Guided Leech Activity and Record Keeping in a Science Notebook
Summary
In this classroom activity, students will observe leeches, develop questions about them, and decide as a class which question to investigate further. The teacher and students will create a scientific investigation to test their question. A science notebook will be utilized to record questions, data, and results.
Learning Goals
Learning Goal: The student will understand the nature of scientific investigations and the importance of keeping a notebook.
Concepts and Content:
1. The student will explore the use of science as a tool that can help investigate and answer questions about the environment.
2. The student will ask questions about the natural world that can be investigated scientifically.
3. The student will know that scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer.
4. The student will participate in a scientific investigation using appropriate tools.
5. The students will begin utilizing a science notebook to record information.
Vocabulary:
inquiry
investigation
leech
investigable question
variables
Concepts and Content:
1. The student will explore the use of science as a tool that can help investigate and answer questions about the environment.
2. The student will ask questions about the natural world that can be investigated scientifically.
3. The student will know that scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer.
4. The student will participate in a scientific investigation using appropriate tools.
5. The students will begin utilizing a science notebook to record information.
Vocabulary:
inquiry
investigation
leech
investigable question
variables
Context for Use
This lesson is designed for third grade students. It will be used at the beginning of the year to introduce the idea of investigable questions and the use of a science notebook. The class completing this activity is comprised of 20 students in a rural school. It is a lab activity that will take about 4 - 45 minute class periods to complete. (Not including the development of a poster to display test results.) Equipment needed: leeches, clear glass dish to observe leeches, science notebooks and, depending on the investigable question decided on by the class and teacher, more equipment to test the question. The equipment could include thermometer, stop watch, ice, heat source, construction paper, etc. Students should know how to read a thermometer and possibly measure with a ruler. This activity will occur at the beginning of the year and would be easy to adapt to other grade levels and other settings.
Description and Teaching Materials
Teaching Notes and Tips
Some common areas of confusion might be, "just what is an investigable question?" Because this is the first time the students have been exposed to an inquiry activity, a discussion about variables and how just one variable at a time should be changed in the investigation is necessary. The students should be told to not handle the leeches, but if one does attach to a student, a small amount of salt at the site of the attachment will make the leech fall off the skin. This activity is completely different from what my students and I have done in the past because we have never decided our own testable question. We've just done activities as they have been set up in our curriculum.
Assessment
The students will achieve the learning goal of understanding the nature of a scientific investigation if during discussion about the leech activity they can talk about what they did and how that is like what scientists do as they think about things and design testing strategies. The teacher will look over the science notebooks and discuss what worked and what was a problem with the students.
Standards
3.I.A.1 - science as a tool
3.I.B.1 - natural world questions can be investigated scientifically
3.I.B.2 - use of appropriate tools
3.I.B.3 - scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on questions they are trying to answer
3.I.B.1 - natural world questions can be investigated scientifically
3.I.B.2 - use of appropriate tools
3.I.B.3 - scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on questions they are trying to answer