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Consumer Products and Sustainability |
What makes a product the best?
How can we find out for ourselves?
What factors should we consider in making a choice to buy a product?
How should we balance economics, performance characteristics, sustainability and other factors?
NOTE: A portion of the science curriculum is emergent. It may include a continuation or expansion of questions or ideas from prior periods, topics or questions of the moment, topics being covered in homerooms, topics suggested by the needs, ideas, or developmental level of the children. |
*Products can be tested, measured, and evaluated to develop quantifiable indexes of their performance and sustainability
*Performance rankings can be developed within similar product categories
*Personal preference is an important consideration, balanced with performance characteristics, but not necessarily quantifiable
*Information we have learned about product performance can be communicated to a wider audience |
*Conduct a mathematical analysis of various economic factors to compare a variety of similar products
*Develop and conduct a series of fair tests to accurately compare a variety of similar products
*Graph results of each test in a standardized format.
*Compare all factors tested to select best overall product.
*Write a letter to the company making the chosen product explaining the economic analysis and the tests conducted, and making suggestions for product improvement.
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*Letter to company that successfully addresses each point of the assignment
*At least three completed habitat assessments
*Classroom discussions
*Demonstration of skills and knowledge during procedures
*Recordation of information via drawings and/or written notes during explorations.
*Demonstration that student can pose a question, and then design a simple investigation
and collect data to help answer question posed.
*Use of appropriate tools and skills
*Embedded performance assessments
*Self-assessments
*Portfolios
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*Selection of consumer products to test (paper towels, cookies, sports drinks, etc.)
*Files organized by topic, activity, and unit
*Journal and activity magazine collections
*Reference and resource books
*Materials available in science room, as appropriate to topic
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*Different people perceive the worth of both a product and its sustainabilty differently, and make decisions affecting its use based upon their perceived needs and values. |
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Light and Optics |
What is light?
How does light work?
How is light related to other forms of energy?
What happens to light when it encounters a substance or object?
Since light travels in a straight line, how can it be bent?
How can colored light be made from white light?
How can white light be made from colored light?
Where do colors come from?
What colors do printers use?
What are lasers?
How do lenses work?
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*Light is a form of radiant electromagnetic energy
*Light travels very fast, but its speed can be affected by the medium through which it travels
*Light is related to many other forms of electromagnetic energy, such as radio, infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray
*When light encounters an object or substance, some combination of the following occurs: reflection, refraction, and absorption
*Light travels in a straight line but it can be bent in a regular, predictable manner when it encounters a reflective or refractive substance or object (such as a mirror, prism, water, etc.)
*A myra has a partially reflective surface that allows us to reach inside and trace a reflection
*White light can be made by blending together the three primary colors of light
*The colors of the visible spectrum are produced by refraction of light through a transparent substance
*Lasers are a tool that give us an amplified and concentrated beam of of a single wavelength of light
*Lenses refract light through a curved shape, causing the light to refract in a regular, predictable manner |
*Predict and measure where a light beam will travel after reflecting off of a mirror using a protractor
*Use a myra to draw a reflected image through or inside a mirror
*Refract a white light beam through a prism to produce the visible color spectrum
*Blend colored lights together to produce an area of white light
*Refract a white light beam through jars of water, or other substances, to create the visible color spectrum
*Use a laser pointer in a safe, controlled manner to accurately traverse its beam through a maze of mirrors
*Use lenses to change the direction and/or focus of a light beam, thus manipulating the view seen by the eyes
*Accurately take notes on investigations, experimental results, and discussions |
*Accurately predict reflected light beams
*Successfully refract white light into the spectrum, and mixing of colored light into white
*Classroom discussions
*Demonstration of skills and knowledge during procedures
*Recordation of information via drawings and/or written notes during explorations.
*Demonstration that student can pose a question, and then design a simple investigation and collect data to help answer question posed
*Use of appropriate tools and skills
*Embedded performance assessments
*Self-assessments
*Portfolios
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*Light unit materials and equipment
*ESS guide to light and optics
*Files organized by topic, activity, and unit
*Journal and activity magazine collections
*Reference and resource books from science room and library collection
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Volcanism in the NW |
What is the Ring of Fire?
Why do we have so many volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest?
What types and levels of risks do the volcanoes here pose to humans?
What other hazards or risks are associated with volcanic areas?
How can we assess, or predict when nearby volcanoes might erupt again?
What can rocks and other features tell us about volcanoes' histories?
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*The Ring of Fire describes fact that most volcanoes surround the Pacific Ocean. Its causes are explainable by the Theory of Plate Tectonics
*Volcanoes in NW are associated with plate tectonics and continental drift, specifically with offshore subduction zone
*Cascade volcanoes may pose significant risks during an eruption, the likelihood of a catastrophic eruption is quite remote
*A more likely risk comes from lahars, mud and debris flows that can be caused by volcanic heat melting glacial ice or snow on large peaks
*Earthquakes pose risk in NW, as in much of the Ring of Fire
*Scientists continually work to assess the hazards of volcanoes and to refine prediction techniques, and to inform public
*Types of rocks and lava flows at or near a volcano tells us about its past and eruptive history. This evidence helps to assess future eruptive potential
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*Articulate that we live on the edge of a continental plate is overriding a smaller oceanic plate, and that this helps create the Cascade Range
*Identify three major types of volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest, as seen on field trip
*Identify three major lava types from Pacific NW volcanoes as seen on field trip
*Associate lava type with past volcanic activity, and extrapolate future eruptive potential of specific volcanoes
*Access Cascade Volcanic Observatory web site and explore appropriate areas
*Biodiversity procedural knowledge from Fall revisited in a new habitat during field trip |
*Discussions
*Demonstration of skills and knowledge during procedures
*Recordation of information via drawings and/or written notes during explorations
*Demonstration that student can pose a question, and then design a simple investigation and collect data to help answer the question posed
*Use of appropriate tools and skills
*Embedded performance assessments
*Self-assessments
*Portfolios
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*Volcanoes unit materials (videos, posters, specimens, etc.)
*Biodiversity unit tools and materials as included in field kits
*Files organized by topic, activity, and unit
*Journal and activity magazine collections
*Reference and resource books from science room and library collection
*Materials available in science room, including toys, tools, equipment, and natural history specimens, as appropriate to topic
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*Volcanoes affect peoples around the world in much the same ways, although cultural responses to the threat varies widely |
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Farm to Table |
Where does our food come from?
How is food grown?
What is soil made of and how does it form?
What is compost and how does it happen?
How does a farmer make decisions about what to grow and how to grow it?
What aspects of growing food can be controled or manipulated by the farmer? |
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