Rubber Band Launcher

Sprouts An exploration of seed germination and seedling development introducing students to the scientific method using inquiry Prepared by Beverly J. Brown, Nazareth College of Rochester 8/6/07

DESIRED RESULTS Established Goals:  Standard 1: Scientific Inquiry o Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.  Standard 3: Mathematics o Students will understand the concepts of and become proficient with the skills of mathematics; communicate and reason mathematically; become problem solvers by using appropriate tools and strategies; through the integrated study of number sense and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and statistics and probability.  Standard 4: The Living Environment o Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science. o Key Idea 3: The continuity of life is sustained through reproduction and development. o Key Idea 6:Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment.  Standard 5: Technology o Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.

Understandings Students will understand that…  The scientific method takes creativity, time, and attention to detail.  Seeds are one important part of a plant’s life cycle Teachers will understand that…  Inquiry-based learning takes planning, but yields high levels of learning and retention of learning  The basic life cycle of plants, with emphasis on factors affecting seed germination and seedling development

Students will know…  Some seeds are relatively easy to germinate and make good study organisms.  Seed germination and seedling development follows a predictable course.  That knowing the steps in the scientific method is not the same as knowing how to carry out an experiment. Teachers will know…  How to structure an inquiry-based lesson to maximize student learning

Students will be able to …  Germinate seeds and document their germination  Correctly identify seed and seedling characteristics  Develop an inquiry-based project to study seeds and plant growth, or other topic  Make accurate observations and generate hypotheses  Design an appropriate experiment to test their hypothesis  Collect appropriate data, analyze these data, and discuss the importance of their data.  Create graphs to accurately represent their findings.  Keep a science notebook  Convert units within a measurement system and between systems (metric (mm, cm, m) and conversion (m to in, in to m, etc.) Teachers will be able to…  Implement an inquiry-based lesson plan in their classroom

Essential questions: Teachers:  What are the advantages and disadvantages of inquiry based learning?  How might inquiry be a useful approach to teaching the scientific method? Students:  What kinds of thinking go into formulating a hypothesis?  What’s the value of formulating a hypothesis in scientific studies?

ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE Performance Tasks: Students  Students create a lab report or poster summarizing their experiment and presenting their findings. Teachers  Prepare a lesson plan to implement and inquiry-based project on seeds, seedling or plant growth.

Other Evidence: Students  Quiz on seed and seedling structure  Periodic checks of science notebook  Prompts o Today I learned that seeds… o Today I learned that seedlings… o The most important part of doing an experiment is… o To be successful when I work on my own doing an experiment I need to… Teachers  Journal prompts o My definition of inquiry is… o I think inquiry could benefit my students by…because it… o To be successful when I work as a team member I need to… o The biggest roadblock I have to overcome to implement inquiry-based learning is… o I can overcome this roadblock by….  Feedback in daily discussions  Self assessment: journal writing at end of day/Steitz providing

LEARNING PLAN Learning Activities: What is inquiry?: Think, pair, share to come to consensus definition of inquiry-based learning?

Inquiry continuum: where are you? where would you like to be? What keeps you from getting there?

What is a seed? a seedling? Worksheet to complete as a team: what do you know? What do you want your students to know? Identify structures on a worksheet, define terms as indicated. Share back to group. Two levels, level of content knowledge, where do they want to get?

All seeds are not created equal: Teams examine seeds, describe differences, and hypothesize about why seeds might be so different. Mention seeds from home: black pepper, fennel, beans, cumin, achiote, etc.

Sprouts experiment: Working as a team to design and carry out a 4-day sprouts experiment.

Time lapse experiment: Using web cams, start and run a test of plant response to change in orientation i.e. the effect of gravity on growth.

Materials Needed

What is inquiry?: Pieces of paper for everyone, extra pens

Inquiry continuum: space in hall or around edge of room to spread out, signs labeled “only inquiry”, “some inquiry”, “no inquiry posted in the area.

What is a seed? a seedling? Copies of 2 worksheets to complete as a team. One focusing on what the teachers know and want to know. The second focuses on what their students would know and what their learning goals would be for the students:

All seeds are not created equal: One seed set per team. Set of labels for seed bags. Half pint bags and seeds for teachers to make their own collections. Sprouts experiment: Viable seeds – fast sprouting and soaked over night: mung beans and corn, Ziploc bags, paper towels, staplers, extra staples, team kits.

Time lapse experiment: Five camera set-ups, plant or seedling to turn sideways

Safety

1. Make sure area has clear aisles so that individuals can move safely in the continuum exercise, and regroup easily. 2. Make sure all cords for web cams and laptops are out of the way of foot traffic. Learning Experience Sequence 1. Learn how to do time lapse. Hypothesize. Use Swedish Ivy turned on it’s side. Set up the camera and start photographing. 2. What is inquiry? TPS 3. Inquiry continuum 4. Begin with an entry question to ask teachers how many different kinds of seeds do they eat in a day? 5. What is a seed? a seedling? 6. All seeds are not created equal: Observation of seeds and hypothesis formulation 7. Time lapse experiment: Make movie and observe. Accept or reject hypothesis 8. Sprouts experiment: Design and set up experiment Monday:  Students will carry out experiment in teams. Students will record their data daily in their notebooks. Thursday:  Students should talk about their data and observations in teams (if other groups picked the same variable—teams can link together to discuss findings—are they consistent? Reasonable? What was expected?)  Students should plot their data as appropriate.  Questions for students: o Does the data support your hypothesis? Why/Why not? o Is your data linear? (From Excel—can calculate equation of line or students can do manually). What does this mean? o Is this data reliable? How might you test it? o If you were to repeat this experiment, what might you do the same or differently and why?

References and resources

1. Teaching Resources from PlantingScience, Botanical Society of America 2. MSTL Workshop, Summer 2007 website