4^th Grade Matter Unit Blueprint

12D(3-5)#3: Use numerical data in describing objects and events.

12C(6-8)#3: Use analog and digital meters on instruments used to make direct measurements of length, volume, weight, elapsed time, rates, and temperature, and choose appropriate units for reporting various magnitudes.

Comparing Temperatures (See Comparing Temperatures—Team Task on pages 65 & 66 in Teacher's Edition.)

Checking Understanding (See page 69 in BSCS Teacher's Edition.)

Comparing Temperatures

• Do students use the thermometers correctly? (Ex: Do they keep the bulb submerged for 30 seconds prior to taking a reading?)
• When discussing the results, do students use the quantitative data they collected to make comparisons?

Checking Understanding

• Are students able to read and use the thermometers correctly? (If doing a performance assessment, do they keep the bulb submerged for approximately 30 seconds prior to taking a reading?)

12D(6-8)#1: Organize information in simple [student-generated] tables and graphs and identify relationships they reveal. (See essay on page 76 in Benchmarks.)

Student-generated data table for Comparing Temperatures lab (See bottom of page 65 in Teacher's Edition.)

Click to view sample of student work.

• Do students understand the data they will collect, and are they able to create some type of organized data table with some teacher support?
• Do their tables include straight lines, a title, and column headings?
• Do students enter data in an organized method?
• Are their tables legible?

Why do the results of similar experiments rarely turn out exactly the same?

What is a "fair" experiment? Why should experiments be "fair?"

1A(3-5)#1: Results of similar scientific investigations seldom turn out exactly the same. Sometimes this is because of unexpected differences in the things being investigated, sometimes because of unrealized differences in the methods used or in the circumstances in which the investigation is carried out and sometimes just because of uncertainties in observations. It is not always easy to tell which.

12E(305)#2: Recognize when comparisons might not be fair because some conditions are not kept the same.

Class discussion of Comparing Temperatures data (See Graphing the Data on pages 66 & 67 in Teacher's Edition.)

Class discussion of How Cold Was It? data (See Explaining Temperature Readings on page 68 in Teacher's Edition.)

Comparing Temperatures

• Do students understand that results of experiments rarely turn out exactly the same?
• Do students understand if conditions of an experiment are not kept the same, the comparisons are not fair?
• Are students able to generate some reasonable explanations for variations in the data?

How Cold Was It?

• Are students able to generate some reasonable explanations for variations in the data?