SCIENCE

THE PLAGUE GENERATION

 

GRADES: 4-9

 
In this lesson, the student will be able to make predictions, test, and draw conclusions about the rate a plague can be spread.

MATERIALS (for 30 Students):

  • 30 plastic cup
  • a base (clear detergent, etc) that looks like water
  • indicator (Can be made from dissolved ex-lax pill) phenolphthalein
  • water

METHOD:

1. Fill 28 cups half full of water
2. Fill 2 cups half full of base
3. Give each student a cup with a liquid
4. Tell students that two cups contain the plague while the others do not -- No smelling, shaking, tasting, etc
5. Each student will share liquids with others; student A pours his liquid into cup of student B, student B then pours half of it back into cup of student A. They each proceed to two other doing the same thing, until all 30 have shared 3 cups. At this time predict how many of the 30 cups now hold the plague germs.
6. Add a few drops of indicator to each cup.
7. Observe
8. Conclusions: Discuss the rate the plague spread. Does the information relate in some way to real life situations? What are some of the errors that could cause you to draw the wrong conclusions.
submitted by
 
GAIL R. DACUS
C. T. WALKER MAGNET SCHOOL
AUGUSTA, GA
cgdacus@mindspring.com

MOONQUEST

GRADES: 6-8

MoonQuest encourages students to generate and answer questions about the Moon. It includes several assessment points (AP’s) and wraps up with an info-art project.

MATERIALS:

  • posters or other images of the Moon
  • basic art supplies (poster board, scissors, crayons/markers, glitter, glue, felt, etc.)
  • Internet access (essential for the teacher, optional for students)

METHOD:

  1. Begin by having students talk about anything they know or want to know about the Moon. Have a prepared list (for yourself) of a dozen or so interesting facts about the Moon, which you can easily compile using Internet resources, and share these facts with students after they’ve made their comments and questions.
  2. Next, have students observe several different moon images: full, half, crescent; photos of the Moon displaying different color and size appearances; NASA images from the Apollo missions and other lunar explorations, etc. Allow students sufficient time to fully observe and take notes about these images.
  3. After viewing the images, read a couple of myths about the Moon from various cultures. (For an excellent myth resource, go to www.windows.ucar.edu and click on myths.) Time permitting, encourage students to create their own original myths about the Moon as an in-class or homework assignment. (AP #1)
  4. Between the all facts, images, and myths about the Moon, students will inevitably have several new questions about it. Have each student make a list of his or her “Top 5” questions about the Moon. (AP #2) Collect all lists, shuffle them up, and read a dozen or so of them aloud. Many of the questions will be the same or similar: “What’s the moon made of?” “Is there life on the Moon?” “Where did the Moon come from?” “What’s an eclipse?”
  5. Select three to six of the most often-asked questions. These will be the MoonQuest questions that students will work in groups to answer. Use the Internet to gather as much info as you can on these questions, and create a packet to photocopy and distribute to each student. If there is opportunity and the students are Internet-savvy, they should search for and create their own packets. (AP #3)
  6. Break students into as many groups as you have MoonQuest questions. Model how to extract relevant info from the packet (i.e., don’t use info from the packet on what the moon is made of if the group’s question is on eclipses); also how organize the info, double-check to make sure the original MoonQuest question has been sufficiently answered, and finally, how to make a class presentation. The presentation can be as simple as groups sharing out what they’ve discovered, or they can be more elaborate and involved. (AP #4)
  7. As the grand finale, have each student create a MoonQuest poster. (AP #5) The poster must include three different Moon images, three Moon factoids, and a summary paragraph on whichever MoonQuest question the student worked on in his/her group. Encourage students to include space-related artwork on their posters (planets with rings, comets, aliens, etc.).
 
Submitted by,

JASON WISE
GEORGE A. LEWIS MIDDLE SCHOOL
ROXBURY, MA
no e-mail listed

TEN BEST FOODS, TEN WORST FOODS

GRADES: 4-12

Childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 20 years, and leads to a variety of health problems as a result of dangerous diets. Children need to switch to healthy foods in order to avoid heart disease and raised blood pressure

MATERIALS:

  • Internet access

METHOD:

  1. Have the students go to the Internet site: Ten Best Foods Ten Worst Foods: http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC063364
  2. Students will examine the best foods to eat to manage weight and cure common ailments.
  3. They will then identify the worst foods which have become all to prevelant in our society.
  4. They can study the foods that heal chart and then take the challenging quiz.
  5. When they answer all the answers correctly they receive their just dessert.
 
Submitted by,

STEVE FELD
JOHN F. KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL
NEW YORK CITY, NY
sjfeld@erols.com

CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

GRADES: 5-12

This activity presents an opportunity for students to expand skills of classification. Originally designed for science, it can be used in varied disciplines.

MATERIALS:

  • Variety of items students can choose to bring in, poster board, markers

METHOD:

In everyday-life here are many areas of pursuit that entail the use of dozens or more items that can be classified into taxonomic groups and assigned names.

  1. Provide students with a list of suggested areas they can begin their item selection and classification from. Some examples: Sporting goods, fasteners (anything that holds 2 or more items together temporally or permanently.) foods, cooking utensils, items used in schools, beverages, vehicles, toys, student suggestions.
  2. Students will classify their items as to a broad general group for all the items name the largest group and then begin to divide them into smaller groups based on features and uses. Names will be assigned to the smaller groupings.
  3. Students should attempt to work from the large group to the smallest group with the fewest possible, specific items based on common features. They can report on and justify their groupings

You can suggest that students bring in as many of the items in their broad category that they are able to. This is a very challenging activity that can yield mixed results. Be prepared to help students so they do not become frustrated. You can use this exercise to remind students of the difficulties involved in classifying newly found items or materials and, how people work out systems to resolve problems and organize everything we deal with to make it easier for us to learn about and keep track of all there is around us.

Submitted by,

PAUL MULLE
CAMDEN CITY N.J. SCHOOLS
CAMDEN CITY, NJ
pmulle@camden.k12.nj.us

 

 

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