Scientific Minds Want to Know: Strategies for Addressing ......Scientific Minds Want to Know: Strategies for Addressing High Impact Areas of the GED® Science Test Information, Resources,

GED Testing Service® | www.GEDtestingservice.com 1

© Copyright 2015 GED Testing Service LLC. All rights reserved.

Scientific Minds Want to Know: Strategies for Addressing High Impact Areas of the GED

®

Science Test Information, Resources, and Strategies for the Classroom

Bonnie Goonen and Susan Pittman November 17, 2015

http://www.gedtestingservice.com/


Table of Contents

Science Themes ........................................................................................................................4

Science Lesson Planning Strategies – The 5 Es.....................................................................5

Planning with the 5 Es ..............................................................................................................7

Scientific Inquiry – Which Falls Fastest? ................................................................................ 8

Sample Questions for Guiding Scientific Thinking ..............................................................10

Experiments for the Classroom .............................................................................................11

Earth and Space Science........................................................................................................11

Oil Spill! Clean It Up .................................................................................................................... 11

Ziplock Bag Water Cycle ............................................................................................................ 11

Distances in the Solar System ................................................................................................... 12

Life Science ............................................................................................................................. 13

How Strong Are You? ................................................................................................................. 13

Pretzel Predictions ...................................................................................................................... 13

Taking a Pulse ............................................................................................................................. 13

Physical Science ..................................................................................................................... 14

Raw or Cooked? ......................................................................................................................... 14

Friction ......................................................................................................................................... 14

Copper Caper – Teaching Chemical Reactions ....................................................................... 14

Galileo’s Free Fall – The Power of Gravity ............................................................................... 15

Compare and Contrast ............................................................................................................... 17

Bernoulli Effect ............................................................................................................................ 19

Which Paper Towel Absorbs the Most Water ........................................................................... 20

Science Resources from the World Wide Web ..................................................................... 21

Stay in Touch! ......................................................................................................................... 22



Science High Impact Indicators

Indicator What to look for in student work: Students’ work shows they have . . .

SP.2.b: Identify and refine hypotheses for scientific investigations.

identified a hypothesis for a given scientific investigation.

differentiated between an appropriate hypothesis and a poorly conceived hypothesis.

used a hypothesis to support or challenge a given conclusion.

identified a hypothesis for a given data set.

refined a hypothesis to more appropriately suit a scientific experiment.

SP.2.e: Identify and interpret independent and dependent variables in scientific investigations.

identified the independent variable in a given investigation.

identified the dependent variable in a given investigation.

fully explained the relationship between the independent and dependent variables in a given experiment.

SP.4.a: Evaluate whether a conclusion or theory is supported or challenged by particular data or evidence.

identified and explained why the evidence supports the proposed claim or solution.

identified and explained which piece of data supports or contradicts the given hypothesis.

identified multiple reasons a piece of evidence supports a theory or hypothesis and compare those reasons to each other.

identified which scientific model would be weakened or strengthen by particular evidence.

fully explained why given evidence supports a scientific theory.

fully explained why given evidence challenges a scientific theory.

SP.6.a: Express scientific information or findings visually.

translated information presented verbally or numerically into a visual format

integrated information presented verbally and numerically into a visual format

identified relationships among graphs or diagrams

identified visual representations of scientific processes explained in a given text

completed diagrams to demonstrate understanding of relationships among variables, scientific concepts, or processes

SP.7: Apply formulas from scientific theories.

solved for a variable within a scientific equation

balanced an equation.

identified what changes will result if a variable within a scientific equation increases or decreases.

identified relationships between variables in a scientific formula.

interpreted symbolic representations of information and scientific data.




Science Themes

Science Content Topics

Life Science

(40%)

Physical Science

(40%)

Earth & Space Science (20%)

Fo

cu

sin

g T

he

me

s

Human Health and Living Systems

• Human body and

health

• Organization of life

• Molecular basis for

heredity

• Evolution

• Chemical

properties and

reactions related

to human systems

• Interactions

between Earth’s

systems and

living things

Energy and Related Systems

• Relationships

between life

functions and

energy intake

• Energy flows in

ecologic networks

(ecosystems)

• Conservation,

transformation,

and flow of energy

• Work, motion, and

forces

• Earth and its

system

components

• Structure and

organization of

the cosmos




Science Lesson Planning Strategies – The 5 Es

The 5E Instructional Model provides a format for lessons that builds on what students already know. The 5Es sequence the learning experience so that the learners construct their understanding of a concept across time. Each phase of the learning sequence can be described using five words that begin with "E": engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate. Engage

Begin each unit or topic with a lesson or activity that engages students with an activity or question as they are introduced to the concept. Students should make connections to prior knowledge and what is to be studied. During this phase, teachers ask questions of students and engage them in the guided inquiry lessons. They use strategies such as KWL or ABC Brainstorm that make connections between the past and present learning experience. Explore

Have students carry out hands-on activities in which they explore the concept or skill. This phase allows students to acquire a common set of experiences that they can use to help each other make sense of the new concept or skill. Teachers should set up the investigation and guide students in inquiry, asking probing questions to clarify understanding. Explain

After students have explored the concept or skill, the teacher provides the concepts and terms used by the students to develop explanations for the phenomenon they have experienced. The significant aspect of this phase is that explanation follows experience. Teachers should ask probing questions that encourage students to look for additional information. Elaborate (extend) Students expand their learning, practice skills and behavior, and make connections or applications to related concepts and in the world around them. Teachers provide learning opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and to gain a deeper understanding. Activities can include reading articles and books, writing, designing other experiments, and exploring related topics on the Internet. Provide opportunities for students to apply what they have learned to new situations. It is important for students to discuss and compare their ideas with each other during this phase. Evaluate

The final phase provides an opportunity for students to review and reflect on their own learning and new understandings and skills. This is the phase where students provide evidence for changes to their understandings, beliefs, and skills. Teachers should assess students understanding through both formative and summative activities.




An Overview of the 5Es Phase Purpose Role of Teacher

Engage Create interest and stimulate curiosity. Set learning within a meaningful context. Raise questions for inquiry. Reveal students’ ideas and beliefs, compare students’ ideas.

Activity or multi-modal text used to set context and establish topicality and relevance. Motivating/discrepant experience to create interest and raise questions. Open questions, individual student writing, drawing, acting out understandings, and discussion to reveal students’ existing ideas and beliefs so that teachers are aware of current conceptions and can plan to extend and challenge as appropriate – a form of diagnostic assessment.

Explore Provide experience of the phenomenon or concept. Explore and inquire into students’ questions and test their ideas. Investigate and solve problems.

Open investigations to experience the phenomenon, collect evidence through observation and measurement, test ideas and try to answer questions. Investigation of text-based materials (e.g. newspaper articles, web-based articles) with consideration given to aspects of critical literacy, including making judgments about the reliability of the sources or the scientific claims made in the texts.

Explain Introduce conceptual tools that can be used to interpret the evidence and construct explanations of the phenomenon. Construct multi-modal explanations and justify claims in terms of the evidence gathered. Compare explanations generated by different students/groups.

Student reading or teacher explanation to access concepts and terms that will be useful in interpreting evidence and explaining the phenomenon. Small group discussion to generate explanations, compare ideas and relate evidence to explanations. Individual writing, drawing and mapping to clarify ideas and explanations. Formative assessment to provide feedback to teacher and students about development of investigation skills and conceptual understandings. Small group writing/design to generate a communication product (e.g. poster, oral report, formal written report or PowerPoint presentation, cartoon strip, drama presentation, letter) with attention to form of argumentation, genre form/function and audience, and with integration of different modes for representing science ideas and findings.

Elaborate (extend)

Use and apply concepts and explanations in new contexts to test their general applicability. Reconstruct and extend explanations and understandings using and integrating different modes, such as written language, diagrammatic and graphic modes, and mathematics.

Further investigations, exercises, problems or design tasks to provide an opportunity to apply, clarify, extend and consolidate new conceptual understandings and skills. Further reading, individual and group writing may be used to introduce additional concepts and clarify meanings through writing. A communication product may be produced to re-represent ideas using and integrating diverse representational modes and genres consolidating and extending science understandings and literacy practices.

Evaluate Provide an opportunity for students to review and reflect on their own learning and new understandings and skills. Provide evidence for changes to students’ understandings, beliefs and skills.

Discussion of open questions or writing and diagrammatic responses to open questions – may use same/similar questions to those used in Engage phase to generate additional evidence of the extent to which the learning outcomes have been achieved. Reflections on changes to explanations generated in Engage and Evaluation phases to help students be more metacognitively aware of their learning.




Planning with the 5 Es

Topic: ______________________________________________________

Engage

(introduce with

excitement)

Explore

(meaning of the

concept)

Explain

(how the concept

applies, an

investigation)

Elaborate

(on the meaning

or application of

concept)

Evaluate

(student’s level of

understanding)




Scientific Inquiry – Which Falls Fastest?

Which shape of paper falls fastest: An unfolded sheet of paper, a loosely crumpled piece of paper, or a tightly crumpled piece of paper? Or can you create a different shape with paper that falls even faster?

Make Your Plan:

What is your

independent

(manipulated variable)?

What is your dependent

(responding) variable

What is your question?

What is your

hypothesis?

If, then . . .

What are the constants?

(name at least 3)




Data:

Identify your dependent and independent variables for each trial.

Independent variables are the variables that are changed in a given model or

equation. One can also think of them as the ‘input’ which is then modified by the

model to change the ‘output’ or dependent variable.

Dependent variables are considered to be functions of the independent variables,

changing only as the independent variable changes.

Dependent Variables ____________________________________________________ Independent Variables ___________________________________________________

Effects of Air Resistance

Paper Type Time

Flat paper

Loosely crumpled paper

Tightly crumpled paper

Your paper design

Conclusion:

Based on the data from my experiment, I reject or accept the hypothesis that (Restate

your hypothesis WORD FOR WORD)

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

The evidence to support this is that _________________________________________




Sample Questions for Guiding Scientific Thinking

Question Type Sample Question Starters

Recalling Who, what, when, where, how ____?

Comparing How is _____ similar to/different from_____?

Identifying Attributes and Components

What are the characteristics/parts of _____?

Classifying How might we organize _____ into categories?

Ordering Arrange _____ into sequence according to _____.

Identifying Relationships and Patterns

Develop an outline/diagram/web of _____.

Representing In what other ways might we show/illustrate _____?

Identifying Main Ideas

What is the key concept/issue in _____?

Retell the main idea of _____ in your own words.

Identifying Errors What is wrong with _____?

Inferring

What might we infer from _____?

What conclusions might be drawn from _____?

Predicting What might happen if _____?

Elaborating

What ideas/details can you add to _____?

Give an example of _____.

Summarizing

Can you summarize _____?

Establishing Criteria What criteria would you use to judge/evaluate _____?

Verifying

What evidence supports _____?

How might we prove/confirm _____?




Experiments for the Classroom

Earth and Space Science

Oil Spill! Clean It Up

When oil tankers accidentally spill their cargo of oil into the ocean they cause a huge

environmental danger. Oil is extremely hard to remove from the water and the beaches, and the

whole environment is damaged. In this experiment, you can see how hard it is to remove oil

from sand. You will need:

Large plastic cup

Sand

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

(This experiment can be messy, so you might want to do it outdoors.)

Step 1 – Observe - Fill a plastic cup with sand and oil and mix well. Observe the problem that

you have.

Step 2 – Hypothesize - Based on your observations, make a guess at what tools you could use

to get the oil off the sand.

Step 3 – Test the Hypothesis - Conduct an experiment. Use a spoon, a straw, paper towel, an

old toothbrush, a sponge – anything that you can think of to get the oil off the sand and help

save the environment!

Ziplock Bag Water Cycle

In this experiment, "clouds," made up of tiny droplets, form on the inside surface of a plastic bag as a water cycle is simulated. Carefully place a plastic cup containing some water into the comer of a Ziplock bag, seal it and suspend it by the opposite corner in a window. Water from the cup evaporates saturating the air in the bag. After a day or so, small droplets will condense on the inside of the bag like a cloud. Some larger drops will begin to run down and grow by accumulating small drops. This is analogous to one way in which rain can form. (The other way involves ice that melts before reaching the ground.) Make up a few bags and hang them in different places - sunny vs. shady, light vs. dark, warm vs. cool ~ and observe the differences. Make up a bag with food coloring in the water in the cup. The condensation and the water that accumulates in the bottom corner will be colorless (unless some water from the cup is spilled) showing that when water evaporates the food coloring stays behind. This can also be shown by completely evaporating some colored water. Make up a bag with salt in the water in the cup. The condensation and the water that accumulates in the bottom corner will be pure. This can be tested by removing the cup and giving students two toothpicks to dip in the water in the cup and the water in the bag and taste. This can show how water that evaporates from the ocean leaves the salt behind and can lead to relatively pure rain. Salt water can also be completely evaporated to show how the salt stays behind.




Distances in the Solar System

Even in our own “cosmic neighborhood,” distances in space are so vast that they are difficult to imagine. In this activity, we will build a scale model of the solar system using a roll of toilet paper. Materials

Planetary distances table

Roll of toilet paper

Gel pen or felt tip pen to write on toilet paper Doing the Activity

Take one sheet of toilet paper as a test sheet for the pens. Make sure the ink is not too wet, that the pens don’t easily tear the paper. Make a dot on the seam between the first two sheets of toilet paper. This is the Sun. Write the word Sun beside the dot. Use the table of numbers to mark off the distances to each of the planets. The number in the table is the number of sheets of toilet paper needed to reach the orbit of each planet. It is important to realize that the counts in the table are starting from the Sun, not from the previous planet. (Thus, after you get to Mercury, you need 1.7 more sheets to get to Venus.) Make a dot and write the appropriate planet name on the toilet paper at the distance indicated. Ceres, the largest asteroid, is used to represent the asteroid belt. Note:

Keep a running count as you work on this. Each distance is from your starting point, the Sun

200 sheets of toilet paper stretch out to nearly 84 feet. Make sure you have room for your model before you start.

Use colored pens to mark the distance to the planet’s orbit from the Sun and label the orbit with the planet’s name on the toilet paper.

Planet Distance from the Sun (km) Squares of Toilet Paper from the Sun

Mercury 57,910,000 km 2.0

Venus 108,200,000 km 3.7

Earth 149,600,000 km 5.1

Mars 227,940,000 km 7.7

Ceres 414,436,363 km 14.0

Jupiter 778,330,000 km 26.4

Saturn 1,429,400,000 km 48.4

Uranus 2,870,990,000 km 97.3

Neptune 4,504,000,000 km 152.5

Pluto 5,913,520,000 km 200




Life Science

How Strong Are You?

The following is an experiment that shows how crumpling paper is not always as easy as it seems and how the disuse of muscles affects the human body.

Get five full sheets of newspaper.

Hold your arm out straight and hold one piece of newspaper in just one hand. If you’re

right-handed, use your left hand. If you’re left handed, use your right hand.

Now crumple up the paper into a tiny ball, using just one hand.

Do it again with the next piece of paper, until you’ve crumpled up all five pieces.

What do you notice?

Pretzel Predictions

Students are challenged to predict how many pretzels they can eat in a minute. Materials:

Pretzels, bow-tie shaped

Stop watch

Instructions:

Ask several students to stand in front of the class. Ask them to predict how many pretzels they can eat in a minute. Write the predicted number of pretzels after each student’s name. Before starting the “contest,” give each contestant and audience member a small (1”) piece of pretzel. Ask them to chew it slowly. After the experience, ask the contestants whether or not they want to change their prediction. Give each student five pretzels. Tell them that you will give them more after the first five are chewed. Start the timer and see if the students met their predictions. Discussion: Certain chemicals are added to pretzels during the manufacturing process to assure the complete dryness of the interior of the pretzel. Also, only a portion of one pretzel is needed to absorb all of the saliva in one’s mouth.

Taking a Pulse

Take your heart beat for one minute while sitting quietly. Jot down your heart rate.

Next, walk in place for a minute and then take your heart rate for a minute. Jot this number

down.

Now, speed walk around the room. Stop and take your heart rate. Jot this number down.

Finally, jog in place or do jumping jacks for a brief period of time. Stop and take your heart

rate. Jot this number down.

Using the four rates, create a graph, chart, or table that best depicts the different heart rates.

Share the graphic information with the class and discuss the pros and cons of each type of

graphic. Discuss that the heart beats faster after exercise in order to pump more blood

(oxygen) to the working muscles.




Physical Science

Raw or Cooked?

Find out which spins the longest, a raw egg or a cooked egg. For this experiment, you will need:

1 cooked egg

1 raw egg

1 plate

Step 1 – Observe the two eggs.

Step 2 – Hypothesize - Based on your observations, make a guess as to which egg will spin

the longest and why.

Step 3 – Test the Hypothesis - Spin each egg in turn on a plate. The egg that continues to

spin for a longer time is the cooked one. Now spin the eggs again, and then quickly stop both of

them. Then let go of both eggs. You will see that the cooked egg stays still but the raw one

starts spinning again.

Why does this happen? The contents of the egg have more inertia when they are raw, because

they are in the form of a liquid. This inertia slows down the raw egg and that is why it stopped

spinning before the cooked egg. In step 2, the liquid in the raw egg was still moving when you

stopped both eggs, so that movement made the raw egg begin to spin again.

Friction

Which is easier to spin – a smoother ball or a less smooth ball? For this experiment, you will

need:

A bowl of water

Smooth rubber ball

Tennis ball

Step 1 – Observe the two types of balls.

Step 2 – Hypothesize - Based on your observations, make a guess as to which ball will spin

the longest and why.

Step 3 – Test the Hypothesis - Try spinning the rubber ball in the water. Next spin the tennis

ball in the water. Which one is easier to spin? The smoother ball is easier to spin because the

smooth surface causes less friction with the water.

Copper Caper – Teaching Chemical Reactions

20 dull, dirty pennies

¼ cup white vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

Clear shallow bowl (not metal)

2 clean steel nails

Clean steel screw or bolt

Paper towels

1. Put the salt and vinegar in the bowl. Stir until the salt dissolves.

2. Dip one penny halfway into the liquid. Hold it there for about 10 seconds, and then pull it out.

Ask students what they see.




3. Dump all of the pennies into the liquid. You can watch them change for the first few

seconds. After that you won’t see anything happen.

4. After 5 minutes, take half of the pennies out of the liquid. Put them on a paper towel to dry.

5. Take the rest of the pennies out of the liquid. Rinse them really well under running water and

put them on a paper towel to dry. Write “rinsed” on the second paper towel.

6. Put a nail and a screw into the liquid. Lean another nail against the side of the bowl so that

only part of it is in the liquid.

7. After 10 minutes, take a look at the nails. Are they a different color than they were before? Is

the leaning nail 2 different colors? If not, leave the nails in the bowl and check on them

again in an hour or so.

8. What’s happening to the screw? You may see lots and lots of fizzing bubbles coming from

the threads. Leave it in the liquid for a while and see what happens.

9. After about an hour, look at the pennies on the paper towels. Ask students what happened

to the rinsed ones. What happened to the others? What color is the paper towel under the

unrinsed pennies?

Discuss with students that everything is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Some things are

made up of one type of atom, such as the copper of a penny is made up of copper atoms.

However, sometimes atoms join to make molecules. Copper atoms can combine with oxygen

atoms from the air to make a molecule called copper oxide. The pennies looked dull and dirty

because they were covered with copper oxide.

Vinegar and salt cleaned the pennies because copper oxide dissolves in acid. The unrinsed

pennies turned green because the copper atoms joined oxygen from the air and chlorine from

the salt to make a blue-green compound called malachite. The nail and screw got coated with

copper because of the action of protons, neutrons, and electrons or to put it another way – the

action of positively and negatively charged particles. The bubbles are the result of hydrogen gas

– another chemical reaction.

Galileo’s Free Fall – The Power of Gravity

Place newspapers on the floor around a chair.

Stand on the chair while your partner lies on the floor peering at the newspaper.

Hold 2 oranges in each hand. Extend your arms straight out in front of your body (and over the

newspapers) so that each orange is the same height from the floor. Let go of both oranges at

the same time. Did they hit the newspaper at roughly the same time?

Now stand in the same position but this time hold an orange in one hand and a grape (or some

other small object) in the other hand. Let go of both of these objects at the same time.

Hypothesize which will hit the newspaper first.

Most people would have guessed that the orange would hit the floor first, but gravity pulls all

objects at the same speed regardless of their weight. Note: Air resistance influences this

somewhat so for more accurate results you would need to do this experiment in a vacuum.




How Large Is an Atom?

Creating life-size models is an excellent strategy for teaching science concepts. To assist

students in comprehending the size of atoms, have them complete the following activity.

Materials:

1 strip of paper 28 centimeters (11 inches long)

1 pair of scissors

Have students take the strip of paper and cut it into equal halves. Have them cut one of the

remaining pieces of the paper into equal halves. Have students continue to cut the strip into

equal halves as many times as they can. Make sure that all cuts are parallel to the first one.

When the width gets longer than the length, they can cut off the excess, but that does not count

as a cut.

How far did they get? Is there anything smaller than an atom? Yes, the size of an atom nucleus

would take about 41 cuts. We cannot see anything smaller than an atom with our eyes, even

with the electron microscope. Yet, scientists use advanced technology to explore the world of

electrons and quarks that are 9,000 times smaller than a nucleus.

How Far Did You Get? Here are some comparisons to think about as you are cutting.

Cut 1 14.0 cm 5.5” Child’s hand, pockets

Cut 2 7.0 cm 2.75” Fingers, ears, toes

Cut 3 3.5 cm 1.38” Watch, mushroom, eye

Cut 4 1.75 cm .69” Keyboard keys, rings, insects

Cut 6 .44 cm .17” Poppy seeds

Cut 8 1mm .04” Thread. Congratulations if you are still in!

Cut 10 .25 mm .01” Still cutting? Most have quit by now.

Cut 12 .06 mm .002” Microscopic range, human hair

Cut 14 .015 mm .006” Width of paper, microchip components

Cut 18 1 micron .0004” Water purification openings, bacteria

Cut 19 .5 micron .000018” Visible light waves

Cut 24 .015 micron .0000006” Electron microscope range, membranes

Cut 31 .0001 micron .0000000045” The size of an atom!

Retrieved from the World Wide Web at: http://www.miamisci.org/af/.


http://www.miamisci.org/af/



Compare and Contrast

Divide the class into groups. Provide each group with a recipe for a surprising new material. Once they have created their new invention, have them identified its properties. Next have them compare and contrast the properties of their material to that of the other groups. Use the Comparison Alley handout to document similarities and differences between the materials. Have the groups share their findings with the class.

Great Balls of Goop

Mix white craft glue and a borax solution together to produce a surprising new material: GOOP! Often when two substances are combined, the properties of the substance will change. A physical or chemical reaction is taking place when this happens. White craft glue is a type of polymer called polyvinyl acetate. Polymers are large molecules made up of many smaller molecules or monomers. These are arranged in a strand like fashion. When the borax solution is added to the glue, the molecules of the borax bind up the glue “strands” so that the glue no longer flows freely. The properties of this new substance are unlike the original glue or borax solutions. The GOOP behaves in an unusual way. See if you can describe it! Does yours look different than the rest of the “homemade” goodies? Ingredients:

1 Tbs. of white craft glue

craft stick (for stirring)

1 ½ teaspoons of borax

2 paper cups

water

measuring spoons

small sheet of plastic wrap or zipper bag (to store goop)

Instructions:

1. Pour 1 tablespoon of white glue into first paper cup. Add 1 tablespoon of water and stir with stick until mixed. Set aside.

2. In a second paper cup, mix 1 ½ teaspoons of borax and 4 tablespoons of water. Stir well, then before the borax settles to the bottom, use a tablespoon to scoop out ONLY one spoonful of the water and borax mixtures. Pour into the cup that has the glue and water mixture.

3. Stir with the stick. If mixture doesn’t quickly form a gel, add another tablespoonful of the borax mixture and stir again.

4. Remove gel from cup and roll in your hands until substance firms up more. 5. Now it’s ready to play with!

Ooey Gooey Silly Putty

Ingredients:

1 part liquid starch and 2 parts Elmer’s glue

Directions:

Add glue to starch and mix with hands until it forms a ball. Knead 5-10 minutes. If it is too sticky, add a little starch. If it is too runny, add some glue. Did you get the same results as those groups making Homemade Slime? Why or why not? Does yours look different than the rest of the “homemade” goodies?




Ooblech

Ingredients:

cornstarch

a small amount of water

stirring rod

container

measuring spoon

Combine a handful of cornstarch with a spoonful of water. Stir and add more water if the substance seems too crumbly. Properly mixed, the substance should seem liquidy on top. Poke it with your finger to make sure. Now pour a little into your hand, squeeze, and release. Have fun, but if the ooblech seems to be drying out, add a little more water. The forces of attraction between the starch molecules and the water vary with the amount of applied pressure. When are the attractive forces strongest? When are they weakest? Does yours look different than the rest of the “homemade” goodies?

Flubber

Ingredients:

large container

1 cup of water

white glue

2 tsp. borax

Directions:

In the container mix the water and the borax. Add the glue. The more glue you add, the bigger the glob will be. Stir well. After a minute, pick up the glob and mush it in your hand, mixing in any pockets of glue left. If you roll it in a ball, you can bounce it on the floor. Did you get a different result than the GOOP? Does yours look different than the rest of the “homemade” goodies?

Homemade Slime

Ingredients:

Borax

White glue

Water

Ziploc bag

Directions: Take one cup of water and add to it 1 tablespoon of borax. Stir until complete dissolved. Make a 50% water, 50% glue solution. Take ¼ cup of each and mix thoroughly. In a Ziploc bag, add equal parts of the borax solution to equal parts of the glue solution. ½ cup of each will make a cup of slime. Seal bag and knead the mixture. Dig in and have fun. The borax is acting as a cross-linking agent or connector for the glue (polyvinyl acetate) molecules. Once the glue molecules join together to form even larger molecules called polymers, you get a thickened gel very similar to slime. Look at the other “homemade” goodies. How does yours compare?




Comparison Alley

Describe the ways that your “compound” is the same and how it is different from that of the “compound” created by another group. Make sure that you write in the name of your mixture (Goop, Glubber, Ooblech, etc.) and that of the mixture to which you are making the comparison.

Subject:

Differences

Differences

Comparison Alley

Similarities

Subject:




Bernoulli Effect

Experiment 1: Flying Paper Strips Using the ruler, measure and cut out strips of paper about 2 inches wide and 6 inches long. Hold the shortest end just under your mouth and blow over the paper. What happened? What do you think will happen if you change the size of the paper? Do you think the shape of the strip of paper is important? Try experimenting. Do you think the experiment will always work?

Experiment 2: The Swinging Ping-Pong Balls

Step 1: Use the ruler to measure and cut two thin pieces of string 12 inches long.

Step 2: Tape a ping-pong ball to one end of the string.

Step 3: Tape the other end of the string to the ruler.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 by taping a second piece of string and the ping-pong ball to the

ruler. The ping-pong balls should be hanging about 1 inch apart on the ruler.

Hold the ruler up so that the balls hang freely.

What do you think will happen if you blow in between the two balls? Try it! What did you see

happen?

Source: Air and Lift. The Bernoulli Effect. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on at:

http://www.rmsc.org/museum/kidsclub/experiments/airplay/airplay1b.htm.

Which Paper Towel Absorbs the Most Water

Have students divide into small groups of three to four students. Provide each student with different rolls of paper towels (different brands and quality) and cups of water. Have them predict which towel will absorb the most water and why. Have them conduct the experiment and develop a short one-minute commercial that delivers their findings. Hypothesis: Which paper towel will absorb the most water? Why?

Observations

Paper Towel A

Paper Towel B

Paper Towel C

What results can be drawn from the experiment?


http://www.rmsc.org/museum/kidsclub/experiments/airplay/airplay1b.htm



Science Resources from the World Wide Web ABC Science. News, video clips, games, and lots of activities for the science classroom from

the American Broadcasting Company. http://www.abc.net.au/science/ Annenberg: The Habitable Planet. The Habitable Planet is a multimedia course for high

school teachers and adult learners interested in studying environmental science. The Web site provides access to course content and activities developed by leading scientists and researchers in the field. http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/envsci/index.html Annenberg Science in Focus: Force and Motion. Explore science concepts in force and

motion and come away with a deeper understanding that will help you engage your students in their own explorations. With science and education experts as your guides, learn more about gravity, friction, air resistance, magnetism, and tension through activities, discussions, and demonstrations. http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/force/ BBC Science. From space to the human body to, this interactive site allows learners to discover many different facets of science. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/ Cells Alive. This site can be used by teachers and students. Lots of great interactivity and

resources on the basics of cells. http://www.cellsalive.com/toc.htm Discovery Channel. The website has lots more information than even the channel. Lots of

interactivity with excellent videos, interactivity, and high-level games. http://www.discovery.com/ Edheads. An organization that provides engaging web simulations and activities. Current

activities focus on simulated surgical procedures, cell phone design (with market research), simple and compound machines, and weather prediction. http://edheads.org/ Exploratorium Online. Since 1993, the Exploratorium was one of the first science museums to

build a site on the World Wide Web. The site contains over 15,000 articles and displays including interactivity regarding science. http://www.exploratorium.edu/ Franklin Institute. Excellent collection of online resources and activities designed to create curiosity and promote science in everyday life. http://www.fi.edu/explore.html How Stuff Works. Ever wondered why a cd works? How about the ten myths about the brain? How about what would happen if you put sugar in your gas tank? An interesting science site filled with real-world information. http://www.howstuffworks.com/ Interactive Websites for Teaching Science. Just click on one of the topics and explore the myriad of resources on the World Wide Web. http://interactivesites.weebly.com/science.html Live Science. Articles from the headlines in all of the various areas of science. Great non-fiction materials. http://www.livescience.com/ National Science Teachers Association. Don’t forget the professional organization for science

teachers. This site has lots of ideas, lessons, and scientific updates. http://www.nsta.org/


http://www.abc.net.au/science/

http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/envsci/index.html

http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/force/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/

http://www.cellsalive.com/toc.htm

http://www.discovery.com/

http://edheads.org/

http://edheads.org/

http://www.exploratorium.edu/

http://www.fi.edu/explore.html

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

http://www.livescience.com/



NEWSELA. This website is an innovative way to build reading comprehension with nonfiction

through daily news articles. https://newsela.com/ Newton’s Apple. NEWTON'S APPLE is a production of Twin Cities Public Television from a

grant from the 3M Foundation. The site is filled with free videos for use in many different areas. http://www.newtonsapple.tv/ Nye Labs.com This is indeed “Bill Nye, the science guy” with lots of activities and applications

for science. http://www.billnye.com PBS: Science & Nature. Highlights and background information on every Science-based PBS

program on the air; check out the Science for the Classroom link. http://www.pbs.org/science/

Steve Spangler. This site has lots of free experiments and videos for use in the classroom.

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab

Teachers Try Science. This site provides free and engaging lessons, along with teaching strategies and resources, which are designed to spark students’ interest in science,

technology, engineering and math. http://www.tryscience.org/ TED-Ed. Provides numerous videos that have been developed by instructors. You can build a

lesson around any TED-Ed Original, TED Talk or YouTube video. http://ed.ted.com/lessons The Physics. An online, free to use physics website developed primarily for beginning physics

students and their teachers. http://www.physicsclassroom.com/ The Why Files. University of Wisconsin, Board of Regents. Real world articles to support all areas of science. Click on the “Why Files in Education.” http://whyfiles.org/teach/ Understanding Science. The Understanding Science website is a fun, free resource that aims to accurately communicate what science is and how it really works. It provides “an inside look at the general principles, methods, and motivations that underlie all of science.” http://undsci.berkeley.edu/ Weather Classroom. The Weather Classroom presents all kinds of online interactive

resources for students and teachers; worth investigating. http://www.weatherclassroom.com/index.php

Stay in Touch!

• GED Testing Service® – www.GEDtestingservice.com

• Twitter at @GEDTesting® – https://twitter.com/gedtesting

• GED® Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GEDTesting

• YouTube channel – http://www.youtube.com/gedtestingservice


https://newsela.com/

http://www.newtonsapple.tv/

http://www.billnye.com/

http://www.pbs.org/science/

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab

http://www.tryscience.org/

http://ed.ted.com/lessons

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/

http://whyfiles.org/teach/

http://undsci.berkeley.edu/

http://www.weatherclassroom.com/index.php


https://twitter.com/gedtesting

https://www.facebook.com/GEDTesting

http://www.youtube.com/gedtestingservice

Documents

Scientific Minds Want to Know: Strategies for Addressing ......Scientific Minds Want to Know: Strategies for Addressing High Impact Areas of the GED® Science Test Information, Resources,