Lesson 1 - Monday, Sep 11
Focus Question: What happens when a bath bomb is added to water (and what causes it/that to happen)?
What We Did: We returned to an image of ingredients list found on the box of the bath bombs we used during last week’s investigations. This image can be viewed in the G7 Notes Portal. After watching a slowed down video of someone putting a bath bomb into a container of water, we then used all of our learning so far to create a three-step diagram on the “What Happens to a Bath Bomb When Put in Water?” handout. To this diagram we added the letters A, B, C, & D to indicate four different moments during the bath-bomb-and-water reaction, after which Dr. M asked students to draw what they might see if they were given a pair of magic glasses allowing them to see the smallest parts of the solid, liquid, or gas in question.
What We Figured Out: Although we didn’t figure out too many new things today, D period figured out the function of “CI 14720,” which is one of the four “CI” ingredients found in the bath bombs we tested.
How We Represented It: All of our representations were recorded on the “What Happens to a Bath Bomb When Put in Water?” handout. However, since students may not have known how to represent the actual phenomena in question, this representation may or may not prove useful to/for them in the future.
Homework: Dr. M reminded students to try and purchase a science notebook if they haven’t already.
Lesson 2 - Tuesday, Sep 12
Focus Question: What happens when a bath bomb is added to water (and what causes it/that to happen)?
What We Did: After sharing the drawings made in yesterday’s lesson with other students, but with close attention to what people drew in the ‘zooming in’ drawings, it was clear that many students imagine the smallest parts of the solid bath bomb, the liquid water, and the gaseous bubbles to look like small shapes such as lines, dots, and/or circles. Names used for these symbols included “cells,” “molecules,” “chemicals,” “H2O,” “bugs,” “specks,” “atoms,” “atoms put together,” and “broken atoms.” From these names, Dr. M asked students to focus on one of them: ATOMS. He then asked students to create a new page in their science notebook with the title, “Atoms,” and to record some facts about atoms.
What We Figured Out: When broken down into their simplest, smallest pieces (or particles) solids, liquids, and gases are made of atoms. There are 118 different types of atoms; these different types can be seen on something called the Periodic Table of the Elements.”
How We Represented It: We said we can represent atoms as circles, which is a 2-dimensional representation of a 3-dimensional sphere. We did not, however, draw atoms in our notebooks, but we probably should in the next lesson.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 3 - Wednesday, Sep 13
Focus Question: What happens when a bath bomb is added to water (and what causes it/that to happen)?
What We Did: We continued our work on atoms today fuelled by a couple of pages found in one of our classroom textbooks (Usborne Science Encyclopedia), as well as students Noticings, Wonderings, experiences, and ideas. The day unfolded as more of a class discussion than was anticipated (or planned), but both C & D period students reported feeling as though they had taken a good step towards answering our unit question.
What We Figured Out: C period figured out that maybe it’s the electrons, protons, and/or neutrons inside of the atoms that might make the atoms either hold together or tear apart. D period figured out that a bath bomb contains no less than 5 different types of atoms (Na, Cl, C, H, O).
How We Represented It: At the end of the lesson, C period started drawing an example of a hydrogen atom, but didn’t finish it (we were also going to draw an oxygen atom too, so that we could see what the atoms look like that make water). D period started drawing a bath bomb in which they represented the atoms found in the first 3-4 ingredients with small circles and symbols. The drawing is recorded in the G7 Notes Portal (D period also saw an example of a molecule in the atmosphere, nitrogen gas or “N2,” that can become “something new” when it comes into contact with lightning). Hmmm.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 4 - Friday, Sep 15
Focus Question: What happens when a bath bomb is added to water (and what causes it/that to happen)?
What We Did: Students were asked to return to their class Jamboard–the one located in the Google Science Classroom–and add sticky notes to three new boards: Related Phenomena, Driving Questions, & Future Investigations. In D period, students actually created the need for an additional board, the We Suspect… board. Although C period did not have time for the remaining activity (which they will do first thing on Monday instead), D period was asked to represent–as best they could–what the solid bath bomb might look like if they could see the individual particles in it. During this activity, Dr. M gave students permission to represent complicated particles–such as citric acid, baking soda, and salt–as single particles drawn as individual circles (Dr. M is using this assignment to see how students think about the solid state of matter at the level of particles).
What We Figured Out: We discovered that, as a class, we have seen and experienced phenomena that might be related to putting a bath bomb in water.
How We Represented It: We collected these related phenomena on our shared class Jamboard.
Homework: There is no weekend science homework.
Announcements...
The DRIVING QUESTION of our current unit is: How can we make something new that was not there before?
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