Does It Absorb or Repel Water?

Transcription

1 Display a sponge and a rain hat, and ask the children to predict what will happen if you pour some water onto the sponge. What will happen if you pour some water onto the rain hat? After the children have made their predictions, have them describe what happens as you pour a little water onto each object. (They might say, The water soaked into the sponge, but it fell off the rain hat. ) Then say the following to the students: "Please select at least 4 to 6 different materials (which are available in a plastic dishpan) to test. On your recording sheet, draw and label the material, predict if it will act like a sponge or a rain hat, and test the material to observe if it soaked up water or not. Don t forget to complete each column on your sheet to show what really happened." 1 of 11

2 Suggested Grade Span K 2 Task Display a sponge and a rain hat, and ask the children to predict what will happen if you pour some water onto the sponge. What will happen if you pour some water onto the rain hat? After the children have made their predictions, have them describe what happens as you pour a little water onto each object. (They might say, The water soaked into the sponge, but it fell off the rain hat. ) Then say the following to the students: "Please select at least 4 to 6 different materials (which are available in a plastic dishpan) to test. On your recording sheet, draw and label the material, predict if it will act like a sponge or a rain hat, and test the material to observe if it soaked up water or not. Don t forget to complete each column on your sheet to show what really happened." Big Idea and Unifying Concept Cause and effect Physical Science Concept Properties of matter Design Technology Concept Design constraints and advantages Mathematical Concepts Comparison of attributes or effects Data collection, organization and analysis Measurement Time Required for the Task This task will take approximately 60 minutes, including some modeling by the teacher. (Some of my children needed 30 minutes extra the next day to complete the task.) 2 of 11

3 Context In my first-grade classroom, we have continued to explore different physical science concepts with water. This activity was an extension of our observations of the movement of water droplets and extends students' thinking about characteristics of water and other materials. My goal during the year is to provide equal opportunities for exploring concepts in physical science, and in life and earth science, and to connect the different areas whenever possible. What the Task Accomplishes This investigation provided opportunities for my first graders to observe reactions, test hypotheses, classify data and practice their recording skills. In the fall, a lot of their recording skills will be pictorial, with limited labeling, but a lot of questions will be encouraged and modeled by the teacher to help focus their observations. By the end of the year, predicting, observing and recording data will become a natural part of our science explorations. How the Student Will Investigate I model what the student will do by displaying, on a sorting mat, a child s vinyl rain hat and a sponge. I test each object with water and then we have a class discussion about the students' observations. I direct their attention to the collection of materials and ask a child to pick out something that will soak up water like a sponge, and we test it together. Then, we try to find something that will repel water like the rain hat does. Each student places four to six items on a paper plate to predict and test. Desk groups of four children share a margarine tub, which is half full of water, and two eye droppers. Each individual child has a recording sheet with three sections across the top: Material Predict Test. For each test, the student draws the material and labels it. Next, the student makes a prediction and draws a rain hat or sponge to indicate soak or repel. Now, s/he tests the material with water and draws a rain hat or sponge, depending on whether the material soaked up the water or the water ran off it. For students that I knew would have difficulty with directions and procedures, I suggested they only take one material at a time to think about. I asked children who finished sooner, to make predictions about and to test at least two materials from anywhere in the room, as a way to extend their inquiry skills. Interdisciplinary Links and Extensions Science A weather study of coats could spiral off this science discovery. Explore why coats are made of different materials for different weather and/or for the four seasons. Explore the adaptations (to their coats) of animals that live in the water (otters, water birds, beavers, etc.). Examine different wings/feathers in water and find out what happens when you add an oil spill. 3 of 11

4 Take a rain walk outside to find ways that things in nature absorb or repel water. Do a home inventory: How many objects in your home are waterproof? Where are they found? Why are they needed? What materials are they made of? Social Studies Extend the study to animal and human shelters. (E.g., Does a beaver dam stay dry inside? How? Are there places in the world where human shelters are not built to resist water?) Find product advertisements that include absorbing/repelling qualities of materials (floor waxes, paints, boots vs. paper towels, bandages, diapers). Art Make a crayon-resist drawing on two different types of paper. Brush a thin watercolor wash over the paper. Discuss what happens to the crayoned areas and the non-crayoned areas on the two types of paper. Examine the wicking property of certain materials by placing small drops of different-colored water - or using water-based markers - on paper towels, coffee flilters, etc. Mathematics Time how long it takes different materials to soak up the same amount of colored water. (Materials could include paper towels, wool, rubber or plastic, etc.). Measure how much water equal amounts of different soils can hold (place sand, humus, clay, etc., in pots with drainage holes and observe what happens when adding small, measured increments of water). Teaching Tips and Guiding Questions Have students select their materials from a dishpan filled with different pieces of material. Margarine tubs make great water containers that are easy for small hands to carry. Paper plates or Styrofoam meat trays are inexpensive and easy to use as trays for many other science activities. Ask questions such as these to help focus the students observations: Did it soak all the way through? How can you tell? What shape is the wetness? Did this material take longer to soak up the water? What does the water look like when it does not soak into the material? (It forms beads or buttons of water.) Is this experiment like any other we have done? Did you see anything unusual happening? Can you describe it? Did the drops travel differently on some material? Which ones? How? 4 of 11

5 Concepts to be Assessed (Unifying concepts/big ideas and science concepts to be assessed using the Science Exemplars Rubric under the criterion: Science Concepts and Related Content) Physical Science Properties of Matter: Students observe physical properties and characteristics of materials and make predictions about which materials will absorb and which will repel water. Students use the terms absorb and repel appropriately and describe causeeffect relationships with some justification, using data and prior knowledge. Design Technology Constraints and Advantages: Students observe that some materials are better than others, depending on their intended usage, and that this is due to characteristics of the materials. Scientific Method: Students observe and explain reactions when variables are controlled. Mathematics: Students make precise measurements and compare attributes or effects. Students collect, analyze and organize data appropriately. Skills to be Developed (Science process skills to be assessed using the Science Exemplars Rubric under the criteria: Scientific Procedures and Reasoning Strategies, and Scientific Communication Using Data) Scientific Method: Observing reactions, predicting/hypothesizing, classifying, collecting and recording data, manipulating materials and tools, drawing conclusions, communicating findings, challenging misconceptions and raising new questions. Other Science Standards and Concepts Addressed Scientific Method: Students describe, predict, investigate and explain phenomena. Students control variables. Scientific Theory: Students look for evidence that explains why things happen and modify explanations when new observations are made. Physical Science Properties of Matter: Students describe and sort objects and materials according to observations of similarities and differences of physical properties. The Designed World: Students can explain that manufacturing requires careful choice of materials, based on their characteristics. 5 of 11

6 Suggested Materials For this inquiry, I used: Eye droppers Cups of water (colored water if preferred) 9-inch paper plates Materials to share (paper, foil, paper towel, dishcloths, waxed paper, rubber, plastic lids, cardboard, terry cloth towel pieces, ceramic tiles, newspaper pieces, tissue paper, coffee filters, metal, wood blocks, sponges, ribbon, apples, nuts and so on) A large sorting mat Sponges A rain hat (or boots, raincoat, etc. Possible Solutions As the children test a variety of materials, they will become better predictors of their observations. The tool they use is the eye dropper of water. They also need to organize materials tested and control how they add the drops of water. Some children will understand the concept of soaking up and running off, but others may not understand the difference, may not wait long enough to observe the changes, or may not record the test observations correctly. After testing their four to six materials, students should be able to successfully predict what other materials, from anywhere in the classroom, will absorb and repel water. Task-Specific Assessment Notes Novice This student does not have a successful strategy of recording and does not understand the concept of soaking up and running off, even with additional modeling. The drawings for predictions include both possibilities, and recordings show a lack of understanding of the task and concepts. The student s solution is incomplete only three objects are tested. Apprentice This student demonstrates some evidence of scientific representation and starts a strategy to record the observations. This student seems to use prior reasoning or trials for predictions: all of them are correct. But s/he does not consistently draw accurate conclusions from observations: most are incorrect. The task is completed and the drawing is labeled. This indicates some understanding of absorb and repel, but the student is unable to link observation data to cause-effect reasoning. Practitioner This student has a clear understanding of the concepts and uses effective scientific reasoning for his/her level. The drawings reflect a successful strategy for predicting, testing and recording. This student s solution is complete, and predictions imply they are built on prior knowledge and on experience from earlier tests and observations. 6 of 11

7 The recordings are labeled: it is clear what materials were used in the tests. Only one result is inaccurately recorded (Styrofoam egg). Expert This student demonstrates efficient and clear scientific strategies, his/her reasoning is based on prior trials, and all notations are clear. This student goes beyond the materials given to search for other materials around the room to predict and test. This child also consistently color-codes the rain hat (yellow) and the sponge (red) to help organize the predictions and test observations. This student s solution is complete and detailed. The drawings are clearly labeled. When questioned, the student gives a detailed explanation of the characteristics of things that absorb and things that repel water. 7 of 11

8 Novice 8 of 11

9 Apprentice 9 of 11

10 Practitioner 10 of 11

11 Expert 11 of 11