Lesson+Outline

The Writing of Science - An Experimental Demo Lesson – the outline

9:00 – Hello I want to show you this week’s investigation subject. Look at this object. What does it do? What is it made of? What is it called? What can you do to it? What might people use it for? Why does it behave that way? Do all of the objects at the various lab stations look the same? What scientific vocabulary do we need to describe it? 9:05 – Write in your journal: Explain to your self what observations the group has shared. Engage –What do we already know about the stuff that is here? (this is the time for expressive writing – writing to learn, to “talk to oneself” 9:10 – Share with your lab team – make sure every body has used the language of science correctly. 9:15 – Teams will go to the lab stations in order to conduct a few tests on their own inertial balance. Remember to use what you know, look at the rubric in the front of your lab book. Look at the other labs we have done this year. You are responsible for writing your own testable question, designing your own methods, making a sketch of your equipment, and organizing your data. Try to decide the answer to your testable question. Are you making sense of your findings?  Plan to report back to the class in 15 minutes.  9:30 – Teams should compare results and discuss their findings. Look for similarities and differences in your methods, your data, your trends, and your conclusions. This is a chance to explain, justify, and practice orally. 9:35 - “Peer Review Whiteboards” **Summarize your findings, state your conclusion, and justify your conclusion with data or a graph.** 9:40 – Whiteboards are presented to the class. What do you conclude and how do you support that conclusion? Does the way you do an experiment matter? Why? 9:50 – Have we been using science specific vocabulary like professionals? Are our conclusions supported by other scientists? Review reading. Jot down a few notes. 10:00 – Questions and Comments? Using my whiteboard as a starting place, I am going to compare it with the rubric and try to model writing an exemplary first draft of a summary and conclusion for this lab. This is a chance to elaborate and expand on the initial draft done on the white board. 10:05 –Now you do it. 10:10 – Compare your summary and conclusion with that of your partner. 10:15 – Author’s Chair?
 * oscillation
 * wave
 * period
 * frequency
 * harmonic motion
 * resonance
 * natural frequency
 * mass
 * weight
 * balance
 * inertia
 * vibration
 * measurement
 * trend