Investigation 5, Part 3 Replacement PDF (Weather Maps)

Some teachers found it difficult to make clear, legible copies of the weather maps students bring to class in Inv. 5, Part 3, "Weather Maps."

In case students have not brought in maps, or if you want to use a set of specific dates, you can access an archive of national weather maps here.

We've provided a PDF containing maps of four consecutive dates, with the contrast increased for easy copying, here.



Investigation 4: Heating the Earth, Convection Activity
In the convection activity, squeezing the cold blue water on top of the vial of room temperature water to set up a convection current can be very difficult for some students to do successfully. Consider having all groups start with putting the cold blue water at the bottom of the vial of room temperature water. When this has been done successfully, encourage them to try putting the cold blue water at the top of the vial as an extra bonus challenge. It is important to stress not squeezing the pipettes too hard (they don't want the liquid to "squirt"), as this will simply cause the cold blue water to mix with the room temperature water in the vial.

Note: The convection current will most likely only go around once before it mixes with the water in the vial.

General Water Planet Tips
  • Careful work in student notebooks for Investigation 2, Swingers, provides a useful reference when students need to “rekindle” their understanding of controlled experiments for use in later investigations.

  • Have students use color in drawings and diagrams that correspond to, for example, the blue cold water and green room temperature water used in Inv. 3 Part 4, to reinforce understanding of the concepts in these activities.

  • In Inv. 2, Swingers, assess student understanding by suggesting “extreme” cases of changing swinger variables. For example, did adding mass (an additional penny) change the number of swings of a 38cm pendulum in 15 seconds? What if instead of an additional penny of mass we use a coffee mug (or some other very heavy object) for the bob – will that change the outcome? Many students, perhaps most, will change their minds. How can we find out if our original findings still hold? Test the swinger with the coffee mug as a bob.

  • In Inv. 4, Heating the Earth, it works well to allow students to bring a book out during “Earth Materials in the Sun and Shade” so they have something they like doing while waiting between time intervals for collecting data.

  • “Earth Materials in the Sun and Shade” will still work with potting soil out of the bag, in case you forget to thoroughly dry it out beforehand.

  • For hot water (needed in density activity), if you don’t have a hot plate, a Mr. Coffee type warming device works just fine.

  • For Inv 4, Heating the Earth, in the convection activity, squeezing the cold blue water on top of the vial of room temperature water to set up a convection current may be very difficult for students to do successfully. Try having all groups start with putting the cold blue water at the bottom of the vial; when this has been successfully done, encourage students to try adding the cold blue water from the top as an extra bonus challenge. Also, it is important to stress not squeezing hard enough to squirt the liquid, as this will simply cause the blue to mix with the room temp water in the vial. Note that the convection current will only go around once before it mixes with the water in the vial.

  • Inv. 4 Part 3, “Air Pressure”: when demonstrating air pressure and air having mass by removing the air from the water bottle, for a really dramatic demo try using a 2 liter soda bottle, removing the air by using your mouth directly on the bottle opening rather than through a tube. The students will bounce in their seats when you snap the air out and the bottle collapses with a loud crack.

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    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.

    Homemade Rain Gauge
    Here's a pattern for a simple homemade rain gauge you and your students can make from a 2-liter soda bottle. You can download the instructions here .
    --SKJ

    General FOSS CA Tips (3-5)
    1. Have students use highlighters on vocabulary words in their notebooks as they build word banks that go with each investigation.
    1. 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.
    1. To help with time management, we highly recommend using able students to set up and help clean up materials needed for each activity.
    1. 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.
    1. 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.
    1. 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.

    2. 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

    Which is closer to the Sun, Pluto or Haley's Comet? (Investigation 1, Part 1)
    In some printings of the Water Planet teacher guide (Inv. 1, Part 1), the Pluto card is shown placed closer to the Sun than the Comet card (p. 55); however, the solar-system cards indicate that Pluto is further from the sun than Haley's Comet.

    Here's the thing, both Pluto and Haley's Comet have elliptical orbits. For Pluto, the card reflects the average distance, whereas the card for Haley's Comet has the farthest distance. Because of the elliptical orbits, there are times when Pluto could be closer to the Sun than Haley's Comet. And, of course, there are many comets further from the Sun than Pluto.

    Pluto:
    Aphelion (farthest distance) - 7,375,927,931 km (49.30503287 AU)
    Perihelion (closest distance) - 4,436,824,613 km (29.65834067 AU)
    The average distance is about 5,906,376,272 km (3,670,052,070 miles or 39.48168677 AU)

    Haley's Comet:
    Aphelion (farthest distance) - 5,250,000,000 km (35 AU)
    Perihelion (closest distance) - 90,000,000 km (0.6 AU)

    If your students are curious, and ready, this might be a good time to discuss elliptical orbits.