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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Balloon Science

Want to do a fun lab to reinforce the scientific method, measurement, and graphing?



Note: I created this lab my first year of teaching and have tweaked it ever since. 
When I went back to search for pictures of it... I realized the kids in this picture are graduated high school now. Wow!

I created this lab as part of my Grade 6 "Scientific Method" unit and also used it in my Grade 7 resource room science class. It reinforces the steps of the scientific method and provides students much needed practice in metric measurement and graphing. I found that my Grade 6 students had little exposure to the scientific method and line graphs....this lab provides the students with specific focus on precise measurement and graphing.  I was able to incorporate mini-lessons on measurement and graphing very effectively with this!

Materials you will need (in addition to this lab):
• balloon (1 per student)
• measuring tape (metric) (1 per student pair)
• graph paper

In this lab, students will create a hypothesis regarding the rate of change of the balloon's circumference. Students will work in partners to blow up balloons one breath at a time. Students will record data, graph data, and complete a conclusion. The conclusion contains sentence starters to support students in writing conclusions without using "I". 

They really have a lot of fun with this one!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Metric-Measurement-Balloon-Lab-1532942http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Metric-Measurement-Balloon-Lab-1532942

Management note: Require the students to throw out the balloon all in one trash can before returning to their seats to complete their conclusions.  You'll thank me later. ;)


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