From skits to songs to comics to physical models to Google Drawings, 5th graders showcased their learning of how the ships got in a field by completing an alternative assessment.  This science unit was based on real phenomena that happened in the Aral Sea in central Asia years ago.  

Students had to meet the following criteria for their assignment:  click here.

Check out some of the evidence from their work!

It was an incredible two days of presentations where students could show all that they knew in a way that was most comfortable for them.  Being reflective, here's what some of the students said in response to alternative assessment:

"I like this much better because you got to act out, sing, explain, etc. and do the same things like answering questions on a test just not like that."  -H

"I like this better because we had time to think. It was also fun to see how other people thought."  - A

"Another good thing is that we get more feedback from this than from a test."  - L

"I really enjoyed this project because I felt that it was harder and there were more mistakes that we could make, allowing us to learn and understand the topic more than a test."  - N

"I thought this was way better than a test because our whole group got tot work together so if someone didn't understand something, we could help them."  - C

Way to go fifth grade!

Fifth graders are coming to a close on explaining how the ships got into the field, which is actually a REAL story!  Using the data they collected over time, students narrated their graphs both at the visible level and the particle level, working to create a hypothesis that was supported by the data they collected in their mini-lakes.  It was incredibly eye-opening for the students to see how their thinking changed over the course of the unit.  When we looked back at our original hypotheses, we had everything from hurricanes, to tornadoes, to wind storms that brought the ships onto the fields.

Students now understand the story behind why the ships are in a field.  Not only did evaporation play a significant role, but the water that was able to return to the lake exited the lake in another way, too.  This story is based on what happened in the Aral Sea, which is located in Central Asia.  Cotton farming became popular nearly a century ago, which depleted the sea's water supply.  Since more water left the sea for irrigation systems and through evaporation than ever returned, the lake eventually dried up, leaving ships abandoned.  Check back soon for student work on an alternative assessment project to showcase their learning!

​How are the properties of air and water the same?  Different?  Fifth graders are exploring these ideas as they relate to the idea of ships in a field.  How does knowing about compressibility help explain this phenomenon?

Using syringes, students determined if both air and water are compressible.  Being word "smithers," students discovered that compressible means being able to push together.  Therefore, something that is compressible can be squeezed or pushed into a smaller volume.

Students are also working on the practice of modeling to explain how one type of matter IS compressible and the other is not!  We're looking not just at the visible level, but at the particle level, too!

Check out three students' work showing the compressibility of air and water!

So if water wasn't added or removed from our bottles, why is it that it looks different and is a different volume when it's frozen versus at room temperature?  An online simulation is helping us to see that water is the same kind of matter no matter what phase it is in. We're seeing the following things:

1.  Water's particles remain the same size and shape no matter what temperature they're under.
2.  The speed of the particles and the space between particles changes when the temperature changes.  

These helps us understand what's happening to water as it freezes and melts.  How can these ideas help us explain how the ships ended up in a field?!?!

Fifth graders are trying to make sense of what is going on with the water in their two-bottle systems.  They know it's not escaping since the system is closed.  How does the temperature of the light affect the water?  Is there invisible water somewhere?  If so, where?  How does the temperature affect the size of the water droplets?  

We're making sense of all this...

And by the end of it, we'll know how evaporation and condensation are related!