“This boat is unsinkable!” exclaimed the captain of the Titanic. “This boat is made of steel!” replied the shipbuilder.

In their investigation over the displacement of matter, sixth grade science students tested matter to see if its shape affected its volume. 

Students used a marble, foil ball, and clay ball to initiate the investigation.

They measured the circumference in centimeters, the mass in grams, the weight in newtons, and the volume of each ball in cubic centimeters.

Keeping the marble as the control, students reshaped the balls of clay and foil into boat shaped objects.  The results predicted were that even if the mass did not change, the boat shape would float while the ball shape would sink.  The students noticed a change in volume when the matter was reshaped.  The volume increased.

Archimedes was regarded as one of the leading scientists in Ancient Greece.  His theory was,

     "an object that is placed in fluid experiences an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object."  

 Since more water was displaced with the boat shape, more upward force was experienced, and the matter floated.

Students concluded that the increase in volume had to have come from the addition of air that the boat shaped matter held.   These results were seen with both the clay and foil.

Archimedes was also a mathematician.   He believed that the results had to be proven with math.  The formula he used was Density, D is equal to the Mass,M  of the object divided by the Volume,V.  D=M/V

If the answer is less than 1.0, the object should float because the density of  water is 1.0.

Studying the Characteristics of Matter - A Partnership Between Math, Science & Technology

          As sixth graders tackled the understanding of atoms, the smallest unit of an element, they learned that computer simulations can help them to understand things that are too small to manipulate.  The PHET, State of Matter Simulation,  helped the students draw the conclusion that as heat is added to matter, the atoms increase in kinetic energy and move away from each other in space.  When heat is taken away, the atoms slow down and converge closer together. 
         The simulation introduced another measurement scale used by physical scientists to measure energy.  Kinetic energy is measured with Kelvin units.  This scale can show absolute 0 which is when the atoms have no kinetic energy. 
         Also, while studying the characteristics of matter, students learned to apply the measurement formulas they have learned in math.  Matter can be measured in mass, volume, and density.
The formulas applied easily to regular shapes.  Students had to use displacement of water to find the volume of irregular shapes. Students were able to record and analyze results using graphs generated from Excel software.

An Hour of Code

 Engineers from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter joined forces to present a tutorial on how to write code for students during Computer Science Education Week.  Sixth grade students were challenged to spend one hour of the week learning about computer programming using a visual language program known as, "Blockly". During the course, students were exposed to the foundations of computer science. According to the program, these skills are used anywhere from making apps to controlling the Mars rover.  After completing the hour of code, students were challenged to work their way through a self paced course where they have the opportunity to play the role of a computer scientist.  The program encourages problem solving and computational thinking.  Kade Coon is shown working with the program. Try it out by clicking on the button found in the right hand menu bar.

Toulmin’s Argument Model

     Stephen Toulmin was an English philosopher who identified the basic elements of a persuasive argument.  He believed that an argument should start with a claim.  A claim is a statement that you are asking another person to accept.  The second step to creating a good argument is to support the claim with evidence.  The evidence is made up of data,  hard facts, and the reasoning that is used to support the claim.   The third step is to use qualifiers.  These are words like "most", "usually", "always", or "sometimes".  They are used to indicate the limits of the claim.  The final step is my personal favorite because it requires the students to seek to understand the opposite point of view.  Once the other viewpoint is understood, students work on the final step, which is known as the rebuttal.  This is when you give reasons why you still think you are right and the other point of view is wrong. :)

     The sixth graders are working together to create interviews that share information they have researched over water.  The essential questions that were answered were:  What is water?  What is the water cycle?  Why is water important? What are some problems the world is facing with freshwater supplies?

     As you might guess, the last question is the one that is leading to the most controversy.  Students are learning the meaning of the words mitigate and compromise.

    Below are pictures of 6A working together on their interviews.   The interviews will be videoed using the iPads and uploaded into student google drive accounts.   

Groundwater Models

After testing different types of substances for their permeability, sixth graders made groundwater models to show how the permeability affects the movement of water underground.   The models were constructed using layers of clay soil, sand, and gravel.  A layer of carbon was added to topsoil to complete the model.   The carbon represented the decayed remains of plants and animals, known as humus.

            Once the models were complete, students tested how well the ground removes pollutants from water by pouring a solution of cocoa, pepper, and food coloring over the topsoil.   This solution represented pollution made up of different particle sizes.

            As the water soaked into the ground, students noticed how quickly each material absorbed the water and where the water flowed once it reached a saturation point.  Students also watched for the pollutants to see if they appeared in the water that was pumped from the bottom of the aquifer. 

            Students then injected food coloring below the topsoil between two impermeable layers of clay.  They found that the food coloring would travel downhill toward the water well through the more permeable layer of sand.

            In conclusion, students decided that the earth did a great job of filtering the water.  They also decided that pollutants injected into the interior of the earth could travel a long way from the injection site because of the differences in permeability of the earth’s substances.

A real life application of the experiment is seen in the outdoor classroom wetland area.  Run off is allowed to filter through the ground which is the earth’s way of keeping the water clean for future uses. 

How Does the Ogallala Aquifer Work?

Kansas depends on the Ogallala Aquifer for a water source to water crops and provide water for other human needs.  “What exactly is an aquifer and how does it work? “ is a question that the students have been researching. 

6^th graders are studying types of groundwater in science.  They have learned that an underground layer of permeable rock or sediment that contains water is called an aquifer.   Usually the groundwater is located over impermeable rock that keeps the water from draining away.

Substances that make up the earth can be classified into permeable, water can flow through them, or impermeable, water cannot flow through them.    Gravel, sand, and soil are all permeable.  However, the speed in which water travels through them can differ according to the particle size of the substance.  6^th graders conducted an experiment and wrote lab reports of the results.  

They tested how many seconds it took for 30cc of water to drain through 30cc of the different materials.  Three trials were run on each substance and the mean was found.  Comparisons were recorded into an excel worksheet and converted into a bar graph.  Students found that the clay soils were significantly slower at draining the water than sand or gravel because the particle size of the soil is much smaller.