RIC-3531 Primary Science - Book D (Digital)
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<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> (<strong>Book</strong> D)<br />
Published by R.I.C. Publications ® 2002<br />
Copyright © R.I.C. Publications ® 2002<br />
This master may only be reproduced by the<br />
original purchaser for use with their class(es). The<br />
publisher prohibits the loaning or onselling of this<br />
master for the purposes of reproduction.<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
<strong>RIC</strong>–<strong>3531</strong><br />
Lightning photograph on front cover reproduced by the kind<br />
permission of the Bureau of Meteorology<br />
Titles available in this series:<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> (<strong>Book</strong> A)<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> (<strong>Book</strong> B)<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> (<strong>Book</strong> C)<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> (<strong>Book</strong> D)<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> (<strong>Book</strong> E)<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> (<strong>Book</strong> F)<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> (<strong>Book</strong> G)<br />
Copyright Notice<br />
Blackline masters or copy masters are published and<br />
sold with a limited copyright. This copyright allows<br />
publishers to provide teachers and schools with a<br />
wide range of learning activities without copyright<br />
being breached. This limited copyright allows the<br />
purchaser to make sufficient copies for use within<br />
their own education institution. The copyright is not<br />
transferable, nor can it be onsold. Following these<br />
instructions is not essential but will ensure that you,<br />
as the purchaser, have evidence of legal ownership<br />
to the copyright if inspection occurs.<br />
For your added protection in the case of copyright<br />
inspection, please complete the form below. Retain<br />
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In some cases, websites or specific URLs may be recommended. While these are checked and rechecked at the time of publication,<br />
the publisher has no control over any subsequent changes which may be made to webpages. It is strongly recommended that the class<br />
teacher checks all URLs before allowing students to access them.<br />
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PO Box 332 Greenwood Western Australia 6924<br />
Website: www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
Email: mail@ricgroup.com.au
Teachers Information................................................................ii – iii<br />
Suggestions for Teaching <strong>Science</strong>....................................................iv<br />
Meeting the Needs of Students.......................................................v<br />
Series Overview..............................................................................vi<br />
Resources......................................................................................vii<br />
Assessment – Indicators...............................................................viii<br />
Assessment Proforma.....................................................................ix<br />
<strong>Science</strong> Skills...................................................................................x<br />
Skills Assessment Proforma............................................................xi<br />
Outcome Links for <strong>Book</strong>.................................................................xii<br />
Life cycles .......................................................................................1<br />
Life Goes Around and Around..............................................2 – 3<br />
Life Cycle of a Frog...............................................................4 – 5<br />
Plant Life Cycle Survey.........................................................6 – 7<br />
The Sea Turtle......................................................................8 – 9<br />
Assessment.............................................................................10<br />
Adaptations..................................................................................11<br />
Adaptations.....................................................................12 – 13<br />
Plant Adaptations............................................................14 – 15<br />
Animals Adaptations.......................................................16 – 17<br />
Adapting Behaviour.........................................................18 – 19<br />
Assessment.............................................................................20<br />
Investigating Weather .................................................................21<br />
The Water Cycle...............................................................22 – 23<br />
Weather Chart.................................................................24 – 25<br />
Measuring Rain...............................................................26 – 27<br />
Wild Winds......................................................................28 – 29<br />
Assessment.............................................................................30<br />
Foreword<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> D is one of series of seven blackline masters written for<br />
use in Australian primary schools. Each book presents eight units that cover<br />
the four strands of the National Profiles: Life and Living, Earth and Beyond,<br />
Natural and Processed Materials, and Energy and Change.<br />
Comprehensive teachers notes accompany each student activity. Concepts,<br />
knowledge and skills share an equal emphasis in each unit, along with<br />
developing positive attitudes to science.<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> gives students the opportunity to enhance their<br />
knowledge of the world around themand to engage in collaborative<br />
learning that makes science interesting and exciting.<br />
Indicators and assessment pages have been designed to match the National<br />
Profiles and those of other selected States.<br />
Contents<br />
PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
Titles in this series are:<br />
• <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> A<br />
• <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> B<br />
• <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> C<br />
• <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> D<br />
• <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> E<br />
• <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> F<br />
• <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> G<br />
Changes to the Local Environment...............................................31<br />
Our Environment.............................................................32 – 33<br />
The Local Environment – Fifty Years Ago.........................34 – 35<br />
Good or Bad?...................................................................36 – 37<br />
Changes to the Local Environment..................................38 – 39<br />
Assessment.............................................................................40<br />
Changing State.............................................................................41<br />
Solids, Liquids and Gases.................................................42 – 43<br />
Changing Matter.............................................................44 – 45<br />
It’s Just a Gas...................................................................46 – 47<br />
Crystal Shapes.................................................................48 – 49<br />
Assessment.............................................................................50<br />
Structures.....................................................................................51<br />
The Tallest Tower..............................................................52 – 53<br />
Weak and Strong Shapes.................................................54 – 55<br />
Bridge Building – 1.........................................................56 – 57<br />
Bridge Building – 2.........................................................58 – 59<br />
Assessment.............................................................................60<br />
Magnets........................................................................................61<br />
Magnetic Attraction........................................................62 – 63<br />
Magnetic Strength...........................................................64 – 65<br />
Magnetic Forces...............................................................66 – 67<br />
Magnetic Problems..........................................................68 – 69<br />
Assessment.............................................................................70<br />
Flight ............................................................................................71<br />
A ‘Loopy’ Aeroplane.........................................................72 – 73<br />
Gryocopter.......................................................................74 – 75<br />
A Whirligig......................................................................76 – 77<br />
Paper Gliders...................................................................78 – 79<br />
Assessment.............................................................................80<br />
Appendix 1 ...................................................................................81<br />
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i
Teacher Information<br />
Each book contains eight science units. Each unit is made up of ten pages, and contains:<br />
• a cover page;<br />
• four teacher pages;<br />
• four student pages;<br />
• an assessment page.<br />
The first page of each unit is a cover page<br />
designed for the students. Listed are the titles<br />
of the four activities included in the unit.<br />
The cover page can be glued into student<br />
workbooks at the beginning of a unit or<br />
copied and attached to the completed<br />
blacklines at the end of the unit. The students<br />
can colour the title of the unit on the page.<br />
Site search is a list of keywords and<br />
phrases for use by the students. They can be<br />
typed directly into the students’ preferred<br />
Internet search engine to promote the most<br />
appropriate response to the topic.<br />
The teacher pages include information to assist the teacher with each lesson.<br />
The activities in <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong><br />
have been written to the National<br />
Profiles. The outcomes for the unit<br />
are listed and specific indicators<br />
that match each activity are<br />
included. These Indicators can<br />
be transferred to the assessment<br />
proforma on page ix. Each of<br />
the National Outcomes used in<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> has been linked<br />
to other State curriculums on page<br />
xii, making teacher planning and<br />
student assessment easier.<br />
Background Information for<br />
each activity is included for the<br />
teacher.<br />
Keywords have been given for<br />
each unit, in alphabetical order.<br />
These words can be introduced and<br />
discussed at the beginning of a unit<br />
or they can be a focus as they appear<br />
throughout the activities. Introducing<br />
scientific terminology to meet the<br />
needs of individual students is<br />
discussed on page v.<br />
‘Did you know?’ is an eclectic<br />
collection of interesting facts and<br />
figures relating to one or more of the<br />
topics. It is designed to engage the<br />
students’ attention and stimulate their<br />
interest in the area being studied.<br />
In Materials and Preparation, the teacher is made<br />
aware of what needs to be done before the lesson.<br />
Some materials and tasks are required for the activity<br />
to be conducted; others are suggestions that will<br />
enrich the lesson.<br />
Ideas under the Stimulus heading are<br />
suggested short activities or discussions to<br />
capture the students’ attention and spark an<br />
interest in the topic. Teachers will also able to<br />
discover the existing knowledge of the class<br />
or individual students regarding the topic by<br />
listening to their responses and observations.<br />
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What To Do gives suggested step-by-step<br />
instructions for the activity. The<br />
accompanying blackline may be the focus<br />
of the activity or it may be where the<br />
students record their observations and<br />
ideas after completing the task.<br />
Additional Activities can be used to<br />
further develop the outcomes being<br />
assessed. These activities provide<br />
ideas to consolidate and clarify the<br />
concepts and skills taught in the unit.<br />
Display Ideas for the classroomgive the teacher<br />
suggestions for the students in the topic and ways of<br />
presenting work that has been completed during the<br />
unit.<br />
The Answers for the activities on<br />
the blackline are included. Some<br />
answers will need a teacher check,<br />
while others may vary depending<br />
on the students’ personal<br />
experiences or observations.<br />
ii<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au
Teacher Information<br />
After completing the<br />
unit, the students can<br />
assess themselves and<br />
provide feedback to<br />
the teacher and their<br />
parents by completing<br />
the self-assessment<br />
face. This face<br />
indicates how they<br />
felt about the topic. It<br />
is important that the<br />
self-assessment takes<br />
place prior to marking<br />
by a teacher.<br />
The student pages contain a<br />
variety of activities. The written<br />
activities may be the focus of the<br />
lesson or they may be where the<br />
students record their observations,<br />
investigation results and discoveries.<br />
The focus of each blackline master<br />
is given in the indicators on the<br />
accompanying teachers’ page.<br />
On the final page of each unit is the<br />
assessment page. Questions have been written<br />
that will assess individual student knowledge<br />
and understanding of the main ideas in the<br />
unit. The questions have been written fromthe<br />
specific indicators and overall outcomes of the<br />
unit. Each assessment page places an emphasis<br />
on content and understanding as well as skills.<br />
Indicators have been written in language easily<br />
understood by parents, students and teachers and<br />
can be used as a point of reference in parent-teacher<br />
interviews or three-way conferences. These indicators<br />
can be transferred to the assessment proformas on<br />
pages ix and xi.<br />
Assessment proformas have been included on pages<br />
ix and xi, with an explanation of how to use themon<br />
the preceding pages.<br />
Each book of <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> has eight units. This gives teachers the opportunity to change topics every five weeks<br />
over one school year. However, there is no prescribed length of time for each unit. All units include some activities that<br />
can be completed in one lessons, others may go over two lessons, depending on a variety of factors, such as:<br />
• the stimulus suggesting learning about science outside the classroom;<br />
• the students needing to make observations prior to the lesson;<br />
• an experiment being conducted that needs to be observed over a number of days;<br />
• the students being required to find information by researching, using the Internet,<br />
conducting surveys or interviews;<br />
• a concept needing to be clarified further to ensure understanding.<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> has been written to the National Outcomes and linked to other State curriculums. The units and<br />
activities can be followed precisely or adapted to meet the needs of specific schools and to suit individual styles of<br />
teaching. Suggestions for setting up a science classroomand for teaching science can be found on page iv. Ideas for<br />
teaching science to meet the special needs of individual students are discussed on page v, along with exciting ideas for<br />
presenting scientific information.<br />
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PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
iii
Suggestions for Teaching <strong>Science</strong><br />
Skills<br />
<strong>Science</strong> allows students to make new discoveries about the world<br />
around themand themselves. To do this, certain skills need to be<br />
developed. Skills that are introduced fromthe early years include:<br />
• observing • communicating • measuring<br />
• predicting • inferring • following a procedure<br />
More demanding skills, such as controlling variables, interpreting data,<br />
designing experiments and formulating hypotheses become part of<br />
the activities in the middle/upper years. These skills are introduced in<br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> books Dto G. Each of the skills mentioned is described<br />
in more detail on page x, with a skills assessment proforma on page xi.<br />
Safety<br />
In the <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> series, safety precautions for certain activities<br />
are given on the teachers page. Some activities also have a ‘safety note’<br />
written on the blackline master for the students. It is imperative that the<br />
teacher is aware prior to an activity if careful supervision of the students<br />
is needed during a lesson. It may be possible to organise another adult<br />
to be in classroomfor that activity. Ensure that all groups understand<br />
the instructions, are organised and focused on the task.<br />
Close adult supervision is required whenever a ‘hands-on’ approach is<br />
being used. At the very least, all students should be clearly visible to the<br />
teacher at the same time. The one exception to this is outdoor smallgroup<br />
work. Here, older students may work on a clearly defined task<br />
within a specified time frame.<br />
When taking a class outside of the classroom, prepare by:<br />
• organising students into their groups in the classroom;<br />
• checking that the students have the right equipment before they<br />
leave the classroom. (Note: For early learners, the teacher should be in<br />
charge of the equipment until it is needed. This will prevent students<br />
becoming preoccupied with the materials and the materials becoming<br />
lost before they are needed.) It can also be beneficial to allow students<br />
a controlled ‘play’ session with new equipment to overcome the<br />
novelty factor and allow them to concentrate on the task required;<br />
• visit the site before hand to ensure that examples of what is being<br />
observed are actually there.<br />
When students are able to work together in groups, they are encouraged<br />
to communicate and express their ideas. It is important that teachers<br />
stay aware of groups working independently to ensure that all students<br />
are handling the materials and that the members are working together<br />
as a team. By allocating roles for each group member, it is more likely<br />
that the dynamics will be equitable. The roles of the students can be<br />
swapped regularly to give each member the opportunity to participate<br />
in all tasks. Allow time at the end of group tasks for the students to<br />
evaluate their teamskills and to make targets to work towards the next<br />
time they work as a group. Some activities may work better if the groups<br />
are organised by ability levels, others will be enriched frommixed ability<br />
groupings. To enable all students to work together at some stage during<br />
the year, randomly select groups for some activities.<br />
Demonstration and Experiments<br />
It is important that, during a teacher demonstration, all students are<br />
seated so they can clearly see what is taking place. Select students to<br />
describe what is happening or to come to the front of the classroomand<br />
participate in the demonstration. Students love to help pour, mix and<br />
touch the materials.<br />
By giving clear, step-by-step instructions, students conducting an<br />
experiment will feel confident to investigate and explore. Depending<br />
on the age level, individual students and small groups need the<br />
opportunity to do independent discovery. Always allocate time to bring<br />
the class together at the end of a lesson. This will allow students to<br />
discuss their findings and also give the teacher the opportunity to see<br />
which methods are successful in the science classroomand which need<br />
working on.<br />
Organising and Storing Equipment<br />
Before each science activity, read the materials and preparation given<br />
on the teacher page. Collect the materials and place themin trays that<br />
can be carried easily to tables. By sorting the materials so each tray has<br />
exactly what each group requires, students will not need to queue for<br />
materials and they can place themdirectly back into the tray at the end<br />
of the lesson.<br />
All science equipment should have a ‘home’ and be returned to that<br />
home after each lesson. For early years’ classrooms, silhouettes of the<br />
materials cut fromblack card and attached to the front of cupboards<br />
and drawers, will help pre-readers to find them. At the beginning of<br />
each science lesson, allocate student ‘jobs’ for collecting and returning<br />
equipment. Allocate students to check that the materials have been<br />
returned and kept neat and tidy.<br />
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iv<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au
Meeting the Needs of Students<br />
Differentiating Activities<br />
The activities in the <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> series have been designed so that<br />
they can be followed precisely or adapted by teachers. This flexibility<br />
allows teachers the opportunity to differentiate lessons and blackline<br />
masters to meet the needs of students with varying abilities and special<br />
needs.<br />
The activities and blackline masters in <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> can be<br />
differentiated by incorporating the following suggestions into teacher<br />
planning and programming.<br />
To meet the special needs of students who have English as an second<br />
language, plan a time on a day before the science unit begins to<br />
introduce keywords and concepts. Having other adult support would be<br />
ideal as the group can work in a quiet area away fromthe classroom.<br />
Keywords can be enlarged and discussed. By explaining each word<br />
and showing objects or pictures, the students will be able to make<br />
connections between the word and the object. For ESL students,<br />
being immersed in the language before a topic begins gives theman<br />
advantage, especially during the teacher discussion part of the lesson,<br />
when most teachers tend to speak quite quickly.<br />
Before the unit, allow time for the students to look at nonfiction or<br />
fiction books about the topic. These will give students the opportunity<br />
to learn by reading books with clear and simple language. Students with<br />
reading problems will be able to immerse themselves before the unit<br />
begins. If other adult help is available, group students with low literacy<br />
levels together. The assisting teacher or parent will be able to read<br />
instructions, labels and the questions on the blacklines to the students<br />
and guide themthrough experiments. If other adults are not available,<br />
mixed ability groups will allow ESL students and students with low<br />
literacy levels to observe and be guided by other students. Teachers<br />
can produce activity sheets so students can become familiar with the<br />
terminology and content of a science unit before it is started with the<br />
whole class. Include activities such as missing letters, matching pictures<br />
to words and finding definitions. Diagrams fromthe unit can also be<br />
simplified on these worksheets. Any time that can be spent with the<br />
students preparing themfor the topic ahead, will enable themto feel<br />
more familiar and confident with the materials, skills and concepts.<br />
Students who seemto race through the activities and blacklines and<br />
who understand the content very quickly, can be challenged by looking<br />
at the topic in greater depth (rather than being given more of the<br />
same). They can go beyond the facts and begin to analyse, create their<br />
own hypothesis and conduct research related to strands of the topics<br />
that interest them.<br />
By meeting the needs of individual students, allowing the students<br />
to learn collaboratively and by having very clear instruction and<br />
expectations, science lessons should run smoothly. If a student prevents<br />
others fromlearning or if he or she could potentially cause harmto<br />
another student, he or she should be removed fromthe classroom.<br />
Organise a buddy systemwith another colleague, where students are<br />
taken without explanation. Student-teacher conferences can occur after<br />
the lesson.<br />
Display Ideas for the <strong>Science</strong> Classroom<br />
By having a variety of means by which they can record and present<br />
their findings, more students will be given the opportunity to succeed.<br />
Displays and records can communicate and share ideas, provide the<br />
stimuli for creative work, show interrelationships, and develop the<br />
ability to interpret information in different forms or accurately record<br />
observations and fine details. Some methods by which students can<br />
display or record their science work are shown below.<br />
Type of Display/Record Examples Could Follow<br />
charts pictures, tables, graphs experiments<br />
creative writing poems, narratives sensory experiences<br />
models/machines recycled materials, wood, clay experiments<br />
sketches observations or interpretations excursions<br />
diagrams plants, animals environmental studies<br />
tables classification, tallies observations over time<br />
collections rocks, plants, animals comparing/classifying activities<br />
tally sheets events, counting objects experiments, counting<br />
dioramas environments, landforms, systems environmental studies<br />
graphs measurement, number, change change over time, measuring activities<br />
maps/plans streets, buildings, environmental sites excursions<br />
diaries observations, drawings change or progress/deterioration over time<br />
video or audio recordings sounds, spoken reports, descriptions excursions, environmental studies<br />
interviews role-playing, guests guest speaker presentation<br />
mobiles collected objects, words comparing/classifying activities<br />
posters/banners environmental issues environmental studies<br />
student books individual research any topic<br />
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PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
v
Series Overview<br />
<strong>Book</strong> A<br />
Life and Living<br />
About Me<br />
Plants and Animals<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
Weather<br />
Time<br />
Natural and Processed Materials<br />
Sorting Materials<br />
Exploring Water<br />
Energy and Change<br />
On the Move<br />
Sound<br />
<strong>Book</strong> E<br />
Life and Living<br />
Animal Groups and Food Chains<br />
What Do You Eat?<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
Inside the Earth<br />
Earth, Sun and Moon<br />
Natural and Processed Materials<br />
Changes<br />
Dissolving and Separating<br />
Energy and Change<br />
Investigating Sound<br />
Circuits and Conductors<br />
<strong>Book</strong> B<br />
Life and Living<br />
Food<br />
Growing Plants<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
Day and Night<br />
My Environment<br />
Natural and Processed Materials<br />
Changes in Materials<br />
<strong>Science</strong> Magic<br />
Energy and Change<br />
Colour<br />
Push and Pull<br />
<strong>Book</strong> F<br />
Life and Living<br />
Flowering Plants<br />
Human Body<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
Space<br />
Conservation<br />
Natural and Processed Materials<br />
Structures and Fibres<br />
Mystery Powders<br />
Energy and Change<br />
Light and Animation<br />
Simple Machines<br />
<strong>Book</strong> C<br />
Life and Living<br />
Insects<br />
Minibeasts<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
Rocks and Soils<br />
Fossils<br />
Natural and Processed Materials<br />
Properties of Materials<br />
Recycling<br />
Energy and Change<br />
Light and Shadows<br />
Solar Energy<br />
<strong>Book</strong> G<br />
Life and Living<br />
Endangered Species<br />
Ecosystems<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
Erosion<br />
A Restless Earth<br />
Natural and Processed Materials<br />
Kitchen <strong>Science</strong><br />
Liquids<br />
Energy and Change<br />
Time<br />
Energy and its Uses<br />
<strong>Book</strong> D<br />
Life and Living<br />
Life Cycles<br />
Adaptations<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
Investigating Weather<br />
Changes to the Local Environment<br />
Natural and Processed Materials<br />
Changing State<br />
Structures<br />
Energy and Change<br />
Magnets<br />
Flight<br />
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ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
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Essential <strong>Science</strong> Resources<br />
Below is a list of essential items for every<br />
science classroom. By collecting and storing<br />
these materials, time will be saved when<br />
preparing for science experiments and<br />
investigations.<br />
plastic cups.............................................<br />
coloured pencils, crayons........................<br />
measuring jugs.......................................<br />
jars and bottles with lids.........................<br />
coloured crepe paper streamers..............<br />
empty buckets and containers................<br />
lids - plastic, tin.......................................<br />
sticky tape, glue, scissors.........................<br />
aprons/shirts to protect clothes..............<br />
paper towel............................................<br />
rulers, metre sticks, trundle wheel..........<br />
counters, marbles, stones, buttons..........<br />
sugar, flour, salt.......................................<br />
modelling clay........................................<br />
paperclips...............................................<br />
food colouring........................................<br />
straws.....................................................<br />
tissues, corks, plastic blocks.....................<br />
paper - A4 and A3...................................<br />
balloons..................................................<br />
pop sticks................................................<br />
coloured card..........................................<br />
cotton wool, string, wool, .......................<br />
split pins.................................................<br />
torches....................................................<br />
plastic bags.............................................<br />
soap, oil..................................................<br />
mirrors....................................................<br />
milk and egg cartons..............................<br />
vinegar, lemon juice................................<br />
magnets.................................................<br />
aluminiumfoil, cling wrap......................<br />
bicarbonate of soda................................<br />
funnels...................................................<br />
candles...................................................<br />
pipe-cleaners..........................................<br />
Resources<br />
Materials Needed for <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> D<br />
Below are the resources needed to conduct the activities described in this book. The items in italics<br />
are optional and may be collected to enrich the lesson. Not mentioned are those items included in<br />
the ‘Essential <strong>Science</strong> Resources’ list.<br />
Life Cycles<br />
• area of school grounds with a diverse plant<br />
population<br />
• photographs, charts, books of: animals at<br />
different stages of their life cycle; endangered<br />
species; plants and plant life cycles<br />
• frogs eggs or tadpoles, an aquarium or<br />
container for storing eggs/tadpoles, shallow<br />
water, rocks, water weed or pond weed, fish<br />
food<br />
Adaptations<br />
• access to school grounds<br />
• cactus • binoculars<br />
• photographs, charts, books:<br />
of plants and animals that have identifiable<br />
adaptations and are from a variety of<br />
environments; e.g. hot, cold;<br />
showing animal behaviour (e.g. flocks,<br />
colour changes, human clothing for weather<br />
conditions) for adaptation; birds<br />
Investigating Weather<br />
• kettle<br />
• sand<br />
• oven gloves • bottle caps<br />
• masking tape • wooden block<br />
• dowel rod • yoghurt pots<br />
• pebbles/small rocks • soil, plants<br />
• local newspapers for each day of<br />
the school week<br />
• 2-litre soft drink bottles<br />
• television and video to view taped weather<br />
reports from previous night<br />
• photographs and pictures of:<br />
the water cycle; different types of weather;<br />
crops; people and places experiencing different<br />
strengths of wind; cyclones and the devastation<br />
they can cause<br />
• a kite<br />
Changes to the Local Environment<br />
• an area of the school grounds where the soil is<br />
in poor condition<br />
• pictures, postcards, artefacts, newspaper<br />
clippings, archive pictures and maps of the<br />
local community in the past<br />
• a person willing to discuss the changes that<br />
have occurred to the environment in the local<br />
community over the past 50 years<br />
• video displaying human-made environmental<br />
changes and people who are protesting the<br />
changes<br />
• pictures of farming equipment used at the turn<br />
of the century and the machines used today<br />
Changing State<br />
• perfume • cordial<br />
• marbles • borax<br />
• ice cubes • rock<br />
• apple<br />
• potato<br />
• large tray • balloon<br />
• bicarbonate of soda • vinegar<br />
• kettle<br />
• hand lens<br />
• solids – pencils, marbles, pots etc.<br />
• liquids – dishwashing liquid, cordial, water etc.<br />
• trapped gases – gas bottle, air in a balloon,<br />
sparkling drink etc.<br />
• electric frying pan with lid<br />
• three pieces of steel wool<br />
• two small snap-lock plastic bags<br />
• plastic bottles (with narrow necks)<br />
• pictures of snow and snowflakes, gems or crystals,<br />
sand, sugar<br />
Structures and Construction<br />
• plastic drinking straws (30 per group)<br />
• dressmaking pins (30 per group)<br />
• pictures of different types of bridges<br />
Magnets<br />
• magnets – bar, horseshoe etc.<br />
• variety of materials to test – bottle caps, cloth,<br />
aluminiumcans, bolts, nuts, safety pins, cotton<br />
wool, thumb tacks, crayons, chalk, aluminium<br />
foil, coins etc.<br />
• paperclips (20 per group)<br />
• iron filings • paper plates<br />
Flight<br />
• straws • paperclips<br />
• paper<br />
• measuring tape<br />
• metre rulers<br />
• stiff card – cereal packs<br />
• cardboard, styrofoam or balsa<br />
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vii
Life Cycles<br />
• Can identify the life cycles of familiar living things.<br />
• Understands that animals are at greater risk of harm at certain<br />
stages in a life cycle.<br />
• Identifies possible reasons for animals being threatened or<br />
endangered.<br />
Adaptations<br />
• Understands the meaning of adaptation.<br />
• Identifies leaves to suit a specific climate.<br />
• Describes food to best suit bird beak shapes.<br />
• Identifies animals and their adaptations.<br />
Investigating Weather<br />
• Develops an understanding of the different stages of the water<br />
cycle.<br />
• Describes the importance of weather information to community<br />
groups such as farmers.<br />
• Describes an experiment that measures rain and identifies<br />
possible improvements to the accuracy of the investigation.<br />
• Draws an anemometer and describes how it measures wind.<br />
Assessment - Indicators<br />
Below are the indicators taken fromthe assessment pages for each unit in <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> – <strong>Book</strong> D. These<br />
indicators can be transferred across to the assessment proforma on the accompanying page. By using proformas,<br />
teachers can meet the needs of outcome–based learning experiences in science. The format of each page is ideal<br />
for inclusion in student portfolios, or for reporting purposes. Using proformas allows teachers to provide a well<br />
explained, logically presented indication of progress to both students and parents. Indicators have been developed<br />
as a basis for determining progress towards achieving that outcome.<br />
Changes to the Local Environment<br />
• Recognises factors that create our environment.<br />
• Identifies that some influences on our environment can have<br />
negative and positive effects.<br />
• Compares the local environment to 50 years ago.<br />
• Describes changes to farming in the last century and the effect it<br />
has on the land.<br />
• Identifies ways to improve the condition of soil in the local area.<br />
Changing State<br />
• Identifies key words describing changes in the state of matter.<br />
• Lists examples of solids, liquids or gases.<br />
• Distinguishes between a solid, liquid and gas.<br />
• Describes how water changes when it is heated or frozen.<br />
Structures and Construction<br />
• Identifies rigid shapes.<br />
• Draws a rigid share made from a single sheet of paper.<br />
• Identifies rigid shapes made from paper.<br />
Magnets<br />
• Identifies differences in magnetic and non-magnetic materials.<br />
• Shows understanding of magnetic facts.<br />
• Draws ‘patterns’ to show understanding of magnetic poles.<br />
• Understands the correct terms ‘attract’ and ‘repel’.<br />
• Uses knowledge of magnets to solve a problem.<br />
Flight<br />
• Describes how a variety of flying machines move.<br />
• Describes an alteration made to improve the performance of a<br />
flying machine.<br />
• Evaluates that alteration’s success.<br />
• Discusses how extra weight affects the performance of a flying<br />
machine.<br />
Using the Assessment Proforma<br />
An explanation of how to use the proforma is outlined below.<br />
Fill in the appropriate learning area.<br />
For example :<br />
Earth and Beyond – Time<br />
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Give a brief description of the<br />
activities in the unit and what<br />
was expected of the students.<br />
Write the relevant<br />
outcome(s) from<br />
the unit.<br />
Use this space to comment on an<br />
individual student’s performance<br />
which can not be indicated in<br />
the formal assessment, such as<br />
work habits or particular needs<br />
or abilities.<br />
List the indicators<br />
assessed in the unit.<br />
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Assessment Proforma<br />
Name Year Term<br />
Learning Area<br />
Tasks<br />
Your child was asked to:<br />
Outcomes<br />
Assessment<br />
Your child can: Still Developing Understanding<br />
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ix
An explanation of the science skills used in <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Science</strong> books A – G is detailed below.<br />
Observing<br />
Inferring<br />
Students naturally observe the world around them. This involves When a student suggests a possible explanation for something that<br />
describing things, seeing how they change and exploring how things has been observed, he or she is making an inference, or inferring. Prior<br />
work. Observations can require the use of special tools such as hand knowledge and the senses are combined to make predictions and<br />
lenses and viewing multimedia resources. However, this is not essential interpret observations.<br />
in the primary classroom. It is important that students know the<br />
difference between an observation and an inference. An observation Following a Procedure<br />
is a fact whereas an inference is when prior knowledge and the senses Fromthe very early years, students can begin to follow procedures to<br />
combine to make a prediction.<br />
investigate the world around them. Through clear verbal or written<br />
Communicating<br />
Many science lessons today include collaborative learning. Students<br />
work in small groups, which encourages themto communicate with<br />
their peers. They develop this skill by sharing their observations and<br />
ideas. Another means of developing communication is by students<br />
verbally sharing their findings with the teacher and the class. <strong>Science</strong><br />
journals can be used for students to record their ideas and to write,<br />
sketch, create graphs, draw diagrams in etc.<br />
Measuring<br />
The measurement of exact information observed and collected in<br />
science investigations is essential to the conduct of experiments. In the<br />
early years, students make simple comparisons by using nonstandard<br />
measurements such as hand or body lengths or cut lengths of string<br />
or paper. Student use phrases like ‘bigger than’ or ‘wider than’. In<br />
later years, students begin to use standard measuring units such as<br />
centimetres, grams and litres and tools such as thermometers and<br />
clocks.<br />
Predicting<br />
When students make a guess about what they think will happen and<br />
use their past observations and experiences as the foundation of that<br />
guess, they are predicting. Predictions are recorded before the activity<br />
takes place so that the prediction and what really happened can be<br />
compared. In upper primary, students begin to hypothesise. This is the<br />
process by which a number of observations are recorded and a general<br />
explanation is given.<br />
Using the Skills Assessment Proforma<br />
An explanation of how to use the proforma is outlined below.<br />
<strong>Science</strong> Skills<br />
instructions, students follow steps to find results.<br />
Classifying<br />
When student are asked to organise objects and materials into groups,<br />
they are classifying. Groups are made by sorting the objects that have<br />
similar properties. Classifying activities include sorting objects into<br />
designated groups or choosing the type of groups that the objects will<br />
be classified in to.<br />
Interpreting Data<br />
After observations and measurements have taken place, results are<br />
gathered and the data presented as charts, tables, graphs etc. These data<br />
are studied to identify any patterns that exist, the relationship between<br />
the two variables and the direction and extent of change.<br />
Formulating Hypotheses<br />
Fromthe results of a number of observations, students are able to<br />
incorporate their findings to and try to think of a reason that explains<br />
why something happens. A hypothesis refers to an explanation of why<br />
something occurs.<br />
Working with Others<br />
Through collaborative learning, students share their ideas, observations<br />
and findings. They work with others to get a better idea of what<br />
something is and how it works.<br />
Designing Experiments<br />
In the upper years, students begin to design their own experiments to<br />
investigate a problem.<br />
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Fill in the appropriate learning area:<br />
For example : Earth and Beyond – Time<br />
Mark the skills that have been<br />
addressed in the science unit.<br />
Give a brief description of the activities in<br />
the unit formulated to assist the students<br />
to develop and use these skills.<br />
Use this space to comment on an individual<br />
student’s performance which can not be<br />
indicated in the formal assessment, such as<br />
particular needs or abilities.<br />
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Skills Assessment Proforma<br />
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xi
Outcome Links<br />
Units<br />
National Outcome Links<br />
WA<br />
Vic.<br />
SA<br />
Qld<br />
NSW<br />
Life Cycles<br />
Adaptations<br />
Investigating<br />
Weather<br />
Changes to the<br />
Local<br />
Environment<br />
Changing State<br />
Structures<br />
Magnets<br />
Flight<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.8 Links observable features to their functions in<br />
familiar living things.<br />
2.9 Compares and contrasts similarities within and<br />
between groups of familiar living things.<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.1 Records way we monitor and use information<br />
about changes to the Earth.<br />
2.2 Describes changes that occur in the local<br />
environment.<br />
Natural and Processed Materials<br />
2.11 Describes the substructure of some common<br />
materials.<br />
2.12 Distinguishes between changes that cannot be<br />
readily reversed and those that can.<br />
Energy and Change<br />
2.5 Describes properties of light, sound, heating and<br />
movement.<br />
2.6 Describes observable changes that occur in two<br />
objects that interact, identifying the energy source<br />
and receiver.<br />
LL3 BS3.1 2.5 3.1, 3.2 LT S2.3<br />
LL3 BS3.2 2.6 3.2, 3.3 LT S2.3<br />
EB3 E+SS3.1 2.1 3.1 ES S2.6<br />
EB3 E+SS3.2 2.1 3.3, D3.5 ES S2.6<br />
NPM3 CS3.1 2.7 3.1 BE S2.1<br />
NPM3 CS3.2 2.8 3.1, 3.2, BE S2.1<br />
D3.4<br />
EC3 PS3.2 2.4 3.2, D3.5 PP S2.4<br />
EC3 PS3.2 2.3 3.2, D3.5 PP S2.4<br />
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South Australian acknowledgment<br />
The extracts fromthe South Australian Curriculum, Standards and Accountability Framework published by kind permission of the Department of Education, Training<br />
and Employment, Banksia Avenue, Seacombe Gardens, South Australia, 5047. Phone (08) 8377 0399<br />
NATIONAL OUTCOMES acknowledgment<br />
The extracts fromthe National Statement and Profiles. Permission has been given by the publisher, CurriculumCorporation, POBox 177, Carlton South, Victoria 3053.<br />
http://www.curriculum.edu.au Email: sales@curriculum.edu.au Tel.: (03) 9207 9600 Fax: (03) 9639 1616<br />
xii<br />
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life cycles<br />
frogs<br />
life cycle of a frog<br />
life cycle of a plant<br />
sea turtles<br />
endangered species<br />
Life Goes Around and Around<br />
Life Cycle of a Frog<br />
Plant Life Cycle Survey<br />
The Sea Turtle<br />
Life Cycles<br />
So far, the earliest frog we know about lived in the<br />
Jurassic Period – that’s about 190 million years ago.<br />
Fossils from that time show that frogs have changed<br />
very little. They probably developed those powerful<br />
hopping legs so they could get out of the way of<br />
hungry dinosaurs.<br />
adolescent<br />
burrow<br />
cycle<br />
develop<br />
endangered<br />
extinction<br />
fertilise<br />
flower<br />
frog<br />
fruit<br />
germinate<br />
grow<br />
hatchlings<br />
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larva<br />
life<br />
observe<br />
pupa<br />
repeat<br />
roots<br />
seedling<br />
senior<br />
species<br />
stage<br />
survive<br />
tadpole<br />
turtle<br />
Name:<br />
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ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8
Life Goes Around and Around<br />
Life Cycles – Activity 1<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.9 Compares and contrasts<br />
similarities and differences<br />
within and between<br />
groups of familiar living<br />
things.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies changes during<br />
the life cycles of familiar<br />
living things or natural<br />
processes.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Predicts<br />
• Records<br />
• Communicating<br />
Background Information<br />
Cyclic patterns occur in nature.<br />
The most obvious of these<br />
are the life cycles of different<br />
animals, including humans.<br />
Other cycles involve weather,<br />
climate, the passing of time<br />
(days, weeks, months, years),<br />
water etc. The repetitive nature<br />
of life on Earth is a concept<br />
that can be reinforced from<br />
many perspectives.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Photographs and charts of animals at different stages of their life cycle, or life<br />
cycle charts.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Collect charts and photographs of animals at different stages in their life cycle.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Use photographs and charts to show a variety of animals at different stages of<br />
their life cycle. Discuss the differences between a caterpillar and a butterfly. How<br />
can these be the same animal? Talk about the differences between a tadpole and<br />
a frog. How can these be the same animal? Introduce the concept of animals<br />
developing as part of a cycle. Discuss ‘cyclic’ terms (for example, larvae, pupa,<br />
seedling).<br />
What to Do<br />
• Ask the students to complete the first part of the activity sheet. How is this cycle a<br />
cycle of time? What other cycles of time are there?<br />
• Students complete the four cycles by drawing and naming the steps in each cycle.<br />
They discuss their ideas with a partner<br />
• When the students have completed the task, discuss each cycle to ensure the<br />
correct steps are included.<br />
• Complete the lesson by getting students to name other life cycles.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. morning afternoon night morning afternoon night<br />
2. (b) seed seedling flower fruit<br />
(b) egg larva pupa adult<br />
(c) winter spring summer autumn<br />
(d) baby child adolescent/teenager adult senior<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Explore the cycles of animals that hibernate; for example, the life cycle of bears.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Students look through magazines and find pictures of people in one of the five<br />
stages of their life cycle. The pictures can be glued on black card, labelled and have<br />
arrows attached to show the order.<br />
• Other posters of life cycles can be created and displayed. The students can draw,<br />
paint or use pictures from the Internet and put them in the correct order, showing<br />
the cycle.<br />
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Life Cycles – Activity 1<br />
Life Goes Around and Around<br />
Many parts of life and nature involve a cycle. A cycle is something that goes through stages and repeats itself.<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
a<br />
c<br />
Today is a cycle. Complete the cycle of a day.<br />
Morning Night Afternoon<br />
Complete the missing parts of these cycles.<br />
seed<br />
baby<br />
winter<br />
b<br />
d<br />
egg<br />
pupa<br />
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spring<br />
adult<br />
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Life Cycle of a Frog<br />
Life Cycles – Activity 2<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.9 Compares and<br />
contrasts similarities<br />
and differences within<br />
and between groups of<br />
familiar living things.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies changes during<br />
the life cycle of a frog.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Records<br />
• Observes<br />
• Shows responsibility and<br />
care<br />
• Collects data<br />
• Evaluates<br />
Background Information<br />
Collecting animals for<br />
observation should only be<br />
done if the animals are not<br />
harmed. In the case of this<br />
observation, a good supply<br />
of water and food will ensure<br />
the survival of the tadpoles.<br />
Once developed into frogs the<br />
animals should be released<br />
into the environment where<br />
they were found.<br />
There are numerous Internet<br />
web sites that explore the life<br />
cycle of a frog and provide<br />
detailed information on it.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Note: this lesson can be approached in two ways.<br />
(i) by collecting frogs eggs or tadpoles and observing their life cycle in class.<br />
(ii) by using only the worksheet to identify the life cycle of a frog.<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Frogs eggs or tadpoles, an aquarium or container for storing eggs/tadpoles,<br />
shallow water, rocks, water weed or pond weed, fish food (live from the pond or<br />
little pieces of hard-boiled eggs), a variety of resoures on the life cycle of a frog.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Ensure your container is prepared using water from the same environment the<br />
eggs/tadpoles were collected from. Keep the terrarium away from heaters and<br />
chalk dust.<br />
• Collect posters, books or charts to show the lifecycle of a frog.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• The stimulus for this lesson could involve a field trip to collect frogs’ eggs or<br />
tadpoles. Alternatively the eggs/tadpoles could be collected prior to the lesson and<br />
introduced to the prepared enclosure at this time. Use collected resources on the<br />
frog life cycle to discuss with students.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Using the worksheet, show the students the change that is expected over the<br />
coming weeks as the tadpoles develop into frogs.<br />
• Frog observations should occur weekly. The students record development and<br />
compare changes from the previous week.<br />
• At each observation, students should identify the stage of development.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Identify frogs native to the local environment.<br />
• Use books and the Internet to identify unique and interesting frogs. Research the<br />
countries they live in.<br />
• Explore how frogs are seen as a key indicator to the stability and health of an<br />
environment/ecosystem.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Take photographs of the students collecting the frogs and tadpoles, and<br />
introducing them to their new environment. Display with appropriate captions.<br />
• Identify frogs from around the world. Display drawings and research about each<br />
frog around a world map. Use string to show the country where they can be<br />
found.<br />
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Life Cycles – Activity 2<br />
Life Cycle of a Frog<br />
The tadpole has now<br />
developed into an adult frog and<br />
can move easily on land and water.<br />
The female frog lays eggs which are<br />
fertilised by the male frog.<br />
The tadpole continues to grow and<br />
starts to look like a frog with a tail.<br />
Frog Observations<br />
The tadpole hatches from<br />
the egg, breathing<br />
through gills.<br />
The tadpole develops legs and lungs.<br />
Date Drawing Changes<br />
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Plant Life Cycle Survey<br />
Life Cycles – Activity 3<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.9 Compares and contrasts<br />
similarities and differences<br />
within and between<br />
groups of familiar living<br />
things.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Locates plants and<br />
identifies at which stage in<br />
a life cycle they currently<br />
are.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Classifies<br />
• Observes<br />
• Records<br />
• Infers<br />
• Collects data<br />
Background Information<br />
Plants can reproduce<br />
themselves from seeds, spores<br />
or by using parts of the plant<br />
itself (e.g. stem cuttings).<br />
Most make seeds that can be<br />
dispersed by the wind, people,<br />
water or animals. When the<br />
seeds have the right conditions<br />
to grow (space, food, water,<br />
light) they start to germinate.<br />
Once the seedling starts to<br />
grow out of the seed it also<br />
develops roots. The young<br />
plant continues to grow<br />
developing a stem, leaves and,<br />
later, bearing flowers and fruits.<br />
The flower is the reproductive<br />
organ of the plant. Pollination<br />
of the flower leads to the<br />
making of more seeds and the<br />
cycle continues.<br />
Non-flowering plants such<br />
as ferns and mushrooms<br />
reproduce through spores,<br />
usually found on the underside<br />
of the plant.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Area of school grounds with a diverse plant population, a dry day, posters, charts<br />
or books about plants and plant life cycles.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Note: This lesson can be approached in two ways:<br />
(i) the students can find their own 30 different plants in the school grounds to<br />
survey.<br />
(ii) 30 plants can be found and marked by the teacher first. The teacher then<br />
designates students to specific areas.<br />
• Organise the class into small groups (suggest 3 – 4).<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Discuss the life cycle of a plant and how all flowers and plants follow the same<br />
cycle.<br />
• Discuss the terminology and features relating to each part of the cycle (seeds,<br />
seedlings, flowers, fruit etc.).<br />
• Explain how the students are going to locate 30 different plants to observe and<br />
identify the stage each plant is at, in that cycle.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Explain how each plant should be observed and recorded. (Revise what makes a<br />
tally if necessary.)<br />
• Students locate and observe 30 plants. This number can be increased or decreased<br />
depending on the availability of plants.<br />
• Discuss observations. Does the season have any effect on the findings? Are there<br />
any other influences?<br />
Note: If the students come across a plant they are unsure of, take a note of where<br />
it can be found so that it can be checked and studied when time allows.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Conduct this activity at another time of the year and compare the results.<br />
• Identify any plants students could not classify. Where are they in their cycle? Why<br />
was there a difficulty?<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Make a class or group graph of the results collected about plants in different<br />
stages of a cycle.<br />
• Make a large chart showing the life cycle of a plant. Label sections and add simple<br />
statements about the changes that occur in each stage. Add arrows to show the<br />
cycle.<br />
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Life Cycles – Activity 3<br />
Plant Life Cycle Survey<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
In this activity you will survey 30 different plants in your school grounds. Observe each plant.<br />
Make a tally in the box which best describes the life cycle stage of the plants found.<br />
seed<br />
seedling<br />
plant in flower<br />
plant in fruit<br />
other<br />
Tally<br />
What can you say about the plants in your school grounds?<br />
Places Found<br />
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The Sea Turtle<br />
Life Cycle – Activity 4<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.9 Compares and contrasts<br />
similarities and differences<br />
within and between<br />
groups of familiar living<br />
things.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies how stages in<br />
an animals life cycle can<br />
contribute to its chances<br />
of survival.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Analyses text<br />
• Infers<br />
• Investigates<br />
• Summarises<br />
Background Information<br />
At certain stages in its life cycle<br />
an animal may be vulnerable.<br />
The example given is that of a<br />
sea turtle which, as a newborn,<br />
must survive a trip across sand<br />
to reach the safety of water. At<br />
this stage it is highly vulnerable<br />
to birds and other predators.<br />
This is one reason why a turtle<br />
lays large numbers of eggs.<br />
Nature has provided protection<br />
to vulnerable species by<br />
ensuring large numbers of<br />
young are born, allowing<br />
for high rates of mortality. In<br />
addition to the pressures of<br />
nature, humans have, through<br />
their development, created<br />
increasing pressure on many<br />
animal species.<br />
The spread of population and<br />
development of beaches have<br />
increased pressure on turtles<br />
which will return to the same<br />
beach to breed each season.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Photographs, charts, books of endangered species, Internet access<br />
Preparation<br />
• Collect books about endangered animals, encyclopaedias and CD-ROMs. <strong>Book</strong>mark<br />
websites on the Internet that contain appropriate images and text about<br />
endangered animals.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Read the passage on the sea turtle from the worksheet. Discuss the turtle’s life<br />
cycle and how the turtle is endangered while out of the water.<br />
What to Do<br />
• After discussing the life cycle, have students suggest three reasons why the turtle’s<br />
life cycle can contribute to its extinction.<br />
• Discuss how the spread of human civilisation has created pressure on many animal<br />
species. Students list three ways in which this has affected the sea turtle.<br />
• Discuss what animals would have existed in your local environment before it was<br />
settled by humans. Students suggest how the life cycle of these animals made them<br />
vulnerable to human development.<br />
• Discuss how some animals (generally larger animals) are more vulnerable to human<br />
development than smaller species such as insects.<br />
• Use the research materials to find out more about one endangered animal<br />
(working individually or in pairs). Record and summarise the information and<br />
present it to the class. Discuss the types of threats to these endangered animals<br />
(for example, poaching, deforestation). Are any threats more common than<br />
others?<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. The breeding cycle means that young turtles, when making their way to the water,<br />
are vulnerable to attack by birds and other predators.<br />
2. Human activity has had a negative effect on the turtle population. Activities such as<br />
hunting, egg collecting, lights on beaches and human activity have reduced nesting<br />
areas and affected the survival rate of hatchlings.<br />
3. Answers will vary.<br />
4. Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Identify the life cycle of a mammal or bird now extinct from your local<br />
environment. Describe how the life cycle contributed to the animal’s extinction<br />
from the environment.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display research reports completed by students about an endangered animal.<br />
Reports could include locations, descriptions, habitats, food, special features and<br />
threats leading to endangerment.<br />
• Draw or collect pictures of endangered species to make a collage. Label with titles<br />
or special facts.<br />
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Life Cycles – Activity 4<br />
The Sea Turtle<br />
The life cycle of some animals makes their survival very difficult. This has combined with the threat posed<br />
by human development, leading to numerous animals becoming endangered.<br />
2.<br />
The Life Cycle of a Sea Turtle<br />
The sea turtle is a very fast animal when in the water. On land the<br />
turtle is very slow. In the life cycle of a turtle the female<br />
must leave the water and lay hundreds of eggs in deep<br />
burrows in the sand. When the young turtles hatch they<br />
must get from the burrow to the water across many metres of<br />
sand. There are only eight species of sea turtle and they face<br />
extinction from many different directions.<br />
1. Describe how the sea turtle’s life cycle contributes to it being in danger of extinction.<br />
4.<br />
List other reasons why you think the sea turtle<br />
is an endangered species.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
c<br />
3.<br />
What animals native to your local environment<br />
have become endangered? How has their life<br />
cycle contributed to this?<br />
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Complete the box below with facts you have found about one endangered animal.<br />
Name:<br />
Where found:<br />
Why is it endangered?<br />
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Life Cycles<br />
Assessment<br />
1.<br />
Complete the missing pictures and number these life cycles in the order they occur.<br />
2.<br />
Plant<br />
Human<br />
Describe how an animal’s<br />
life cycle can affect its chances of survival.<br />
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3. Many animals are endangered or threatened. List two possible reasons for this.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Can identify the life cycles of familiar living things.<br />
Demonstrated Needs further<br />
opportunity<br />
Self-assessment<br />
• Understands that animals are at greater risk of harm at certain stages in a life cycle.<br />
• Identifies possible reasons for animals being threatened or endangered.<br />
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animal adaptation<br />
plant adaptation<br />
adaptations in the desert<br />
adaptations in the rainforest<br />
adaptations in alpine regions<br />
animal behaviour<br />
animal survival<br />
plant survival<br />
Adaptations<br />
Plant Adaptations<br />
Animal Adaptations<br />
Adapting Behaviour<br />
Adaptations<br />
A walrus can sleep while it swims. It has air sacs<br />
in its throat that fill and act as floats, so it can bob<br />
vertically in the water and sleep.<br />
The Rafflesia rainforest plant is a parasite. It<br />
attaches itself to roots for food and water. Its<br />
flower grows to a metre wide and smells like<br />
rotting meat to attract flies for pollination.<br />
adaptation<br />
animal<br />
beak<br />
behaviour<br />
bill<br />
climate<br />
environment<br />
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feral<br />
human<br />
moisture<br />
plant<br />
prey<br />
survey<br />
survive<br />
Name:<br />
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Adaptations<br />
Adaptations – Activity 1<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.8 Links observable features<br />
to their functions in living<br />
things.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Observes plants and<br />
animals in the local<br />
environment.<br />
• Identifies how plants and<br />
animals have adapted in<br />
order to survive.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Observes<br />
• Communicates<br />
• Identifies<br />
• Infers<br />
• Collects data<br />
Background Information<br />
Adaptations are features or<br />
characteristics of plants and<br />
animals that help them to<br />
survive in their environment.<br />
Adaptations can include<br />
colour, size, shape, habits and<br />
many other characteristics.<br />
For example, many fish lay<br />
millions of eggs at a time. This<br />
increases the chances that a<br />
small percentage will survive<br />
and reach adult breeding<br />
age. Another example is the<br />
way in which many Australian<br />
gum trees have long, slender<br />
leaves. The shape ensures that<br />
not too much light or heat<br />
is absorbed. The opposite<br />
applies to plants in cooler<br />
climates.<br />
Every organism has some<br />
form of adaptation to help<br />
its endeavour to survive and<br />
continue the species.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Access to school grounds, clipboards (optional), paper, charts/pictures of plants and<br />
animals that have identifiable adaptations and are from a variety of environments;<br />
e.g. hot, cold.<br />
Preparation<br />
Collect charts/pictures of a variety of plants and animals that have identifiable<br />
adaptations (e.g. camel, polar bear, cactus, eucalyptus trees).<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
Use the photographs to show a variety of plants and animals. Discuss how each<br />
has developed to survive in its environment. Introduce the word ‘adaptation’ and<br />
explain its meaning (see Background Information).<br />
What to Do<br />
• Discuss the two examples on the worksheet. What adaptations does each one<br />
have? Note them. Would they be able to survive without these features – Why<br />
not?<br />
• Have students observe plants and animals in their local school environment. Make<br />
note about their findings.<br />
• List on the blackboard plants and animals found in the local environment.<br />
• Each student selects one plant and one animal. Draw a picture of each and suggest<br />
what adaptations it has to help it survive in its environment.<br />
• Discuss the suggestions of the students and identify adapted features of local flora<br />
and fauna.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. Teacher check. Possible solutions:<br />
(a) Sharp curved beak to tear meat, long claws for clasping prey, large wingspan<br />
for powerful flight with little effort, large eyes to see prey easily.<br />
(b) Few or no leaves or flowers (to reduce transpiration), stores or conserves<br />
water.<br />
2. Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Discuss whether plants or animals studied in the lesson would be able to survive in<br />
different environments.<br />
• Discuss the issue of feral plants and animals. How do they survive in new<br />
environments? Why are they seen as a threat to the environment?<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Research special adaptations of plants and animals for different environments and<br />
biomes (e.g. tundra, desert, rainforest). Display examples from each environment<br />
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Adaptations – Activity 1<br />
Adaptations<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
Plants and animals have adaptations that help them to survive in their environment. Those plants and<br />
animals best adapted will survive and reproduce.<br />
List some features you think these plants and animals have that help them to survive.<br />
a<br />
Identify a plant and an animal living in your local environment.<br />
Draw each one and suggest how each has adapted to survive in the environment.<br />
Animal<br />
b<br />
Plant<br />
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Plant Adaptations<br />
Adaptations – Activity 2<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.8 Links observable features<br />
to their functions in living<br />
things.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Observes native and<br />
introduced plants in the<br />
local environment.<br />
• Identifies the plant’s<br />
ability to survive and to<br />
adapt.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Observes<br />
• Infers<br />
• Collects data<br />
Background Information<br />
Plants adapt in many ways to<br />
survive in the environment. To<br />
assess this we need to look<br />
at the survival requirements<br />
of plants, such as sunlight,<br />
water and nutrition. Each<br />
environment has a different<br />
mix of these requirements and<br />
therefore plants have adapted<br />
to suit.<br />
Some examples of how plants<br />
adapt include:<br />
(i) Leaf Shape: The less<br />
available sun the greater<br />
the surface area of plants’<br />
leaves to collect the<br />
available light. Many<br />
Australian plant species<br />
have narrow leaves to<br />
avoid excessive sunlight.<br />
(ii) Root Structure: This is<br />
adapted to match the<br />
availability of water,<br />
with some plants being<br />
capable of chasing water<br />
hundreds of metres<br />
beneath the surface.<br />
Other plants use roots<br />
to hang on in rocky<br />
environments and high<br />
wind areas.<br />
(iii) Seed Dispersal: The<br />
number of seeds<br />
dispersed by a plant<br />
may reflect its chance of<br />
survival. The method of<br />
dispersal also determines<br />
how far the seeds are<br />
dispersed.<br />
(Note: There are many<br />
different plant adaptation<br />
techniques, of which these<br />
are only a few.)<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Cactus (optional), clipboard (optional), posters, charts, books showing a variety of<br />
plants and adaptations<br />
Preparation<br />
Prepare for students to observe native and introduced plant species in the school<br />
grounds. Choose a number of plants that can be observed.<br />
Note: There will need to be a selection of introduced and native plants for the<br />
students to study.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
Discuss the cactus plant from the previous lesson and explain how the cactus<br />
survives in hot conditions by storing water in fleshy stems and leaves and then<br />
protecting the water from evaporation by a thick waxy coating. A piece of cactus<br />
plant can be used to show this. Discuss how other plants adapt. Make a blackboard<br />
list of adaptations. Use plant visual resources and discuss possible adaptations.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Have students discuss with a partner which leaf they believe is best suited to<br />
survival in a hot climate and to give reasons for their selection.<br />
• Students indicate their selection and provide reasons. (The long narrow leaf is best<br />
suited as it presents a smaller surface area to the sun, preventing excessive water<br />
loss.)<br />
• Survey plants in the school grounds, including native and introduced species.<br />
Students select two of each, draw the leaf shape and then rate each plant on its<br />
suitability to survive (naturally) in the environment.<br />
• Discuss the findings of the survey. How would these plants survive in a totally<br />
natural environment (e.g. no sprinklers)?<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. The long narrow leaf is best suited as it presents a smaller surface area to the sun,<br />
preventing excessive water loss.<br />
2. Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Discuss the difference between deciduous and evergreen plant species. How is this<br />
general classification also an adaptation?<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Collect or draw a variety of plants. Research to find out about their special<br />
adaptations to their environment. Display with students’ reports to accompany the<br />
pictures.<br />
• The students take photographs of the plants they studied in the school grounds.<br />
A display board can be divided into ‘poorly adapted’ and ‘well adapted’ and the<br />
appropriate photographs added.<br />
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Adaptations – Activity 2<br />
Plant Adaptations<br />
1.<br />
The Australian climate is warm to hot in summer. Plants need moisture to survive. Colour the leaf below<br />
which you think would be best suited to survival in a hot climate – explain your reason.<br />
2.<br />
big leaf long skinny leaf fern leaf<br />
Use the grid to record the results of your survey.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
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c<br />
d<br />
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Animal Adaptations<br />
Adaptations – Activity 3<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.8 Links observable features<br />
to their functions in living<br />
things.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Observes native birds in<br />
the local environment.<br />
• Identifies how they have<br />
adapted in order to<br />
survive.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Observes<br />
• Infers<br />
• Collects data<br />
• Identifies<br />
Background Information<br />
Birds come in many shapes,<br />
colours and sizes. Bird<br />
adaptations come in the size,<br />
shape and function of their<br />
bills, feet and wings, although<br />
there are other adaptive<br />
features.<br />
Bills: The bills or beaks of<br />
a bird are adapted to suit<br />
feeding habits and will come<br />
in many different shapes and<br />
sizes. For example, a bird’s<br />
bill may be long and tubular<br />
to draw nectar from within a<br />
flower, or strong and chisellike<br />
to search for insects in<br />
the bark of trees, or short<br />
and hard to break open seed<br />
casings, or strong and hooked<br />
to tear meat.<br />
Feet: Birds can have long legs<br />
and feet for wading in water,<br />
webbed feet for paddling in<br />
water, strong sharp talons for<br />
grasping prey, or agile and<br />
nimble to grasp trees and<br />
branches, or strong and short<br />
to scratch the dirt.<br />
Wings: The wings of a bird<br />
have been adapted to suit<br />
water birds, or allow them to<br />
fly and glide to great heights,<br />
to fly quickly, or to hover over<br />
a flower.<br />
(Note: There are many more<br />
adaptations of birds.)<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Pictures, books and charts of birds, binoculars (optional)<br />
Preparation<br />
Prepare for students to observe bird species in the school grounds. Have students<br />
bring binoculars if available.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Discuss the pictures of different birds collected and identify the adaptations of<br />
each. Discuss the parts of a bird that could be adapted; e.g. beak, feet, wings,<br />
colouring etc.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Have students select which bird from the activity sheet is best adapted to feed on<br />
the nectar of flowers and explain their selection.<br />
• Discuss the selection process from the first activity.<br />
• Explain how you are going to observe birds in the school grounds to identify their<br />
beak structure and the type of feeding they are adapted to.<br />
• Each student identifies four birds and sketches the beak shape. Explain that<br />
observing the birds’ behaviour may also give clues to their feeding habits.<br />
• Discuss the students’ records. Identify relationships between beak shapes and food<br />
types. Prepare a chart that illustrates the class’s observations.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. (a) Thin pointed bill to feed on pollen.<br />
2. Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Develop and draw a chart of different bird beaks, feet or wings and list their<br />
purpose.<br />
• Develop a bird roll for the school environment. Record the appearance and identity<br />
of different bird species over a period. Research to find out more about each<br />
species.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Draw or collect pictures of a variety of animals to make a collage. Label their<br />
special features and adaptations.<br />
• Have the students be creative and draw a bird designed to suit specific habitats or<br />
food.<br />
Examples: food – eats tough seeds<br />
– eats insects under bark<br />
– spears frogs and fish<br />
– scoops food from water<br />
body – has a tail like a support<br />
– wings for soaring<br />
– floats like a boat<br />
What it does – perches in trees<br />
– catches live prey<br />
– wades in shallow water<br />
• Display designs with a report about its name, its features and how it uses them.<br />
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Adaptations – Activity 3<br />
Animal Adaptations<br />
1. Birds are adapted to suit their environment and the way they feed. Colour the bird below that you think is<br />
best adapted to feeding on the pollen of plants. Explain why.<br />
2.<br />
a b c<br />
Observe birds in the local environment. Draw the shape of their beaks below and suggest what food they<br />
are adapted to eat.<br />
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Adapting Behaviour<br />
Adaptations – Activity 4<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Life and Living<br />
2.8 Links observable features<br />
to their functions in living<br />
things.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Observes adapted<br />
behaviours in animals of<br />
the local environment.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Observes<br />
• Collects data<br />
• Infers<br />
Background Information<br />
Humans are, by far, the species<br />
with the most adapted and<br />
flexible behaviours, due<br />
largely to their higher level<br />
of intelligence. For example,<br />
humans can live in all climates<br />
and even survive in space for<br />
short periods.<br />
Nocturnal animals have<br />
adapted to climate and feeding<br />
habits to be active at night and<br />
rest during the day. Birds and<br />
fish congregate in flocks and<br />
schools as a method of survival.<br />
Every animal has behaviour<br />
traits that assist in their survival<br />
in the environment.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Photographs or pictures showing animal behaviour (e.g. flocks, colour changes,<br />
human clothing for weather conditions) for adaptation.<br />
Preparation<br />
Collect pictures and photographs of animals displaying behaviour related to<br />
adaptation.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Discuss the clothes the students are wearing today. How do these clothes suit what<br />
they are doing? Discuss, for example, climate, protection, cleanliness, where they<br />
are.<br />
Explain how this is an example of human behaviour that is helping us to survive<br />
in our environment and how our survival could be at risk if we were not dressed<br />
suitably for the conditions.<br />
What to Do<br />
• The first three lessons have looked at physical and structural adaptations of<br />
plants and animals. This activity looks at how the behaviour of animals is also an<br />
adaptation that ensures survival.<br />
• Discuss how ‘slip, slop, slap’ is a behaviour adaptation. One hundred years ago<br />
sunscreen did not exist and for people of European descent this worsened a<br />
potential skin cancer risk. Also discuss how Aboriginal Australians had already<br />
adapted through skin pigmentation and behaviour to be at lesser risk.<br />
• Have students complete their behaviour profile for winter and summer. Discuss<br />
results.<br />
• Students complete nocturnal questions. Discuss how nocturnal feeding is a<br />
behaviour resulting from climate, availability of food and feeding habits. These<br />
animals have also adapted their senses, such as sight, to be better suited to<br />
nocturnal habits.<br />
• Students observe one animal (bird, insect, mammal etc.) in the school environment<br />
and record observations relevant to behaviour traits that help the animal to<br />
survive. Discuss findings with the class.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. ‘slip, slop, slap’<br />
2. Teacher check – (Some suggestions may be to avoid heat during the day, to feed in<br />
safety from predators.)<br />
3. Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• The students choose an animal or plant and use books, encyclopaedias and the<br />
Internet to discover the adaptations it has to help it survive in its environment.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• The students display their findings and animal adaptations as a poster or<br />
information page.<br />
• Students find out more about nocturnal animals. They find or draw pictures of<br />
the animals and attach them to an area that has been made to look like its natural<br />
habitat. This could include a night sky and trees for koalas and possums.<br />
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Adaptations – Activity 4<br />
Adapting Behaviour<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
In Australia we are taught to , and<br />
when we go out into the sun. This is an example of humans adapting their behaviour to suit the<br />
environment. Humans are one of very few animals that can adapt to suit almost all environments.<br />
Describe how you adapt your behaviour in:<br />
Many Australian animals are ‘nocturnal’. This means they are active at night and rest during<br />
the day. How do you think this behaviour helps them to survive?<br />
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Observe one animal in your school environment and describe<br />
the behaviours that help that animal to survive.<br />
Animal<br />
Behaviours<br />
Draw your animal here.<br />
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Adaptations<br />
Assessment<br />
1.<br />
Describe what ‘adaptation’ means.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
Circle the leaf that is best suited to a cool climate and tick the leaf best suited to a hot climate.<br />
a<br />
long, skinny leaf<br />
Describe what food each beak is best suited for.<br />
fern leaf<br />
Choose two animals. Describe a behaviour each animal has used to help it survive.<br />
b<br />
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c<br />
big leaf<br />
Self-assessment<br />
Indicators<br />
• Understands the meaning of adaptation.<br />
• Identifies leaves to suit a specific climate.<br />
• Describes food to best suit bird beak shapes.<br />
• Identifies animals and their adaptations to survive.<br />
Demonstrated Needs further<br />
opportunity<br />
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ureau of meteorology<br />
weather<br />
meteorology<br />
atmosphere<br />
disasters<br />
water cycle<br />
news – weather<br />
The Water Cycle<br />
Weather Chart<br />
Measuring Rain<br />
Wild Winds<br />
Investigating<br />
Weather<br />
Between 1942 and 1977, Ray Sullivan, an American<br />
parks ranger, was struck by lightning seven times!<br />
• 1942—lost his big toenail<br />
• 1969—lost his eyebrows<br />
• 1970—burns to his shoulder<br />
• 1972—his hair set on fire<br />
• 1973—burns to legs and hair caught fire<br />
• 1976—damaged his ankle<br />
• 1977—burns to his chest and stomach<br />
cloud<br />
condensation<br />
cyclone<br />
data<br />
drought<br />
equipment<br />
evaporation<br />
gas<br />
gauge<br />
humidity<br />
ice<br />
liquid<br />
moisture<br />
pattern<br />
rain<br />
solid<br />
temperature<br />
vapour<br />
water<br />
water cycle<br />
weather<br />
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Name:<br />
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The Water Cycle<br />
Weather – Activity 1<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.1 Records ways we monitor<br />
and use information<br />
about changes to the<br />
Earth.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Develops an<br />
understanding of the<br />
different stages of the<br />
water cycle.<br />
• Follows a procedure to<br />
create a miniature water<br />
cycle.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Records<br />
• Observes<br />
• Follows procedures<br />
Background Information<br />
The water cycle is fundamental<br />
to our understanding of<br />
weather patterns. The planet’s<br />
water is moving constantly.<br />
This circulation of water<br />
gives us an environment that<br />
sustains life.<br />
Water can exist in three<br />
different states: liquid, solid<br />
(ice) and vapour (steam).<br />
Specific conditions are needed<br />
for water to be able to change<br />
states between a solid, liquid<br />
and a gas.<br />
Tiny droplets of water (water<br />
vapour) exist in the air as<br />
clouds. When the temperature<br />
drops, the vapour condenses<br />
and falls as rain. If it is very<br />
cold, the rain will fall as hail<br />
or snow. The water on the<br />
land drains to a low point<br />
until it reaches lakes, rivers or<br />
the ocean. Heat from the sun<br />
makes the water evaporate,<br />
turn into water vapour and rise<br />
again.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Poster or pictures of the water cycle, kettle, mirror, oven glove, jars with screw-top lids,<br />
soil, plants, sand, bottle caps, pebbles or small rocks—enough for one per group.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Organise the students into small groups. Divide the materials for the miniature water cycle<br />
among the groups. Have the materials on the tables. Suggestion: Prepare your own water<br />
cycle as a model to demonstrate to the students. Ensure that it is kept in a cool place prior<br />
to the lesson so that evaporation or condensation does not begin.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Go outside and look at the sky. (Warn the students that it is dangerous to look directly at<br />
the sun!) Ask the students to list what they can see in the sky. Talk about what clouds are<br />
made of.<br />
What to Do<br />
Evaporation: when water changes state from a liquid to a gas through heating.<br />
• Place a shallow plate with water on a sunny windowsill. Check every thirty minutes or so.<br />
Where does the water go? Explain that the water (as a liquid) becomes vapour (gas) in the<br />
air, by heating.<br />
Condensation: when water changes state from a gas to a liquid through cooling.<br />
• Pour water into a kettle. Explain that water is in its liquid form. Boil the kettle. Point out<br />
the steam (water vapour) that is coming out of the kettle when it is boiling. Above the<br />
kettle place a large mirror that has been in the fridge. (Wear oven gloves for this part of the<br />
demonstration.) Show the students the droplets of water that have formed on the mirror.<br />
The water vapour is cooled by the mirror and turns back into a liquid.<br />
• Show the students a diagram of the water cycle. Go through the different stages, explaining<br />
the terms; for example, evaporation, condensation, precipitation, solar heating, vapour,<br />
transpiration.<br />
• In small groups, students create their own miniature water cycle by following the<br />
procedures at the bottom of the blackline. They can then observe the water cycle in action.<br />
Class discussions of what is being observed in the jar can follow.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
2<br />
1<br />
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3<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Once the students have finished creating their ‘mini’ water cycle models, they can observe<br />
them over a number of days. Sunny days will work best. They can complete an evaluation<br />
sheet that includes:<br />
• What materials did you use? • What did you do?<br />
• What happened? • Draw your ‘mini’ water cycle.<br />
• Was your experiment a success? • What improvements would you make?<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• A large poster of the water cycle can be displayed. The students can add their own notes<br />
to describe and explain each part of the cycle. Encourage the correct use of the words<br />
‘evaporation’ and ‘condensation’.<br />
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Weather – Activity 1<br />
The Water Cycle<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
c<br />
Colour the picture of the water cycle.<br />
Read the sentences below. Write the numbers in the correct boxes on the diagram.<br />
Add arrows to the diagram to show how the water cycle works.<br />
1. Vapour cools and falls as rain, snow or hail<br />
onto the land.<br />
3. Rivers flow into the sea.<br />
5. Water from oceans, lakes and trees evaporates.<br />
Make your own miniature water cycle.<br />
What you need:<br />
• big glass jar with a screw-top lid<br />
• soil<br />
• sand<br />
• plants<br />
• bottle cap<br />
• pebbles or small rocks<br />
What happened:<br />
‘Mini’ Water Cycle<br />
2. Water drains into rivers.<br />
4. Sun heats water on Earth.<br />
6. Vapour rises into the air and forms clouds.<br />
What to do:<br />
1. Add your small rocks or pebbles to the jar first,<br />
then the sand and finally the soil.<br />
2. Add your plant to the soil.<br />
3. Fill your bottle cap with water and place it in the<br />
jar.<br />
4. Put the lid on the jar and put it in a sunny place.<br />
5. Watch your miniature water cycle in action!<br />
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Weather Chart<br />
Weather – Activity 2<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.1 Records ways we monitor and use<br />
information about changes to the<br />
Earth.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies that the weather can be<br />
observed and measured.<br />
• Describes the importance of<br />
knowing weather information by<br />
community groups such as farmers.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Observes<br />
• Collects data<br />
• Records<br />
• Infers<br />
Background Information<br />
Weather conditions on earth rely on<br />
many elements: wind, temperature,<br />
moisture, air pressure and humidity. Wind<br />
is the movement of air. Temperature is<br />
the degree of heat in the atmosphere.<br />
Moisture refers to the water vapour in the<br />
air that falls as rain when the conditions<br />
are right. Air pressure is the force of the<br />
atmosphere on the Earth. Humidity is the<br />
amount of water vapour (moisture) in the<br />
air. People often refer to humid days as<br />
being ‘muggy’.<br />
Knowing about the weather (especially<br />
wind) is important for pilots and the safety<br />
of their passengers. Anglers need to know<br />
whether to venture out to sea for the day’s<br />
catch. Will there be storms that may leave<br />
them unable to return?<br />
For farmers, information about the<br />
weather is crucial. Farmers will, out of<br />
necessity, plant crops even if there is a<br />
possibility of a drought the following<br />
year. Although weather patterns can<br />
be observed and weather predicted,<br />
there can be no guarantees. Farmers are<br />
always looking to the sky when they are<br />
harvesting their crops. Because crops<br />
have to be dry before they are cut down,<br />
farmers must wait for sequential dry days.<br />
A small rainfall can put off harvesting for<br />
days. Rain can affect the quality of the<br />
product as water can stain crops such as<br />
barley. When harvesting begins, farmers<br />
must listen to weather information each<br />
day. If heat and high wind are declared,<br />
harvesting will stop. This is to prevent the<br />
tragedy that could occur from a harvester<br />
catching fire and the flames spreading<br />
across paddocks of crops.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Local newspapers for each day of the school week, television and<br />
video to view taped weather reports from previous night (suggestion),<br />
photos of different types of weather, photos of crops in good and poor<br />
condition.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Time will need to be allocated each day for students to record<br />
information on their weather chart. Multiple copies of the weather<br />
page from the local newspaper each day for each group will save time<br />
and noise. Ask the students to view a weather report each night and to<br />
make notes about maximum and minimum temperatures, cloud cover,<br />
humidity and rainfall.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Ask the students why they are dressed the way they are today. Are they<br />
wearing jumpers? Did they bring their coats or an umbrella? Why do<br />
they have to wear hats during break times? Discuss weather forecasts,<br />
terminology and predictions.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Use observations, newspapers and television forecasts to record<br />
information about the weather over five school days. Summarise the<br />
collected information.<br />
• Brainstorm ideas about why it is important to know what the weather<br />
is going to be. Look at the list.<br />
• What kinds of groups need to know weather information for their<br />
jobs? Make a list. How does the weather affect their jobs? (e.g.<br />
farmers, anglers – see Background Information.)<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. Answers will vary<br />
2. See Background Information<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Find definitions and pictures of weather words such as air, barometer,<br />
Celsius, climate, clouds, cyclone, drought, evaporation, forecast, flood,<br />
gale, hail, humidity, lightning, meteorology, precipitation, season,<br />
temperature, thermometer, thunder, wind. Make a class topic dictionary<br />
with the information collected.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display weather charts with summaries of the week’s weather.<br />
Display photos of people who rely on weather information to do their<br />
jobs. Write explanations about why the weather is so important to<br />
them.<br />
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Weather – Activity 2<br />
1. a<br />
Design a key for the different types of weather.<br />
Weather Chart<br />
For example, hot =<br />
b<br />
c<br />
Rain Windy Cloudy Mainly fine<br />
Sunny<br />
Thunderstorm<br />
Foggy<br />
Snowing<br />
Record the weather each day for one school week by looking at newspapers and watching the<br />
television. Complete the chart. Use your key for the weather description.<br />
Use the information on your weather chart to describe the weather in your local area over the last<br />
school week.<br />
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2.<br />
Is weather an important part of a farmer’s life?<br />
Explain your answer.<br />
yes no<br />
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Measuring Rain<br />
Weather – Activity 3<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.1 Records ways we monitor<br />
and use information<br />
about changes to the<br />
Earth.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Constructs a rain gauge<br />
and uses it to measure<br />
precipitation over a twoweek<br />
period.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Follows a procedure<br />
• Interprets<br />
• Observes<br />
• Infers<br />
• Records<br />
• Collects data<br />
Background Information<br />
Rainfall is measured in<br />
millimetres. Any form of water<br />
that falls from a cloud is known<br />
as precipitation. Rain falls when<br />
the water vapour in the sky (a<br />
cloud) cools and condenses<br />
by changing from a gas to a<br />
liquid.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
2-litre soft drink bottles, masking tape, measuring jugs (mL), water – enough for<br />
each group.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Divide the materials among the number of groups in the class.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Walk around the school after it has been raining. Look at the areas in the school<br />
grounds where rain has collected to form a puddle. Where does the water go?<br />
Discuss evaporation and the water cycle. Are there any areas on the ground that<br />
did not get wet or where the water has evaporated already? Why is that?<br />
What to Do<br />
• Explain to the students that they are going to be recording the amount of rainfall<br />
that occurs over two weeks. In small groups, the students will need to decide on<br />
a place in the school grounds where they can place their ‘rain collecting’ device,<br />
the rain gauge. They will also need to decide on the best method for recording<br />
weekend rain. This may involve averaging the rain collected over the two weeks.<br />
To make a rain gauge:<br />
• Cut the soft drink bottles in half and insert the top half into the bottom, upside<br />
down. Fix it in place with tape.<br />
• Attach a vertical strip of masking tape to the side of the bottle. Use the measuring<br />
jug to pour 10 millimetres of water into the bottle.<br />
• Mark on the tape the level of the water. Continue to do this in 10-millimetre steps.<br />
• On another piece of masking tape, write the initials of the members of the group.<br />
• Tip out the water and place your rain gauge outside in the open. Make sure that it<br />
will not blow over in the wind.<br />
Remember to measure the rain at the same time each day and return the empty<br />
rain gauge to the same place. The students will need to draw a table to record<br />
their results. This information can then be transferred onto the blackline.<br />
• Complete the experiment write-up. Record the results as a line graph.<br />
• Look at each group’s results. Are there differences in the data? Make a list of<br />
possible reasons. (These could include the placement of the instrument and<br />
accuracy in measuring.)<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
• Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Make your own cloud. You will need a glass bottle, warm water, ice cubes. Pour<br />
about 100 mL of warm water into the bottom of a glass bottle. Immediately place<br />
a large ice cube into the mouth of the bottle, covering the hole. When the warm<br />
air meets up with the cold air underneath the ice cube, vapour will form to make<br />
a small cloud in the bottle. Use a template similar to the one on page 27, for the<br />
students to record their observations and the results of the experiment.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display the rain gauge next to the data. Groups can enlarge their results table and<br />
their line graph to produce a display.<br />
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Weather – Activity 3<br />
1.<br />
Write about your experiment below.<br />
What did you do? Use bullet points.<br />
Measuring Rain<br />
Record your results. Construct a table and enter your data.<br />
What did your experiment look<br />
like? Remember to label your<br />
diagram.<br />
2. Display your data as a line graph.<br />
Could you have made any<br />
improvements?<br />
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Rainfall (mm)<br />
Days<br />
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Wild Winds!<br />
Weather – Activity 4<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.1 Records ways we monitor<br />
and use information about<br />
changes to the Earth.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Constructs an anemometer<br />
to measure the force and<br />
speed of wind.<br />
• Identifies steps taken<br />
to reduce the risks of<br />
expected events like a<br />
cyclone.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Records<br />
• Infers<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
• Observes<br />
• Explains findings<br />
• Estimates<br />
• Analyses text<br />
Background Information<br />
An anemometer is used by<br />
meteorologists to measure wind<br />
speeds. The ‘cups’ catch the<br />
wind and spin. The speed of<br />
the rotation is read by a special<br />
device that converts it into wind<br />
speed.<br />
Sometimes, the natural weather<br />
patterns are more extreme<br />
than usual. These affect the<br />
environment and people who<br />
live in the area. They may cause<br />
a great deal of damage and<br />
sometimes even the death of<br />
many people and animals.<br />
Cyclones are powerful rotating<br />
storms that form over warm<br />
ocean waters. They are called<br />
hurricanes when they start over<br />
the Atlantic Ocean; typhoons<br />
when they form over the western<br />
Pacific Ocean; and cyclones<br />
when they start over the Indian<br />
Ocean or southern Pacific<br />
Ocean. With heavy rains and<br />
gusts of over 120 km/h, cyclones<br />
can cause great damage. They<br />
have an ‘eye’ of calm surrounded<br />
by strong thunderstorms, high<br />
winds and heavy rains. High<br />
waves and damage to coastal<br />
areas can also be produced.<br />
Cyclones are detected by<br />
weather stations that monitor<br />
the winds with sophisticated<br />
computer systems, radars and<br />
satellites.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Yoghurt pots, corks, pens, lids, dowel rod (thick and thin), wooden block, photographs<br />
of people and places experiencing different strengths of wind, pictures or photographs of<br />
cyclones or a windy day and the devastation they can cause, a kite (optional).<br />
Preparation<br />
• Display pictures and photographs around the classroom.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Take the students outside to observe the wind blowing. Ask the students to describe<br />
observations that tell them the wind is blowing; for example, the trees are moving or their<br />
hair is moving. Ask the students to place a finger in their mouth and put it in the air. Can<br />
they tell what direction the wind is blowing in? Fly a kite with your class watching. Let the<br />
students tell you when the wind is strongest or weakest.<br />
What to Do<br />
• In groups, the students construct their model anemometer. Explain that meteorologist uses<br />
an anemometer to read wind speed.<br />
• Students complete question one of the blackline after observing an anemometer over a day.<br />
• Read the newspaper article about ‘Cyclone Tracy’. Talk about the devastation that extreme<br />
weather conditions can cause. Discuss pictures or photographs of cyclones and their<br />
damage.<br />
• Make a list of the students’ ideas about how people could prepare for a cyclone if they had a<br />
warning it was coming.<br />
• Introduce these ideas :<br />
• Make sure that torches and portable radios are working.<br />
• Clear loose materials and rubbish.<br />
• Tie down equipment.<br />
• Listen to television and radio warnings. • Board windows.<br />
• Be prepared to move rapidly to adequate shelter.<br />
• Disconnect electrical appliances and turn off gas valves.<br />
• Stay away from windows.<br />
• Stay underneath a mattress or strong table or desk.<br />
• Remain indoors until the authorities say it is safe.<br />
• Avoid using the telephone except in emergencies.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. Teacher check<br />
2. (a) Teacher check (refer to list of introduced ideas for examples)<br />
(b) Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Make a pinwheel using a 20-centimetre square of thin card, a straw and a<br />
pin (place a blob of modelling clay or blu-tac on the end of the pin to avoid<br />
pricks!) Draw diagonal lines across the square and cut halfway to the centre.<br />
Fold the paper to the centre and press the pin through all of the paper.<br />
• Research the Beaufort scale and how it is used to measure the force and<br />
speed of wind.<br />
Display ideas<br />
• Display weather photos. Display a world map. Add research and pictures of other areas in<br />
the world that have experienced extreme weather conditions like cyclones.<br />
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Weather – Activity 4<br />
Wild Winds!<br />
1.<br />
An anemometer is used by meteorologists (scientists who study the weather) to measure wind speeds.<br />
a Use the diagram to build a model anemometer.<br />
b Write about your experiment below.<br />
What happened?<br />
2. Read the passage and answer the questions about the disaster.<br />
b<br />
TRACY DESTROYS CHRISTMAS!<br />
The people of Darwin, Australia,<br />
were used to cyclone warnings.<br />
A few weeks before Christmas,<br />
they had prepared for<br />
Cyclone Selma that<br />
was to have hit the<br />
town but changed<br />
direction at the last<br />
minute. Most people<br />
expected Cyclone Tracy to do the<br />
same.<br />
The residents happily continued<br />
to prepare for Christmas.<br />
However, just after 1.00 a.m.<br />
Describe how you made your anemometer.<br />
on Christmas morning, 1974,<br />
Cyclone Tracy tore at the city<br />
for six long hours. Roofs were<br />
ripped from houses,<br />
trees uprooted, cars<br />
overturned and<br />
buildings flattened.<br />
Ninety per cent of the<br />
Northern Territory’s<br />
capital city was destroyed, 65<br />
people were killed, thousands<br />
were seriously injured and 30<br />
000 people were left homeless<br />
on Christmas Day!<br />
Watch your anemometer for<br />
30 seconds. Try to count the<br />
revolutions. If 50 revolutions in<br />
30 seconds = 18 kilometres/hour,<br />
estimate how fast the wind is<br />
blowing.<br />
If the people of Darwin had believed<br />
the warning for Cyclone Tracy, what<br />
could they have done to prepare for<br />
the extreme weather conditions?<br />
List five things.<br />
Would you like to live in a cyclone area like Darwin? Explain. (Use the back of this sheet.)<br />
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a<br />
•<br />
•<br />
•<br />
•<br />
•<br />
kilometres/hour<br />
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Weather<br />
Assessment<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
Number the sentences (from 1 to 6), in the order they occur during the water cycle.<br />
The first one is numbered for you.<br />
a<br />
Sun heats water on Earth.<br />
Water drains into rivers.<br />
Vapour rises to the air and forms clouds.<br />
List three people who rely on the weather<br />
to be able to carry out their jobs.<br />
Rivers flow into the sea.<br />
Describe an experiment that would allow you to measure the amount of<br />
rain that falls on your school grounds over two weeks.<br />
Vapour cools and falls as rain, snow or hail<br />
onto land.<br />
Water from oceans, lakes and trees evaporates.<br />
Explain why weather information is so<br />
important to farmers.<br />
Billy was asked to build an anemometer in science. Help him by drawing a diagram and<br />
by describing how an anemometer measures wind speed.<br />
b<br />
1<br />
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Self-assessment<br />
Indicators<br />
• Develops an understanding of the different stages of the water cycle.<br />
• Describes the importance of weather information to community groups such as<br />
farmers.<br />
• Describes an experiment that measures rain and identifies possible improvements<br />
to the accuracy of the investigation.<br />
• Draws an anemometer and describes how it is used to measure the force and<br />
speed of wind.<br />
Demonstrated Needs further<br />
opportunity<br />
30 PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
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Our Environment<br />
The Local Environment – Fifty Years Ago<br />
Good or Bad?<br />
Changes to the Local Environment<br />
Changes to<br />
the Local<br />
Environment<br />
conservation<br />
Australian environment<br />
farming<br />
Over 100 years ago the Australian State of Victoria<br />
had about 90% of its land covered by forests. Today,<br />
only about 35% of the State exists as forest areas.<br />
The cleared land is mainly used for farming.<br />
affect<br />
change<br />
community<br />
condition<br />
conservation<br />
destroy<br />
develop<br />
effect<br />
environment<br />
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farming<br />
fire<br />
human-made<br />
logging<br />
natural<br />
needs<br />
soil<br />
weather<br />
Name:<br />
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Our Environment<br />
Changes to the Local Environment – Activity 1<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.2 Describes changes<br />
that occur in the local<br />
environment.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Recognises factors that<br />
create our environment.<br />
• Identifies that some<br />
influences on our<br />
environment can have<br />
negative and positive<br />
effects.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Observes<br />
• Records<br />
• Interprets information<br />
Background Information<br />
Some changes to the<br />
environment benefit it, other<br />
changes benefit the people<br />
who live in that environment.<br />
Many human-made changes<br />
have a great influence on<br />
the natural environment.<br />
Unfortunately, these influences<br />
usually have a negative impact.<br />
Today we are very aware that<br />
the way we live can damage<br />
the environment. We are<br />
now more educated about<br />
environmentally friendly ways<br />
to live than ever before. To try<br />
to repair some of the damage<br />
we have created, we now<br />
recycle rubbish, use aerosol<br />
cans less frequently and try<br />
to car pool or ride bicycles to<br />
work and school. Hopefully,<br />
these small steps will start to<br />
rectify some of the negative<br />
impacts that humans have had<br />
on the natural environment in<br />
the past.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
A3 paper, coloured pencils, pictures, charts or books showing natural or damage to<br />
the environment (e.g. erosion, deforestation)<br />
Preparation<br />
Organise the students into pairs or small groups for the second part of the activity.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Write the word ‘environment’ on the board. Brainstorm words and images about<br />
the environment until the board is full. As a class, create a definition of ‘the<br />
environment’. (Environment – The physical conditions of a place such as weather,<br />
water, vegetation and surrounding influences.)<br />
What to Do<br />
• Discuss what makes up the environment. Explain that it is not just people, plants<br />
and animals but also the air, the ground we stand on and the places we live and<br />
work. Students complete Question 1 on the blackline.<br />
• In pairs or small groups, students discuss and write examples of each of the four<br />
influences on the environment. If they find it difficult to write the positive effect<br />
of people on the environment, remind them that we are now trying to fix our<br />
damage.<br />
• Students share the results of Questions 2 with the class.<br />
• Focus on the positive effects of people on the environment. Make a list of ways we<br />
are now trying to rectify the damage we have caused. Obviously some damage is<br />
irreparable, such as land that has been cleared to build cities and homes.<br />
• Students work together to create posters that remind us of ways we can help to<br />
conserve the environment.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. Teacher check<br />
2. (a) Possible answers<br />
• rain: good effect – animals, plants will flourish, soil will hold together and<br />
not be blown away, bad effect – flooding, destroy crops and soil.<br />
• logging: good effect – we have furniture to sit on, paper to write on and<br />
houses to live in, bad – forests destroyed, land cleared and soil in bad<br />
condition.<br />
• fire: good effect – germinate seeds providing food for animals and plants<br />
to flourish, bad – destroy plants and animals, destroy their homes and our<br />
homes.<br />
• people: bad effect – pollution, logging, mining, greenhouse effect, landclearing,<br />
overpopulation, extinction of animals, good effects – in the<br />
last twenty years, we have begun to consider the consequences of our<br />
actions. We now recycle, use less chlorofluorocarbons, car pool, conserve<br />
environments to prevent animal extinction and much more.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Students choose one way of conserving the environment to research. They use<br />
books and the Internet to find information and present it as a poster.<br />
• Students spend a weekend at home making records of things they can do to be<br />
environmentally friendly. These can include saving electricity by turning lights off,<br />
not using aerosol cans, saving water and recycling rubbish.<br />
• Students research National Parks and the reason we have them.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display student posters.<br />
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Changes to the Local Environment – Activity 1<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
Our Environment<br />
The environment is everything around us. Draw pictures or write keywords about the things that<br />
represent your environment.<br />
The environment is …<br />
people animals and plants the air we breathe<br />
the water we drink and play in<br />
the buildings we live and work in<br />
In your group, look at each of the pictures.<br />
Write an example of a good and bad way that they affect the environment.<br />
Good Effect<br />
the country<br />
Bad Effect<br />
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3.<br />
Design a poster that shows ways we can help to repair some of the damage to the environment; for<br />
example, by recycling, conserving water and energy and by riding our bikes to school.<br />
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The Local Environment –<br />
Fifty Years Ago<br />
Changes to the Local Environment – Activity 2<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.2 Describes changes<br />
that occur in the local<br />
environment.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Investigates what the local<br />
environment was like 50<br />
years ago by conducting<br />
a survey.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Investigates<br />
• Compares<br />
• Conducts a survey<br />
• Evaluates<br />
Background Information<br />
The environment is always<br />
changing. We try to make<br />
the environment suit our<br />
needs and make our lives<br />
more comfortable. We build<br />
shelters to protect us from the<br />
weather. We create farms to<br />
provide us with food and build<br />
dams so we can store water.<br />
We build roads to move from<br />
place to place. As the human<br />
population increases, the built<br />
environment encroaches more<br />
and more onto the natural<br />
environment.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
A4 paper, pictures, postcards and maps of the local community in the past,<br />
artefacts, newspaper clippings, archive pictures, a person willing to discuss the<br />
changes that have occurred to the environment in the local community over the<br />
last 50 years.<br />
Preparation<br />
• At the beginning of the unit, send a letter home to parents informing them of<br />
the science topic ahead. Explain that the class is investigating the changes to the<br />
local environment over the last 50 years and would appreciate any photographs,<br />
pictures, sketches, newspaper clippings or postcards showing the area during that<br />
time. The students will also need to locate a person to survey who has lived in the<br />
local community for at least the last 50 years.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Display pictures, postcards and maps of the local community from the past. Add<br />
arrows showing sections of the community that were fields and that now have<br />
homes or office buildings. Attach the dates the pictures were taken to each.<br />
Suggestion – order the pictures to represent a simple timeline.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Ask the students to close their eyes and picture the local community. This includes<br />
the area where they live, go to school, go shopping and participate in leisure<br />
activities. Ask them to imagine what it was like 50 years ago. Ask the students<br />
what they think would be missing. Make a list. Repeat the activity for 100 years<br />
ago and make another list.<br />
• Ask the students to imagine what the area was like 200 years ago. What would<br />
have existed then? What would the landscape have been like? Discuss ways we<br />
could find out what the area was like 200 years ago.<br />
• Explain to the students that they are going to survey a person who has lived in the<br />
local community for at least the last 50 years. Brainstorm questions to ask and the<br />
things they would like to find out.<br />
• The students complete the survey. For students who are unable to locate a person<br />
to question, perhaps a teacher or another adult who is associated with the school<br />
could speak with a small group about the changes they have witnessed.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Answers will vary<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Choose a natural part of the local environment that should be protected. Design a<br />
poster that informs people of the importance of preserving this local area.<br />
• Look at quarries and the effect they have on the environment.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• If the people being surveyed give permission, take photographs of them and<br />
display them next to mounted copies of their survey responses.<br />
• Display the pictures, postcards and maps of the local community from the past.<br />
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Changes to the Local Environment – Activity 2<br />
The Local Environment –<br />
Fifty Years Ago<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
a<br />
Survey<br />
Name of the person you are surveying<br />
Your name<br />
How different is the built (not-natural) part of your local environment now to 50 years ago?<br />
a List three built things that we see today b List three things that are missing.<br />
that existed 50 years ago.<br />
How different is the natural part of your local environment now from 50 years ago?<br />
a List three natural things that we see today<br />
that existed 50 years ago.<br />
b List three natural things that are missing.<br />
Do you think there are any areas in your local environment<br />
that should be protected from further use by people?<br />
b<br />
Describe one area.<br />
Explain why it should be protected.<br />
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What else have you discovered about your local environment 50 years ago? Write your findings below.<br />
•<br />
•<br />
•<br />
•<br />
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Good or Bad?<br />
Changes in the Local Environment – Activity 3<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.2 Describes changes<br />
that occur in the local<br />
environment.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies changes made<br />
to the local environment<br />
in the last 50 years.<br />
• Considers opinions of<br />
different community<br />
groups towards that<br />
change.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Categorises<br />
• Compares<br />
• Communicating<br />
• Inferring<br />
Background Information<br />
Our environment is constantly<br />
changing. There are natural<br />
changes such as a river<br />
gouging out a wider riverbank<br />
over time. There are also<br />
human-made changes. These<br />
changes usually involve<br />
creating something that the<br />
ever-increasing population<br />
needs or wants. Unfortunately,<br />
many things that people do<br />
cause changes that affect the<br />
environment in a harmful way.<br />
For example, rubbish disposal,<br />
farming, land-clearing,<br />
logging, mining and damming<br />
all have the propensity to<br />
cause great environmental<br />
change.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Video displaying a human-made environmental change (for example, logging,<br />
damming, mining etc.) and people who are protesting the change.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Organise the students into groups of four. If possible, create groups with a mixed<br />
range of speaking abilities. The students will be performing short pieces in front of<br />
the class.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Watch a video that shows people protesting a change to the environment. This<br />
could include sections of the news or a documentary. Discuss with the class the<br />
impact of the change to the environment. Discuss who the protesting people might<br />
be. If possible, find a video where a representative from the protesters and the<br />
organisation that is making the change are explaining their actions.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Share the students’ answers from the survey with the whole class. List the main<br />
changes that have occurred to the local environment.<br />
• Discuss each change briefly. Students complete Question 1 of the blackline. Next to<br />
each change, the students write ‘N’ for a change that has occurred naturally and<br />
‘H’ for a human-made change.<br />
• In small groups, the students categorise the changes that have been an<br />
improvement to the environment and those that have damaged the environment.<br />
The faces next to their descriptions are completed with either a sad look or a<br />
happy smile.<br />
• As a group, the students choose one change. They complete Question 2 of the<br />
blackline by considering the opinions of the four people pictured on the blackline.<br />
• Roles are chosen and short scripts written and performed to the class.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. Answers will vary.<br />
2. Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Research human-made changes that have occurred in the local environment that<br />
may have caused unrest in the community. Present information about the changes<br />
as a newspaper article.<br />
• Consider natural changes that have occurred in the local environment. Create a<br />
poster that explains the reason why these changes occurred. Include pictures and<br />
diagrams with labels.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display information about changes that have occurred in the local environment<br />
over the last 50 years. Visit the areas with the most changes (natural and humanmade)<br />
and take photographs as they look now. Place the ‘past’ and ‘present’<br />
pictures next to each other and explain the change.<br />
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36 PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
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Changes in the Local Environment – Activity 3<br />
Good or Bad?<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
Choose six changes that have occurred in your local environment over the last 50 years.<br />
Describe them below and complete the table.<br />
Change to the Local Environment<br />
Change<br />
Natural 'N' or<br />
human-made 'H'<br />
Good change or<br />
bad change<br />
a Choose one change and describe it in the box below.<br />
b In your group, discuss what you think each person would say about the change.<br />
Write his or her comments in the speech bubbles.<br />
town mayor<br />
environmentalist<br />
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shop owner<br />
longest town resident<br />
c<br />
Write a short script and perform it to the class.<br />
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Changes to the Local Environment<br />
Changes in the Local Environment – Activity 4<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Earth and Beyond<br />
2.2 Describes changes<br />
that occur in the local<br />
environment.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Reads and analyses<br />
information about land<br />
clearing and the effects it<br />
has on farming.<br />
• Evaluates an area of soil<br />
that is degrading. Devises<br />
a plan to improve the<br />
condition of the soil.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Compares<br />
• Analyses<br />
• Conducts investigation<br />
Background Information<br />
Clearing the land has caused<br />
a number of problems. When<br />
trees and plants are cleared<br />
for farming, the soil begins<br />
to erode from wind and rain.<br />
Plants help to keep the soil<br />
in good condition with their<br />
roots, allowing oxygen to<br />
move through the soil. The<br />
roots of the trees and plants<br />
help to keep the soil together<br />
and prevent it from being<br />
blown away.<br />
Because of land-clearing and<br />
destructive farming methods,<br />
the Earth now has large areas<br />
of soil that are useless to the<br />
environment.<br />
Some farmers cause problems<br />
for soil conservation by<br />
overgrazing their land. This<br />
occurs when too many animals<br />
graze on too small an area<br />
of land. All of the grass and<br />
shrubs are eaten, leaving the<br />
soil loose and easily blown<br />
away by water and wind or<br />
carried away by water.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Pictures of farming equipment used at the turn of the century and the machines<br />
used today. An area of the school grounds where the soil is in poor condition.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Walk around the school and find areas in the school grounds where the soil<br />
appears to be in poor condition. These areas may be where students walk or play,<br />
or near a tap or water fountain.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Show the students a loaf of bread. Ask them where it comes from. Talk to them<br />
about wheat and the process of farming it. This includes ploughing, seeding,<br />
fertilizing and finally harvesting. Explain that to grow crops such as wheat, the<br />
condition of the soil must be good. Ask the class what might make the soil poor.<br />
Make a list.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Read the passage about farming. Show the students the pictures and photographs<br />
of the farming machinery. Compare them. Ask the students what the main<br />
differences would be when using them. Talk about time and how important it is<br />
during harvest for the crops to be collected before the wet season. (This is due to<br />
the wheat swelling and barley becoming stained.)<br />
• Students compete Question 1 (a) of the blackline; 1 (b) may need pair, group or<br />
class discussions to be completed. Discuss overgrazing with the students as another<br />
cause of soil degradation.<br />
• Explain to the students that they are going to be studying an area in the school<br />
grounds where the soil is in poor condition.<br />
• Walk around the grounds and find an area or areas that the students can study in<br />
small groups. Students complete Question 2 of the blackline.<br />
• Posters are designed and displayed to make the school aware of the degraded soil.<br />
Each week, the soil can be checked by students, who report back to the class on its<br />
condition. Through the effort of the class, the areas should start improving.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. (a) Teacher check<br />
(b) Plant trees and native vegetation to improve the quality of the soil. Make sure<br />
they don’t overgraze the land by moving the sheep or cows from paddock to<br />
paddock and limiting stock numbers.<br />
2. Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Study other areas in the school grounds with soil degradation. Have different<br />
groups looking after the areas. Make weekly reports on any changes. Compare<br />
each site and discuss the cause and possible solution to the damage.<br />
• Research the farming methods at the turn of the century. Present the information<br />
as a poster with facts, diagrams and a time line.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display the pictures and photographs of past and present farming machinery with<br />
explanations of the difference and the progression.<br />
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Changes in the Local Environment – Activity 4<br />
Changes to the Local Environment<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
Farming<br />
At the beginning of the twentieth century, farming changed. the machines from having to slow down, trees and native plants<br />
Ploughs that were once pulled by horses were attached to tractors. were removed from the land. This left the soil with very little to<br />
Harvesting machines were used<br />
hold it together and the wind blew a lot of<br />
to collect crops much faster than<br />
it away. In winter, the rain washed the soil<br />
ever before. This modernisation of<br />
from the land. This loss of topsoil left the land<br />
farming meant that things were<br />
in poor condition and sometimes useless for<br />
done very quickly and, as a result,<br />
growing crops. In many countries today, over<br />
the amount of land used for crops<br />
half of the topsoil has been lost due to poor<br />
and grazing increased. To prevent<br />
farming methods.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
Why has the land used by farmers changed during the last century? (In your own words.)<br />
How could farmers improve the condition of the soil? Write two suggestions.<br />
•<br />
•<br />
Soil Profile<br />
a<br />
Take a walk around the school grounds. Find an area where the soil looks like it is in poor condition.<br />
Complete the soil profile.<br />
What:<br />
Where:<br />
The Problem<br />
The Cause<br />
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The Solution<br />
b Design a poster…<br />
that tells the school about the area in trouble.<br />
Add suggestions to help conserve it. For example:<br />
• walk around the area<br />
• turn off the taps<br />
• play on the grass not by the tree<br />
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Changes to the Local Environment<br />
Assessment<br />
1.<br />
List four things that are part of our environment.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
Write an example of a good effect and bad effect each of the following has on the environment.<br />
good :<br />
bad :<br />
good :<br />
bad :<br />
Describe a natural change that has occurred in your local environment in the last 50 years.<br />
Describe a human-made change that has occurred in your local environment in the last 50 years.<br />
How have changes to farming in the last century affected farmland today?<br />
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List two ways to help improve the condition of natural areas in the school grounds.<br />
Self-assessment<br />
Indicators<br />
• Recognises factors that create our environment.<br />
• Identifies that some influences on our environment can have negative and<br />
positive effects.<br />
• Compares the local environment of today to 50 years ago.<br />
• Describes changes to farming in the last century and the effect it has had on the land.<br />
• Identifies ways to improve the condition of soil in a local area.<br />
Demonstrated Needs further<br />
opportunity<br />
40 PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8
changing state<br />
changing matter<br />
evaporation<br />
condensation<br />
transpiration<br />
water cycle<br />
matter experiments<br />
freezing experiments<br />
melting experiments<br />
Solids, Liquids and Gases<br />
Changing Matter<br />
It’s Just a Gas!<br />
Crystal Shapes<br />
Changing<br />
State<br />
Water is the only liquid that takes up more space<br />
when it turns into a solid (ice). This is why ice floats<br />
in a glass of drink. Ice is less dense than water!<br />
When rubbish is dumped in landfill sites, the<br />
rotting waste gives off methane gas. This gas can<br />
be collected and used as fuel!<br />
absorb<br />
boiling<br />
change of state<br />
cold<br />
condensation<br />
contract<br />
cool<br />
evaporation<br />
expand<br />
flow<br />
freeze<br />
freezing<br />
gases<br />
ice<br />
©R.I.C. Publications<br />
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liquids<br />
melt<br />
melting<br />
molecules<br />
powder<br />
saturate<br />
shape<br />
shrink<br />
solids<br />
solution<br />
temperature<br />
vapour<br />
warm<br />
water<br />
Name:<br />
PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au 41<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8
Solids, Liquids and Gases<br />
Changing States – Activity 1<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Natural and Processed<br />
Materials<br />
2.12 Distinguishes between<br />
changes that can not be<br />
readily reversed and those<br />
that can.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Distinguishes between a<br />
solid, liquid and a gas.<br />
• Identifies solids, liquids<br />
and gases in the<br />
environment.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Records<br />
• Observes<br />
• Identifies<br />
• Classifies<br />
Background Information<br />
Solids, liquids and gases are all<br />
around us. Some substances<br />
can change from one state<br />
to another when heated or<br />
cooled. Water can change into<br />
all three states.<br />
Everything (all matter) is<br />
made up of tiny particles<br />
called molecules. Molecules<br />
are always moving. Whether<br />
an object is a solid, liquid or<br />
gas governs how much the<br />
molecules move around. Solids<br />
are packed tightly together in a<br />
definite shape and are usually<br />
easy to handle. Solids (like<br />
pencils, cars and desks) are<br />
rigid and hold their shape.<br />
Liquid molecules are close<br />
together but can slide past<br />
each other and change places.<br />
This means liquids can flow and<br />
change shape easily. They take<br />
on the shape of the container<br />
that holds them.<br />
Gas molecules are very widely<br />
spaced. Gases are often<br />
difficult to sense or see but we<br />
know they are there. They are<br />
usually detected through our<br />
sense of smell. Gas molecules<br />
spread out in all directions but<br />
can fit and even be squashed<br />
to fit into different shapes.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Bottle of perfume (or similar smelling spray), cordial, different-shaped glasses or containers,<br />
marbles, examples of solids (pencils, marbles, pots etc.), liquids (dishwashing liquid, cordial,<br />
water etc.), trapped gases (gas bottle, air in a balloon, sparkling drink etc.).<br />
Preparation<br />
• String or rope to form a circle for stimulus activity.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Have a group of students (10–15) stand outside a circle of string or rope. Direct them to<br />
move inside the circle. If it’s not full, add more students. When it is tightly packed explain<br />
how each child is a molecule and together, tightly packed, they make a ‘solid’ with a definite<br />
shape (change the shape of the rope if you like). Next, have fewer students step inside the<br />
rope. This time they represent liquid molecules, which can slide past each other, gently<br />
bounce or move around the shape. Gas molecules will require even fewer students inside<br />
the rope. These molecules can spread out and move and bounce freely. They can even move<br />
outside the shape. Revise and discuss how the molecules move by comparing them to real<br />
solid, liquid and gas objects.<br />
Note: A molecule is two or more atoms bound together. Explain that molecules are the tiny<br />
parts that ‘make up’ solids, liquids and gases.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Materials can be grouped according to whether they are a solid, liquid or gas.<br />
• Demonstrate by spraying perfume into the air. Get students to put their hand up when they<br />
can smell it. The perfume liquid has a smell. That smell is a gas that can spread throughout<br />
the room.<br />
• Look at the cordial. Is it liquid, solid or gas? Pour it into different containers to see how it<br />
takes on their shape. Hold the cordial bottle with the lid. Tip it in different positions and<br />
observe how the ‘shape’ of the liquid conforms to the shape of the bottle.<br />
• Look at the marbles. Pass them around for students to feel. Describe them; for example,<br />
hard, heavy, definite shape, can feel them, see them, can’t go through them. Marbles are a<br />
solid.<br />
• Look around the room or outside to record things under these headings.<br />
• Identify and circle the solids, liquids and gases in the picture using the specified colours.<br />
Discuss reasons for choices. (Question 2.)<br />
• Study the items in Question 3a and 3b. Record the parts of each picture that show solids,<br />
liquids or gas.<br />
• Discuss answers and revise the differences between the states of a solid, liquid or gas.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. solids – pencils, marbles, chair<br />
liquids – tap water, cooking oil, honey<br />
gases – steam, car exhaust fumes, air we breathe, air in a balloon.<br />
2. Teacher check<br />
3. (a) solid – bottle, liquid – soft drink, gas – bubbles<br />
(b) solid – glass, sand, shell, plant. liquid – water, gas – bubbles in water, fish breathing<br />
out bubbles.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Make a class chart of examples (pictures or words) of known solids, liquids and gases.<br />
• Make mosaic pictures to represent molecules of solids, liquids and gases using white squares<br />
and paper punch dots. (Solids tightly packed, liquids with more spaces to allow movement,<br />
gases – very few floating in and outside the square.)<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Divide a board into three columns with headings ‘solids’, ‘liquids’, ‘gases’. The students find<br />
pictures in magazines or draw them and attach to the correct column.<br />
Note: Gases can be drawn attached to what is making them; e.g. a car exhaust, perfume bottle.<br />
42 PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
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Changing States – Activity 1<br />
Solids, Liquids and Gases<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
Sort these things into the correct group and then add some examples of your own.<br />
pencils tap water steam cooking oil marbles<br />
chair car exhaust fumes honey the air we breathe air in a balloon<br />
Look at the<br />
picture carefully.<br />
Find three examples of<br />
each state and colour the;<br />
solids – red<br />
liquids – blue<br />
gases – green<br />
Can you find a solid, liquid and gas in each of these pictures?<br />
solid<br />
Solids Liquids Gases<br />
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a<br />
b<br />
liquid<br />
solid<br />
liquid<br />
gas<br />
gas<br />
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ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8
Changing Matter<br />
Changing States – Activity 2<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Natural and Processed<br />
Materials<br />
2.12 Distinguishes between<br />
changes that can not be<br />
readily reversed and those<br />
that can.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies changes in<br />
materials using the<br />
senses.<br />
• Distinguishes changes<br />
in matter that can and<br />
cannot be reversed.<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
to observe and record<br />
changes in matter<br />
• Records and discusses<br />
observations during<br />
investigations.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Identifies<br />
• Records<br />
• Classifies<br />
• Follows a procedure<br />
• Investigates<br />
Background Information<br />
Everything we see and touch is<br />
matter. Sometimes we can see<br />
and feel matter and sometimes<br />
we can’t. Matter is all around us<br />
and exists as a solid, liquid or<br />
a gas. Most matter can change<br />
from one state to another<br />
when it is heated or cooled.<br />
Some matter, like water, can<br />
be easily changed from a solid<br />
to a liquid, or a liquid to a gas<br />
and back again. It may be ice,<br />
steam or water vapour, but it is<br />
still water.<br />
Water is one of the few<br />
substances that can change<br />
states and not be permanently<br />
changed. Other substances<br />
may react to heating or cooling<br />
but the changes are not<br />
reversible (e.g. burning paper<br />
to ash, cooking an egg). When<br />
water is warmed it evaporates<br />
(as a gas into the air). When<br />
warm air touches something<br />
cold it condenses and becomes<br />
a liquid.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Apple, potato, rock, three pieces of steel wool, two small sealable or snap-lock plastic bags,<br />
glass of water, measuring cup, plates, tablespoon, string, balloon, electric frying pan with lid,<br />
ice cubes.<br />
Preparation<br />
• The experiment can be prepared four days prior to the lesson to allow changes in materials<br />
to occur, or make observations on day of preparation as Day 1 of observations and leave gaps<br />
between observation days or extend observation time.<br />
• Select an observation table or part of the classroom where samples can be observed safely.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• (Adult-directed activity.) Demonstrate changes of state in water by heating a frying pan.<br />
Place in ice cubes and allow students to observe the change to liquid. This activity can be<br />
timed. Turn up the heat and watch the water boil. Notice the steam rising into the air. Ensure<br />
students are standing away from the table. Demonstrate how the steam is really water<br />
droplets by holding a lid carefully over the steam and watch the steam turn to water droplets<br />
and return to the pan (condensation). Boil the water until the pan is empty (evaporation).<br />
The air is now filled with invisible water vapour produced from icecubes. Revise and discuss<br />
the changes that occurred from the ice block to water vapour. Look at the ice cube. Is it a<br />
solid or liquid? When water gets very cold it freezes and when it gets warm it melts into a<br />
liquid. When water is heated it becomes steam, which will condense back into water.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Cut up the apple and potato into pieces and leave on a plate. (The whole apple or potato may<br />
not be needed, depending on size.)<br />
• Blow up a balloon and tie it with a string to something so it can’t float away. Measure its<br />
circumference each day.<br />
• Put a cup of water into the measuring cup. Measure its volume each day.<br />
• Put one piece of steel wool in a plastic bag with three tablespoons of water and seal the bag.<br />
(Try to remove any air.)<br />
• Put one piece of steel wool in a plastic bag with three tablespoons of water and leave it open.<br />
• Put the third piece of steel wool in a dry place where it can’t be touched.<br />
• Put the rock and all the above substances in a safe observation area.<br />
• Students observe and record the changes each day for five days.<br />
• Discuss and describe the changes that have occurred and record the results over the selected<br />
observation day. What do you think has happened to the samples to cause changes (e.g. lost<br />
air, exposed to air, evaporated)?<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
The potato and apple rotted and changed colour – they are not the same any more.<br />
The water evaporated.<br />
The dry steel wool had no change. The rock did not change.<br />
The wet steel wool in the open bag allowed air in and rusted, because iron turns to rust<br />
when exposed to oxygen and moisture.<br />
The wet steel wool that wasn’t exposed to the air should have stayed a similar shape.<br />
The balloon didn’t change but got smaller and went limp as some air escaped. However it<br />
was still a balloon.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Study the water cycle. Discuss how water is recycled and a precious resource to our Earth.<br />
• Collect and test other materials to observe changes in matter. (Burning a match, candles,<br />
cooking an egg, etc.) Make a list of irreversible changes.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display objects on a ‘safe’ table. The students can create a large version of the blackline using<br />
coloured card. The results can be transferred to the new chart and extra information about<br />
the students’ observations can be attached (written and presented by the students).<br />
44 PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
©R.I.C. Publications<br />
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Changing States – Activity 2<br />
Changing Matter<br />
Apple<br />
DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5<br />
8<br />
7<br />
6<br />
5<br />
4<br />
3<br />
2<br />
1<br />
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Potato<br />
Cup of water<br />
Steel Wool<br />
(dry)<br />
Steel Wool<br />
(wet and sealed)<br />
Steel Wool<br />
(wet and unsealed)<br />
Blown-up<br />
balloon<br />
PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au 45<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8<br />
Rock
It’s Just a Gas!<br />
Changing States – Activity 3<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Natural and Processed<br />
Materials<br />
2.12 Distinguishes between<br />
changes that can not<br />
be readily reversed and<br />
those that can.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies changes in<br />
materials through the<br />
senses.<br />
• Describes and draws<br />
conclusions from the<br />
investigation.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
• Observes<br />
• Records<br />
• Describes<br />
• Investigates<br />
Background Information<br />
When some materials are<br />
mixed together a gas is made.<br />
In this chemical reaction,<br />
vinegar and bicarbonate<br />
of soda react together and<br />
give off carbon dioxide. The<br />
balloon inflates as it fills with<br />
the gas.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Plastic zip-lock or snap-lock bag, two small plastic bottles (with narrow necks),<br />
large tray, a balloon, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, a teaspoon, a funnel, tray.<br />
Preparation<br />
Organise sufficient materials for small groups.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Demonstrate how air takes up space by taking an empty snap-lock plastic bag from<br />
its container. Open the bag and swing it hard through the air. Without flattening<br />
it, zip it closed. How is the bag different from when it came out of the packet? (It<br />
has now expanded and filled with air.) The plastic bag now takes up space and will<br />
not fit back in its packet. Why? It is filled with air (gas) and is too big to fit into its<br />
original packet.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Sometimes when materials are mixed together a gas is made.<br />
• Explain that the following experiment will make a gas.<br />
• Choose one student in the group to practise fitting a balloon over the neck of one<br />
of the bottles. This will need to be done quickly during the experiment.<br />
• In the other bottle, place a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda using a funnel. (Put the<br />
tray under the bottle to catch any spills)<br />
• Carefully pour a small amount of vinegar into the bottle.<br />
• Put your thumb over the opening of the bottle. What do you feel? (heat) What<br />
do you see? (bubbling reaction) What do you hear? (fizzing) Record these<br />
experiences.<br />
• Repeat the process with the second bottle, but this time quickly place the balloon<br />
over the neck of the bottle. Shake the bottle gently side to side. What happens?<br />
Record your results.<br />
• Discuss why the balloon inflates.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1. Possible answers: oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, steam (water vapour), carbon<br />
monoxide<br />
2. Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Cook cakes to show the changes that occur throughout the cooking process.<br />
Baking powder makes cakes rise. It gives off bubbles of carbon dioxide gas when<br />
it is heated. The bubbles are trapped in the mixture making it springy to touch<br />
and making the cake rise. Discuss what liquids are used in the mixture. Did they<br />
change? Why? (heat)<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Take photographs of the students performing their ‘chemical reaction’. Display the<br />
pictures. Students add labels and notes to the display describing their findings.<br />
• Students make a collage using pictures from magazines of food and drinks that<br />
contain or used carbon dioxide to make them; for example, soft drinks, cakes and<br />
biscuits.<br />
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46 PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8
Changing States – Activity 3<br />
1.<br />
Write down the names of any gases you know.<br />
It’s Just a Gas!<br />
2.<br />
Describe the experiment below.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
Bottle 1<br />
What did you feel? What did you see? What did you hear?<br />
Bottle 2<br />
Draw the balloon to show what happened. Describe the experiment in your own words.<br />
What happened?<br />
©R.I.C. Publications<br />
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c<br />
Look at the list of materials. Colour the boxes using the key below.<br />
green – gas blue – liquid red – solid<br />
• bottle<br />
• balloon<br />
• vinegar • bicarbonate of soda • carbon dioxide<br />
PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au 47<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8
Crystal Shapes<br />
Changing States – Activity 4<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Natural and Processed<br />
materials<br />
2.12 Distinguishes between<br />
changes that can not<br />
be readily reversed and<br />
those that can.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Uses a variety of materials<br />
to form crystals.<br />
• Uses a hand lens to<br />
observe and draw formed<br />
crystals.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Follows a procedure<br />
• Communicates<br />
• Observes<br />
• Records<br />
• Infers<br />
Background Information<br />
When a large amount of a<br />
substance like sugar, salt<br />
or borax is dissolved in hot<br />
water, the water eventually<br />
becomes saturated – it is filled<br />
to capacity with dissolved<br />
crystals.<br />
As the water evaporates there<br />
isn’t enough left to keep the<br />
crystals dissolved, so they<br />
begin to reform. Crystals grow<br />
best when the solution cools<br />
slowly. The hot water breaks<br />
down the sugar (or substance<br />
used) into tiny molecules that<br />
are impossible to see.<br />
Hot water holds more sugar<br />
molecules than cold water,<br />
so when the water cools<br />
and evaporates it can’t hold<br />
as much sugar. The sugar<br />
molecules come out of the<br />
solution and ‘stack together’<br />
to form crystals. More<br />
crystals grow as more water<br />
evaporates.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Glass jars, pipe cleaners, string, tablespoon, water, kettle, hand lens, old pencil or<br />
popstick, borax (salt, Epsom salts or sugar may also be used), pictures of snow<br />
and snowflakes (close-ups), gems or crystals, sand, sugar.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Crystals can take a long time to form so start ‘observation days’ several days after<br />
the preparation is prepared.<br />
• Organise enough materials for small groups or pairs to grow crystals.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Show pictures of snow and snowflakes and talk about how they are a type of<br />
crystal. Have a bucket of sand and a bowl of sugar for children to feel and view<br />
using magnifying glasses. These too, are types of crystals. Discuss what the shapes<br />
of the sugar and sand look like. Discuss how a diamond is a valuable crystal that is<br />
formed under heat and pressure below the Earth’s surface.<br />
What to Do<br />
Can we grow our own crystals?<br />
• With the help of an adult, fill a heatproof jar with hot water (boiling is best).<br />
• Add borax (or another suggested substance) about a tablespoon at a time, mixing<br />
until it dissolves.<br />
• Keep doing this until no more will dissolve. (This will be about three tablespoons to<br />
a cup of hot water.)<br />
• Bend the pipe-cleaner into a star or other desired shape, and tie a length of string<br />
to it.<br />
• Place the shape into the solution. Lay a pencil or popstick across the jar opening<br />
and tie the string to it so the shape is suspended low into the solution but not<br />
touching the bottom of the glass.<br />
• Place the jar in a sunny position so the solution can evaporate and watch the<br />
crystals form.<br />
• Record the changes. Observe the formed crystals closely using hand lenses. Record<br />
the results.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Try adding different food colourings to form coloured crystals.<br />
• Make up three or four different solutions using a different substance in each;<br />
e.g. Epsom salts, borax, sugar, salt. Compare the differences in the crystals they<br />
produce. (Epsom salts will need twice the volume of water.)<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Make different shapes from the pipe-cleaners. When the crystals have formed,<br />
hang them as a mobile from punched holes in the rim of a yoghurt container.<br />
• Make paper snowflakes by folding and cutting patterns in coloured paper. Display<br />
around the room.<br />
• Make 3-D crystal shapes out of card, shapes, or recycled products. How many<br />
different shapes can you research and make?<br />
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48 PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8
Changing States – Activity 4<br />
1.<br />
Crystal Shapes<br />
Describe your experiment below.<br />
My group: What we used: What we did:<br />
2.<br />
Results<br />
Day Day Day<br />
Day Day Day<br />
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3.<br />
Describe and draw in detail your crystals.<br />
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Changing States<br />
Assessment<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
4.<br />
Complete the sentences using the words from the box.<br />
change solid difficult see tightly<br />
gas feel no liquid container<br />
Matter can exist as either a<br />
(a)<br />
, liquid or<br />
(b)<br />
.<br />
Solids have tiny particles that are<br />
(c)<br />
packed together. It is<br />
(d)<br />
to change their shape. We can see solids and<br />
Name two types of matter for each heading.<br />
Solid<br />
Liquid<br />
Gas<br />
What happens to water when it is …<br />
heated?<br />
(e)<br />
them.<br />
A gas has<br />
(f)<br />
shape and we can’t always<br />
(g)<br />
or feel it.<br />
A<br />
A liquid can<br />
(h)<br />
can spread everywhere or fit into different shapes easily.<br />
(i)<br />
shape.<br />
It flows easily and takes on the shape of its<br />
(j)<br />
.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
c<br />
a<br />
3.<br />
Draw a line to match the words to the<br />
correct part of the picture.<br />
Solid<br />
Liquid<br />
Gas<br />
©R.I.C. Publications<br />
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b<br />
frozen?<br />
Self-assessment<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies key words describing changes in the state of matter.<br />
• Lists examples of solids, liquids or gases.<br />
• Distinguishes between a solid, liquid and gas.<br />
• Describes how water changes when it is heated or frozen.<br />
Demonstrated Needs further<br />
opportunity<br />
50 PRIMARY SCIENCE ~ R.I.C. Publications ® ~ www.ricpublications.com.au<br />
ISBN 978-1-925660-54-8
idges<br />
history of bridges<br />
bridge design<br />
bridge structure<br />
bridge experiments<br />
The Tallest Tower<br />
Weak and Strong Shapes<br />
Bridge Building – 1<br />
Bridge Building – 2<br />
Structures<br />
Arch bridges made of cobble have been used for at<br />
least 4000 years. The Romans developed the design<br />
from bridges built in Mesopotamia and used the<br />
bridges to create their famous aqueduct system.<br />
structure<br />
rigid<br />
solution<br />
strong<br />
weakness<br />
experiment<br />
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tower<br />
rigidity<br />
weak<br />
strength<br />
bridge<br />
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The Tallest Tower<br />
Structures – Activity 1<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Natural and Processed<br />
Materials<br />
2.11 Observes and describes<br />
the characteristics of<br />
common materials.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Investigates rigid and<br />
non-rigid shapes by<br />
building a tower from<br />
plastic drinking straws.<br />
• Investigates the role of<br />
compression and tension<br />
in deciding whether<br />
structures stay up or fall<br />
down.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Communicates<br />
• Investigates<br />
• Infers<br />
• Designs and constructs<br />
Background Information<br />
This topic explores energy<br />
and the forces created when<br />
building towers and bridges.<br />
Tension is the pulling force.<br />
Stretching an elastic band is an<br />
illustration of tension. A weight<br />
suspended beneath a bridge<br />
creates tension.<br />
Compression is the pushing<br />
force. It squashes. A weight<br />
placed on top of an object<br />
creates compression.<br />
Torque is the combination of<br />
force and the distance from a<br />
pivot point. (Building a bridge<br />
out from a bank.)<br />
Centre of mass is the balance<br />
point of an object.<br />
It is not necessary for students<br />
to gain detailed knowledge of<br />
these concepts, but rather to<br />
use the topic to explore and<br />
develop investigation skills.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Plastic drinking straws (30 per group of students); dressmaking pins (30 per<br />
group of students)<br />
Preparation<br />
Prepare drinking straws and pins by counting them into lots of 30. Organise the<br />
class into small groups.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
In this lesson, students will use straws and pins to build a tower. Safety when using<br />
sharp objects such as pins should be emphasised. It is important that students<br />
be provided a ‘free-play’ time to get rid of excess excitement related to the new<br />
materials. Students could be asked to make as many different shapes as they can.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Explain the task to students. The task is to build the tallest free-standing tower<br />
using 30 drinking straws and 30 pins.<br />
• Explain to the class that they need to create a set of rules that each group must<br />
abide by. These rules may include, ‘The tower can not be fixed to the floor’ etc.<br />
When the class has agreed on a set of rules, display them on the board.<br />
• Allow sufficient time for students to try various alternatives and to learn from<br />
their errors.<br />
• Have each group complete the worksheet and then present their tower to the<br />
class. Discuss the different difficulties encountered.<br />
Note: This activity provides an excellent ‘group dynamics’ opportunity. Size of<br />
groups should ideally be no greater than 3 – 4 students.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Complete the same activity with fewer or more drinking straws. Does using twice<br />
the number of straws create a tower twice the height?<br />
• Devise methods to test the strength of the towers.<br />
• After the task has been completed, provide each student with a ‘group analysis’<br />
sheet. The students can reflect on each member of the group’s contribution and<br />
communication skills.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Take photos of the students during and at the completion of the task. The students<br />
can add their own comments.<br />
• Display the students’ constructions. Behind their constructions, attach photos of<br />
tall towers from around the world; e.g. the Eiffel Tower.<br />
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Structures – Activity 1<br />
The Tallest Tower<br />
1.<br />
Use 30 plastic drinking straws and 30 pins to build the tallest tower you can.<br />
Now that you have built your tower, discuss the two questions below with the members of your<br />
group.<br />
a • What problems did you find when you were building your tower?<br />
• How did you solve each problem?<br />
Problem 1:<br />
Solution:<br />
Problem 2:<br />
Solution:<br />
2.<br />
b<br />
a<br />
Place a tick on the ‘strength scale’.<br />
About to<br />
fall over!<br />
How Strong is your Tower?<br />
Draw the shapes you think are strong and<br />
helped to make your tower work.<br />
Problem 3:<br />
Solution:<br />
Very<br />
strong<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
b<br />
Draw the shapes you think are weak and<br />
made your tower unstable.<br />
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Weak and Strong Shapes<br />
Structures – Activity 2<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Natural and Processed<br />
Materials<br />
2.11 Observes and describes<br />
the characteristics of<br />
common materials.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Investigates and identifies<br />
the characteristics of<br />
strong, rigid shapes.<br />
• Investigates the role of<br />
compression and tension<br />
in deciding whether<br />
structures stay up or fall<br />
down.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Infers<br />
• Investigates<br />
• Communicates<br />
Background Information<br />
Note: This activity looks at<br />
the strength of various ‘closed<br />
shapes’. The understanding<br />
developed here will develop<br />
strong concepts that can be<br />
applied in future lessons and<br />
real-life situations.<br />
The fewer vertices, the<br />
stronger the shape, with the<br />
triangle being the most rigid<br />
shape.<br />
A shape can be made more<br />
rigid by the introduction<br />
of other shapes such as a<br />
triangle.<br />
For example:<br />
A square is not rigid.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Plastic drinking straws, dressmaking pins<br />
Preparation<br />
Prepare drinking straws and pins for each group. Organise the class into small<br />
groups or pairs.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
Discuss the previous ‘tower building’ lesson. Which shapes were identified as<br />
strong? Introduce the word rigid. Explain that ‘rigid’ means ‘not flexible’.<br />
It is important that students be provided a ‘free-play’ time to get rid of excess<br />
excitement related to the materials. Students could be asked to make as many<br />
different shapes as they can.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Have students follow the procedure on the worksheet, working individually or in<br />
pairs. Rate each shape after all the shapes have been constructed.<br />
• Discuss with the class how they will decide if their shape is strong and rigid. What<br />
kinds of tests can they perform?<br />
• The students choose their two weakest shapes. They are asked to make two weak<br />
shapes rigid. Allow time for students to explore and investigate this challenge.<br />
• Discuss how students made their shapes rigid and reinforce the concept of using a<br />
triangle within shapes to provide strength.<br />
• Look at the four shapes made. Describe each of the shapes and discuss why some<br />
of the shapes are stronger than others.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Survey the school buildings to identify where triangles are used to provide<br />
strength/rigidity.<br />
• Ask the students to be aware of the shapes used to provide strength to objects in<br />
their local area. Give the class a few days to look at objects in the environment and<br />
to take note of the shape. The students can report their findings to the rest of the<br />
class.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display each of the shapes on the wall. Add information that describes how strong<br />
the shape is and how the students came to that conclusion. Record each pair or<br />
student’s rating for each shape. Add together all of the numbers and divide that<br />
total by the number of ratings. This will calculate the ‘class rating’ of strength for<br />
that shape.<br />
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However, introducing a<br />
triangle makes a square more<br />
rigid.<br />
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Structures – Activity 2<br />
Weak and Strong Shapes<br />
Use your plastic straws to make each of these shapes.<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
Test how strong and rigid each shape is and give it a ‘strength rating’.<br />
Select your two weakest shapes. How can you make these shapes strong by adding straws?<br />
Draw each of the shapes before and after your test<br />
Shape 1 Shape 2<br />
Before<br />
square<br />
triangle<br />
hexagon<br />
pentagon<br />
low medium high<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
low medium high<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
low medium high<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
low medium high<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
Before<br />
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After<br />
After<br />
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Bridge Building<br />
Structures – Activity 3<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Natural and Processed<br />
Materials<br />
2.11 Observes and describes<br />
the characteristics of<br />
common materials.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Investigates the role of<br />
compression and tension<br />
in deciding whether<br />
structures stay up or fall<br />
down.<br />
• Investigates and applies<br />
previous knowledge to<br />
build a bridge spanning<br />
an open space.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Communicates<br />
• Designs and constructs<br />
• Investigates<br />
Background Information<br />
Materials have certain<br />
properties which make them<br />
useful. The materials used<br />
to build bridges need to be<br />
sturdy (strong) and also rigid<br />
(stiff).<br />
There are many different types<br />
of bridges.<br />
Arch bridges can be made<br />
of rows of bricks, stones<br />
or concrete. They get their<br />
strength from the arch itself.<br />
Suspension bridges are<br />
supported by huge cables that<br />
span across the gap.<br />
Other types include girder,<br />
truss and cantilever.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Plastic drinking straws, dressmaking pins, pictures of bridges, rulers.<br />
Preparation<br />
Prepare drinking straws and pins for each group. Each group will need about 50<br />
straws and 50 pins. Organise the class into small groups. Organise desks or areas<br />
to be used.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
Show students pictures of a variety of bridges and discuss any bridges in the local<br />
community. Discuss how a simple bridge such as a log over a stream can work<br />
well, but when the distance to be spanned increases, there is a need for special<br />
forces to be controlled by engineering. It is important that students be provided a<br />
‘free-play’ time to get rid of excess excitement related to the materials. Students<br />
could be asked to make as many different shapes as they can.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Explain the task of constructing a bridge over a 40-cm span.<br />
• In this activity students will be required to apply knowledge from previous lessons.<br />
• As in the first activity, ask the class to agree on a set of rules that each group must<br />
abide by when constructing its bridge; for example, ‘The bridge is allowed to be<br />
fixed to the desk using tape’. These rules will ensure that the students are working<br />
to the same guidelines and will bring a feeling of ‘fairness’ to the activity. Display<br />
the rules on the board. The students discuss the rules as a group at the beginning<br />
of the activity.<br />
• Testing the strength of the bridge needs to be discussed; however, suspending<br />
metal washers or similar objects of the same size and weight beneath the bridge is<br />
one useful method.<br />
• Discuss how the bridges will be tested for strength and agree on a common<br />
method.<br />
• The students build their bridges. Allow sufficient time for experimentation to<br />
occur.<br />
• Test the strength of the bridges as a whole class.<br />
• Students complete the activity sheet, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of<br />
their bridge.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Complete the same activity using twice the number of drinking straws. Does this<br />
double the strength of the bridge? Can it be longer?<br />
• Students choose one type of bridge structure (beam, cantilever, arch or suspension<br />
etc.) and find drawings and information about it. The students can draw diagrams<br />
of their bridge and use books and the Internet to find examples from around the<br />
world.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Display pictures, photographs and postcards of different types of bridges.<br />
• Display the students’ bridges in a safe area.<br />
• Students could sketch bridges in the local area for display or look at photographs<br />
and pictures of famous bridges and paint them.<br />
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Structures – Activity 3<br />
Bridge Building<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
• Use your straws and pins to build a bridge between two desks that are 40 cm apart.<br />
• Test how much weight your bridge can hold.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
c<br />
Can you fix the bridge to the desk?<br />
yes no<br />
Can any part of the bridge touch the ground?<br />
Does your bridge stand up by itself?<br />
yes no<br />
How will your group test the strength of the bridge?<br />
Draw a diagram of your completed bridge.<br />
yes no<br />
4. What are the strengths of your bridge? (What made it work?)<br />
a<br />
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b<br />
What are the weaknesses of your bridge?<br />
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Bridge Building – 2<br />
Structures – Activity 4<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Natural and Processed<br />
Materials<br />
2.11 Observes and describes<br />
the characteristics of<br />
common materials.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Uses acquired knowledge<br />
to build bridges using<br />
new materials.<br />
• Investigates the role of<br />
compression and tension<br />
in deciding whether<br />
structures stay up or fall<br />
down.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Designs and constructs<br />
• Communicates<br />
• Investigates<br />
• Infers<br />
Background Information<br />
There are a number of ways<br />
to make paper rigid. These<br />
include rolling, folding,<br />
corrugating (like a concertina),<br />
angling and by creating<br />
shapes.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Paper, tape<br />
Preparation<br />
Ensure a sufficient supply of paper. Anything from newspaper to photocopy paper<br />
is suitable, but the paper supplied to the class should all be the same. Organise the<br />
class into small groups.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Using a single sheet of paper, illustrate the paper’s lack of rigidity by waving it in<br />
the air and trying to get it to stand up vertically, unsupported.<br />
• Discuss with students what can be done with the paper to make it more rigid.<br />
• It is important that students be provided a ‘free-play’ time to get rid of excess<br />
excitement related to the new materials. Students could be asked to make as many<br />
different shapes as they can. Discuss results.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Ask the students to build a bridge similar to Lesson 3 using only tape and paper. To<br />
complete this activity successfully, students will have to explore different ways of<br />
manipulating paper to convert it into rigid shapes.<br />
These include:<br />
(i) rolling<br />
(ii) folding<br />
(iii) corrugating<br />
(iv) angling<br />
(v) creating shapes<br />
This activity is more challenging than using straws and groups should be<br />
encouraged to use their acquired knowledge from previous lessons and to<br />
experiment.<br />
• Have students, in groups, experiment with pieces of paper, trying to make them<br />
more rigid.<br />
• Ask the students to apply knowledge from the previous lessons and the first<br />
activity to build a bridge over a 50-cm gap. Discuss rules as in Lesson Three,<br />
especially focus on the overuse of tape. This can be controlled by supplying a<br />
limited amount of tape to each group.<br />
• As a class, decide on a set of rules that each group must abide by while making the<br />
paper bridge. Display the rules on the board.<br />
• The students build their bridges.<br />
• The students complete the activity sheet, identifying the strengths and weaknesses<br />
of their bridges.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Explore tower and bridge building with different materials.<br />
• Survey bridges in the local community. What method(s) are used to provide<br />
strength and rigidity?<br />
• Investigate the different types of bridges (cantilever, arch, beam, truss, suspension<br />
etc.).<br />
Display Ideas<br />
Display the students’ paper bridges. The students can use a word processor to<br />
type a recount of their investigation. The text can be placed on coloured card and<br />
attached to the wall or folded so that it will stand up next to their creation.<br />
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Structures – Activity 4<br />
Bridge Building – 2<br />
• Use paper and tape to build a bridge between two desks 50 cm apart.<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
Using your sheets of paper, experiment to find methods that<br />
make the paper more rigid. Draw each method below.<br />
Using your supply of paper, construct a bridge over a 50-cm gap. Draw your bridge below.<br />
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What are the strengths of your bridge? (What made it work?)<br />
What are the weaknesses of your bridge?<br />
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Structures<br />
Assessment<br />
1.<br />
Circle the rigid shapes.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
Draw a line on each shape to make it more rigid.<br />
Draw a diagram to show one way of making a single sheet of paper rigid.<br />
Which is the strongest paper fold? Circle it.<br />
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Indicators<br />
Demonstrated Needs further<br />
opportunity<br />
• Identifies rigid and non-rigid shapes.<br />
• Draws a rigid shape made from a single sheet of paper.<br />
Self-assessment<br />
• Identifies rigid shapes made from paper<br />
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Magnets<br />
magnets<br />
magnetise<br />
magnetic materials<br />
magnetic field<br />
magnetic force<br />
Samuel Morse<br />
morse code<br />
Magnetic Attraction<br />
Magnetic Strength<br />
Magnetic Forces<br />
Magnetic Problems<br />
Magnets<br />
The word ‘magnet’ is thought to have been first<br />
used by the Greeks around 600 BC. They used it to<br />
describe a mysterious rock that attracted iron and<br />
other metals.<br />
By using an electromagnet to move a pencil resting<br />
on a piece of paper, Samuel Morse sent the first<br />
messages over a long distance. Samuel later invented<br />
morse code.<br />
aluminium metals<br />
attract<br />
nickel<br />
attraction non-magnetic<br />
cobalt<br />
north<br />
field<br />
pole<br />
iron<br />
repel<br />
iron filings repulsion<br />
lines of force steel<br />
magnetic<br />
‘The Law of Magnetic Poles’<br />
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Magnetic Attraction<br />
Magnets – Activity 1<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Energy and Change<br />
2.6 Describes observable<br />
changes that occur in<br />
two objects that interact,<br />
identifying the energy source<br />
and the receiver.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Predicts which objects will be<br />
attracted by a magnet.<br />
• Classifies materials into<br />
magnetic and non-magnetic<br />
categories.<br />
• Collects and interprets data<br />
and draws simple conclusions<br />
from results.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Records<br />
• Observes<br />
• Identifies patterns<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
• Draws conclusions<br />
Background Information<br />
All magnets have a force<br />
concentrated at their two poles<br />
(north and south). All magnets<br />
have the ability to attract or repel<br />
certain objects. This ability is<br />
produced by the arrangement<br />
of electrons within the magnetic<br />
material.<br />
Electrons are extremely small<br />
particles that are found in atoms.<br />
Atoms are small particles that<br />
make up matter.<br />
Each electron has its own two<br />
poles. In most materials the<br />
electrons are randomly placed,<br />
so there is no obvious magnetic<br />
effect. However, if the electrons are<br />
lined up with their poles aligned in<br />
the same direction, then we do get<br />
a magnetic effect. Objects that do<br />
show this effect are magnets, while<br />
items attracted to a magnet are<br />
called magnetic materials.<br />
All magnetic materials are metal.<br />
However, not all metals are<br />
magnetic. Iron, nickel, cobalt<br />
and mixtures of these metals can<br />
be magnetic. So can alloys of<br />
aluminium, copper, nickel, iron and<br />
cobalt. An alloy is a metal made up<br />
of two or more metals. Iron is by<br />
far the strongest. Aluminium and<br />
some stainless steels, however, are<br />
not at all magnetic.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Magnets (different sizes and shapes; e.g. bar, horseshoe), variety of materials to test<br />
(e.g. bottle caps, cloth, aluminium cans, bolts, nuts, safety pins, cotton wool, thumb<br />
tacks, crayons, chalk, aluminium foil, coins).<br />
Preparation<br />
Magnetism activities can be set up in class stations for small groups to rotate through<br />
if material supplies are limited.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
Ask the students if they have magnets or objects that are magnetic at home. Discuss<br />
their responses.<br />
Show a variety of different types of magnets (horseshoe, bar, button, door-latch<br />
magnet, ring etc.). To introduce the idea of ‘magnetic poles’, use bar magnets with<br />
clearly labelled ends. Have children demonstrate reactions when like and unlike poles<br />
are put together. What can they ‘feel’ when the poles ‘repel’?<br />
What to Do<br />
• Have the students explore the properties of magnetic poles and record results. (Rule<br />
of Magnetism: Like poles repel and unlike poles attract.)<br />
• Within their group, have the students explore the properties of a magnet by testing a<br />
variety of the materials provided.<br />
• Group and record the materials using whether they are attracted or not attracted<br />
to a magnet as criterion. Students should be able to identify materials that attract.<br />
Materials like aluminium cans, paper, plastic, wood or corks are not attracted or<br />
repelled by magnets.<br />
• Study the objects in each group, recording any similarities (e.g. metals – attract). How<br />
are the objects the same or different from other objects or groups?<br />
• Based on what was discovered, have students predict two or more materials they<br />
think would be magnetic and non-magnetic. If possible, test these predictions and<br />
discuss the reason behind their decisions.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Answers will vary depending on objects tested, but generally metal objects are<br />
attracted. Materials like aluminium cans, paper, plastic, wood or rocks neither attract<br />
nor repel.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Find buried treasures. In a small sand tray or box, hide a variety of magnetic<br />
materials. Secure small bar or button magnets to the end of a stick or ruler with tape.<br />
Students can only use the magnetic sticks to find the objects. Tell them the number<br />
of items buried and see who can find the most or who can find them all in the fastest<br />
time.<br />
• Make fish shapes on sturdy card. Attach a small magnet to a piece of string and tie<br />
the string to a pole or stick to make a fishing rod. Place a paperclip on the nose<br />
of each fish. How many fish can you catch? Make it a spelling or maths activity by<br />
attaching words or sums to the fish to match to certain sounds or numbers.<br />
• Test other objects around the room or outdoors that are attracted to a magnet.<br />
Predict the outcome and test for results<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Make a large chart classifying drawings, pictures or words of things which are<br />
attracted to or unaffected by magnets.<br />
• Research toys or other objects we use that contain magnets. Draw and explain how<br />
the magnets work for each item (e.g. magnet sculptures, door bells, door latches,<br />
telephones, computers, some trains/tracks, tape recorders). Display the reports.<br />
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Magnets – Activity 1<br />
Magnetic Attraction<br />
1.<br />
Colour the box to show what happens when the two magnets get close to each other.<br />
a<br />
attract repel<br />
2.<br />
b<br />
c<br />
Record which objects are attracted by magnets and which are not.<br />
3. What is similar about the objects attracted to magnets?<br />
attract repel<br />
attract<br />
repel<br />
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4.<br />
a<br />
Name two objects that could be found outdoors that you think would be<br />
attracted to magnets.<br />
b<br />
Explain your choices.<br />
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Magnetic Strength<br />
Magnets – Activity 2<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Energy and Change<br />
2.6 Describes observable<br />
changes that occur in<br />
two objects that interact,<br />
identifying the energy<br />
source and the receivers.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Investigates aspects of<br />
behaviour of magnets<br />
and their strength.<br />
• Designs an experiment or<br />
fair test to measure and<br />
record the strength of<br />
magnets.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Records<br />
• Measures<br />
• Observes<br />
• Investigates<br />
• Collects data<br />
• Draws conclusions<br />
Background Information<br />
Magnetism is an invisible force<br />
that can make some things<br />
move towards each other.<br />
Rocks were the first magnets.<br />
Materials differ in the ease<br />
in which their atoms can<br />
align themselves or become<br />
magnetised. The strong<br />
magnetic field of some<br />
magnet’s atoms can temporarily<br />
magnetise objects made of<br />
iron, steel, nickel or cobalt.<br />
When a metal nail, pin or paper<br />
clip is brought near the north<br />
pole of a magnet, the particles<br />
inside those objects line up in<br />
one direction and the whole<br />
object becomes a temporary<br />
magnet. If the object is<br />
removed from the magnet,<br />
however, the particles revert to<br />
their random pattern and their<br />
magnetic qualities disappear.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Two different types of magnets (e.g. bar and horseshoe), paperclips (about 15 to<br />
20 per student, pair or small group)<br />
Preparation<br />
Examples of different types of chains (e.g. necklace, metal chain, paper chain,<br />
paperclip chain).<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
Use the various chain examples to establish what makes a chain. Explain how they<br />
are linked together in some way. Explain how magnetism can hold some objects<br />
together in a chain. Demonstrate how a magnet can pick up one paperclip, then<br />
show how another can be carefully picked up or placed at the end of the first one<br />
to start a chain.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Have the students try to make a magnetic chain. How many can they drag across<br />
the desk end to end without breaking?<br />
• Try two different magnets. Does this affect the results? Why do you think this is?<br />
• How many paperclips will a magnet lift end to end?<br />
• Investigate the lengths of the chains using two different magnets.<br />
• Record and compare results.<br />
• Which magnet could drag more paperclips? Which magnet could lift more<br />
paperclips? Was the larger magnet the stronger?<br />
• Ask the students if they can think of another way to drag or lift more paperclips<br />
than before. They can draw their design and test it.<br />
• Experiment with the number of paperclips that can be held at different places on a<br />
magnet. Are more held at the poles or in the middle? Discuss findings.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1–4. Teacher check<br />
5. Possible answers may include picking up needles from a sewing kit, nails or<br />
screws from a tool box and attaching things to the fridge for display.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Try the same experiment using pins. Do the results alter?<br />
• Test the strength of the magnets by using a ruler, bar or horseshoe magnet, and<br />
pins. Lay a pin above the ruler so the point touches the one centimetre mark.<br />
Slowly move a magnet from the other end of the ruler towards the pin. Observe<br />
and record the mark where the pin moves to the magnet. Test different magnets.<br />
Do the distances alter? Try different objects, which will have different attraction<br />
distances.<br />
• Investigate the properties of a rock called ‘magnetite’. Are there any other<br />
magnetic rocks?<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Use a digital camera to take photographs of the students doing their experiment.<br />
Display with texts written by the students describing what they did.<br />
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Magnets – Activity 2<br />
1.<br />
Test your magnets and complete the chart.<br />
Magnetic Strength<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
Magnet 1 Type:<br />
Paperclip<br />
chain dragged<br />
along desk<br />
Paperclip<br />
chain lifted by<br />
magnet<br />
a<br />
b<br />
c<br />
Which magnet dragged the longer chain?<br />
Which magnet lifted the longer chain?<br />
Was the larger magnet the stronger?<br />
Draw another way in which you could drag or lift more paperclips than before.<br />
Test your model.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
c<br />
Number of paperclips dragged<br />
Number of paperclips lifted<br />
Was this method better than your first attempt?<br />
Explain your answer.<br />
yes no<br />
Magnet 2 Type:<br />
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yes no<br />
Discuss with a partner how a magnet might be used at home. Write your answer.<br />
b<br />
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Magnetic Forces<br />
Magnets – Activity 3<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Energy and Change<br />
2.6 Describes observable<br />
changes that occur in<br />
two objects that interact,<br />
identifying the energy<br />
source and the receiver.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies how iron filings<br />
can show the lines of<br />
magnetic force.<br />
• Identifies how iron filings<br />
can support the ‘Law of<br />
Magnetic Poles’.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Records<br />
• Observes<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
• Identifies<br />
• Draw conclusions<br />
Background Information<br />
The ‘Law of Magnetic Poles’<br />
states that unlike poles<br />
attract and like poles repel.<br />
Surrounding all magnets is<br />
a magnetic field which is<br />
invisible to the eye. It’s at<br />
its greatest strength at the<br />
two poles of a magnet. By<br />
sprinkling iron filings over a<br />
paper surface with a magnet<br />
underneath the ‘lines of<br />
force’ can be demonstrated.<br />
These lines of force make up<br />
the magnetic field which is<br />
the strongest at the poles.<br />
The iron filings become<br />
magnetised and collect where<br />
the magnetic forces are<br />
working their strongest. They<br />
show the ‘lines of force’. The<br />
iron filings may stand up at<br />
different angles depending<br />
on which forces around the<br />
magnet are working on them.<br />
The magnetic field is threedimensional.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Two bar magnets, paper, iron filings in container<br />
Preparation<br />
Collection of iron filings. Separate filings into several small containers with lids (film<br />
canisters are useful) to suit the number of groups.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Revise the forces of magnets by using two bar magnets clearly marked with ‘N’ and ‘S’<br />
poles. Discuss what happens when ‘like’ and ‘unlike’ poles are put together. Get the students<br />
to describe the feeling when doing this (unlike poles attract, push together firmly; like poles<br />
have a repelling force stopping the magnets going together).<br />
What to Do<br />
• Place one bar magnet on a flat, non-magnetic surface (e.g. a desk).<br />
• Lay the paper over the magnet.<br />
• Sprinkle the iron filings gently over the paper (tap the paper gently if needed).<br />
• Draw what happens to the filings. Why do you think there are heavier lines near the poles?<br />
(The force of attraction is stronger at the poles.)<br />
• Gently fold the paper to form a scoop and carefully replace filings into their container.<br />
• Place two bar magnets on the desk about one centimetre apart. Try the three different pole<br />
positions. Predict the results based on the ‘Law of Magnetism’ demonstrated in the stimulus.<br />
Lay paper over the magnets. Sprinkle carefully with iron filings. Record results and replace<br />
iron filings carefully after each position.<br />
Position A – Like poles (N/N) together – will repel<br />
Position B – Like poles (S/S) together – will repel<br />
Position C – Unlike poles (N/S) together – will attract N S<br />
• Discuss the results with the class.<br />
• Did their predictions for ‘like’ or ‘unlike’ poles match the patterns of force shown by the<br />
iron filings?<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
1.<br />
2. The poles have a stronger magnetic force.<br />
3. (a) (b) (c)<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Challenge the students to make a class list showing the uses of magnets in our daily lives<br />
(e.g. computer disks, cassette players, compass, radio, TVs, telephones, loudspeakers, toys<br />
etc.). Review the list as it grows.<br />
• Investigate people’s jobs that involve the use of magnetism (e.g. tailors – pins/needles,<br />
mechanics – mechanic tools, window cleaners, teachers – magnetic boards).<br />
• Predict and draw what the lines of forces could look like for a horseshoe magnet. Test<br />
and compare results. The student should find the two ends of a horseshoe magnet (poles)<br />
attract each other. Why? – (Opposite poles attract.)<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Use a digital or normal camera to record students working on experiments. Label with<br />
student texts describing what they were doing.<br />
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N<br />
S<br />
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N N S S N S<br />
N<br />
S<br />
N<br />
S
Magnets – Activity 3<br />
Magnetic Forces<br />
1. Draw the lines made when iron filings are sprinkled over a magnet.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
Why do you think the filings collect mostly around the poles?<br />
Draw lines to show what patterns are made when using two magnets. Give reasons for this.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
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c<br />
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Magnetic Problems<br />
Magnets – Activity 4<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Energy and Change<br />
2.6 Describes observable<br />
changes that occur in<br />
two objects that interact,<br />
identifying the energy<br />
source and the receiver.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Observes the effects of<br />
magnetism on objects in<br />
the environment.<br />
• Uses prior knowledge<br />
on magnetism to solve<br />
problems.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Records<br />
• Predicts<br />
• Observes<br />
• Investigates<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
• Draws conclusions<br />
Background Information<br />
Magnets will attract objects<br />
through some materials but<br />
some materials will form a<br />
barrier.<br />
Magnetism will pass through<br />
materials that are not<br />
magnetic. When students are<br />
allowed to experiment with<br />
magnets and objects they<br />
soon discover they can make<br />
objects move without actually<br />
touching them. A magnet can<br />
move the paperclip from the<br />
water by sliding the magnet<br />
up the outside of the jar. As<br />
the paperclip is magnetically<br />
attracted it will follow. Window<br />
cleaners use magnets on<br />
either side of large or difficult<br />
windows (like aquariums or<br />
high rise buildings) to clean<br />
them.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Problem 1 – paper plates, magnet, paperclip<br />
Problem 2 – narrow jar, paperclips, paper towels, magnet, water<br />
Preparation<br />
Group materials from problems 1 and 2 into separate trays. Provide enough for<br />
half the class to work on opposite problems and then allow the groups to swap<br />
activities. This may extend to two lessons. Organise the class into small groups.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Revise results from previous lessons on magnets. What is the ‘Law of Magnetic<br />
Poles’? What types of objects are attracted to a magnet?<br />
• Working with groups and the materials supplied, students are to plan and design<br />
ways of solving each problem using their prior knowledge of magnets and their<br />
properties.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Allow students time to study the problem and the materials given.<br />
• Record possible ideas to solve the problems and test the best idea.<br />
• Students record their success rate and what may be needed to improve the<br />
experiment.<br />
• They attempt the next problem using the same group strategy and discuss<br />
possibilities.<br />
• The students test an idea and record the results.<br />
• Discuss the differences in the way the class groups approached the problems.<br />
Are there ways to improve the methods used? What worked? Why? What didn’t<br />
work?<br />
• Discuss with the students how many paper plates can be put between the paperclip<br />
and magnet before the magnetic attraction stops. How many paperclips can be<br />
moved around or out of the jar of water?<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Answers will vary.<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Can the students think of other problems to solve using magnets. How could it be<br />
done? For example, an object buried in the sand; moving an object through water.<br />
• Test a variety of materials to see what a magnetic force will pass through. Use<br />
cloth, cardboard, paper, aluminium foil, glass, rice etc. Experiment by placing<br />
different layers over a magnet to see which forms a barrier and which still<br />
allows magnetic forces to pass through. Which materials stopped a magnet from<br />
working? Make a list.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Investigate and report on other magnetic experiments (e.g. how to magnetise a<br />
nail; make an electromagnet; make a compass). Have the students write a science<br />
procedure for the experiment and display it as a poster. Students can demonstrate<br />
their findings to the class. Other students can follow the procedure on the poster<br />
and compare their results.<br />
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Magnets – Activity 4<br />
Magnetic Problems<br />
Problem 1<br />
Diagram<br />
How can you make a paperclip ‘walk’ around a paper plate without touching it?<br />
Plan of action/Possible ideas<br />
Materials used<br />
Problem 2<br />
Diagram<br />
What we did<br />
Rating<br />
not good average very good<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
Why it did/didn’t work<br />
How can you remove a metal object from a narrow jar of water without touching it?<br />
Materials used<br />
Rating<br />
not good average very good<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
Plan of action/Possible ideas<br />
What we did<br />
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Why it did/didn’t work<br />
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Magnets<br />
Assessment<br />
1.<br />
List two objects for each box.<br />
2.<br />
4.<br />
True or False<br />
a<br />
b<br />
c<br />
d<br />
Iron is attracted to a magnet.<br />
Like poles attract.<br />
Unlike poles attract.<br />
Some materials like paperclips<br />
can become temporary magnets.<br />
Finish the sentence using these words.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
The same magnetic poles<br />
Opposite magnetic poles<br />
How could you move the cork and nail<br />
through the water without touching it?<br />
3.<br />
Draw what iron filings’ patterns<br />
would look like for these magnets.<br />
a<br />
b<br />
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Self-assessment<br />
Indicators<br />
• Identifies differences in magnetic and non-magnetic materials.<br />
• Shows understanding of magnetic facts.<br />
• Draws ‘patterns’ to show understanding of magnetic poles.<br />
• Understands the correct use of the terms ‘attract’ and ‘repel’.<br />
• Uses knowledge of magnets to solve a problem.<br />
Demonstrated Needs further<br />
opportunity<br />
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Flight<br />
flight<br />
aeroplanes<br />
helicopter<br />
gyrocopter<br />
aerodynamics<br />
flying machine<br />
A ‘Loopy’ Aeroplane<br />
Gyrocopter<br />
A Whirligig<br />
Paper Gliders<br />
Flight<br />
The longest distance flown by a paper aircraft,<br />
launched from the ground and indoors, is 58.82 m.<br />
This is about the same length as a Jumbo jet!<br />
The smallest origami paper model of a crane bird<br />
was folded under a microscope with tweezers in<br />
Japan and was made from a piece of paper 2.9<br />
mm square!<br />
aeroplane<br />
aircraft<br />
designs<br />
distance<br />
drag<br />
experiment<br />
flight<br />
flying machine<br />
glider<br />
gravity<br />
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gyrocopter<br />
helicopter<br />
horizontal<br />
lift<br />
performance<br />
rotor<br />
spin<br />
tail<br />
vertical<br />
wings<br />
Name:<br />
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A ‘Loopy’ Aeroplane<br />
Flight – Activity 1<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Energy and Change<br />
2.5 Describes properties of<br />
light, sound, heating and<br />
movement.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Constructs a flying<br />
machine.<br />
• Makes a variety of<br />
alterations to improve the<br />
performance of a flying<br />
machine.<br />
Skills focus<br />
• Follows a procedure<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
• Observes<br />
• Records<br />
• Measures<br />
• Explains findings<br />
Background Information<br />
Things that fly are either<br />
lighter than air or they<br />
overcome the force of gravity.<br />
Gravity acts as a magnet<br />
drawing things back to the<br />
Earth’s surface.<br />
Things that are lighter than<br />
air will float on it (e.g. hotair<br />
balloons). Heavy objects,<br />
like planes, fly because their<br />
engines push them through<br />
the air and their wings lift them<br />
up.<br />
Paper planes are made to fly<br />
when they are thrown through<br />
the air. The ‘loopy plane’ is<br />
unusual in that it is a successful<br />
flying machine even though it<br />
has no wings, tail or stabilisers.<br />
Safety Warning<br />
Do not aim flying objects at<br />
any person.<br />
Always test flying objects in<br />
safe conditions and areas.<br />
Fly them away from people<br />
or windy conditions.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Straws, sheet of paper, tape, scissors, ruler, pencil, measuring tapes or metre rulers<br />
Preparation<br />
• Have a model aircraft or pictures of a variety of aircraft for students to view and<br />
gain ideas from.<br />
• Build a model to show students a completed shape. Have examples of wing shapes<br />
(flat paper or aerofoil shapes ) and tail pieces that students may like to try<br />
after they have made some attempt at changes in design.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Discuss aircraft models and pictures to show a variety of designs and changes in<br />
aircraft over time. Discuss what makes each machine fly. Explain how the students<br />
are going to make and design a flying machine.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Cut two strips of paper – one 3 cm wide and one 1.5 cm wide.<br />
• Measure the 3 cm strip for 20 cm in length and cut.<br />
• Curl and tape this strip to make a loop.<br />
• Make a small loop with the 1.5 cm strip so that the loop is<br />
about half the size of the large loop. (From 12 to 15 cm in length.)<br />
• Tape both loops to opposite ends of the straw.<br />
• Test ‘The Loopy Plane’. How well does it fly? Which way does it fly the best – with<br />
the small or large loop at the front? Test your flying machine three times and<br />
record your longest flight.<br />
• Now have the students make their own aircraft and improve on this one. Change<br />
the loop sizes, the length of the straw. Let the students experiment by adding<br />
more straws, more loops, more wings, a tail etc.<br />
• Conduct test flights with each new aircraft design. The students choose their<br />
two best ideas to test. They record the changes made to the design and the flight<br />
distances travelled.<br />
• Students or groups could demonstrate their new designs, explaining what has<br />
increased the plane’s performance. Which designs were more successful? Which<br />
designs were less successful? Why?<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Hold a class competition to find the plane that can travel the furthest or stay in the<br />
air the longest.<br />
• Construct three different-sized planes or flying machines of the same design.<br />
Test each three times and record the flight distances. Which one flew the greatest<br />
distance? Can you explain why? Does the size alter its performance?<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Research different flying machines through history. Construct a time line and add<br />
pictures, drawings or a simple report about each of the machines.<br />
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Flight – Activity 1<br />
A ‘Loopy’ Aeroplane<br />
Design 1<br />
Changes to design<br />
What happened?<br />
Design 2<br />
Design 3<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
'Loopy' Plane Test Flights<br />
Changes to design What happened?<br />
not good average very good<br />
Changes to design<br />
What happened?<br />
What happened?<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
not good average very good<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
not good average very good<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
My best design was …<br />
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What made it the best?<br />
My longest flight was design<br />
What could make it even better?<br />
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Gyrocopter<br />
Flight – Activity 2<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Energy and Change<br />
2.5 Describes properties of<br />
light, sound, heating and<br />
movement.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Constructs a flying<br />
machine.<br />
• Makes a variety of<br />
alterations to improve the<br />
performance of a flying<br />
machine.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Follows a procedure<br />
• Predicts<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
• Observes<br />
• Identifies patterns<br />
• Draw conclusions<br />
• Collects data<br />
Background Information<br />
An autogyro is like a helicopter<br />
in that it generates the lift<br />
needed to fly by using rotors<br />
(rotating wings) on top rather<br />
than stationary wings. Unlike<br />
the helicopter, the rotors are<br />
not powered and need a flow<br />
of air over their surfaces to<br />
keep them moving.<br />
When the model gyrocopter<br />
falls, air pushes up against<br />
the blades, bending them up<br />
slightly. The two blades get<br />
the same amount of push<br />
but in opposite directions,<br />
causing the gyrocopter to spin.<br />
Changing the blade directions<br />
will cause it to spin in different<br />
directions.<br />
Adding a weight (e.g. a<br />
paperclip) to the base will<br />
make it spin faster to the<br />
ground.<br />
Igor Sikorsky designed the first<br />
successful helicopter in the<br />
late 1930’s. He was inspired by<br />
Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings<br />
of an aircraft with a rotating,<br />
screw-like rotor.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Gyrocopter pattern, scissors, paperclips.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Collect pictures or videos of planes with propellers, helicopters or ‘rotor’ designs<br />
through the ages.<br />
• Make a model gyrocopter and practise from a variety of positions, using different<br />
weights. These may help the performance of the craft when dropped from a<br />
higher position, such as when standing on a chair or desk.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
Show pictures or videos of helicopters, autogyros, and if possible da Vinci’s<br />
drawings or early rotor models. Discuss their use of rotor blades for flight. Explain<br />
how the students will make a rotor-like flying machine.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Ask the students to cut out the gyrocopter pattern. Cut along the solid lines only.<br />
Fold on the dotted lines.<br />
• Fold ‘A’ wing towards you and ‘B’ wing away from you.<br />
• Fold ‘C’ and ‘D’ so they overlap each other.<br />
• Fold the base ‘E’ upwards along the dotted line.<br />
• Experiment with the gyrocopter to see how it flies. What do you notice? What<br />
direction does it spin, clockwise or anticlockwise? Can you make it change<br />
directions? Colour it brightly and watch the colours as it spins.<br />
• Experiment further with the design. Record the changes and how each affects its<br />
flight. (For example, add weight (paperclips), alter blade angles, lengthen blades,<br />
alter the width, drop it from different heights, throw it upwards and let it drop.)<br />
• The students alter two different variables and test and record the differences in<br />
performance.<br />
• Which design was better? Explain why.<br />
• Have students discuss their changes and designs with the class.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Have students experiment and select their best gyrocopter design. Hold<br />
competitions to time the fastest/slowest ‘copter’.<br />
• Make a large gyrocopter (as big as you can) and a tiny version. Experiment and<br />
compare the two. Does size alter the performance?<br />
• Write a report about Igor Sikorsky and his first helicopter design.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
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• Make a time line with pictures about helicopter<br />
or ‘rotor’ designs through the ages. Display<br />
around the classroom.<br />
• Investigate jobs where helicopters are used<br />
(news – traffic reports, firefighting, defence<br />
forces, rescue, farming etc.). Display pictures,<br />
drawings and information about how the<br />
machines are important for each job.<br />
Safety Warning<br />
Do not aim flying objects at<br />
any person.<br />
Always test flying objects in<br />
safe conditions and areas.<br />
Fly them away from people<br />
or windy conditions.<br />
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Flight – Activity 2<br />
Gyrocopter<br />
When I first dropped my gyrocopter it<br />
Follow the steps to describe and improve your gyrocopter.<br />
Step 1 Design 1 Step 2 Design 2<br />
Test Results<br />
not good average very good<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
Test Results<br />
not good average very good<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5<br />
Step 3<br />
Things I changed<br />
Design<br />
was better.<br />
I could improve the design by …<br />
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A B<br />
C D<br />
E<br />
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A Whirligig<br />
Flight – Activity 3<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Energy and change<br />
2.5 Describes properties of<br />
light, sound, heating and<br />
movement.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Makes predictions about<br />
flight patterns of the<br />
whirligig.<br />
• Constructs and throws a<br />
whirligig.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Predicts<br />
• Observes<br />
• Draws conclusions<br />
• Conducts simple tests<br />
Background Information<br />
Four basic forces are involved<br />
in flight – gravity, lift, drag and<br />
thrust. Thrust is created by<br />
a plane’s propellers or its jet<br />
engines. Drag is the natural<br />
force of air resistance against<br />
the plane’s forward movement.<br />
Lift is created by the plane’s<br />
wings as they move through<br />
the air and gravity is a natural<br />
force that pushes the plane<br />
towards the ground. Gravity<br />
and lift are opposite forces, as<br />
are drag and thrust.<br />
The ‘whirliggig’ flies through<br />
the air because of the force<br />
used when it is thrown. It spins<br />
and cuts through the air in<br />
the same way as a propeller.<br />
It works best when held by<br />
the end of one of the blades<br />
or wings with the thumb and<br />
index finger.<br />
Keep the whirly-gig vertical<br />
and flick forward and upward<br />
to start a spinning action. It<br />
should return in a semicircle<br />
and come back to the place it<br />
was thrown from. It may take<br />
several practices to get the<br />
correct thrust to make it return.<br />
Safety Warning<br />
Do not aim flying objects at<br />
any person.<br />
Always test flying objects in<br />
safe conditions and areas.<br />
Fly them away from people<br />
or windy conditions.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
Stiff card (e.g. cereal packs – other materials such as cardboard, styrofoam or<br />
balsa can also be used), whirligig template (page 81), scissors.<br />
Preparation<br />
• Have templates already made in thick card for students to trace around.<br />
• Make a model whirligig and practise throwing it to demonstrate and discuss<br />
results.<br />
• Students will need a large area like a gymnasium, an undercover assembly area or<br />
oval to practise throwing their whirligig (little wind).<br />
• Have a collection of pictures of aircraft with propellers or rotor blades on display<br />
(as in gyrocopter activity).<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Discuss pictures where aircraft use propellers or rotor blades.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Students trace around a whirligig template onto card.<br />
(See ‘Appendix 1’ on page 81.)<br />
• They carefully cut around the shape so the edges are smooth.<br />
• Students can colour it brightly and add their names.<br />
• Ask students to predict what they think will happen when the whirligig is thrown.<br />
• Demonstrate how to hold and throw the whirligig for students by holding one<br />
blade vertically and flicking it forward and upward.<br />
• Students will need to practise to get the correct amount of thrust to make the<br />
whirligig circle and come back like a boomerang. (Students will need a large area<br />
to practise—preferably indoors without wind.)<br />
• Students record what they have found about their whirligig.<br />
• Try throwing the whirligig horizontally. What happens?<br />
• What could be changed to make it better? Allow students to experiment and<br />
record results.<br />
• Talk about the performances of the whirligigs.<br />
• Ask who can throw and catch their whirligig. Give each throwing technique a<br />
rating.<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Make a frisbee using an aluminium pie plate and modelling clay. Turn the plate<br />
upside down and try to fly it. What happens? Add small amounts of modelling clay<br />
evenly spaced around the outside edge of the dish. Using a backhand toss, try to<br />
fly it again. Is it better with or without the weights? Try different types of plates<br />
or alter the weights used. What differences can you notice? Record results and<br />
compare with others in the class. Hold a competition for the longest flying pie<br />
plate design.<br />
• Make small finger boomerangs (from stiff card) that can be launched off a slightly<br />
tilted book with the flick of a finger. Strike the boomerang so that it spins off<br />
the book rapidly. The boomerang should fly straight out, turn and come back. If<br />
needed, give one edge of each wing a slight bend upward like a forward flap.<br />
Display Ideas<br />
• Research and display pictures and reports showing the uses and<br />
types of boomerangs. Do they all return?<br />
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Flight – Activity 3<br />
Follow the steps to describe and improve your whirligig.<br />
A Whirligig<br />
Step 1<br />
Step 2<br />
What do you want to find out about your whirligig?<br />
What do you think will happen?<br />
What happened?<br />
What happened when you threw it vertically?<br />
Stay Safe!<br />
Do not aim your whirligig at<br />
anyone.<br />
Test your whirligig in a safe area<br />
(like outside or in the assembly<br />
room).<br />
What happened when you threw it horizontally?<br />
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Step 3<br />
What could you do to improve<br />
your whirligig? Try it!<br />
What happened?<br />
Colour a rectangle on<br />
the ratings picture to<br />
show how it went.<br />
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Paper Gliders<br />
Flight – Activity 4<br />
Lesson Focus<br />
Outcomes<br />
Energy and change<br />
2.5 Describes properties of<br />
light, sound, heating and<br />
movement.<br />
Indicators<br />
• Constructs and flies a<br />
paper glider.<br />
• Makes a variety of<br />
changes to improve the<br />
performance of a flying<br />
machine.<br />
Skills Focus<br />
• Follows a procedure<br />
• Observes<br />
• Records<br />
• Measures<br />
• Collects data<br />
• Predicts<br />
• Draws conclusions<br />
• Works cooperatively<br />
Background Information<br />
Paper planes fly differently<br />
depending on their shape.<br />
Long, thin designs are better<br />
for long, straight flights.<br />
Large wings slow down flight<br />
and cause the plane to ‘loop’.<br />
Flying objects all use the wind<br />
indirectly to fly, using the<br />
Bernoulli principle.<br />
Daniel Bernoulli was a Swiss<br />
scientist who discovered that as<br />
air flows horizontally, its vertical<br />
pressure decreases as its speed<br />
increases. This decrease in air<br />
pressure can lift objects from a<br />
paper plane or frisbee to a real<br />
plane. The light wings and tail<br />
help the glider to lift and float<br />
in the air when it is thrown. The<br />
paperclip gives it balance and<br />
keeps it going forward. Too<br />
little weight will make it tail<br />
heavy and too much weight will<br />
make it dive.<br />
Safety Warning<br />
Do not aim flying objects at<br />
any person.<br />
Always test flying objects in<br />
safe conditions and areas.<br />
Fly them away from people<br />
or windy conditions.<br />
Before the Lesson<br />
Materials Needed<br />
A4 sheets of paper, metre rulers, paperclips, tape<br />
Preparation<br />
• Have a paper glider already complete plus paper to work through the construction of<br />
gliders, piece by piece, with the students.<br />
• Find other glider models to show students.<br />
• Students will need a large area like a gymnasium or assembly area (preferably indoors<br />
without wind) to practise throwing their gliders.<br />
The Lesson<br />
Stimulus<br />
• Show examples of paper plane models and demonstrate how they perform. Discuss their<br />
differences. Allow the students time and paper to make their own designs and test them.<br />
This ‘free-play’ time will get rid of excess excitement related to the activity.<br />
What to Do<br />
• Guide students step by step to make their own glider.<br />
• Take the A4 sheet. The students can colour it now<br />
or after the plane has been made.<br />
• Fold it down the centre, then open it out.<br />
• Fold corners A and B until they meet the centre<br />
fold.<br />
• Fold C and D until they meet the centre fold.<br />
• Fold glider backwards in half along fold line, into<br />
the centre.<br />
• Fold down wings either side so A meets B. Then<br />
adjust the wings to be horizontal.<br />
Back view<br />
• The students write their names on it.<br />
• Test your glider with a partner or in small groups. Record your glider’s flight distance over<br />
three trials. Did the distance improve?<br />
• Does extra weight affect the glider? Add a paperclip to its nose and record its distance over<br />
three trials.<br />
• Discuss the variety of paper models shown at the beginning of the lesson. (Some with<br />
different shapes, wings, tail etc.). Demonstrate each again and leave for students to view.<br />
• Allow students time to think of ways to change their models (e.g. alter wings, tail, seal the<br />
body with tape). Have the students select one method and try it on their glider.<br />
• Test its performance and record what happens. Did it improve? What could be tried next?<br />
After the Lesson<br />
Answers<br />
Teacher check<br />
Additional Activities<br />
• Make three different-sized gliders (small, medium, large). Test their performance over<br />
several trials. Does size make a difference? Which travelled the greatest distance? Have<br />
students explain the results.<br />
• Using the same paper glider, change its weight by adding two, three or four paperclips to<br />
different positions on the plane. Observe and record the differences in performance.<br />
• From the students’ findings, have them design and construct their own glider. Hold a<br />
race to see which travels the greatest distance. Examine the winning plane to explain its<br />
performance.<br />
Display<br />
• Graph flight results on a large chart. Use paper streamers cut to lengths for a bar graph.<br />
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B<br />
a<br />
c<br />
d<br />
b<br />
A
Flight – Activity 4<br />
Follow the steps to describe and improve your paper glider.<br />
What happened when you first flew your paper glider?<br />
Paper Gliders<br />
Step 1<br />
T<br />
E<br />
S<br />
T<br />
1<br />
Step 2<br />
T<br />
E<br />
S T<br />
1<br />
Step 3<br />
T<br />
E<br />
S<br />
T<br />
2<br />
T<br />
E<br />
S T<br />
2<br />
Distance Travelled<br />
What happened when you added a paperclip to the nose of the glider?<br />
•<br />
•<br />
Possible ideas to improve my<br />
glider …<br />
Distance Travelled<br />
Did this change increase the<br />
distance your glider could travel?<br />
Explain why.<br />
T<br />
E<br />
S<br />
T<br />
3<br />
T<br />
E<br />
S T<br />
3<br />
yes no<br />
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•<br />
•<br />
What would you change next?<br />
Circle the one you want to try.<br />
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Flight<br />
Assessment<br />
1.<br />
Flying machine<br />
Describe how it moved<br />
Describe a change made to<br />
the design.<br />
2.<br />
‘Loopy’ Aeroplane<br />
Gyrocopter<br />
Whirly-gig<br />
Paper Glider<br />
Did it improve?<br />
Did it improve?<br />
Did it improve?<br />
Did it improve?<br />
Does adding weight to a flying machine improve its performance? Explain your answer.<br />
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Yes<br />
Yes<br />
Yes<br />
Yes<br />
No<br />
No<br />
No<br />
No<br />
Indicators<br />
Demonstrated Needs further<br />
opportunity<br />
Self-assessment<br />
• Describes how a variety of flying machines move.<br />
• Describes an alteration made to improve the performance of a flying machine.<br />
• Evaluates the alteration’s success.<br />
• Discusses how extra weight affects the performance of a flying machine.<br />
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Flight – Activity 3 (resource)<br />
A Whirly-Gig<br />
Appendix 1. (See activities page 76 – 77)<br />
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