UC Irvine FOCUS! 5 E Lesson Plan Title: Rocket Balloons Grade Level and Course: 8 th grade Physical Science Materials: Balloons (recommend 12-inch Party Balloons ) Meter stick Cotton String (to measure balloon circumference) Student timers/stopwatch Instructional Resources Used: (concept maps, websites, think-pair-share, video clips, random selection of students etc.) Teacher demonstrates an air-filled balloon as it flies erratically in the class. Students will Think-Pair-Share about what causes the balloon to fly as it does. Teacher constructs a concept map based on subsequent class discussion. NASA videos of rocket launches, such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv35opkzcqw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qr1g70aog&feature=related http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/nasaexplosion/b29418f79be9f0c985b0b29418f79be9f0c985b0-969157116623?q=nasa+rocket+explosion&form=vire3 California State Standards: (written out) 8.2.b: Students know when an object is subject to two or more forces at once, the result is the cumulative effect of all the forces. 8.9.a: Plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis. 8.9.c: Distinguish between variable and controlled parameters in a test. Common Core State Standards: (written out) Lesson Objectives Students will collect and graph data on the effect of filling a balloon with various amounts of air on its flight time Students will extrapolate from known measurements to predict the flight time of several other balloons filled with different volumes of air Differentiation Strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners: English Learners: Teacher will guide students in Think-Pair-Share discussion on topics such as: a. Unbalanced Forces: the forces involved in jet and rocket flight are unbalanced forces, the push from the escaping air is a greater force than the friction created by the air in front of the balloon.
Likewise, every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. The force of the air ejecting from the balloon creates an equal but opposite force pushing the balloon forward. Variables are a part of any controlled experiment. The independent variable is the part of the experiment controlled by the experimenter. The dependent variable refers to what is measured in the experiment. It is inferred that manipulating the independent variable causes a measureable difference in the dependent variable. The variable we are controlling is the amount of air in the balloon, and the variable we measure is the time the balloon is flying in the air. Special Education: Students should be given ample time to practice using a stopwatch and measuring the circumference of a balloon with a string and meter stick. GATE: Students can calculate the mass of the balloon using a scale or the volume of a balloon using the formula for volume of a sphere. Separate graphs could be made for mass, volume, and balloon circumference and their effect on flight time. ENGAGE Describe how the teacher will capture the students interest. 1. Teacher will show NASA rocket video or slide show 2. Teacher will demonstrate blowing up a balloon and letting it erratically fly around the room. Students will Think-Pair-Share and discuss the flight of the balloon. What kind of questions should the students ask themselves after the engagement? 1. How do you explain the motion of the balloon? 2. How could you manipulate the flight of the balloon? 3. Teacher should initiate a discussion of the role of variables in science EXPLORE Describe the hands-on laboratory activity that the students will be doing. 1. Students will do some preliminary testing flying an erratic balloon. 2. Students will collect data on how the volume of air (based on a careful measure of the circumference) affects the flight time of the balloon List the big idea conceptual questions that the teacher will ask to focus the student exploration. 1. What are variables? What is an independent and dependent variable? 2. Why is manipulating only a single variable important to scientists? 3. How are a hypothesis and an experiment related in science investigations? EXPLAIN What is the big idea concept that students should have internalized from doing the exploration? 1. Based on the Investigation and Experimentation standards, students will gain experience in making a hypothesis (extrapolating) from preliminary data then testing their prediction with an experiment. 2. Students will understand the definition and importance of the
independent and dependent variables in a scientific investigation. List the higher order questions that the teacher will ask to solicit student explanations for their laboratory outcomes, and justify their explanations. 1. Students will compare their graphs from each part of the investigation. How are they similar? How are they different? 2. In the Results portion of the lab, students will need to interpret their data. They will need to determine if any difference between the predicted flight time and actual flight time is within an acceptable margin of error. EXTEND Explain how students will develop a more sophisticated understanding of the concept. 1. Students could also compare the mass and air-volume of the balloon with the flight time, generate other graphs for comparison. 2. Students could propose and test other variables to investigate, such as the size and/or shape of the balloon. 3. Groups of students could compare data and graphs. Perhaps a class-set of data could be collected and graphed, then compared with the data collected from each group How is this knowledge applied in our daily lives? Understanding variables and extrapolating from known to unknown are everyday experiences for most people. A scientist simply extends these to a methodological practice and supports this practice with measurements. EVALUATE How will the student demonstrate their new understanding and/or skill? 1. Students will complete data collection, graphs, and reflection questions 2. Students will participate in class discussions and Think-Pair-Share preceeding, during, and following each phase of the investigation. What is the learning product for the lesson? Students will gain an understanding of manipulating a single variable and testing a hypothesis with an experiment. Background Knowledge for the Teacher: Forces occur in pairs and can be either balanced or unbalanced. Balanced forces do not cause a change in motion. They are equal in size and opposite in direction. Examples of balanced forces include two equally strong arm wrestlers or tug-of-war teams pulling on a rope. Although they each push or pull very hard, there may be no change in motion! Balanced forces can also include a car moving down the highway at a constant speed. There is balance between the energy of the motor and the friction on the car. Unlike balanced forces, unbalanced forces always cause a change in motion. They are not equal and opposite. If one of the arm wrestlers gets an advantage and pins his opponent s hand, or the car accelerates and speeds up, it is because now unbalanced forces were involved. So as a jet airplane or rocket accelerates into flight, forces acting on it are unbalanced and it continues to speed up. As it reaches a constant speed, the forces become balanced.
The Scientific Method is a time-tested tool for scientific research. Although not all scientific research can be rigorously controlled by a series of steps, the careful manipulation of variables and rigorous data collection are still at the core of scientific inquiry. It is important for secondary science students to be reminded often of how to identify variables and graph data. The Independent Variable is what I do as the scientist. This is the variable that I control. It is the one (and only one) variable the researcher chooses to manipulate in the experiment. It is also called the manipulated variable. The Dependent Variable is what the researcher will measure. The results of the experiment are dependent on how the first variable was manipulated. It is also called the responding variable. It is then inferred that the effect of the dependent variable was caused by the independent variable. When comparing these variables on a graph, the values for the independent variable are shown on the x axis. The values for the dependent variable are shown on the y axis. *Attach student pages to this lesson plan.
Name Period Science Rocket Balloons! How does the volume of air affect the flight of a balloon? Directions: 1. Blow up a balloon and use a string to measure its circumference (lay the string over a meter stick to measure circumference in cm) 2. Let the balloon go and time the length of its flight 3. Record your data in the chart below 4. Repeat the experiment five times with different volumes of air (a larger or a smaller circumference of balloon means more or less air volume) 5. Graph your data on the chart below Trial Circumference of Balloon Time of Flight 1 2 3 4 5 What is your independent variable? What is your dependent variable? Graph your data below
Making and Testing Predictions From Your Data! Use the data from your previous measurements to predict the Flight Time of balloons with untested amounts of air. 1. Choose three air volumes (balloon circumferences) which were NOT used in your five measurements above. 2. Use your graph to make a hypothesis a prediction about the flight time for your untested balloon diameter. 3. Test your hypothesis with an experiment! Measure the actual flight time of your balloon. Balloon Circumference To Be Tested Hypothesis Predicted Flight Time Experiment Actual Flight Time 4. Graph your new data on the chart below Graph your data below 1. Results? How do your two graphs compare? 2. Do you feel your experiment results were close to your hypothesis? What conclusion can you make from your experiment?
3. What is meant by a variable in a scientific experiment? 4. How did using the graph on the first page (your preliminary data ) help you make predictions (hypothesis) for flight time on the second page? 5. If you were going to continue this experiment and collect more data, what might you do next?