What can you create to make winter more fun or easier to endure? Using what you have learned about water, snow and ice in our unit, Water in Winter, design, plan and create your invention to make winter more fun or easier to endure. You need to keep a log of your work and make a poster that helps explain your invention. When all work is completed, you will all be part of an Invention Fair, where we showcase our work to parents, friends and other community members. The last piece you will do is a final reflection on your work. This will involve a lot of work but be GREAT FUN! 1 of 31
Suggested Grade Span 3 5 Task What can you create to make winter more fun or easier to endure? Using what you have learned about water, snow and ice in our unit, Water in Winter, design, plan and create your invention to make winter more fun or easier to endure. You need to keep a log of your work and make a poster that helps explain your invention. When all work is completed, you will all be part of an Invention Fair, where we showcase our work to parents, friends and other community members. The last piece you will do is a final reflection on your work. This will involve a lot of work but be GREAT FUN! Big Ideas and Unifying Concepts Design Form and function Design Technology Concepts Constraint and advantages Invention Mathematics Concepts Cost and pricing Data collection, organization and analysis Diagrams Time Required for the Task One to three weeks working at home on most of it. Context We spent about six weeks learning about winter in a very integrated way. Students had completed individual workcards on many subjects and concepts related to the season of winter. They also had read books and given book talks about winter. This design technology unit became a subunit and culmination of our major theme. This unit was also an assessment of 2 of 31
previous learning, asking the question, Were the students able to apply all/most of the concepts and information they had learned in the past six weeks, as well as use new information they were currently gathering? Prior to assigning the invention task, we did a couple of things to help set the stage. First, we went to the local Fairbanks Museum, where we were given a presentation on Vermont inventors. The students learned first about the branding of America, then continued on to inventors specific to Vermont. We also were lucky enough to have a local inventor in the community. He came and spoke to the students about the whole process he went through, including patenting his product. Alternatives/additions to this preparation could include a study of inventors and inventions, movies and books about lives of famous inventors (e.g., Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, Gertrude Elion first woman inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame) and/or a study of the patent process. What the Task Accomplishes This task enabled me to assess my students prior learning in the Water in Winter unit. At the same time, students were progressing through a design technology process, and this task could have been the primary focus as a stand-alone unit as well. (A design task such as this could become a follow-up task to many units of scientific study.) Students worked on developing their abilities in technological design and on understanding the concepts involved in science and technology. They also applied many communication skills throughout the entire process. How the Students Will Investigate Students begin their work by talking to parents and interviewing community members trying to find out what other people think might be a good problem to work on. For example, the student might talk to some of the elders in the community to find out what might make their winter more enjoyable. This might provide a spark for an idea. Students then begin to put their ideas on paper drawing, sketching, writing, and keeping a log of their process. After they have identified a possible solution and created a design, students build their inventions, complete their logs, design their posters and prepare presentations for the Invention Fair. We used the book, Inventors (published by Teacher Created Materials), as the starting point for many of the other activities involved. The book was also very useful in helping the students understand the process someone might go through as an inventor. Interdisciplinary Links and Extensions Science/Technology Students could use the elements of technological design (identifying appropriate problems for technological design, designing a solution, implementing a proposed design, evaluating completed designs and communicating the process of technological design) as a guide to analyzing historical inventions, simple machines and/or inventions and tools in everyday use. 3 of 31
Students could create a timeline of the 10 most significant inventions during a designated time period. Social Studies My students studied inventors through the ages at the same time as they were working on their projects. They each chose an inventor to research and find out how his/her invention influenced society at the time. Language Arts My class researched their chosen inventors, then they designed storyboards about their inventor. (These storyboards could then be used as the basis for several products videos, plays, presentations, etc.) They also read a book (biography or autobiography) about their inventor and gave an oral book talk to the class. Students could also create family albums of famous inventors, using pictures cut from magazines as illustrations with captions (e.g., a picture of a young child exploring might have the caption, Even as a 3-year old, I was curious about how things worked. ). Mathematics Students could research and calculate the cost of mass producing and marketing their inventions. They could create their own portfolio tasks about producing and selling different products. (We didn t do this.) Teaching Tips and Guiding Questions It is very important to keep in touch with the students about how they are progressing, because much of the work on this task is done at home. I regularly reminded students of the need to keep up their documentation in their logs. Creating a calendar with them at the beginning of the project and designating checkpoints of progress along the way are essential so that students can see the big picture as well as each part. Involving parents/family members with this calendar check-in could also be helpful (even if all parents don t participate.) Often, it's helpful to give students some library time and class time to get each part started, or to assign students with buddies so they can review eachothers' progress along the way. I also kept a running dialogue with each student in their logs. 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 Concepts) Design Technology Invention: Students understand that tools are invented to extend the ability of people (to make things, to move things, to shape materials) (design; form and function). Students see that several steps are involved in making things/invention: identifying appropriate problems; designing and implementing a solution; evaluating completed designs and communicating the process. (design) 4 of 31
Design Technology Constraints and Advantages: Students observe that some materials are better than others, depending on the task and characteristics of the materials (form and function). Mathematics: Students collect, organize and analyze data and apply the concepts of cost and pricing. Students understand how to use diagrams. 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: Interviewing, predicting, designing, constructing, creating strategies for testing the design, gathering data, recording, validating and analyzing results, and communicating (in words and pictures). Other Science Standards and Concepts Addressed Scientific Method: Students describe, predict, investigate and explain phenomena, and draw conclusions. Scientific Theory: Students look for evidence that explains why things happen and modify explanations/designs when new observations are made. The Designed World: Students observe that tools extend the ability of people (to make things, to move things, to shape materials); that manufacturing requires a series of steps and, depending on the task, careful choice of materials (based on their characteristics); and that several steps are involved in making things: identifying appropriate problems for technological design; designing a solution; implementing a proposed design; evaluating completed designs; and communicating the process of technological design. Suggested Materials Paper Pencil Possible Solutions Students are assessed in multiple ways during this project. Much of the assessment is embedded in the work they are doing throughout the project. (For example, I reviewed their logs throughout the process.) At least four log entries were required. There are no right answers, although students should show evidence of having collected and recorded the data and ideas that they generated along the way, as well as the reasoning they used along the way. 5 of 31
This was a multi-task inquiry. Students were also asked to create a trademark design for their inventions and to build a prototype (photos did not reproduce well for this write up). When the inventions and posters were completed, students gave an in-class presentation of their work in preparation for the upcoming Invention Fair. They also wrote a letter to their parents or to me about their work. At the fair, students answered any questions about their work that our guests asked. The final piece was a reflection on the process and an evaluation of the product(s) using criteria for a proficient or distinguished performance. Task-Specific Assessment Notes Novice This student understands and attempts to complete the entire assignment, although there is no letter to the parents or teacher included. The reflective piece, briefly written, does answer the questions asked, addressing some aspects of the design process. It does not go beyond factual information to extend thinking or make inferences about the design process. The student also completes an initial idea for his/her invention (but with a limited rationale I don t like making snowballs ), a planned design, a photo of the prototype built, a trademark (although it does not make any clear link to the invention, a supersonic snowball maker, and a poster. The log entries are brief and tend to focus as much on what was completed ( I filled in the first page ) as on providing insights about the process and/or reasoning used. Data do not seem to be collected from interviews with others to get ideas at the start, but the log clearly shows that field tests are conducted showing some evidence of using data to present findings. The student does draw upon some prior knowledge and reusable materials that might be used for the invention. This student is able to complete all of the worksheets but is unable to extend his/her thinking in the communication pieces about some important aspects of technological design and scientific theory. Note: It is difficult to designate a Novice level of the total of the work required for this inquiry, since all students completed most of the aspects of the assignment and many aspects met the standards I set. I have chosen to make distinctions between Novice and Apprentice which relate to the quality of the final products, the big ideas about the invention process, and the ability to make connections and extend scientific thinking. In truth, both could be placed at the Apprentice level, but for different reasons. Apprentice The student understands and attempts to complete the entire assignment. Some pieces are missing: there are no log entries, although the student completed all of the parts of this task; there is also no letter to the parents or teacher. The reflective piece is quite creatively written (in rhyme) and alludes to aspects of the design process. The student did complete an initial idea for his/her invention, with a real-world rationale that meets a need; a planned design; a photo of the prototype built; a trademark design (although it is somewhat confusing); and a poster. Data may be collected from observations or interviews, but the data are not included evidence of lack of using data to present findings. The student does draw upon prior knowledge about 6 of 31
heat packs, about materials that might be insulators (cotton), and about people who work outside. But without log entries, it is difficult to tell how this information is acquired. (Did the student interview people who work outside?) This student completes all of the worksheets that required short answers but is unable to complete some of the more unstructured communication pieces. The quality of the parts which are completed is very high, as is the quality of the solution to a real-world problem making the project difficult to assess. However, important aspects of technological design and scientific theory include the ability to document and communicate the procedures followed and reasoning strategies used. Standards have been met and even exceeded in some areas (scientific concepts) and not in others (scientific procedures and reasoning strategies and scientific communication). Although this student is missing more parts than the (prior) Novice example, there is evidence of quality and extended thinking in the parts that were finished. Practitioner All parts of the assignment are completed successfully. There are five log entries, which show evidence of consideration of characteristics of materials to be used, as well as a possible marketing strategy and the building of the prototype. A letter to the parents and teacher briefly summarizes the student's ideas. The reflective piece addresses the use of the log to assist the design process, the interviews of others to generate ideas for the invention, and the evaluating of each assignment (log, poster, etc.). All questions are answered, but there is little evidence of thinking that extends beyond the task except that the student notes learning many ways to have fun in winter. The student also completes an initial idea for his/her invention, with a realworld rationale that meets a need; a planned design; a photo of the prototype built; a trademark design (which relates to the product); and a poster. Knowledge of use of scientific tools is evident in log entries and observations during the building of the model. A variety of strategies are tried in order to modify and find the best design evidence of scientific reasoning. Expert All parts of the assignment are completed successfully. There are four log entries, which show evidence of interviewing others to generate ideas for the invention, consideration of characteristics of materials to be used, a clear marketing strategy, and testing of the prototype. A letter to the parents and teacher clearly summarizes the student's process. The reflective piece addresses the specific criteria for evaluating each assignment (log, poster, etc.), rather than simply stating that it was good. The student also includes some aspects of the design process, such as the use of the log to stay organized. The student also completes an initial idea for his/her invention, with a real-world rationale that meets a need; a planned design; a photo of the prototype built; a trademark design (which clearly relates to the product); and a poster. Knowledge of science concepts and use of scientific tools is evident in observations during the field tests, which are timed. A variety of materials are tried in order to modify and find the best design evidence of scientific reasoning. 7 of 31
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