What do the D and T stand for? The "D" stands for dog and the "T" stands for turnips. What do dogs and turnips have in common besides a Russian tale? And what does it have to do with science? Read on...
This is a lesson I first heard about last fall from the middle school science group . This is a very good group activity, it makes the students think like scientists, use their problem solving skills, and show a bit of their creative side. (I usually have groups with 3-4 students per group.)
Left Hand Side:
Each group is given the same exact 23 cards, each card has one word on it (such as dog, turnip, white, bone, bowl, etc... ). All the cards are face down, and they turn over any 5 cards. Using those 5 words, they have to guess what the story is about and make some kind of sentence out of it. After they write it down, they turn over 5 more cards and either try to continue their story, or make a new story now that they have new information. Once again, after they write down their new hypothesis, they chose another 5 cards and either add to their hypothesis, or make a new one.
Once everyone has uncovered 15 cards and made their 3rd hypothesis, I have each group share it with the class. Even though each group starts out with the same 23 cards, no two groups have uncovered the same 15 words (what is the probability of that happening...). Each group has their own hypothesis and we compare what is similar, what's different, if there were any common themes, etc...
Now that we have all shared our stories, we turn over the rest of the cards. They have to use all 23 words to make the final version of their story. This is not as easy as it may sound. By this point, they may have a story they really like and want it to work out, or they may not agree on a final hypothesis, or they may get stuck because they have narrowed down which words belong together, ie. red dog, red bowl, or red house? Big dog, little dog, fat dog, big red fat dog?
We now share our final hypothesis, or story, with the class and we discuss what we came up with. I then ask them, "If we all have the same 23 words, why don't we all have the same story?" The kids come up with some great reasons as to why. We talk about what challenges they encountered when trying to come up with a story, if there was disagreement in the group, if their stories even made sense, etc...
I then tie it into how scientists may have the same exact information or data, but come up with different hypotheses and disagree just like they did in this activity. I then bring up the topic of who has the "correct" hypothesis? How do I know what is "correct"? Scientists are always getting new information (just like they got more words to work with) all the time and have to either make it fit, or come up with a totally new hypothesis and start from scratch, throwing all their previous ideas out the window. You can then tie in real examples of that like how people thought the world was flat, sun went around the Earth, etc..
After all my classes have done this activity, I then reveal what the "correct" story was, and it usually is not even close to the stories they came up with! Then they always say that their story was better! =)
Right Side:
For the right side, I will have the students write a half page reflection about what they learned or experienced by doing this activity, and then a half page drawing showing a scene from their unique story.
When we do this activity in Sept, I will post what they came up with as well as some of their drawings. I can then keep a log for each year, will be fun to compare then with each new group of students.
Links:
ISN Version: http://www.middleschoolscience.com/turnips-isn.pdf
Lab Journal Version (includes the 23 words, print out and laminate): http://www.middleschoolscience.com/turnips.pdf
Original Website with the Lesson Plan I made the lab sheets from: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/dynamic/session4/sess4_act1.htm
This is a lesson I first heard about last fall from the middle school science group . This is a very good group activity, it makes the students think like scientists, use their problem solving skills, and show a bit of their creative side. (I usually have groups with 3-4 students per group.)
Left Hand Side:
Each group is given the same exact 23 cards, each card has one word on it (such as dog, turnip, white, bone, bowl, etc... ). All the cards are face down, and they turn over any 5 cards. Using those 5 words, they have to guess what the story is about and make some kind of sentence out of it. After they write it down, they turn over 5 more cards and either try to continue their story, or make a new story now that they have new information. Once again, after they write down their new hypothesis, they chose another 5 cards and either add to their hypothesis, or make a new one.
Once everyone has uncovered 15 cards and made their 3rd hypothesis, I have each group share it with the class. Even though each group starts out with the same 23 cards, no two groups have uncovered the same 15 words (what is the probability of that happening...). Each group has their own hypothesis and we compare what is similar, what's different, if there were any common themes, etc...
Now that we have all shared our stories, we turn over the rest of the cards. They have to use all 23 words to make the final version of their story. This is not as easy as it may sound. By this point, they may have a story they really like and want it to work out, or they may not agree on a final hypothesis, or they may get stuck because they have narrowed down which words belong together, ie. red dog, red bowl, or red house? Big dog, little dog, fat dog, big red fat dog?
We now share our final hypothesis, or story, with the class and we discuss what we came up with. I then ask them, "If we all have the same 23 words, why don't we all have the same story?" The kids come up with some great reasons as to why. We talk about what challenges they encountered when trying to come up with a story, if there was disagreement in the group, if their stories even made sense, etc...
I then tie it into how scientists may have the same exact information or data, but come up with different hypotheses and disagree just like they did in this activity. I then bring up the topic of who has the "correct" hypothesis? How do I know what is "correct"? Scientists are always getting new information (just like they got more words to work with) all the time and have to either make it fit, or come up with a totally new hypothesis and start from scratch, throwing all their previous ideas out the window. You can then tie in real examples of that like how people thought the world was flat, sun went around the Earth, etc..
After all my classes have done this activity, I then reveal what the "correct" story was, and it usually is not even close to the stories they came up with! Then they always say that their story was better! =)
Right Side:
For the right side, I will have the students write a half page reflection about what they learned or experienced by doing this activity, and then a half page drawing showing a scene from their unique story.
When we do this activity in Sept, I will post what they came up with as well as some of their drawings. I can then keep a log for each year, will be fun to compare then with each new group of students.
Links:
ISN Version: http://www.middleschoolscience.com/turnips-isn.pdf
Lab Journal Version (includes the 23 words, print out and laminate): http://www.middleschoolscience.com/turnips.pdf
Original Website with the Lesson Plan I made the lab sheets from: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/dynamic/session4/sess4_act1.htm
Posts
This reminded me of an activity I saw presented at a conference. You put together a puzzle and flip it over and number sections of the puzzle. Break apart the puzzle and put them in baggies with all the like numbered pieces together. Give groups one puzzle piece out of their bag and have them try and guess what they think it is. Give them the baggie and ask them to put the pieces together (without looking at other groups) and ask them to reevaluate their hypothesis. Once done they take their put together pieces to another table (where there are other put together puzzle pieces from other groups and ask them again to reevaluate their hypothesis now that they have more information). Once all the puzzle pieces are together relate the activity to how scientists work. Groups around the world are working on certain parts of a larger scientific puzzle (global warming, dinosaur extinction, etc.). When all the pieces are together then more conclusive hypothesis' can be made. This can also be used to highlight why it is so important that data be presented in the same universal format so that it doesn't matter if you are a scientist in Africa or one in India.
ReplyDeleteEve Heaton
Mossy Oaks Elementary School
www.sciencenotebooking.blogspot.com
Great point about the universal format for data collection, thanks for sharing this alternate activity!
ReplyDelete