Atomic Model Timeline Foldable

Using a great power point I found online, I created this atomic model timeline foldable to go along with it. The person who made the ppt, used images from the BrainPOP movie for the atomic models and scientists, and an image of Bohr from an episode of the Simpsons .  I photocopied it so that it would be 2-sided. The students then folded it in half using the ”hot dog” fold and cut along the dotted lines to make flaps that lifted.

As we discussed the power point, they took bulleted notes on the flap for each model/scientist.  We also talked about how Bohr worked on the Atomic Bomb during WW2, about Einstein’s letter to Roosevelt, the race against the Germans to build the first atomic bomb, and the bombing of Japan.  Next time we meet, I want to show some quick  video clips from the movie “Fat Man, Little Boy” and actual footage from the Trinity testing.

One of my personal goals this year was to incorporate more history and information about these fascinating people into our studies.  In the past I always felt like I didn’t have enough time, but this year I am weaving it in and it doesn’t really take up as much time as I thought it might.

After break, I will take some pics of completed timelines and the jigsaw activity we did with notes from the BrainPOP Movie.

Here is the timeline: Atomic Model Timeline Foldable

 

States/Phases of Matter Venn Diagram

Triple Venn Diagram: I wanted to show how the three main states of matter and the phase changes are related. Using Publisher, I made a 3 panel brochure with a title flap, a flap with directions, and a Venn Diagram for the inside layout. The Venn diagram has circles/categories for solid, liquid, and gas. Remind students that when the circles overlap, it is something that both have in common. Where all 3 circles overlap, it is something that all 3 categories must have in common.

Using blue colored pencil, the students will fill in the phrases related to the states of matter and their characteristics, such as definite shape or volume. Using a red colored pencil, they can write in the phase changes, such as evaporation.

This would be a good SmartBoard/whole class activity and I am going to try to create a SmartBoard file once school starts. The Venn Diagram would be on the screen and each phrase would be listed on the side. Students could select one of the phrases and drag it to the correct place in the Venn diagram.

I plan to use this as a right hand activity since they are processing the information and seeing how the states of matter and phase changes are related.

• Handout: States and Phase Changes of Matter Foldable
• BrainPOP: States of Matter Movie
• BrainPOP: Matter Changing States Movie

Physical and Chemical Properties/Changes Foldable

Up to this point, in class we would have been focusing on properties of matter such as mass, volume, & density. Now we are ready to wrap up physical characteristics and go into chemical characteristics, & differentiate between physical and chemical changes.

 

 

For this activity, I used a 4 panel brochure template (Publisher) and turned it into a 4-door foldable. This will print out on 8.5 x 14 Legal paper. If you do use legal sized paper, the width of the foldable will be 7 inches and should fit in most notebooks.

 

This is a 4 page document: page 1 is the front (tabs) and back (glued down) of the foldable, page 2 is the inside layout, page 3 contains the cut outs that will go into the foldable, and page 4 is the teacher’s answer key.

Left Side:

Students will be given a blank foldable (photocopy 2 sided). Tell students to cut the tabs on the dotted guide lines, but not to fold yet, instead keep the paper flat and orientated correctly so when they do fold it, the words on the tabs are right side up.

Give each student a copy of page 3. The notes are not grouped together correctly so they will have to cut out each piece of information (follow dotted lines) and reassemble the notes into the correct boxes under the corresponding tabs. All the pieces will fit into the boxes. Tell the students not to glue anything down, just to do a dry run.

This is a good partnered activity, students will work together to piece the “puzzle” together. After everyone has had a chance to work through the activity, we will go over the answers as a class. Students will then glue the correct pieces in as we go over each section.

Once everything is in place, have the students fold it so that the tabs meet in the middle. Glue into notebook.

Right Side:

• Practice determining physical and chemical characteristics
• BrainPOP Movie: Property Changes fill in the blanks

Handouts:

• Foldable – 8.5 x 14 Legal Sized (pdf)
• Practice Page (pdf)

Mass, Volume, Density Foldable

Left Side:

Using Publisher, I made a 4 door foldable for the three density related formulas: D= m/v, v= m/D, and m = v x D. The 4th door has instructions on how to solve a word problem. I used the 4 panel brochure template and on the 1st and 4th panels, I made a guide line at 4.25 inches. To make the flaps, simply cut on the dotted lines.

Along with the formulas, inside the foldable are 3 practice problems, and a few notes about mass, volume, and density. I need to make a ppt to go along with the foldable, it will be posted on my notebook page soon.

 

Right Side:

On the right side are practice problems. Students have to determine which formula is needed, set up the problem, and add the correct units. They can refer to their foldable for the formula and how to solve the problems. The problems are not that difficult, my main goal is having them choose the right formula, set up the formula by plugging in the known values, and adding the correct units when done. Some students may have a little difficulty with multiplying or dividing decimals and rounding to the 100ths place, so I usually go over that before we begin by modelling a few problems with them.

Handouts:

• Foldable – legal sized paper 8.5 x 14 (how to shrink to 8.5 x 11)
• Practice Problems
  

Update: Here is the powerpoint I will most likely use as part of our class discussion

Into to Metric System Activity and Foldable

I was looking at my metric system notes that I have been using for years and was wondering how I can jazz it up and make it more visual and interactive. My notes are a basic intro with a short class activity where the kids measure thing like their hand span and fingernail width in cm, then they use those to estimate the length of things like a pencil or their lab table. We wrap it up by finding the actual measurements and seeing who was the closest to the real length.

This is not on the handout, but while the kids are doing this activity, I have them come over to a square support column where I have a few pieces of construction paper taped vertically to it and I mark their heights in cm then put their name next to their mark. I leave that up all year long and they love to see how much they’ve grown since Sept!
Left Side:
Using Publisher, I opened a Brochure template but used the 4-panel fold instead of the standard 3 panel. This makes it a legal sized document (8.5 x 14). For page one, I only used the 1st column and the 4th column. In the first column I wrote “English” and placed a washed out image of the USA behind it (we are 1 out of maybe 3 countries that use it). On the 4th column, I wrote “Metric” and placed a washed out image of the French flag behind it to signify that it was created by French scientists as a standard unit of measurement around 1791.
For page 2, the columns on the left are in English units and the columns on the right are for metric units. As part of the lesson, we brainstorm all the different English units we use everyday and categorize them according to their use: mass, volume, or length. I then introduce the base unit for mass, volume and length in the metric system: gram, Liter, and meter. Then I introduce the prefixes that can be used with the base units: kilo, centi, and milli. (I mention them, but I don’t really go into deci, deca, or hecto because they are not as commonly used.)

Then I explain how you can mix and match the prefixes with the base units and I have the kids list as many as they can and we go over what they mean, as well as practice their abbreviations. For example centi + meter = centimeter (cm) and its used to measure distance (length).

At this point I pass out the rulers and we go over where the cm side is and how each number represents a cm, and the little lines between are millimeters. I have them count the small lines and they see that there are 10 mm for each cm.
Now that they are familiar with the “other side” of the ruler, I show them how to measure their hand span (pinky to thumb with fingers spread apart as much as they can), their index finger length, the width of their index fingernail, the back of their hand (make a fist and measure across the knuckles) and their foot length. (When we are all done measuring I tell them that their foot fits between their wrist and the bend of their elbow. They don’t believe me, but when they do it they think its pretty cool!)

The one thing that is different in this lesson than the original is that I am having them measure in inches, also. Mostly just for practice and that they can compare the values and see that the values for cm are larger than the values for inches.

So after we have taken those 5 measurements, I take the rulers away and they have to estimate the values for the lab table, width of paper, pencil length, width of chair, and width of a floor tile. This part is great because now they use the known values of, lets say their hand span or fingernail width, to find the unknown values of those 5 objects. (and while they are doing this, I call up one at a time to measure and mark how tall they are in cm)
Once everyone is done with their measurements, we talk about what some of our estimates are and compare values. I then hand the rulers back and they measure to find the true values. After a few minutes, I then ask for the actual measurements, one item at a time, and we see who was the closest and if anyone had it exactly! Their answers are usually pretty close!

Right Side:
When everyone is done, and if there is time, I’ll have them start the right side activity which is practicing and reviewing the units that we learned today. I made this handout as a way for the kids to start using metric vocabulary and to become familiar with “thinking metric”.

Handouts:
For the foldable, it is formatted to print out on Legal sized paper (8.5 x 14). If you have legal size printer paper and legal size copy paper, then that is a one option. If you do not, there is an option in the print menu that can shrink it to fit onto 8.5 x 11 paper. ( see next post)

• Metric Notes pdf (For this one and most of my in class activities, I would have the kids glue this into their notebooks after they have completed the lesson)
• Metric Notes Practice pdf – right side practice or hw

Surface Tension Demonstration

I do this lesson as an observation with the students gathered around the table. We talk about surface tension and most kids have a general idea of what it is.

I fill up a glass with water, but not all the way to the top. I ask the kids “Can this paper clip float on top of the water?” Kids usually say no. I add a little drama and try really hard to get the paper clip to float on top of the water and act really disappointed when it drops to the bottom each time. Then I “remember” how to do it the right way.

I slowly add more water to the glass and the kids watch as the water rises over the top but does not run down the side of the glass. It forms a dome. We talk about surface tension again.

I then take a paper clip (the smaller ones work really well) and hold it horizontally. I place one edge on the lip of the glass and slowly slide the paper clip onto the dome of water. I give it a slight tap and the paper clip slides across the top of the dome to the other side. The kids think its such a neat trick. We then make observations of how the paperclip is slightly indented into the surface of the water and that the surface tension is holding it up.

I then add another paperclip and we make more observations. Sometimes the paper clips bump into each other and float around the top. We keep going until I can no longer place anymore on top. I think we had 15 floating at once as our highest count.

After we discuss this demo and wrap it up, I show the kids how to use a pipette and have them practice using it so they are ready for our surface tension lab the next class. Using a pipette is a fine motor skill and takes practice so all the water doesn’t gush out at once or come out in uneven large drops. I show them how to hold it with their thumb and first two fingers on the bulb end and to keep the pipette on a slight angle. You don’t want to hold it perfectly horizontal because you want the water to be near the opening and reduce air bubbles. Holding it vertically doesn’t give you as much control. You want to hold the pipette steadily and have good control.

One other key point is not to the have the tip of the pipette touch anything or submerge into the water. When they do the real lab, I remind them that the pipette tip should not touch the penny or any drops of water on the surface of the penny. I bring up that whenever I watch crime shows and they show some kind of testing liquid from a dropper touching the item they are testing it drives me nutty because they just contaminated the bottle they were using and its not using proper “CSI” techniques. =)

The kids then practice with different amounts of pressure and experiment on how to get a good even flow of drops of water, and to practice counting them. The kids really get into it and we see how many drops of water they can get in a row.

Using Publisher, I made a tri-fold brochure for this demonstration, here is the pdf.

Vocabulary Foldable

This is my first attempt at making a foldable, I may make adjustments before school starts, but I think it might work as it is.

Using the Microsoft Publisher template “Blank Page Sizes-1/2 Letter Booklet-4.25 x 11 inches” – I placed dashed lines every 1 inch, leaving enough spots for each vocabulary word I wanted to use. I then used Word Art to type each word and centered it between the dashed lines.

For page 2, I used word art again to type the heading “Picture or Example” and on page 3 “Definitions“. Page 4 will be glued into the notebook when they are done making the foldable.

Print out the 4 pages (2 sheets of paper) and then double side it when you photocopy it. The bottom part where the directions are, can be cut off completely before it is glued into place.

Students will cut the dotted lines to make tabs, be sure not to cut all the way through, only the front flap. After they have cut the tabs, students can write the definition for each and either an example or picture, or both if they would like to, for each word. Students can use this foldable to study their vocabulary words by stating the definition and an example. They can self check by opening the tab and seeing the correct definition.

Here is the foldable as a pdf

Mystery Footprints – Observation vs. Inference

This is another start of the year activity I am going to use to stress the importance between observation and inference. I have a ppt & worksheet for class (left side) and a homework assignment (right side) for this lesson.

I’ll start with the power point and have the students write down their observations and inferences as I show one frame at a time. There is a lot of room for interpretation and I look forward to what they come up with!

• This is the power point I modified for my class: Mystery Footprints
• UPDATED 9.16.09 – (I had a few typos towards the end, so the corrected version is posted. My 5′s are so helpful in pointing this out!) This is the booklet of notes and where they write down their observations and inferences: Footprints pdf. To make the booklet, copy two sided, fold in half, and glue the 4th page into the notebook. (I found this lesson last year but can’t find the link I downloaded it from. I reformatted it, but other than that there are only minor changes)
• And this is the practice assignment for homework and review: Practice pdf