This week I introduced students to our unit covering the Nature of Science starting with The Scientific Method. We watched a video clip from the t.v. show The Big Bang Theory that gave us a general overview of how we use the scientific method every day of our lives without always being aware of it.
We also watched a video clip from The Teacher's Pet which gave a general overview of the steps of the Scientific Method and how those steps are used in every day life.
Once students gained some insight into the Scientific Method, it was their turn to use it in our Skittles Lab. In this lab we set out to determine if the Skittles packaging which purports to weigh 61.5 g and contain 65 Skittles per packet was 100% accurate. Each group was given a package of Skittles to weigh using the Triple Beam Balance and to count the Skittles. The mass of each group's package and Skittle count was averaged and determined to not be completely accurate. We explored reasons that the numbers deviated from values shown on the side of the packaging and discussed potential sources of error such as problems with our Triple Beam's calibration and/or variations in the size of each individual Skittle.
Homework for this week:
For homework, students are to finish answering the discussion questions on the first page of the Skittles Lab handout. Additionally, students need to finish writing out the notes from the lesson in their composition book. The notes as well as how their notebook page should look when finished can be found at the link below:
Students should watch the short video regarding Lab Equipment shown below:
and print and complete the worksheets found at the link below:
I'm looking forward to week 2 of our Physical Science class!
