Insta-Worms

WELCOME TO MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE GRADE 6!!!

Welcome to grade 6 science! This year we will use this blog as well as your own personal science blogs to communicate with each other about current events, projects, assignments, interactive websites, reflections, and lab investigation conclusions.  I'm excited to get started with you in our first unit:  Investigating Matter in Our World!

Roller Coaster Games!!!

Roller Coaster Creator
http://www.gamesgames.com/game/RollercoasterCreator.html

Free Roller Coaster Games
http://www.freerollercoastergames.org/

Roller Coaster-Mini Clip Games
http://www.miniclip.com/games/rollercoaster/en/

 Roller Coaster Rush
http://www.games.co.uk/game/Rollercoaster-Rush.html

Build a Roller Coaster and test the Fear Meter!!!
http://kids.discovery.com/games/build-play/build-a-coaster

Newton's Laws of Motion

Final Research report AND project for Grade 6!!!!  :) 

Inquiry Question:  How are people affected by motion and forces?  How can science and technology help society stay safe?

Objectives: 

Students will design and create their own roller coaster to test the principles of motion and energy.

Students will complete a research project (Public Service Announcement) about a topic of their choice in regards to personal safety and the effects of motion and forces on the body. 

Students will present their research project to their classmates and perhaps to younger grades. 

Lesson Context

What real-world contexts are included in the lesson? If not included, please explain why real-world contexts are not appropriate for this lesson.

****Students will investigate forces and motion in the classroom (MAINLY INERTIA), as well as real-world applications such as (airbags and safety belts and helmets).  

****Students will investigate the invention of seat belts, helmets, and air bags and the effects of these safety features on society.  We will also look at the evolution of the technology behind these safety features and future advancements. 

****How does this lesson help to develop scientifically literate students?

Students will understand that scientists learn and understand through trial and error when investigating various phenomena, laws of physics, and/or new technologies and through these tests scientist’s knowledge can be used towards creating safety features for various things in our lives. 

Students will learn to ask questions, test a model of inertia and momentum, and answer questions about daily experiences and during various class experiments.

They will learn the vocabulary necessary for understanding the scientific concepts behind Newton’s three laws of motion, friction, forces, and momentum which will be required when reading news articles, when discussing with others in class, and describing and explaining effects of speed and momentum on an object upon impact.  

Students will also understand the risks and options for keeping themselves safe in a variety of situations. 

Extension/Enrichment/Transfer or Generalization of Knowledge that engages students in their learning 

Roller Coaster Project:

·       Students will work together to sketch a potential model of a roller coaster, discuss materials they will need to make the model of the roller coaster, and finally create the model for a marble.

·       Each person in the group will have a role assigned to ensure that everyone is engaged in a way that they can be successful. 

·       They will need to apply their knowledge of forces and motion, as well as potential and kinetic energy in order to get the marble from the beginning to the end of the track. 

·       The object of the project is to get enough acceleration to go around the arches and to decelerate to a stop at the end. 

·       When they finally get the roller coaster to work, they will create a poster of the roller coaster, they will label areas of acceleration, deceleration, kinetic energy, potential energy, and if they can they will label it with positive G’s and negative G’s which the marble (or rider) will be experiencing.

Synthesis/Closure

Making a REAL LIFE CONNECTION to forces and motion which will impact their own health and safety, students will research the effects of forces on the human body.  

This will be a final project which will be in the form of a Public Service Announcement. 

Students will choose a topic they are interested in regarding the effects of forces on the human body and safety features that are needed to keep people safe.  For example, some topics may be:  race car driver safety equipment (helmet and reconstruction of the car), skateboarding safety equipment (helmet), roller coaster safety features, seatbelts, car seats for babies, biking/motorcycle safety equipment (helmets), airbag systems in cars, and others that students may think of).  

Students will research the effectiveness of the systems, and how they work to keep people safe, what materials they are made from, the evolution of the product (how it has changed), if they have been recalled (because they have flaws from the factory), future enhancements as well as what  they are used for.  

Then, once students complete their research they will create a Public Service Announcement in order to make people aware of how they can stay safe and have fun at the same time.

Students will present their topics to the class through their Public Service Announcement. 

How Valuable is a Rock?

For the past few months, we have been exploring Earth's layers, magma, plate tectonics, the currents that circulate under the Earth's crust and volcanoes, minerals that make up the Earth's rocks, how we identify them, and we explored a bit on the rock cycle (which will be explored more in Grade 8!).

Our final section to this unit was our study on the formation of  crystals and minerals, their importance to our everyday lives, the race to find them and mine them, and also how they are mined and processed. 

To close this unit with your final thoughts and new inquiries, make a blog post describing what you have learned about the topics we have explored over the past three months.  Visit http://www.bubbl.us and create a mind map to help you to write your reflection.  When you do this, please export to your pictures and import it to your blog post. 

Here are a few questions to help you with your reflection:  
The unit question I would like you to discuss is:  How valuable is a rock?  
State what you have learned which could help you give your thoughts to this question.

The Area of Interaction of the unit was:  Environments:  To investigate the role and responsibilities of individuals and societies in the sustainable use and exploitation of natural resources taken from the Earth's crust.  Does it fit this unit? Explain.

The Significant Concept:  Students will understand that the convection currents under the Earth's crust within the mantle play a big role in causing movement in the tectonic plates, creating volcanoes, and moving magma up into Earth's crust where various rocks and minerals formed and used for human consumption.  Do you think you have a good understanding of the significant concept?  Why or why not?  What part/s do you understand? 

How do you feel you did during this unit?  What could you have improved? 
How do you feel about the activities you took part in?
Did you learn any new skills or knowledge that you did not know before?
What did you find interesting?
What was your favorite and/or least favorite part? 
What would you add or change about this unit for next year's grade 6 students? 
Is there anything you still wonder about in these topics we studied?  IF so, what?

I look forward to reading your blog posts!  :)