Gretchen Brinza
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Summarizing How the Ships Got in the Field!

4/5/2016

 
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!
Ship in a field comic
Ships in a Field Table#:5 303
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!

Putting It All Together!

3/31/2016

 
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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!

Explaining New Properties of Air

3/21/2016

 
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So as air warms up, it expands because the particles take up more space as they collide into one another with their increasing speed.  As air cools, it contracts because the particles take up less space due to weakening collisions with decreased speed.  
​What a mouthful...and what a relationship!  We'll be using this idea to explain how our ships are in a field!

Temperature,  Particle Speed, and Volume

3/18/2016

 
As fifth graders try to explain how the ships ended up in the field, they're thinking about the properties of air and how this could affect what happened to the water.

Using the online particle simulator, students are seeing that air particles are constantly colliding with the surface of the water.  But how does temperature of air affect not only the speed at which the molecules move, but the volume they take up?  

It's getting us thinking...

​And moving closer to explaining why our ships are in the field!
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Are Air and Water Compressible?

3/16/2016

 
​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!

Is Air Matter?

3/16/2016

 
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If water is matter...is air matter, too?  Since we're trying to explain the phenomenon of why our ships are in a field, does the air above the lakes have anything to do with what's going on?

​Fifth graders are first discovering if air is matter.  Does it have weight and volume like water does?  We're using syringes in a closed system to figure this out!

Water at the Particle Level...

3/12/2016

 
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?!?!

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What happens to the water once it melts?

3/12/2016

 
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So we noticed that the water's volume increased when it froze and that its mass stays the same, but what happens to its volume and mass when it melts from the frozen state?

5th graders are uncovering what changes and what stays constant both at the visible level AND at the particle level.  Check out all their awesome work to help explain their thinking!

What happens to water as it freezes?

3/8/2016

 
So we've learned about evaporation and condensation, but what if we lower the temperature even lower than where water condenses and freeze it?

Students completed an investigation to see what happens to water's weight and volume.  They've gathered evidence to see that the weight of the water stays the same, but that the volume of the water increases.  How can we connect these ideas to explaining how the ships are in the field?
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What is really going on in our two-bottle systems?

3/4/2016

 
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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!
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    Mrs. Brinza

    Scientists and engineers work together.  Scientists ask questions about the natural world, and engineers work to solve problems that scientists may face.

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