winter break packet science -...

Winter Break Packet

SCIENCE Grades 6 – 8

Prepared by Miami–Dade County Public Schools

Curriculum & Instruction Winter 2007

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Curriculum and Instruction (Science) Page 1

Preparing for Science*

Science is not something mysterious. Being "scientific" involves being curious, observing, asking how things happen, and learning how to find the answers. Curiosity is natural to children, but they need help understanding how to make sense of what they see.

Bruno V. Manno Acting Assistant Secretary

Office of Educational Research and Improvement Many people are frightened by science and see it as something that can only be understood by the mind of a genius. Increasing the number of people going into the fields of science and mathematics is the national goal. However, even if a student is not planning to pursue a career in one of those fields, they have to be prepared to live and work in a world that is becoming increasingly complex and technical.

What Is Science?

Science is not just a collection of facts. Facts are a part of science. However, science is much more. It includes:

• Observing what is happening, • Predicting what might happen, • Testing predictions under controlled conditions to see if they are correct, • Trying to make sense of our observations, and • Involving trial and error--trying, failing, and trying again.

Science does not provide all the answers. The world around us is always changing and we learn something new every day, so we have to be willing to make changes and adjustments to our knowledge when we discover something new.

The Winter Break Packet

The activities and reading passages in this packet were selected to allow young people to experience the relevancy of science in a fun and engaging way. As they navigate through these activities, they will realize that science is not limited to the classroom but that it is in their everyday lives. Science can be done away from school and can explain many of the phenomena encountered in life. Enjoy! *Source: Miami-Dade County Public Schools K-12 Comprehensive Science Plan


Table of Contents

IT TAKES…Chemistry Chemistry influences our everyday lives. The combining of matter that results in the formation of new substances is what makes our lives comfortable, dynamic, and constantly changing. The activities in this packet focus on the Strand A and H Benchmarks of the Sunshine State Standards:

Strand A: The Nature of Matter Strand H: The Nature of Science

North Pole Bureau of Investigations – Case #1225: Case of the Winter Break Cookie Mystery What happens when you come across a mystery substance? Would you be able to identify it based on its physical and chemical properties? Here is an experiment that puts your scientific investigative skills to the test. There is even a tasty recipe to help you solve the crime. Mrs. Winter needs your help! Be sure to have an adult present for some of the investigation. Hole-y Water Nye Labs Overflow (nyelabs.com) – Everything around us is made of atoms and molecules. Surprisingly, atoms and molecules are made up mostly of empty space. Here is a simple experiment to prove that a glass of water contains a whole lot of nothing. Natural Resources and your Pine Tree During the winter break, they can be seen everywhere. Where did they come from? How did they get their start? Most scientifically curious, what do rocks, minerals, and elements have to do with them, especially at this time of year? Enjoy this short reading selection, solve the quiz at the end, and all your questions and more will be answered. Seen on the Science Fair Scene Well, you have been an excellent investigator and a top notch student scientist. So, how can you share your talents and passion for science with other students and possibly even the world? In this reading selection, discover the excitement of participating in a science fair.


I’m a bad little boy, That’s plain to see; There will be no cookies For Mr. Winter this year, Which means more Presents for me!

North Pole Bureau Of Investigations Case #1225: Case of the Winter Break Cookie Mystery

Mrs. Winter needs your help! Each Winter Break, Mrs. Winter makes a

batch of her special sugar cookies to give Mr. Winter all the energy he needs to deliver presents to all the good little boys and girls around the world. A bad little boy has snuck into the kitchen and messed up all the special baking powders.

He has left a note with three mystery bags of white powder. The North Pole Bureau of Investigations has provided samples of six white powders found at Mr. Winter's house and the three mixtures left by the naughty boy.

Without your help, Mrs. Winter will not be able to make her cookies and there will be no Winter Break! Help Mrs. Winter save Winter Break! Preparation: Ask a parent to provide you with the six white powder samples (labeled 1 through 6) and the three mystery powder mixtures (labeled A through C. Note: one mixture should include flour, baking powder, and powdered sugar) that were left behind. Samples should include the following white powders: powdered sugar, granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. By the way, remind your parent to keep a key to match the samples so that you can check your results at the end of your investigation. Part 1: Follow the directions to test each sample (# 1-6) with water, vinegar, iodine, and heat. Record your observations in the top part of the attached chart. Part 2: Follow the same procedure to test the three Mystery Mixtures (A, B, and C). Record your observations in the bottom portions of the chart. Use your results from Part 1 to determine which mixture is the special sugar cookie mix!

Mrs. Winter's Special Sugar Cookies Mix 15 cups of flour, 6 teaspoons of baking powder, 5 cups of powdered sugar, 3 pounds of butter, and 10 eggs in a large red bowl. Add lots of tender loving care

and a bit of magic dust, then bake until golden brown.

Adapted from Case #1225: Case of the Christmas Cookie Mystery By: T. Trimpe 1999

sciencespot.net/Media/cookiemys2.pdf


Powder Testing Procedure Case #1225: Case of the Winter Break Cookie Mystery

IMPORTANT: Test only one powder at a time! DO NOT ALLOW SAMPLES TO MIX TOGETHER! MATERIALS NEEDED Dropper Toothpicks Wax paper Iodine Water Vinegar Paper Towel Ziploc bags/containers for samples (9)

Samples: Flour Powdered sugar Granulated sugar Baking powder Salt Baking soda FOR EACH SAMPLE: Step 1: Place 3 small samples of your powder (about half the size of a dime) on a piece of wax paper. Place the wax paper on a paper towel to prevent messes!

Step 2: Describe your powder sample and write your observations in the chart on the back of your worksheet. Step 3: Add 4 to 5 drops of WATER to the 1st pile and mix using a clean toothpick. Record your observations in the chart. Step 4: Add 4 to 5 drops of VINEGAR to the 2nd pile and mix using a clean toothpick. Record your observations in the chart. (HINT: Fizz or no reaction) Step 5: Add 4 to 5 drops of IODINE to the 3rd pile and mix using a clean toothpick. Record your observations in the chart. (HINT: Black, brown, or no reaction) CAUTION: Iodine will stain clothing, hands, and anything it touches! CLEAN UP AFTER INVESTIGATING!


Part A Sample Description Water Test Vinegar Test Iodine Test 1

2

3

4

5

6

Part B Sample Description Water Test Vinegar Test Iodine Test

A

B

C

Which mystery mixture is the special Winter Break Cookie mix? ________ Why did you choose this mixture?


Everything around us is made of atoms and molecules. Surprisingly, atoms and molecules are made up mostly of empty space. Here's a simple experiment to prove that a glass of water molecules contains a whole lot of nothing. Well, a lot of space. What you need: 1. Powdered sugar 2. A cup of hot water 3. A teaspoon What you do: 1. Fill the cup to the brim with hot tap water. Get the surface to bulge above the rim. 2. Without dipping the teaspoon in the water, CAREFULLY add a teaspoon of sugar to the water. 3. Repeat several times. What’s happening? The sugar molecules dissolve and fit into the empty spaces between the water molecules. That's why the water in the cup doesn't spill out. Matter is overflowing with empty space. HOME DEMO NO. 3 http://www.billnye.com/homedemos/homedemo3.pdf Copyright 2001, Bill Nye and Nye Labs, LLC.All rights reserved.


HOLE-Y WATER ACTIVITY PAGE

Imagine that we could magnify a glass of water so that we could actually see the hydrogen (H) and Oxygen (O) atoms combined as a water molecule (H2O). In the space below, draw what you would see in the glass before heating, after heating and when the sugar particles are mixed with the water. Water molecules in glass Water molecules in before heating glass after heating Sugar particles with water molecules in the glass Explain what happened to the water molecules when they were heated.

(Think about what heat does to the movement of atoms and molecules)

Repeat the experiment with cold water. Were you able to add more or less sugar to the glass? _________________________________________ Explain your results ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


NATURAL RESOURCES AND YOUR PINE TREE

Adapted from an article by Doug Jones, Student, Department of Geosciences, New Mexico

Institute of Mining & Technology and Virginia T. McLemore, Economic Geologist, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources

With the excitement of winter break, the last thing on our minds is the

natural resources that bring such pleasure to this holiday season. The lights, decorations, glitter on greeting cards, and wrapping paper add to the excitement of the holidays. Perhaps the image of the Pine tree is the most memorable of all. Have you ever thought about the raw materials that bring together this image? The majority of these raw materials were furnished by the mining and petroleum industries.

Some people drive to the forest to cut pine trees. Most pine trees are grown on tree farms. Like all crops, the trees are grown with fertilizers. About half of the world’s production of sulfur and over 90% of the production of phosphates and potash go into fertilizers, of which the sampling trees receive a share. Surface and ground water resources are also need for the growth of the trees.

Strands of tiny lights have replaced candles on the trees, adding to the list of minerals that bring holiday-cheer. The wires are made of copper; the insulation and wall plug are formed by the combination of petrochemicals with pumice, limestone, marble, vermiculite, silica, feldspar, or trona. The glass bulbs contain feldspar, silica, clay, nepheline syenite, and trona; filaments in the bulbs are made of thin conductive strips of tungsten metal, which comes from the minerals scheelite and wolframite.

The glittering tree ornaments are made of ingredients similar to light bulbs, and also contain borate and metals such as iron, copper, and lead. The star at the top of the tree could be made from either aluminum, silver, or copper. The ornament hangers and tree stand also are typically a metal alloy containing iron or aluminum. Colorful paints and glazes used to decorate the ornaments are based on petrochemicals, mica or clay, and are pigmented with ingredients such as lithium found in spodumene, titanium in rutile, manganese in pyrolusite, and rare earth elements in bastnesite and monazite. The papers and woods that the paints are applied to commonly contain clay as an additive or filler.

Well over 20 different raw materials are used to create a decorated Pine tree. And what about the natural resources that go into the gifts, or the electricity to light the tree? WOW! AND, don’t forget the steel saw used to cut down your Pine tree! Adapted from: http://www.mii.org/pdfs/xmastree.pdf From: Lite Geology (Winter, 1992), an earth science magazine of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources.

Mineral Information Institute Denver, Colorado


Quiz Listed below are some items often associated with a Pine tree and some raw materials that are used to make these items. In the blanks write the letters of some of the raw materials used to make each item on the tree. Refer to the Key for some possible answers. Pine Tree Items

1. Star_________________________ 2. Tree_________________________ 3. Ornament hangers______________ 4. Electrical wire__________________ 5. Light bulbs____________________ 6. Wire insulation_________________

7. Ceramic Ornaments____________ 8. Plastic ornaments______________ 9. Electricity_____________________ 10. Glass ornaments______________ 11. Paint________________________ 12. Tree Stand___________________

Raw materials

a. Sulfur b. Trona c. Lead d. Mica e. Petrochemicals, oil, natural gas f. Aluminum g. Potash h. Iron

i. Silica j. Vermiculite k. Clays l. Silver m. Manganese n. Pumice o. Nepheline syenite p. Limestone q. Copper

r. Phosphates s. Lithium t. Titanium u. Rare-earth elements v. Tungsten w. Wood x. Feldspar y. Coal z. Water

Mineral Information Institute Denver, Colorado


Key: 1. Star: f, l, q 2. Tree: a, g, r, w, z 3. Ornament hangers: f, h 4. Electrical wire: q 5. Light bulbs: x, i, k, o, b, v 6. Wire insulation: e, n, p, w, j, x, b 7. Ceramic Ornaments: x, i, k, o, b, h, q, c 8. Plastic ornaments: e 9. Electricity: e, y, z 10. Glass ornaments: x, i, o, b, h, q, c 11. Paint: e, d, k, s, t, m, u 12. Tree Stand: h, f


SEEN ON THE SCIENCE FAIR SCENE

HTTP://WWW.SCIENCENEWSFORKIDS.ORG/ARTICLES/20071010/FEATURE1.ASP

Answer the following questions before reading:

1. What kinds of people like to participate in science fairs? 2. How might a science fair change a student's life? 3. Have you competed in science fairs? If so, what did you enjoy most about

the experience? What was challenging about it?

During reading, find the answers to the following:

1. Name two types of opportunities mentioned in this article that science fair participants might get to experience.

2. How did Sasha become interested in growing plants on Mars? 3. What are some of the obstacles to growing plants on Mars? 4. How have computers helped Nick with his project? 5. What do all of Nick's projects have in common? 6. What has Nick discovered through his science fair projects? 7. This article describes a number of young scientists. Their projects tackle a

variety of subjects. What do they all have in common?


SEEN ON THE SCIENCE FAIR SCENE HTTP://WWW.SCIENCENEWSFORKIDS.ORG/ARTICLES/20071010/FEATURE1.ASP

READING SELECTION

Emily Sohn

Every spring, more than 1,000 high school students from around the world compete for millions of dollars in scholarships and other prizes at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). But prizes aren't the competition's only draw.

Science projects are great opportunities to build real-life research experience. And once students experience science fair success, they have opportunities to travel. Along the way, they make friends whom they often see from one competition to the next.

At the 2007 ISEF in Albuquerque, N.M., for example, 25 of the 1,500-plus participants were once finalists in the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge (DCYSC), which is held in Washington, D.C. every fall.

At DCYSC, 40 of the nation's top middle school science students work in groups to tackle challenges with a scientific theme. They are judged on their problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills.

Their experiences at DCYSC, say these 25 science fair veterans, have served them well at ISEF.

Nick Ekladyous (far left) and teammates exploredAlbert Einstein's theory of relativity at the DCYSCin 2004.

Richard Cho, DCYSC


"DCYSC helped us learn how to present our ideas to adults," says Sasha Rohret, a 17-year-old senior at the Keystone School in San Antonio, Texas.

"I [also] got a lot of experience with the scientific method," she says. "I had to work in groups with people I didn't know."

From science fairs to Mars

At this year's ISEF, Sasha presented the results of her 4-year (and counting) study that explores the possibility of growing plants on Mars. She got the idea after seeing a television program about the Mars rovers, robotic spacecraft that landed on the Red Planet in 2004. Sasha was an eighth-grader at the time.

The program said that if people ever wanted to live on Mars, they would need to learn how to grow food there. The idea captured Sasha's imagination, and her work on the subject has already earned her one trip to DCYSC and three trips to ISEF.

For her experiments, Sasha has grown plants in volcanic soil that resembles Martian soil. She puts the plants in airtight, gas-filled tanks that mimic the atmospheres of Mars and Earth.

At ISEF 2007, Sasha presented the results of her ongoing research on the possibility of growing plants on Mars. Emily Sohn


Over the years, she has discovered that the relatively large proportion of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Martian atmosphere is the biggest obstacle to growing plants there. The gas makes up about 97 percent of Mars' atmosphere, compared with less than 0.05 percent of the atmosphere on Earth.

Mars' atmosphere is also thinner than Earth's, so more of the sun's radiation hits Mars' surface, Sasha says. Extra radiation is tough on plants.

"You would have to alter the Martian atmosphere quite a bit to grow plants on Mars," Sasha concludes. However, she remains optimistic. "I think it will happen."

Some day, Sasha would like to be an astrophysicist—an astronomer who specializes in the physical and chemical properties of objects in outer space. And if she ever gets an invitation to explore Mars, she'll leap at the chance.

"I would go if I had the opportunity," she says. "I think it would be pretty fun."

Science students to the rescue

The science fair veterans in Albuquerque tackled a diverse range of subjects, from botany to mechanical engineering. One thing that many of the projects had in common was their attempt to solve important, real-world problems.

"I always try to do a project every year that will impact society in a positive way," says Nicholas Ekladyous, 15, now a senior at Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Over 4 years of research, Sasha has meticulously measured how plants might grow on the Red Planet under a variety of soil and atmospheric conditions. Courtesy of Sasha Rohret


For his eighth- and ninth-grade projects, Nick aimed to make 15-passenger vans safer. He built a scaled-down model of such a van and then designed a computer program to predict when a real van would be most likely to roll over. The 2-year project earned him a trip to DCYSC in 2004 and to ISEF in 2005.

As a sophomore in 2006, Nick attended ISEF with his design of a safer material for padding playground floors. Finally, for ISEF 2007, Nick used computer models to develop a design for car hoods that would be less harmful to pedestrians struck in traffic accidents.

"If pedestrians are hit, the chances of death are very high," Nick says.

At ISEF this year, Nick stood with a crash-test dummy and presented his work on van safety. Emily Sohn


According to Nick, his hood would reduce death and injury to pedestrians by as much as 70 percent compared with current models. He has filed for a patent on his design.

Lessons learned

The exhibition hall at ISEF can be an intimidating place, filled with row after row of projects with hard-to-pronounce names. Still, the DCYSC veterans seemed to be enjoying the scene—sometimes to their surprise.

In the exhibit hall at ISEF each year, morethan 1,500 students display the results ofwork that touches on nearly every topic inscience. Intel

"DCYSC was the first time I got to go to a national competition," says 16-year-old Lucia Mocz, who conducted her first science fair project in middle school

For his 2007 ISEF project, Nick created acomputer program to model how badlypedestrians would be injured when struck by cars with a variety of hood designs. Emily Sohn


only because it was a class requirement. Lucia is now a junior at Mililani High School in Hawaii.

"That was a major force in getting me interested in science," she says. "I did not like science before, but [DCYSC] was just so fun. Now, I want to major in math."

Designing projects for science fairs helped 16-year-old Lucia discover a love of math. Emily Sohn

Want to experience the science fair scene? First, find a topic you're passionate about, suggest the DCYSC/ISEF veterans. Then, let the investigations begin.

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20071010/Feature1.asp From Science News for Kids Oct. 10, 2007. Copyright (c) 2007 Science Service. All rights reserved.


After reading, answer the following questions:

1. Does this article help you think in new ways about your own science fair projects? Why or why not?

2. Veterans of DCYSC and ISEF recommend that you "find a topic you're passionate about." Make a list of 10 subjects or ideas that you are passionate about. Choose one item on the list and explain how you could turn it into a science project.

3. Compare Nick's projects with Sasha's project. Which do you think is more important or more interesting? Which do you think is better? Explain your reasoning.

4. Nick likes to study topics "that will impact society in a positive way." What is another safety issue that he could look at for his next project? How might he design a project to study this issue?

5. Based on their current interests, what kinds of careers might Sasha and Nick want to pursue in the future?

6. Do you think science fairs can be negative experiences for some people? If so, how?

7. Sasha says, "I [also] got a lot of experience [from science fairs] with the scientific method." What does Sasha mean by the "scientific method?"

SOCIAL STUDIES

How might your city, state, or country inspire or influence your science fair project?

LANGUAGE ARTS

1. Create five questions you would ask a science fair winner if you were going to interview him or her?

2. How might books help you work on your science projects? How could you use the Internet to your advantage?

MATHEMATICS

In the year 2000, 5,870 pedestrians died in motor vehicle accidents in the United States. Nick claims that his hood design would reduce those types of deaths by 70 percent. Compared to the 2000 statistics, how many fewer pedestrian deaths would there be in the U.S. each year if all cars on the road used Nick's hood design instead of the traditional design?


Now that you are an expert on the science fair, see if you can find all the terms that make the fair a “dream” in the following word search.

Do not miss the Miami-Dade County Regional International Science and Engineering Fair at Southland Mall the week of January 7th, 2008.

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