
                 and biased scientific practices.
13.A.3c      Explain what is similar and different about observational and experimental investigations.
13B. Know and apply concepts that describe the interaction between science, technology, and society.
13.B.3a      Identify and explain ways that scientific knowledge and economics drive technological development.

Illinois Science Assessment Framework: Grade 7- For the 7^th grade ISAT, students are expected to be able to:

11.7.01      Identify and be able to follow procedures to do scientific investigation including formulating hypotheses, controlling variables, collecting and recording and analyzing data, interpreting results, and reporting and displaying results. 

11.7.02      Distinguish among—and perform—the following things: observation, drawing a conclusion based on observation, forming a hypothesis, conducting an experiment, organizing data, constructing and reading charts and graphs, and comparing data.

11.7.03      Define a theory as an explanation or model based on observation, experimentation and reasoning; especially one that has been tested and confirmed as a general principle helping to explain and predict natural phenomena.

11.7.04      Define a variable as some factor which changes in different phases of an experiment. Define a constant as something kept the same in every phase of the experiment. Distinguish dependent and independent variables. Understand that most scientific experiments are designed so that only one variable is tested in each experiment. Identify constants and variables in described experiments.

11.7.05      Define the control group or control setup as a group of subjects that are the same in all important ways as the subjects on which we are performing the experiment, except that the control is isolated from what we suspect to be the cause we are seeking to evaluate—the control helps to increase our certainty that the suspected cause really is the cause. Understand that there is a treatment sample and a control sample which is the same in every way except that it does not get the treatment.

11.7.06      Distinguish between the kinds of questions that can be investigated by the scientific method and those that cannot.

11.7.07       Analyze patterns in data from an experiment to determine whether the

information gathered helps to answer a given question or hypothesis. A simple example; if all of the plants fertilized in a vegetable garden grew taller than the ones not fertilized, understand that this is an indication that the fertilizer caused the plants to grow taller.

11.7.08       Identify a design problem and establish criteria for determining the success of a solution.

11.7.09       Compare design solutions; select which one is best given certain restrictions on available materials, tools, cost effectiveness, and safety.

11.7.10       Given certain tests which could be performed on a prototype, identify which one is testing for a given feature.

11.7.11       Identify improvements to a prototype indicated by given test results.

13.7.01       Identify potential hazards in the laboratory and the means of reducing them.

13.7.15      Recognize the common units of the metric system—especially units of length, volume, and mass—and interpret the symbols for these units.

13.7.17      Multiply lengths of sides to calculate the volume of a solid contained by rectangular faces.  Understand that the best way to find the volume of an irregular solid is to measure how much water it displaces

13.7.18      Select appropriate scientific instruments and technological devices to take measurements, perform calculations, organize data, or make observations.

National Science Education Standards (5-8)- As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understandings about:
 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Scientific inquiry and technological design have similarities and differences. Scientists propose explanations for questions about the natural world, and engineers propose solutions relating to human problems, needs, and aspirations. Technological solutions are temporary; technologies exist within nature and so they cannot contravene physical or biological principles; technological solutions have side effects; and technologies cost, carry risks, and provide benefits.
• Many different people in different cultures have made and continue to make contributions to science and technology.
• Science and technology are reciprocal. Science helps drive technology, as it addresses questions that demand more sophisticated instruments and provides principles for better instrumentation and technique. Technology is essential to science, because it provides instruments and techniques that enable observations of objects and phenomena that are otherwise unobservable due to factors such as quantity, distance, location, size, and speed. Technology also provides tools for investigations, inquiry, and analysis.
• Perfectly designed solutions do not exist. All technological solutions have trade-offs, such as safety, cost, efficiency, and appearance. Engineers often build in back-up systems to provide safety. Risk is part of living in a highly technological world. Reducing risk often results in new technology.
• Technological designs have constraints. Some constraints are unavoidable, for example, properties of materials, or effects of weather and friction; other constraints limit choices in the design, for example, environmental protection, human safety, and aesthetics.
• Technological solutions have intended benefits and unintended consequences. Some consequences can be predicted, others cannot.

SCIENCE AS A HUMAN ENDEAVOR

• Women and men of various social and ethnic backgrounds--and with diverse interests, talents, qualities, and motivations--engage in the activities of science, engineering, and related fields such as the health professions. Some scientists work in teams, and some work alone, but all communicate extensively with others.  

• Science requires different abilities, depending on such factors as the field of study and type of inquiry. Science is very much a human endeavor, and the work of science relies on basic human qualities, such as reasoning, insight, energy, skill, and creativity--as well as on scientific habits of mind, such as intellectual honesty, tolerance of ambiguity, skepticism, and openness to new ideas.

NATURE OF SCIENCE

• Scientists formulate and test their explanations of nature using observation, experiments, and theoretical and mathematical models. Although all scientific ideas are tentative and subject to change and improvement in principle, for most major ideas in science, there is much experimental and observational confirmation. Those ideas are not likely to change greatly in the future. Scientists do and have changed their ideas about nature when they encounter new experimental evidence that does not match their existing explanations.
• In areas where active research is being pursued and in which there is not a great deal of experimental or observational evidence and understanding, it is normal for scientists to differ with one another about the interpretation of the evidence or theory being considered. Different scientists might publish conflicting experimental results or might draw different conclusions from the same data. Ideally, scientists acknowledge such conflict and work towards finding evidence that will resolve their disagreement.
• It is part of scientific inquiry to evaluate the results of scientific investigations, experiments, observations, theoretical models, and the explanations proposed by other scientists. Evaluation includes reviewing the experimental procedures, examining the evidence, identifying faulty reasoning, pointing out statements that go beyond the evidence, and suggesting alternative explanations for the same observations. Although scientists may disagree about explanations of phenomena, about interpretations of data, or about the value of rival theories, they do agree that questioning, response to criticism, and open communication are integral to the process of science. As scientific knowledge evolves, major disagreements are eventually resolved through such interactions between scientists.

Resources

Champaign Community Unit School District #4 * Mellon Administrative Center
703 South New Street * Champaign, IL 61820 * 217.351.3800