Insulation: Graphing a cooling curvemicrosites.ncl.ac.uk/fasmedtoolkit/files/2016/08/Insulation_guidance.pdf · Insulation: Graphing a cooling curve FaSMEd 2 1. Content Identify good

Insulation:Graphingacoolingcurve FaSMEd

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Subject: ScienceAgeofstudents: 12-13yearsHardware: SurfaceoriPad,temperatureprobeSoftware: LoggerProsoftwareFunctionalities:IdentifyingandRespondingtoConceptual

DifficultiesTime: 10minutesbeforethelesson,two40-minute

classes(oronedoubleclass)and10minutesinafollowingclass(orhomework).

FaSMEdpartner: MaynoothUniversityShortAbstract: Inthislessonteachersexplorestudentmisconceptions

andhowthesemightimpactasciencelesson.Studentscarryoutapre-assessment.Teachersusethispre-assessmenttoplanforthefollowinglessonstocarryoutaninsulationactivitywithstudentsusingtemperatureprobes,dataloggingsoftwareandSchoology.ThisactivityadaptedfrommaterialsfromDiscoverSensorsIrelandwww.discoversensors.ie.Studentssetupanexperimenttographacoolingcurveusingtheloggersoftware.Thestudentsthentorecordtheiranalysisoftheirgraphswithingroups.

FaSMEdRaisingAchievementthroughFormativeAssessmentinScienceandMathematicsEducation

Insulation:Graphingacoolingcurve


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1. ContentIdentifygoodandbadconductorsofheatandcompareinsulatingabilityofdifferentmaterials.

2. Activity2.1 AimsLearningOutcomes:ContentKnowledge:

• Temperatureisameasureofthehotnessofsomething.• Metalsarepoorinsulators.• Materialsthataregoodinsulators.• Aconductorletsheatthroughiteasily.• Aninsulatorisabadconductorofheat.

Process:

• Studentswilllearnhowtocarryoutafairtest.• StudentswillbecomefamiliarwithusingLoggerProandtemperaturesensors1.• Studentswillinterpretgraphsinrealtimeastheycollectdata.• Studentswillassociatetheslopeofthegraphwiththerateofcooling.

Skills:

• Informationprocessing-recording,presentinginformation.• Criticalandcreativethinking–examiningevidenceandreachingconclusions.

Communicating• Workingwithothers

2.2 Structure/MethodologyIntroduction:Thislessonunitisstructuredinthefollowingway:

• Beforethelesson,students’workonapre-assessmenttaskdesignedtorevealtheircurrentunderstandinganddifficulties.Youreviewtheirworkandcreatequestionsforstudentstoanswerinorderforthemtoimprovetheirsolutions.

• StudentswillbeintroducedtotheGo!temptechnology(youmayusethevideoslistedbelow)andwillinstallsoftwareontheirlaptops/iPads.

• Studentswillparticipateingroupworktogetfamiliarwithtemperatureprobes.• Awholeclassdiscussionprovidesstudentswithanopportunitytodiscussthe

technologyandanyproblems/commentstheymayhaveaboutit.• Theteacherwillthenintroducetheinsulationexperimentanddiscusssafety

regulations.• Studentswillcarryouttheinsulationexperimentingroups.• StudentswillgatherandinterprettheirdataandpostresultsonSchoology.• TeacherwillanalyseresultsonSchoologyandgivegroupfeedbacktotheclass.

1TemperatureSensorsavailableat:http://www.vernier.com/products/sensors/temperature-sensors/


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• Finallystudentsreturntothepre-assessmenttaskandtrytoimprovetheiroriginalresponses.

Pre-assessmentTask(10minutes)Setthistask,inclassorforhomeworkafewdaysbeforethisformativeassessmentclass.Thiswillgiveyouanopportunitytoassessthework,andtofindoutthekindofdifficultiesstudentsarehavingwithit.Youwillthenbeabletotargetyourhelpmoreeffectivelyinthefollowuplesson.Giveeachstudentacopyofthepre-assessmenttask.Brieflyintroducethetaskandhelptheclasstounderstandtheproblemanditscontext.Readthroughthetaskandtrytoansweritascarefullyasyoucan.Itisimportantthatasfaraspossible,studentsareallowedtoanswerthequestionswithoutyourassistance.Explaintostudentsthatbytheendofthenextclass(es)theyshouldbeabletoanswerquestionssuchastheseconfidently.Thisistheirgoal.Assessingstudents’responses:Collectstudents’responsestothetask.Makesomenotesonwhattheirworkrevealsabouttheircurrentlevelsofunderstandingandtheirdifferentproblemsolvingapproaches.Wesuggestthatyoudonotscorestudents’work.Theresearchshowsthatthiswillbecounterproductive,asitwillencouragestudentstocomparetheirscoresandwilldistracttheirattentionfromwhattheycandotoimprovetheirmathematics.Instead,helpstudentstomakefurtherprogressbysummarizingtheirdifficultiesasaseriesofquestions.Wesuggestthatyouwritealistofyourownquestions,basedonyourstudents’work,usingtheideasthatfollow.Youmaychoosetowritequestionsoneachstudent’swork.Ifyoudonothavetimetodothis,selectafewquestionsthatwillbeofhelptothemajorityofstudents.Thesecanbewrittenontheboardattheendofthelesson.SuggestedLessonOutlineTechnologyIntroduction(30minutes)BegintheclassbyintroducingthetemperatureprobesandLoggerProsoftware.Youmayusethevideoslistedabovetofamiliarisethestudentswithhowtheprobeswork.Allowstudentstimetoinstallthesoftwareonthelaptops.Teachersshouldsupervisethisactivitycloselysothatstudentsarefamiliarwiththetechnologyforthenextactivity.Organisestudentsintogroupsforthenextactivity,makesuregroupsaremixedabilityorchosenusingthe‘lollipopstick’method.Assigngrouprolesandemphasisthateverystudenthasaparttoplayintheexperimentaswellascontributingtothegroupactivity.StudentsaregoingtotestouttheirtemperatureprobesandtheLoggerProsoftwareusingbeakersofhotandcoldwater.Remindstudentsthatdataneedstobegatheredontheircomputerwhiletheyaretestingouttheprobes.ShowstudentshowtoadjustthetimescaleontheLoggerProsoftware.

• Nowwearegoingtotestoutourtemperatureprobesbyplacingtheminthebeakersofwater.


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• Makesurethatyouarecollectingdataonthelaptop/iPadwhileyouarecarryingouttheexperiment.

• Makealistofanyproblemsthatyouarehavingwiththelaptopprogrammeorthetemperatureprobe.

• Writedown3commentsthatyouhaveaboutthisactivity,wearegoingtohaveagroupdiscussionafterthis.

Followingonfromthisyoushouldleadawholeclassdiscussionorbrainstormaboutthefirstactivity,makingsurethatallgroupsunderstandhowtousethetechnologyaccurately.ActivityIntroduction:InsulationExperiment(20minutes)Itwillbeimportantthatyouleadintothisexperimentbylinkingitwiththepreviousone.Makesuretodiscussanysafetyissuesthatmayariseduringtheexperiment.Againassigngrouprolesandemphasistheimportanceofstickingtotheroleaswellasparticipatingfullyingroupwork.Thefollowingmethodcanbeusedforthisactivity:Introducingtheinvestigation(samplequestions):

• Whydocafésandgaragessellcoffee“togo”incardboardorpolystyrenecups?• Whydohotwaterbottleshavewoollencovers?• Whyarewetoldtoputalaggingjacketonthehotwatercylinderinourhouse?• Ifweweretocarryoutaninvestigationonhowgoodofaninsulatoramaterialwas

whatwouldwedo?• Howcouldwemakesureourexperimentwasafairtest?

Procedure

1. Boilthekettle.2. Gettwocansandwrapathickwadofkitchenpaperaroundoneofthecans.3. Placeexactly100cm3oftheboiledwaterintobothcontainers.4. Placeacoffeecuplidoneachofthecontainers.5. Placethetemperaturesensorthroughtheholeineachlidsoitreachesthehot

water.6. SetthetimerontheLoggerProsoftware

tocollectfor10minutes(600seconds)7. Startcollectingtemperaturedata.8. Stopandautoscalethegraph.9. Savethegraph.


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Results

Thisisthedatacollectedbythetwotemperaturesensors,andthegraphgeneratedbythesoftware.Eachtimetheexperimentisrepeated;thetrendintheresultsisthesame.

Questionsarisingfromtheexperiment

• Whatwastheinitialtemperatureofthewaterineachcontainer?(Andifthekettlewasjustrecentlyboiled,whywasthewatertemperaturenot100°C?)

• Whatwasthetemperaturelossineachcontainerafter10minutes?• Canyouexpressthisasapercentagelossineachcase?• Wasthisafairtest?• Whatwastheonlyvariablewechanged,andwhy?• Whatwaskeptconstant–whywasthisimportant?• Woulditmatterifthelidswereleftoff?• Whatwouldhappenifthelayerofinsulationwas(i)thicker(ii)thinner(iii)adifferent

material?• Canyoupredictifthetrendinresultswouldbethesameforlargerbodiesofhot

water?• Whatmakesamaterialagoodinsulatoragainstheatloss?• Whyarewealwaysadvisedtowearlayersofclothingincoldweather?

SampleGraph


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AnalysingandInterpretingtheData:(10minutes)Thereisadefinitetrend–wecanseethetemperatureisfallinginbothcontainersofwater.Thetemperatureisfallingmorequicklyinthe‘bare’container,moreslowlyinthe‘wrapped’container.Thismustbebecausethelayerofkitchenpaper(orwhatevermaterialused)ispreventingtheheatenergyfromleavingthewaterasquicklyasinthe‘bare’container.

StudentsshouldnowhaveagraphwithalloftheirexperimentresultsontheLoggerProprogramme.Encouragestudentstoanalyseandinterpretthisdata.Nowstudentswearegoingtolookatourgraphsandseeifwecandrawupanyconclusionsfromthisexperiment.IwantyoutouploadyourgraphtotheSchoologygrouppageandleaveacommentabout

whatyourgroupconcludedaboutinsulators.Thisactivitymaytaketimeasstudentsmayfinditdifficulttouploadthegraphs.Youshouldpracticethisyourselfbeforecomingintoclasssothatyouarefamiliarwiththeprocess.Onceallgraphsareuploaded,youshouldanalysetheresultsyourselfaftertheclassandpickthekeyconceptualdifficultiesthatgroupsarehavinganddiscussthemintofollowingclass.Improvingindividualsolutionstotheassessmenttask(10minutes)Returntothestudentstheiroriginalpre-assessmenttask,aswellasasecondblankcopyofthetask.Lookatyouroriginalresponsesandthinkaboutwhatyouhavelearnedthislesson.Usingwhatyouhavelearned,trytoimproveyourwork.Ifyouhavenotaddedquestionstoindividualpiecesofworkthenwriteyourlistofquestionsontheboard.Studentsshouldselectfromthis

listonlythosequestionstheythinkareappropriatetotheirownwork.Ifyoufindyouarerunningoutoftime,youcouldsetthistaskforhomework.

2.3 Technology• VideoClips: BluetoothDevice:http://vnr.st/v190:USBDevice:http://vnr.st/v19• Eachstudentwillneedtwocopiesofthepre-assessmenttaskandaccesstotheir

individualSchoologyaccount.• Eachgroupwillneedatemperatureprobe,kettle,water,twoplasticcontainerswith

lids,thickwadofkitchenpaperandelasticband• Eachgroupwillneedaccesstoalaptop,SurfaceoriPadfortheLoggerProsoftware.

StudentresponsesonSchoology


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2.4 AspectsofFormativeAssessmentTheformativeassessmentstrategiesofnoteduringthisseriesoflessonsincludedengineeringeffectiveclassroomdiscussionsandlearningtaskssuchasgroupbasedinsulationinvestigations,whichelicitevidenceofstudentunderstanding,providingfeedbackthatmoveslearnersforward,andactivatingstudentsasinstructionalresourcesforoneanother.Thiswasfacilitatedthroughthefollowingformativeassessmentpractices:

• Assessingpriorknowledgeusingapre-assessmenttask.• Co-operativelearning.• Higherorderquestioning.• Usingtechnologytogatherinformationonstudentunderstandingtoinformfeedback

practices.

3. FurtherInformation• Establishingwherethelearnersareintheirlearning.

Theteachermadeuseofapre-assessmenttasktoassesspriorknowledgearoundinsulationbeforethelessonbegan.Heanalysedstudentresponsesandusedthistobuildstructuredfeedbacktothegroupbeforetheinvestigationbegan.

Duringthegraphingactivitytheteachermadeuseofeffectivequestioningtoestablishwerethelearnersareintheirlearning.Hedidthisatthebeginningofthelessonwhenheengagedstudentsinabrainstormactivityabouttheirinvestigation.Fieldnotesillustratedhowhewasaskingstudentshigherorderquestionsthroughouttheentirelesson.Towardtheendofthelessonwhenstudentswerebeginningtodrawupconclusionstotheirexperimentsvideodatashowedhowtheteacherwasmovingaroundtheclassroomandengagingdifferentgroupsindiscussion.Heprobedstudentsforunderstandingbyaskingthemfortheirreasoningbehindtheirconclusionsandheaskedstudentsaboutwhattheylearnedfromtheirgraphs.

• Establishingwheretheyaregoing.

Theaimofthelessonwasforstudentstoexploregraphingandalleviateanymisconceptionsstudentsmayhavearoundtheconcept.Itwasalsoimportantforpupilstounderstandhowagraphworksandhowtheycandrawconclusionsaboutanexperimentusinggraphs.

• Establishingwhatneedstobedonetogetthemthere.

Throughoutthelessontheteacheractivatedstudentsasresourcesforoneanothertohelpthemunderstandtheconceptofgraphing.Videodatademonstratethatthestudentsworkedinco-operativegroupsoffourduringthelessonwitheachstudentassignedaspecifictask.Thestudentswereassignednumberandwerenotinformedastowhattaskeachofthemwouldbecompletinguntilafterthenumberswereassigned.Thismeantthatallstudentshadtheopportunitytohaveanyroleinthegroupincontrastwiththemoreoutgoingstudentstakingovergroupwork.Studentswereengagedinco-operativeworkfortheentirelesson.

Duringco-operativeworktheteacheractivatedstudentsasownersoftheirownlearningbygettingthemtoworkonindividualtasks.Thishelpsstudentstobuildontheirself-regulatoryskills.Withinthetaskthestudentswereaskedtoanswerthequestions“whatarewedoing”


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and“whyarewedoingit?”Thiswasaidedbytechnology,asstudentswereabletoworkonthesehigherorderquestionswhilesimultaneouslygatheringdataontheiriPads.Thiswouldnothavebeenpossiblewithouttechnology,asstudent’stimewouldhavebeentakenupwithgatheringdatatocreateagraph.Duringthelessontheteacheralsoencouragedthestudentstodrawconclusionsabouttheexperimentwithouthelpfromothergroupsandwithoutapprovalfromtheteacher.Theycouldsharetheseonthesharedspace(Schoology)andlookforfeedback.Againthisishighlightinghowtheteacherwastryingtoencourageself-assessmentamongstudentsandnottolooktohimforguidance.

Technologyplayedacrucialroleintheteacher’sfeedbackprocessesinthelesson.Thestudentsweretocomeupwiththeirownconclusionstotheexperimentafteranalysisofdata,andpostthemtotheclassSchoologypage.Afterthelessontheteachercommentedonhowhewouldanalysethisinformationpriortothefollowinglessonandusethedatagatheredtobuildstructuredfeedbackforthestudentsinthenextclass.Attheendofthelesson,studentswerealsoaskedtocompleteanExitTicketwherebystudentswereaskedtocompletethefollowing:

1. Writetwothingsyouenjoyedabouttheexperiment.

2. Writetwothingsyouhavelearnedfromtheexperiment.

3. Writeonethingyouwouldchangetomaketheexperimentbetter.

Thiswasameansfortheteachertodiagnosewhatimpactedthestudentsduringtheactivityandusethisfeedbacktoinformhisfuturelessons.Italsoprovidedstudentswiththeopportunitytoselfassesstheirownworkanddecideonhowtheywouldimprove.UsingtechnologyfortheExitTicketmeantthattheteachercouldaccessthisinformationatanytimeandstudentsintheclasscouldalsoaccessthisinformationintheirowntimeandlearnfromtheirpeer’scomments.Thiswouldbeofbenefittostudentsasitprovidesthemwiththeopportunitytoengagewithscienceoutsideoftheclassroomtoaidthemintheirlearning.TheteachercommunicatedtothestudentswhyhewasaskingthemtocompletetheExitTicketsothatthestudentscouldunderstandtherationaleforcompletingthetask.


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Teacherand/orstudentscomments

Pre-Assessment:InsulationWhatmaterialdoyouthinkwouldmakeagoodinsulator?_______________________________________________________________________________________Howwouldyoutestthisinthelab?_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Howwouldyoumakesurethatyourtestafairone?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Youhavemadeasnowman.Youthinkitisthebestoneyouhaveevermade.Whatcouldyoudotomakeitlastforawhilewhentheweatherstartstogetwarmer?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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4. References

Bell,B.,&Cowie,B.(2001).Thecharacteristicsofformativeassessmentinscience

education.ScienceEducation,85(5),536-533.

Black,P.,&Wiliam,D.(1998).Assessmentandclassroomlearning.Assessmentineducation,5(1),7-74.

http://www.discoversensors.ie

Schoologywww.schoology.com

Anydevicewithamodernwebbrowser–smartphones,tablets,PC’s,laptopsetc.(availableasaniPadapp)

Onlinelearningenvironmentthatallowsteacherstocreateandmanageacademiccoursesfortheirstudents.Itprovidesteacherswithamethodofmanaginglessons,engagingstudents,sharingcontent,andconnectingwithothereducators.

Loggersoftwareusedinconjunctionwithhandheldsensortechnologywww.vernier.com

AnydevicethatisBluetoothcompatibleorhasaUSBport

Forexampletemperatureprobes.Usedtogatherdatainrealtimetofacilitateindepthanalysisofgraphscreatedviatheloggersoftware(LoggerPro).

Documents

Insulation: Graphing a cooling curvemicrosites.ncl.ac.uk/fasmedtoolkit/files/2016/08/Insulation_guidance.pdf · Insulation: Graphing a cooling curve FaSMEd 2 1. Content Identify good