Community Collaboration and the Scientific Method
Teacher: Liz Ashby
Date: (written on) October 23, 2011 (approximate time required) 2 course blocks
Subject area / course / grade level: Science / Any Course / 6th-12th
Materials: handouts/presentation material, wiki site, Skype capabilities or guest speaker, student laptops, triple beam
balances, fun-sized M&Ms for each student
VA SOLs:
PS.1
The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
a)
b) length, mass, volume, density, temperature, weight, and force are accurately measured and reported using
metric units (SI—International System of Units);
c) conversions are made among metric units, applying appropriate prefixes;
d) triple beam and electronic balances, thermometers, metric rulers, graduated cylinders, and spring scales are
used to gather data;
e) numbers are expressed in scientific notation where appropriate;
f) research skills are utilized using a variety of resources;
g) independent and dependent variables, constants, controls, and repeated trials are identified;
h) data tables showing the independent and dependent variables, derived quantities, and the number of trials
are constructed and interpreted;
i) data tables for descriptive statistics showing specific measures of central tendency, the range of the data set,
and the number of repeated trials are constructed and interpreted;
j) frequency distributions, scattergrams, line plots, and histograms are constructed and interpreted;
k) valid conclusions are made after analyzing data;
l) research methods are used to investigate practical problems and questions;
m) experimental results are presented in appropriate written form; and
n) an understanding of the nature of science is developed and reinforced.
Lesson objective(s): Students will conduct a simple scientific investigation, collaborating with other classrooms across
the country, to learn how the scientific method and communication within the scientific community leads to more accurate
data. They will also construct graphs to analyze both the data from their class and the collaboration, utilize the metric
system and scientific notation skills, and use laboratory equipment correctly to gather information while testing a
hypothesis.
Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs: Assistance or partner work for students with severe
disabilities; multiple presentation strategies including lecture, student discovery, and partner work; modification of
assignments as needed to align with IEPs; use of graphic organizers and note-taking; anchor activities for students who
finish early.
ENGAGEMENT
Start class with a discussion of problem solving. Ask the students “Have you ever had a problem?” If students are hesitant
to raise hands, repeat the question saying, “Have you ever had a technology problem?” Allow the students to share times
they had a difficulty with a computer, mp3 player, or cell phone, and ask them how they solved the issue. Once they see a
pattern emerging, have them pair with a partner and write out a general procedure they followed when solving their
technology issue.
Student answers should all follow the same general order: realization and identification of the problem, testing of an idea,
communication or research for more ideas, more testing, and finally resolution of the problem. Once they are finished
writing, ask about non-technology related problems. Do you follow the same general procedure for those problems as
well?
After the engagement, students should begin to be aware that a pattern is followed by every person when solving any
type of problem.
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Community Collaboration and the Scientific Method
EXPLORATION
Explain to the students that they will be solving a problem and working with other classes from around the country or
world to solve it. The problem seems simple, “Which color appears most in a bag of M&M’s?” However, in answering this
simple question, they will be able to see how the scientific process is used in the scientific community.
Before the activity, have the students create a hypothesis for which color they think will be the most prevalent in the bags.
Then hand each child a fun-sized bag of M&M’s and have them complete the following observations- Obtain a mass using a triple beam balance
- Convert the mass measurement in grams to ounces, milligrams, and kilograms
- Write each measurement in correct scientific notation
- Open their bag and sort the M&M’s by color. Record how often each color occurs in their own data table as well as the
class data table on the board.
- Create a bar graph of their own data.
Once each student has completed their research, come together as a class to create a bar graph of the class data. Then
have the students go on to a project wiki page and post their data into a chart on the data portion of the wiki. The other
participating classes will do this as well. The next day after all the data has been posted, the students can access the
community data and make a final bar graph for it. Then they should compare the three separate bar graphs to answer this
question-Why is the community data the most accurate data?
EXPLANATION
Once the data has been gathered and analyzed, as a class discuss what was discovered.
- Why was the community data more accurate than the class or personal data?
- What process was followed to complete the research?
- Is it the same process you followed to solve your technology problem?
- Why is it important that each researcher perform their work very carefully?
- What happens if someone messes up or miscounts? Does it affect the data? If so, how much?
- When obtaining the mass, why is the weight listed as ounces and not grams? Which is more correct for a science course
and why do you think so?
Through this discussion, students should come to know the scientific method, the use of simple research tools and
processes, and the way scientific collaboration leads to a better solution or understanding of the problem.
ELABORATION
Students will now have the opportunity to communicate through Skype or in person with a researcher from a university or
hospital. The researcher will discuss how they use the scientific method on a daily basis and how the scientific community
contributes to their work. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions and compare their small experiment with the
major scientific research occurring around the world.
Students will understand how terms like hypothesis, analysis, conclusion, prediction, and experiment are used, and that
these terms are not confined to science laboratories. In fact, these terms are used in their own daily lives whenever a
problem is solved.
EVALUATION
Students will be evaluated based on their data logs, but at the end of the lesson they should write a short summary of a
time they had a problem and used the scientific method to find a solution. They should outline each step using the correct
terminology. They will also be tested on the information at the end of the unit on the unit test.
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Community Collaboration and the Scientific Method
Student Handout
Write about a time you had a problem with some sort of technology. What happened? How did you solve the
problem? Write out a step by step procedure that you followed from the time you realized something was wrong
until the time a solution was reached. ___________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
M&M Research
Problem: What is the color most often found in a bag of M&Ms?
Hypothesis: I think ____________ is the color most often found in a bag of M&Ms because _______________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Procedure:
1. Obtain a snack size bag of M&Ms from your teacher.
2. Before you open it, use the triple beam balance to find the mass in grams
a. ______________ grams
3. Convert the mass in grams into milligrams and kilograms using the metric prefix line
a. ______________mg
b. ______________ kg
4. Convert the mass in grams into ounces by multiplying the grams measurement by 0.353.
a. ______________ ounces
b. How does this measurement compare to the serving size measurement on the bag? Is your measurement
accurate? ____________________________________________________________________________
5. Open your bag and sort the M&Ms by color. Record your numbers in the data table on the results page.
6. Add your data to the class data chart on the board.
7. Create the bar graph for your data on the results page.
8. Go to (insert web address for the wiki) and type your name and data into the data table.
9. Once the class has completed all their observations, add the data to your table and create a bar graph of the
class data.
10. After all the classes have submitted data to the wiki site, add the totals to your table and make a bar graph of
that data.
Results:
Data
Source
Red
Blue
Orange
Yellow
Green
Brown
Personal
Data
Class Data
Totals
Wiki Data
Totals
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Community Collaboration and the Scientific Method
Personal Data Bar Graph
Class Data Bar Graph
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Community Collaboration and the Scientific Method
Wiki Data Bar Graph
Analysis:
Compare the bar graphs you made. How are they different? _________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Which bar graph contains the most accurate results and why? ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What procedure was followed to obtain the data? __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
How is it similar to the procedure you wrote at the beginning of the assignment? _________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
How do you think your procedure compares to the method used by career researchers like those who are
looking for a cure for cancer? _________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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Community Collaboration and the Scientific Method
If you could ask one question to a researcher about how they use the scientific method, what would it be? _____
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion:
Rewrite your original procedure to solve a problem using the following terms-gathering information, research,
hypothesis, analyzing data, experiment, drawing conclusions.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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