Teacher Resources for Instructional Planning


Grade 8, Science Std 1: Identify steps within the scientific process. • Applying process skills to interpret data from graphs, tables, and charts. • Identifying controls, variables, and hypothesis in a scientific investigation. • Identifying lab safety procedures. • Identifying appropriate laboratory glassware, balance, time measuring equipment, and optical instruments used to conduct an investigation.

Lesson Plans: Densities of Solids and Liquids: Mass/Volume Measurement To develop good techniques for making accurate measurements on certain pieces of laboratory equipment, and to calculate the density of given substances from measured values of volume and mass. Can I Buy You a Coke? or Diet Coke? Students will measure and calculate density to identify a soft drink. Classification: A Life Skill Students practice thinking skills by classifying a variety of objects. The Halls Are Alive With the Sound of Music In this lesson, students examine the relationship between the physics of sound and concert hall acoustics. Students perform a lab experiment in which they determine the speed of sound, a key variable in concert hall acoustics. Activities with Astrology These three activities help students to understand the difference between science and pseudoscience by investigating some of astrology's claims. Soda Can Distillation Distillation of water from an aqueous solution using a disposable apparatus. Petri-fied of Bacteria Over a period of several days, students conduct an experiment in which they predict, determine, carefully log, and evaluate bacteria samples taken from the school environment. Mummy Dearest In this lesson, students assess what environmental conditions best contribute to preservation and mummification by participating in a multi-day "apple mummification" lab. Impact Cratering Students learn to take their own data, record it, analyze it, and create a scientific hypothesis from it. These hypotheses will enable the students to make a prediction. Students also learn to work with the metric system.

Resources: Scientists at Play: Teaching Science Process Skills Interesting article with helpful suggestions The Web - Teaching Zack to Think: Article dealing with information literacy and the world wide web Introduction to the Scientific Method Good reference information
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