Take a few minutes to brainstorm 1-2 context ideas for one of the phenomena you identified in the Phenomena Activity.
Share your favorite context idea below.
Students could investigate the effect of changing temperatures on the formation of hydrogen bonds between water molecules. They could create a range from colder to warmer temperatures and note changes in the water sample.
They could also locate and use digital simulations showing hydrogen bond formation under different temperatures as shown in this Ted Ed.
Students could investigate the breathing rate and heart rate while walking compared to the breathing rate and heart rate while running. They could also have to predict what the breathing rate and heart rate would be while reading and justify their answer.
Students could investigate what happens when you place a balloon on an empty water bottle and squeeze the bottle. Students could predict prior to the investigation whether the bottle is truly empty.
The phenomenon I described was that some chemical reactions produce heat while others take in heat.
One context could be: Students in science class are reacting baking soda in vinegar inside plastic bags. Students notice that the temperature drops when the reaction occurs. They wonder if the temperature will drop more if they add more ingredients. They decide to design an experiment to test their idea.
Another context could be: A person is skiing (or sledding) during the cold weather. They have a handwarmer in their pocket. They notice that the handwarmer is not very warm after ten minutes and wonder what they could do to increase heat production. (This may be way too specific in terms of understanding the reaction. I'm throwing out initial ideas that need development.)
Mushers are determining how much food to pack for their sled dogs. Needing to understand race trail speed, how weather (matter) effects the trails, and length of time they may be racing would be needed to successfully finish the Iditarod Race.
Students could investigate the organs found in the respiratory system and the digestive system to find which organs they both share. They could also investigate the function of each system, what is produced and required within each system, and how they relate to one another.
1: Students at a party notice that somehow several balloons are stuck to the walls. They wonder why the balloons don't fall because of gravity.
2: In the middle of winter, students notice their teacher's hair is sticking out from their head. They wonder how it's possible for it to stand up without using any product to support it.
Students will investigate which bonds are stronger using how hold material and how long it takes to break down. Then determine a correlation between structure of bonds and strength.
Objects can be made to "levitate" using magnetic fields - floating pillow, maglev trains/rollercoasters.
Students can use the Vernier probes and look at what happens when plants are in the light and dark. You can also use BTB to observe the CO2 changes. We also do daily observations on our plants.
Students noticed the direction the sunflowers growing near the playground faced from their arrival in the morning, to lunch recess, to after school. The students documented the movement by taking photos at each of these times over the course of two weeks and recording general weather observations in their science journals.
Students notice that a fully inflated balloon will make the pinwheel spin for a longer amount of time verses a balloon that is partially inflated. Students can time the air release from a balloon to how many seconds the pinwheel spins to understand how the particles of matter impacts the pinwheel.
Given the systems nature of the relationship between organelles and cells, or organ/organ systems and an organisms students could be asked to explain the connections between each, how the removal of one would affect the functioning of the whole, using the city or watch as a model.
Student could measure the direction of the young and mature sunflowers and record the data. Comparisons could be analyzed.
https://thewonderofscience.com/phenomenon/2018/6/15/why-do-sunflowers-follow-the-sun
https://youtu.be/1gaWrMCiZR8