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Friends,
I am looking for an inquiry-based lab on measurement to do with my gifted 8th grade students in physical science. Does anybody have any good ideas for this? I don't want them to be bored b/c I know measurement can be boring, so maybe doing a hands-on inquiry-based activity the students will be interested and engaged.
Thanks in advance.
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Hi Brad,
In the past I have completed an activity that demonstrated the importance of one system of measurement - students measure objects using non-standard measuring devices, and then they are required to trade with other "lands"/lab tables while still keeping their "equity" as equal as possible. It is a hoot to see them trying to figure out how many paper clips are in one string to trade a length of ribbon. Everyone works hard to trade so that their "value" remains as equal as possible.
But your question got me wondering what I else I could do to "spice-up" what is usually very dull and boring for my students - the actual measurement of objects and liquids using the metric system. So I went searching in the learning center... :-) I have posted a collection that I have started on measurement. I will continue to add to it, as I find resources that "fit." I especially liked the two forensics or "who done it?" lesson ideas. Let me know what you think.
Measurement Lessons and Ideas Collection
(17 items)
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Thank you! Those activities look great. I will be sure to use them in the classroom. I really liked the crime scene investigation activity.
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I like that basketball court one..it does seem redundant, but couuld be fun to do part of the lab to reinforce the importance of a common system of units for everyone.
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Hi Chris,
I love using the AIMS' Mini Metric Olympics lab. There are several versions easily downloadable as a pdf off the internet. There are ways to "jazz" it up for eighth graders. Besides expecting them to estimate their measurements before they actually do them, you can add a column for students to calculate their percentage of error for each station. It is a fun way to review and practice metric measuring at the beginning of a school year. My preservice teachers enjoy participating in this rotation lab as a way to review metric measuring.
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I did the first part of that basketball lab...where they measured everything in the fingers, hands, paces, cubits, etc. It was really usefull because even though I explained how to measure each one...i still had kids doing them wrong...like with paces...some kids were taking the biggest steps they could, others were just walking normally and others were doing it foot to foot. Really reinforced the idea of a need for a common measurement system.
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Brad,
Something my students enjoy at the middle school (8th grade - both regular ed and GT) - using food - measuring it in the metric system and calculating the volume and density. I provided them a small piece of rectangular chocolate and working with another colleague, we labeled it "Chocolate Comparisons". We did warn students not to eat their "lab" before they were done as they were getting exactly the two to three pieces per group. If more was required...it was a minimum of 5 minutes detention cleaning my room during recess - something none of them care for. Compliance was at 100% - I'm always impressed with this every year.
I had their complete attention, even students who have a preference to be distracting were very attentive. Being more open-ended, it allowed them to practice measuring, doing calculations followed by analysis and allowed me time to circulate and work more closely with students who had more difficulty and needed more guidance. It was a great way to differentiate and yet manage the class well such that all learned and practiced measurement skills. They totally love it and were engage - nothing like having an edible prize during class and using something they are familiar with and enjoy. After they weighed their chocolates and got all their data...then they got to eat it and then do the analysis.
The level of responses was the differing factor - I expected my GT students to go into greater depth with greater observations into the minute details in their analysis as compared to my regular ed or mainstreamed SPED. This is an important consideration for GT - more depth and rigor is more important versus more work.
However, I did start this activity initially by just having my students explore, discover and practice measuring objects they have with them: measure, weigh and record. They really enjoy this and really take it to heart...none of the questions - is this right but rather, did I measure this right? Is it reasonable? etc
Because it was their stuff and some of it "contraband" by school rules, I laid the expectations down in advance, which they followed or I would confiscate. Every single student was compliant. Again, all my students were fully engaged, doing and learning how to measure and record, because it was immediately relevant and had a purpose that was of value to them. Kind of a back door way of getting to practice and hone measurement skills. This was an important skill building exercise since measurement is one of their weaknesses as a whole group. I had them record the information in their labbook - thereby saving on paper and helping them practice organizing data (I provided some examples). I prefaced it - well, how much weight are you carrying and how much space does it take up.
Those are my ideas and I hope you find them valuable.
Cheers!
Cindy Fong
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A fellow middle school science teacher came up with this activity for students to hone their metric measuring skills. It's called "Save Fluffy!" and is centered around the idea that there is a pet cat named Fluffy who is very sick and requires specific treatments. Students work in groups to build (or just diagram) a cage for Fluffy that meets very particular dimension requirements, mix up a solution of medicine (just salt) that has a precise concentration, warm up the solution and keep it at the right temperature, and build a paperclip cat toy that has a certain mass and length. If students don't do all of these things, they have the choice of purchasing the items from the vet himself (prices are listed). The winners of this activity are the students that can meet all of Fluffy's requirements while spending the least amount of money. My students had a lot of fun with this venture, and I found it a great way for my honors kids to utilize their measuring skills.
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