"Students Interest" is a unit plan for electricity that is meant to take 3-6 weeks in a

middle school physical science class. For a class of 32 students, the teacher will need: 32 D-cell

batteries, 64 pieces of insulated copper wire (15-20 cm each), 32 small light bulbs, 32 light bulb

holders, 16 knife switches, 8 rolls of masking tape, 1 roll of aluminum foil, four pairs of light-up

shoes, 32 toilet paper tubes. First, students carry out six challenge activities using the materials.

In each challenge activity, students must plan and carry out an investigation. The challenge

activities are all related to how to build various types of circuits. During the activity the teacher

asks probing questions about what students have already tried and what they have learned from

those attempts. After each challenge activity the teacher assists students in synthesizing their

ideas and putting proper science vocabulary to them. A full day should be given to the first

challenge and the following challenges may take several more. Next, the students build a

flashlight and a model of the classroom lights. The flashlight should take one class session and

the classroom model will take at least two class sessions. Then the students are provided with a

light-up shoe. The students work as a group to first determine what conditions cause the shoe to

light. Next, students draw a diagram of what they think the inside of the shoe looks like and

recreate it by building a model. Groups then present their models of the shoe. The teacher then

facilitates a discussion on which model is best. This discussion is where the nature of science is

emphasized. The teacher does not grade the models or presentations because one key learning is

that scientists do not have an authority to tell them they are correct or incorrect (Olson, 2003).
This lesson series involves two scientific practices: planning and carrying out

investigations, and developing and using models. The unit starts with students planning and

carrying out investigations to learn about circuits and moves to them developing and using

models (Olson, 2003). It is the planning and developing of models that is connected to the nature

of science piece of the lesson. Students construct models of what they think is inside a light-up
shoe. Students then reflect on the value of models and evaluate different models. During the class

discussion over the models, the teacher should, Refer students back to their models. Ask them

what they know and how confident they are in their models. Students will find that they have

greater confidence in some models than in others. Ask for their reasoning, (Olson, 2003, p.21).

A key nature of science topic that is addressed is the tentative nature of science. Students should

learn that models are evidence based but there is still the possibility for a better model to be built.

As a formative assessment over the nature of science topic, Olson suggests drawing a Venn

diagram comparing professional science and school science (Olson, 2003, p.21). One major

difference between the two is that in school there is a teacher to give right answers but this is not

the case in the professional world. This further emphasizes that science is tentative. This activity

can be used to teach Anti-Bias standard 4: Students will express pride, confidence and healthy

self-esteem without denying the value and dignity of other people. Students can take pride in

their actions as scientists. They also learn however, to recognize the value in the differences in

how they and their peers went about these activities. Students will learn to assess one anothers

work based off of scientific evidence and not on a personal level.

Vector, Vector Thats Our cry! is a short lesson, approximately one class period. This

activity requires scissors, rulers, envelopes, meter sticks and football field. The teacher creates

routes for the students along the football field. There is a link to a spreadsheet that can help the

teacher create the routes. The teacher cuts up each direction on the route and places it in an

envelope. Once on the field, the teacher gives each team a meter stick and an envelope. The

teams move from their starting point to try to find the destination at the end of their routes. Once

everyone has found their destination, return to the classroom. Each team should receive a map of

the field along with a ruler. Students graphically add up the vectors that made up their route.

The teacher uses this drawing as a reference to introduce vector vocabulary during a class
discussion. The students then summarize what they have learned, and this can be taken as an

assessment (Brown, 2009).

The main scientific practice in this activity is using mathematics and computational

thinking. The students explore how to add vectors in a concrete physical way. The students

should relate what they did on the field to what they do on paper. During the class discussion it is

important to emphasize how students thought about the directions on the football and how that

relates to how they think about vectors. The main cross cutting concept is scale, proportion and

quantity. Students draw a scaled map of their routes. It is important for students to make the

connection between the graph paper and the routes they walked. Since students need to work as

teams, anti-bias standard 6, Students will express comfort with people who are both similar to

and different from them and engage respectfully with all people, can be emphasized. Before

starting the activity, the teacher should help teams select a team leader and discuss how to work

cooperatively.
I choose to use a courtyard for this activity instead of a football field. The day we went

outside was cold, so a few students refused to participate. One team found their destination

relatively quickly. We drew out the vectors of the winning team as a class on graph paper, instead

of on a map of the football field. Students got confused we drew the vectors on graph paper. I

think the suggested football field would be better because students would have references to

what they saw outside. I made a point to explicitly discuss what methods students used in the

courtyard and how that related to what the students did graphically. My students were able to

communicate their thinking well and reflect on how they thought systematically to win the

challenge. While I have found students have grasped the idea that vectors can be added together,

they have not yet demonstrated an understanding of the math behind it.
Inside the Black Box is a lesson on scanning probe microscopy. The teacher should

construct one black box for each group of 2-3 students. Each black box should be different from
one another. The black box can contain various household items that are glued down inside. The

top of the box should have holes spaced in a grid, 2 cm apart from each other. Each group will

also need thin sticks, rulers, graph paper, colored pencils, marshmallows and glue. Before

starting the lesson, the teacher should ask how things can be see without directly seeing them.

The teacher can show students examples, such as how bats can see with sound, or how people

who are blind can read. Students then probe their black box with the stick. They should measure

how deep the stick goes into the hole at each point. Students should make a grid of these

measurements and use them to create a topographic map of the heights of the items in the box.

Students can use a color coded key of heights to create the topographic map. Each block on the

graph paper will be colored according to the key. Next, students build 3D models of their gird of

heights, using marshmallows. Then, the students are allowed to open the box and see how their

model compares. At this point, it is important to remind students that scientists cannot open the

box to see if they are correct. The teacher should ask students what they could do to improve the

probing process. This is meant to lead to a discussion over the tradeoff between resolution and

time. The lesson ends with the teacher showing students examples of technology that works by

probing, such as sonar and atomic force microscopy. The lesson provides suggested exam

questions to assess students knowledge. These questions focus on resolution (Kao, Cina, &

Gimm, 2006).
The main scientific practice in this lesson is developing models. Students use

marshmallows to create a model of what is inside the box. The teacher needs to point out to the

students how the quality of the model changes with probe size. Students should recognize though

that a decrease in probe size will increase the time it takes to make the model. Kao, Cina and

Gimm write, This tradeoff means that scientists need to choose an appropriate probe based off

of what they hope to see, (2006, p. 49). This is a good lead in to the nature of observations.
Scientists often choose their method of observation based off of what they hope to see. Not all

observations are made by looking at something with the eyes. An anti-bias standard addressed in

this lesson is Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences

of others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way. As a part of this lesson,

the teacher asks, How do blind people read? (p.48). Students are asked to consider how people

who are different from them can make observations.

Who killed Myra Mains? is a lesson on a crime scene. It is meant to last 5 days.

Teachers will need: 4 handwriting samples, 4 hair samples, 4 pieces of red material, water,

vinegar, iodine, artificial blood typing kit, crumbled note, random possible evidence, a list of

characteristics of the suspects and victim, yellow tape, chalk, microscopes. On day one, students

are allowed into the crime scene. They cannot touch anything. They take measurements and

create a scale drawing of the crime scene. On day two, the teacher orally presents details of the

suspect. Students must record and organize this information. The students then begin forming

hypotheses. On days three and four, the evidence is brought from the crime scene to the lab. The

students can run tests on the cloth, hair, blood type and white powder. One group at a time is

allowed to ask the teacher questions about the victims and suspects. On day five, students give

oral reports on their findings. They must be able to present their data tables from their testing.

Students also submit a written report of their findings (Sandage, 2002).

The main scientific practice in this lesson is planning and carrying out investigations.

Students are given the basic instructions for how to run the lab tests, such as blood typing but are

given freedom to design their investigation as a whole. Students must make their own data tables

and submit them as a part of the investigation (Sandage, 2002). One nature of science aspect of

this lesson is that science uses a variety of methods. The students take many measurements but

the case purposefully cannot be solved based off of measurements alone. Students have to take
into account other details about the scenario, just as scientists do. Students must defend their

methodology to the class at the end of the lesson. A relevant anti-bias standard is: 4. Students

will express pride, confidence and healthy self-esteem without denying the value and dignity of

other people. The lesson is set up as a competition. Students need to recognize that they can both

put their best foot forward and be respectful of others success. The teacher can foster healthy

competition by telling students that there is an intrinsic reward in the pride of knowing they

solved the case.

In the Secret in the Margins lesson, students will learn about Rutherfords gold foil

experiment. The article does not say how long this lesson should last but in my classroom a 5E

cycle normally lasts about three 90 minute periods. Teachers will need boxed and wrapped

presents of various items, a ping pong gun, a box with a wire grid inside, a ping pong ball,

Styrofoam balls on sticks and a screen. For the engage portion of the lesson, students will

complete a black box activity. Students should work in groups of 3-4 to figure out what is in the

box, without opening it. Each groups will then share what they think is in the box and their

evidence. For the explore activity, the teacher will shoot ping pong balls into the box with the

wire grid. Students will try to predict the shape of the Styrofoam balls inside the box based off of

how the balls hit the screen. For the explain activity, the class creates a Venn diagram comparing

their activity to scientists investigation of the atom. For the elaborate activity, students read

about Rutherford and answer questions about the nature of science. Each group will have a

different set of questions about the nature of science. For the evaluate activity, students prepare

posters presenting what they have learned about Rutherford and the nature of science (Aydin &

Hanuscin, 2011).
In this lesson, students will engage in arguing from evidence. In the engage activity,

students will share what they think is in the black box and the evidence they have to support it.
This continues into the explore activity, where students discuss as a class what the inside of the

box looks like, based off of where the ping pong ball hits the screen. This lesson teaches the

empirical nature of science, the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, and the difference between

observation and inference. These concepts are explicitly addressed when students answer

questions about Rutherford and the nature of science, in the elaborate phase. Students must write

about these connections (Aydin & Hanuscin, 2011). This lesson could be used to talk about anti-

bias standard 8, Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived

experiences of others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way, since students

will be talking about the history of science. Students should recognize the importance of

Rutherfords work but also that he alone did not develop the model of the atom. This can be

addressed explicitly by including questions about other scientists in the elaborate activity.
For That is not Where that Element goes Ah, the Nature of Science teachers will

need a 12-20 piece puzzle of a picture of a scientist who has contributed to the development of

the periodic table per group, 2 envelopes per group, 45 element cards per group, readings on the

history of the periodic table and a variety of periodic tables. For the engage phase, the puzzle

should be divided into two envelopes, with one containing the majority of the pieces and the

other containing a few missing pieces. Students should begin putting the puzzle from one

envelope together. When they realize pieces are missing, the teacher should ask how the students

know pieces are missing and what inferences they have about the missing pieces. This engage

activity lasts around 30 minutes. In the first explore activity, students should be given 30 of the

45 elements cards. Students should try to organize these elements, keeping a record of their

strategies. Once students find a way they think is best, they should name it and present it to the

class. Then the teacher should give the students the other 15 cards. Students should try to fit

these into their current organization. If a card does not fit the pattern, students should describe
why and make suggestions for how to improve their method. In the first explain activity, teachers

should help students to put vocabulary to what they did in the explore activity. This should start

with students sharing their organizational methods. There are second explore and explain phases

in this lesson. To explore, students will read about the history of the periodic table. Then in the

explain activity, the teacher should hold a class discussion on the critical points of the reading

and how these connect to the nature of science. In the elaborate phase, students are given a

variety of periodic tables. They should compare these tables. Then the class can discuss how

Mendeleevs periodic table is different from modern ones. To evaluate students, the authors give

a suggest rubric. This rubric is to assess skills and knowledge of nature of science (Nargund &

Rogers, 2009).
One scientific practice in this lesson is obtaining, evaluating and communicating

information. All groups are given the same 45 elements, but each group chooses a different way

to organize that information to share it. Students will see various methods of organization during

the presentation of the 30 element period tables. Students will then test these methods by trying

to add 15 more elements (Nargund & Rogers, 2009). Students should recognize that there are

advantages and disadvantages to different organizational methods. The main nature of science

concept in this lesson is the tentativeness of science. Students study how the periodic table

changes over time. Students should recognize that periodic table was not created in an instant.

The activities give the students an experience of developing a periodic table over time. Nargund

and Rogers write, To raise multicultural awareness about the practice of science, teachers can

discuss how scientists from different countries have built upon each others work over the

periodic table (2009, p.25). This relates to anti bias standard 10: Students will examine diversity

in social, cultural, political and historical contexts rather than in ways that are superficial or
oversimplified. The puzzle will expose students to many different scientists who were a part of

developing the periodic table.

Works Cited

Aydin, S., & Hanuscin, D. L. (2011). SECRET IN THE MARGINS: RUTHERFORD'S GOLD

FOIL EXPERIMENT. The Science Teacher, 78(7), 56-60.

Brown, J. (2009). Idea Bank. The Science Teacher, 76(4), 65-69.

Kao, Y. S., Cina, A., & Gimm, J. A. (2006). Inside the Black Box. The Science Teacher, 73(9),

46-49.

Nargund, V., & Rogers, M. A. P. (2009). That Is Not Where That Element goes... Ah, the Nature

of Science. Science Scope, 33(2), 22-29.

Olson, J. K. (2003). Light Students' Interest in the Nature of Science. Science Scope, 27(1), 18-

22.

Sandage, B. J. (2002). Who killed Myra Mains? The Science Teacher, 69(3), 28-32.