Description:

Students will investigate how different variables affect seed growth. Variables include type of seed, medium (paper towels, various types of soil), amount of water, amount of light, temperature.

The task assesses students' understanding of scientific inquiry including the following skills: observation, data collection, measurement, graphing, scientific questions.

This task is designed to take students approximately 3 class periods (45 minutes each).

Overall Task Content Area:

Physical Science

Specific Knowledge Areas:

Magnetism

Performance Expectations:

• conducting investigations
• using equipment
• gathering, organizing, and representing data
• formulating conclusions from investigational data

National Science Education Standards:

8 A SI 1: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry: Grades 5-8

1.2 Design and conduct a scientific investigation. Students should develop general abilities, such as systematic observation, making accurate measurements, and identifying and controlling variables. They should also develop the ability to clarify their ideas that are influencing and guiding the inquiry, and to understand how those ideas compare with current scientific knowledge. Students can learn to formulate questions, design investigations, execute investigations, interpret data, use evidence to generate explanations, propose alternative explanations, and critique explanations and procedures.

1.4 Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence. Students should base their explanation on what they observed, and as they develop cognitive skills, they should be able to differentiate explanation from description — providing causes for effects and establishing relationships based on evidence and logical argument. This standards requires a subject knowledge base so the students can effectively conduct investigations, because developing explanations establishes connections between the content of science and the contexts within which students develop new knowledge.

1.7 Communicate scientific procedures and explanations. With practice, students should become competent at communicating experimental methods, following instructions, describing observations, summarizing the results of other groups, and telling other students about investigations and explanations.

4 B PS 3: Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism: Grades K-4

3.4 Magnets attract and repel each other and certain kinds of other materials.

(Use the "hot" link on the PALS home page to check the full text of related National Science Education Standards, if desired.)

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: