Cool Chemistry

Generative Topic:Fizz, Burn, Smell States Reacting to Each Other, Reactions

Year Level: 3/4

Focus Essential:World Futures: Investigating the Natural and Constructed World

Understand how to scientifically investigate the natural and constructed world, appreciating the tentative nature of knowledge and the value of creative, imaginative and speculative thinking.

Standard 3: Understands how to pose questions, actively investigates them, and evaluates the findings against the explanations and observations of others.

Inquiry–Scientific Inquiry

Understands the process of inquiry and uses appropriate techniques for posing questions, defining problems, processing and evaluating data, drawing conclusions and flexibly applying findings to further learning and to creating new solutions.

Supporting Essentials:

Communicating –Being information literate

Standard 3: Understands how to effectively access, interpret, transform, create, communicate, evaluate and manage information in ethical ways, using a range of resources.

-Being literate

Standard 3: Understands how to select and use communications for different audiences, purposes and contexts. – Procedural Text

-Being Numerate

Standard 3:

Concepts: Change, reaction, scientific solutions, observation, controlling variables

Skills: Investigating and recording

Thinking - Reflective thinking

Throughlines: Understands how to design investigations, describe and record observations and evaluate results to draw justifiable conclusions.

Understanding Goals:

  1. Students will understand the difference between chemical change and physical change.

What are the differences between physical and chemical change?

  1. Students will understand that there are different chemical reactions.

What kind of reactions do chemicals make?

  1. Students will understand how to follow a series of instructions to collect data in an unbiased manner.

How do we collect data?

  1. Students will begin to understand how to interpret and evaluate data.

How do we know our data is reasonable?
How can we work out what our data means?
How do we draw conclusions from our data?

5. Students will understand that locating, organising and analysing information is essential in order to effectively communicate or document their understanding.

Why is locating, organising and analysing information important?

Skills-

  • Uses logic and problem solving skills
  • Uses critical thinking skills
  • Integrates the seven science processes
  • Observing
  • Questioning
  • Hypothesizing
  • Predicting
  • Investigating
  • Interpreting
  • Communicating

Learning through co-operative skills

Uses higher level thinking skills (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

Inquiry Cycle

  • Question to be investigated
  • Predicting possible solutions
  • Testing / experimenting
  • Carrying out the plan
  • Collecting evidence
  • Drawing conclusions
  • Sharing and communicating results
  • Any modifications (only if applicable)

Introductory performances
Performances of Understanding / Ongoing Assessment for Learning
Discuss the states of matter e.g. solid, liquid, gas
Everything in the world is made of chemicals, seen/unseen(air)
Chemistry is the composition, properties and reactions of substances.
Ice blocks
Students investigate the three states of matter and begin to question reversibility of changes
Apple Colour Change
Students investigate changes and reversibility. What effect does adding chemicals (citric acid) have on food? E.g. stops oxidation
Red Cabbage
Students will focus on collecting data. Students will make conclusions about the samples that are the same colour.
Initial discussions on the ph scale.
Bi-carbonate of soda/vinegar (mixing an acid and a base- develop the language from the last experiment)
Students will discover another kind of reaction when two chemicals are mixed e.g. bubbles, gas, CO2 (greenhouse gas)
Add sultanas. Students observe what happens.
(make two new chemicals- sodium acetate (solution) and CO2
Vinegar is stuff (acetic acid HC2H3O2) dissolved in water (is a solution)
Acetic acid (liquid) + bicarb (solid)
CO2 (gas) + sodium acetate
Water helps reactions occur (them react)
Use 7 process- focus on observation, then prediction What would happen if..? Add a solid.
Hypothesising Why did..? Why didn't all the bicarb disappear? Not enough vinegar to create the reaction and use the solid. )
Chocolate
Students will show their knowledge and develop further knowledge on the reversibility of change in chocolate.
Drawing it together so far.
Give students two list of the experiments completed so far. Why are they put together that way?
Ice blocks, chocolate
Apple/citric acid, red cabbage, bicarb soda/vinegar
Set up commercial crystal growing garden.
4 chemical changes-
Colour change
Gas (production of)
Heat
Precipitate (two liquids make a solid e.g. soap scum)
Revisit 7 scientific process-
Observing
Questioning-Who what when- give key ideas and facts
-why-considers relationships and requires explanations
-how- procedure and processes
Hypothesising
Predicting
Investigating
Interpreting
Communicating
Students carry out an investigation. Blow up a balloon using a solid, an acid (vinegar) and a bottle. Not done in this unit.
Plaster of ParisMarshmallows Not done in this unit
Crystals
Using copper sulphate grow own crystals. ½ cup of water to four tablespoons. Students needed to stir and stir to get mixture saturated.
Teacher demo- steel paper clip in copper sulphate, pink plastic covered paper clip in copper sulphate, steel wool in copper sulphate. Students made predictions. Observed and then discussed their predictions.
Make glue from vinegar, milk and bicarb soda. Test which measure of milk or vinegar makes the strongest glue.
Culminating Performances
Students to identify question relevant to them and plan and carry out an investigation, with a focus on a chemical reaction
Visit to ClaremontCollege science lab led by David Reeve, science teacher. Students completed three experiments, one precipitate
Also had a tour of the college.
Science Fair- students set up two experiments in the classroom (other 3 classes do the same) and then take parents round each station and carry out the experiment and explain the Science behind it. Students without a parent will be given an interested adult to take around.
RACI chemist didn't get into the classroom before the unit was completed at the end of the term. / Brainstorm what is a chemical? Chemical reaction for comparison at the end of the unit.
Students are using the scientific vocabulary- eg observing not looking
How detailed observation skills are? Ability to record those observations.
How well did students collect data? Can students organise the data? Can students make suggestions about the ph of samples?
Students will hypothesis why the sultanas floated up and down. Accuracy of diagrams
Students hypothesis why the sultanas didn't move a lot.
Students predict what would happen if…?
Students will show using text or diagrams that they proved their goal that changing chocolate from a solid to a liquid is reversible.
Students will make hypothesis that one group is chemical change and the other is physical change (reversible).
Students make a prediction on the kind of change it is and give reasons.
Students try and predict them based on the knowledge they have.
Students record information and share with the class. How can you measure how much gas is produced with differing amounts of the solid and acid? Not done in this unit.
Copper sulphate purchased from Roberts in town by the kg. $5.50 per kilo.
Evaluation as to whether they could say it was a chemical change and why? (colour change and not reversible)
Students stuck paper on paper and made an evaluation u sing how easy it was to get if off. Similar groups got together to make a general statement- ¾ cup vinegar is stronger than ½ cup vinegar. Not all groups agreed and many chose this to test in own investigation to prove themselves correct because the group couldn't agree.
Using the experiments already carried out students modified an investigation. Evaluation on group participation and organisation, scientific goal, quality of method recording, detail of results and if the conclusion supported the results and answered the goal.
Evaluation based on the discussion back in the classroom with the students.
Evaluation completed by the adult.

Cool Chemistry with LenahValley Grade 5 Fletcher

1. Students answer the question What is a scientist? Text and illustration

2. What is a scientist is shared in the webct shell.

3. Students share Chemistry is… in the discussion area of webct.

4. Students discuss red cabbage indicator experiment in discussion area of webct.

5. Students complete a powerpoint on how to make glue and put it up in webct shell for the other class to comment on.

6. Students comment on photostory presentation completed by LenahValley.

Sharing Information in Webct

Goal: To share information with LenahValley students via webct.

Method:

  • Students make a powerpoint presentation of their glue making process so others can access the procedure.
  • Powerpoint is uploaded into webct for LenahValley students to access.
  • Students view comments made by LenahValley students and reply.
  • View photo story made by LenahValley students. Brainstorm our questions in groups to ask LenahValley students. Group leader uploads questions to webct. All students access webct to see responses.
  • Students discuss the responses.
  • Student asks for the recipe to make Borax slime with a view to making it in class.

Reflection:

  • Students showed they had a solid understanding of the basics of powerpoint. Students were able to insert photos easily.
  • Students wanted more comments from LenahValley students.
  • The visual of photo story captured the students attention. They wanted to watch it over and over. They were excited to see a new student to CPS in the photo story.
  • Many students had the same questions so they were grouped to asked as many different questions as possible.
  • Students eagerly waited for the Borax recipe to make their own.

Sharing Our Cool Chemistry With the Community

Goal: To share Cool Chemistry knowledge and experiments with a wider audience.

Method: To hold an open day for parents/adults to be informed by their child.

  • Students invite their parents or significant adult into the classroom.
  • Students support parents to read instructions and carry out four experiments.
  • While waiting for a spot at a Cool Chemistry learning centre, students complete written activities e.g. word search, periodic table quiz and evaluation survey (completed by adult)
  • Students show copper sulphate crystals and bouncy eggs.
  • Powerpoint on glue making procedure made by students is looped on two classroom computers.

Reflection:

  • All students had a significant adult. Those not able to have a relative had an adult from school staff.
  • From the survey completed by the adults, students ably shared the science behind the experiments and successfully completed the experiments.
  • Written activities were successful in keeping students focused while waiting for a learning centre position.
  • Students proudly showed the results of their other experiments.
  • Students and parents watched and read the Powerpoints showing in the classroom and they assisted with prior knowledge to ensure success when they got to the glue making learning centre.