Lesson:
Doing Experiments - Using The Scientific Method
Objective:
Students will learn the scientific method by designing an experiment to answer a question in how to solve a simple everyday problem.
Procedure:
Have students practice developing an experiment by using something simple and interesting. Tell them you want to know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich quick. Tell them that you keep your peanut butter in the refrigerator and your friend keeps theirs in the pantry. Which one should you use if I want to make my sandwich fast. Let the students design and conduct an experiment using the above question. Define steps in experiment:
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Problem -- What question are you investigating?
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Hypothesis -- What do you think will happen?
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Materials -- List the supplies needed to conduct the experiment.
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Procedure - List the steps followed to complete the experiment.
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Data/ Organization/ Interpretation - What did you see, hear, or smell? You should use a graph, chart and or illustration.
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Summary -- Explain the results using science vocabulary.
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Further Question -- Good scientist always think of something else they’d like to try!
When they have completed, tell them that they can use the seven steps for all experiments.
Lesson:
Introduction to Bacteria
(This lesson will be on going and last up to one to two weeks with my class)
Objective:
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Research how bacteria move, where they live, and how they reproduce
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Learn how bacteria can be helpful or harmful
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Create a display illustrating what they learned about bacteria.
Materials:
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Chart paper
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Poster board
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Markers
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Colored Pencils
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Photographs from magazines or the Internet
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Print resources
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Internet resources
Procedure:
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Ask students what they know about bacteria. Record response on chart paper. Put away until the end of lesson.
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Explain to students that the will be learning about bacteria. Students will work in teams to answer the following questions from the web sites listed and record them in their bacteria notebook.
Basic Characteristics of Bacteria
Questions
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What do bacteria look like?
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What are the three basic shapes?
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How are bacteria classified?
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Where have bacteria been located? (Name as many as you can.)
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How many bacteria live on Earth?
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How quickly do bacteria reproduce? (Draw a graph or picture.)
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What and how do bacteria eat?
Websites:
http://www.microbe.org/micorbes/bacterium1.asp
http://www.bacteriamuseum.org/
http://whyfiles.org/shorties/count_bact.html
http://www.ucmp.Berkeley.edu/bacteria/spirochetes.html
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngernaturaliswards/1998/bacteria.html
Helpful Bacteria
Questions
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Name some helpful bacteria.
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How are bacteria helpful to humans? Give examples.
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How does bacteria help keep ecosystem healthy?
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What do bacteria do that is especially helpful to plants?
Websites:
http://www.microbe.org/microbes/friend_or_foe.asp
http://www.micorbe.org/microbes/at_work.asp
http://www.micorbeworld.org/mlc/pages/roles.asp
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/1998/bacteria.html
Harmful Bacteria
Questions
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What are pathogenic bacteria?
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Where do these harmful bacteria usually live?
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Describe how bacteria can cause food poisoning.
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Give two examples of bacteria that cause disease. Include their names and how the bacteria spread.
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How can these disease be prevented
Websites:
http://www.bacteriamusem.org/niches/pbacteria/pathogens.shtml
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/groupasreptococcal_g.htm
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~MOW/chap7.html
http://hna.ffh.vic.gov.au/phb/hprot/food/fhpp/fpl.html
http://www.micorbe.org/microbes/bacteriuml.asp
3. Have the students display their results of their research on a poster board. Encourage them to be creative and use graphs, pictures, drawings, diagrams, charts and any other ways that interest them.
4. When displays are completed, give each group time to present their display.
5. Display the chart paper with the student’s original ideas about bacteria. Add to the chart what the students know now. Compare to see if ideas have changed.
Evaluation:
30 Points - Completion of task.
2 Points (16 questions = 32 possible points) -- For each question answered.
15 Points -- For oral presentation of information learned.
15 Points - For visual display
8 points -- For poster creativeness.
This lesson, Introduction to Bacteria was adapted from Discovery School.com
http://www.discoveryschool.com