Basic Elements of a Science Investigation
In out fifth week we went through the necessary process skills that students need while going through the scientific method.
The handout seen above, outlines the steps we can take students through to guarantee that they understand what is going on as they go through each step of an experiment.
Testing the Force
We then went through an ISI model experiment in which we tested the relationship between the force of attraction and the distance between two magnets.
We tested the strength of attraction between two magnets as the distance is increased. To increase the distance, we placed plastic chips in between the two magnets. To test the attraction, we placed washers one at a time in the cup opposite of the magnets. Once the cup with the washers broke the attraction, we counted the total number of washers and graphed our data.
Other helpful materials/ lessons learned
- Using stickers when graphing instead of having students color in squares.
- Giving students an outline of how to phrase their responses to FQs.
- How to remember what axis the dependent and independent variables go on