Solar Cell Troubleshooting Test the solar cells at least one day ahead to make sure they are powering the motors before you have your students work with them. The cells do not store electricity. They must always be near a light source to power the motors. We have found that when people are having trouble with the solar cells, the two most important things to do first are to get each motor going with a battery and to lubricate the motors using a light oil, such as sewing machine oil (be sure to keep all oils out of the reach of students). If you do these things first, getting the motors going with sunlight or the overhead projector may not be necessary. 1. Prepare the motors. Put masking tape flags on the motor spindles so you can see them turning. 2. Test the motors with the AA cells. Place a motor’s wire ends on the ends of a AA cell, one to each end. Make sure the spindles are spinning while you hold the connections for a minute or so. 3. Lubricate the motors using a light oil, such as sewing machine oil (be sure to keep all oils out of the reach of students). 4. Prepare the solar cells. Unscrew the nuts and set them aside. Take off the little metal bar if there is one; you won’t need that piece. Take the wire and place the eye at the end over the bolt. Screw the nuts down to hold the wire in place. Make sure the nuts are screwed down tightly to ensure good connections. 5. Place the solar cells in direct sunlight or face down on an overhead projector (with the light on!) for three to five minutes. 6.Connect the ends of a motor’s wires to a solar cell. The ends of the solar cell wires have clips, and you can place one wire from the motor on one side, and the other wire on the other side. Make sure that NO metal parts of the wires are touching each other (this would result in a short circuit and the motor won’t work). 7. Place the solar cell back on the overhead projector and flick the flag on the motor spindle to get it spinning. 8. If the system doesn’t work yet, keep the solar cell in the Sun or on the overhead for a longer time (up to 30 minutes). 9. The lightbulb students use to power the cells must be at least 75 watts, and the cell must be a few inches from the bulb. (If you still have trouble call Delta Education, 1-800-258-1302.)

Energy Station 4a: Candle You can find the Energy Station 4a candle videos here. These videos are part of the introduction to energy sources.

Spring Toy in Investigation 1 Please note that some teacher guides incorrectly state that there are two spring toys in the kit. There is only one. If you have eight collaborative groups, two groups will work at Station 2 at the same time.

Using the FOSS Balance The FOSS balance has three parts: The base, the beam and the pointer. When the kit arrives new, the pointers will be in a small plastic bag. To insert a pointer, put the rounded end into the beam so that when you place the beam on the base the flat edge of the pointer hangs down in front of the raised line on the base. Place a cup on the two sides of the beam and then zero the balance by moving the plastic slider (found on the other side of the beam as the pointer) to one side or the other until balance is achieved. Check to make sure that the pointer lines up with the line on the base.

General FOSS CA Tips (3-5) Have students use highlighters on vocabulary words in their notebooks as they build word banks that go with each investigation. The FOSS Science Resources book is very engaging for students and relates well with the activities. The reading pieces are short, so they can be done as homework and re-read multiple times in class to reinforce understanding of key content and still not be excessively time heavy. To help with time management, we highly recommend using able students to set up and help clean up materials needed for each activity. We recommend teaching science in the morning, first thing or after recess, so that you have an opportunity to set up materials. The morning also has the added bonus of having both teacher and students fresh, with plenty of energy to give to these fun and engaging activities. Afternoons often find both students and teacher tired and lacking the energy necessary for focusing, problem solving, and making thoughtful connections. I-Checks and Response Sheets are great to use for self- and peer-assessment discussions. One rewarding strategy is to have students respectfully critique and defend their ideas using data and other evidence to support their positions. A rolling materials cart is useful as a space saver. The cart can be positioned centrally with the materials needed for an investigation activity and then rolled out of the way once students have their materials and are ready to start the activity. It can again be rolled out for collecting materials and easily taken to the sink area or counter area for clean up. We have noticed that when activities are introduced with a question, both teaching and learning are improved. You will find that this lead question helps frame the lesson and ensures that the inquiry process leads eventually to the data and interpretations needed to develop an explanation of the original question. Students will find that writing this lead question in their notebooks will help them develop a context for the various parts of the investigation and collection of data and lead naturally to an attempt to explain their answer to the original question. Their notebooks will make more sense and be more likely to show an understanding of relationships and connections and a clear expression of a conclusion supported by evidence. We noticed that when this lead question was missing, lessons and notebook entries tended to look more like unconnected statements and data charts.

Scaling PDF documents When you print any of the student sheets, lab notebook sheets, or assessment masters you have downloaded from FOSSweb, you may see a difference in scale between the original printed sheet and the downloaded sheet. This doesn't usually matter, but in some cases, you will want the scale to be the same (for example, to match the index card for the anemometer in the Weather and Water Course for middle school). To make sure this happens when you print a pdf file, there is an option on the print window that pops up "Page scaling." Your default is probably "fit to printable area." To get the original size, change this category to "none" before printing.

Science Notebook Index Templates Below are downloadable PDFs of science notebook index templates that can be printed for students to insert into their notebooks. Consider how much room your students will need to write when selecting a template. Four-page index template. This index has 6 to 8 letters per page. Works well for grades K-2. Two-page index template. This index has 12 to 14 letter per page. Works well for grades K-8. One-page index template. This index has all the letters on one page. Works well for grades 3-8. For more information on using these index sheets with notebooks, see page 15 of the FOSS Notebook Folio. --Brian Campbell