How Can I Make New Stuff From Old Stuff?
T
his unit engages middle school students in chemistry content
and scientific inquiry practices by connecting to students' everyday experiences,
providing a variety of exciting investigations, and aligning with key learning
goals or standards.
Curriculum Unit Synopsis
As the title suggests, "How Can I Make New Stuff from Old Stuff?" focuses on making new substances from old substances, specifically making soap from fat and sodium hydroxide. Students complete a number of investigations, each time cycling back to soap and fat. Each cycle helps them delve deeper into the science content to initially understand substances, then properties, substances interacting to form new substances (i.e. chemical reactions), and finally conservation of mass. Initially, students explore two unknowns (soap and fat) to introduce the concepts of substance and properties (including color, hardness, solubility, melting point, and density). Next, students explore a variety of chemical reactions including reacting a copper penny with vinegar to form copper acetate (similar to the green substance on the statue of liberty), burning sparklers, and reacting fat and sodium hydroxide to make soap. Finally, students conduct experiments in both open and closed systems to determine what happens to mass. Throughout the unit, students develop several evidence-based explanations based upon data they collect. For each of these concepts, after experiencing the phenomena, students use models of atoms and molecules to explore why the phenomena occurred.
Student understanding is facilitated by actively engaging with phenomena. During the project, students ask questions, conduct experiments and draw conclusions. Learning is also supported through the construction of physical and dynamic models. Constructing models of their river helps learners integrate each concept into their understanding of aquatic ecosystems. Learning technologies are an integral part of this inquiry process. Specifically, learners use Model-It, a dynamic modeling tool, to construct a model of their aquatic ecosystem. As student understanding grows so does their model. Students continually plan, build, test and evaluate their model based on the inquiry activities they engage in. The use of Model-It is supported through the construction of classroom river-boards. Probes provide an opportunity for the students to collect and visualize real-time data in the field direct from the aquatic ecosystem under study.
Test results from the first three years of piloting show that students achieve significant learning gains in all three content areas. Reports from teachers and student interviews also suggest that not only do students learn much from "Stuff", but they also find it interesting and engaging.
Background
This curriculum unit was initially developed in 2002 in collaboration with the Detroit Public Schools, as part of the Investigating and Questioning Our World Through Science and Technology (IQWST) project. These materials have been revised based on research on classroom practice and student achievement, as well as from feedback from teachers using the materials. This unit is currently used in the Detroit Public Schools, as well as other pilot classrooms around Michigan. Development of this unit was sponsored by the National Science Foundation. This unit was developed to address the curriculum standards of the Michigan Curriculum Framework, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Research Council.
For more information about this unit, or downloads of the unit, visit KNOW
.