This spring students in grades 4-8 participated in science experiments that looked at how changing variables affect the outcome of the experiment.  We started with dissolving sugar in water and having students crush or stir the sugar cube as a variable. Each group worked on their own, and quickly discovered that they couldn’t compare their results with the other groups because we didn’t make a “standard” when it came to some of the procedures involved in this experiment.

Moving forward, we went on to Boat Science. Each pair was instructed to make a boat between different heights and all groups were given the same cups. As they worked together to figure out the volume of water their boat could hold and the “passengers” (pennies) their board could hold before sinking, they were able to use scientific discovery and reasoning to make predictions about each of their boats. Students also created data tables and line graphs of the data.

Our latest experiment has been working with pendulums. Students were instructed to make a “standard” swinger and then discuss what variables may lead to the pendulum having a different amount of swings in a certain amount of time (15 seconds). Students collaboratively worked together to come up with the three variables of weight, string length and drop location. Through an exploration method, students were able to discover that it was only the string length that changed the number of swings.