Information Packet
Standards
We will try to address all California Fifth Grade Physical Science Standards in the workshop or on the lab tour during this field trip.
Classroom pre-activities
Have students define the terms “structures” and “matter” as they relate to science.
Students should then list kinds of matter found in the classroom. They should share and compare their lists with other students.
Use different terms to talk about properties of matter e.g., soft, heavy, size, liquid, red, invisible, flammable, etc.
Introduce the terms “element” and “atom”
An element is a substance that cannot be divided into other substances.
An atom is the smallest part of an element that still has the properties of that element.
Please emphasize the importance of science classroom safety:
- Everyone who is in the classroom must have closed-toe shoes and must have clothing that covers from the waist to the ankles. This means shoes must come up to the ankle (like athletic shoes), all must wear long pants, girls may wear ankle length skirts. No one should have exposed bare skin on legs, ankles or feet.
- Students will be working with flames, hot plates, dry ice and liquid nitrogen. NOTE: Long hair must be tied back when working with flames
- We will provide goggles, gloves, tongs and lab coats for each student.
- We will be touring the lab during your visit; please remind students there can be no running any place at the lab.
- Adult chaperones are expected to follow the above rules. We require a ratio of at least one adult for every eight students.
Field trip checklist
- Necessary paperwork is turned into principal/district, permission slips, etc.
- One adult will accompany each eight students.
- Students know times of the trip and pickup and drop off locations.
- Acquire a substitute if applicable.
Classroom post-activities
Have students revisit their list of matter found in the classroom. They should determine if any elements were on their list. Talk about the elements that were experimented with in the workshop – iron, aluminum, copper, nitrogen, carbon and oxygen. Find the symbol for these on the Periodic Table.
Possible Assessments
- Have students explain the advantages and disadvantages of cooking with copper, aluminum and iron frying pans using the information they gathered in the thermal conductivity activity. (Copper conducts heat the fastest and iron conducts heat the slowest)
- Use the chemical formula from the back of medicine/food container and have students identify the elements in the substance. Not all have the formula, some may just have a chemical name.
- Use the periodic table to identify metals and non-metals.
- Use a FOSS Magnetism and Electricity kit to check different materials for electrical conductivity.
- List the three parts of the “Fire Triangle” (fuel, temperature and oxygen) and have students give examples of removal of any one and how it effects a fire.
QUIZ Pre-, post-, or both
1. Which substance is not an element?
- Copper
- Aluminum
- Water
- Oxygen
2. Which substance is not a gas?
- Helium
- Neon
- Oxygen
- Carbon
3. Which substance is not a good conductor of electricity?
- Wood
- Steel
- Aluminum
- Carbon
4. What happens to most substances when cooled?
- They get smaller
- They get bigger
- Nothing
- They become a gas
5. Carbon dioxide will put out a fire because:
- It takes away fuel
- It takes away oxygen
- It reduces the temperature
- It is not an element
6. An air inflated balloon put into extremely cold liquid nitrogen causes:
- The air to escape
- Liquid nitrogen to go into the balloon
- Air to become a liquid
- The balloon to expand
7. Dry ice is solid form of:
- Carbon
- Oxygen
- Carbon dioxide
- Water
8. Most metals are:
- Good heat conductors
- Good electrical conductors
- Solid
- All of the above
answers 1.c, 2.d, 3.a, 4.a, 5.b, 6.c, 7.c, 8.d
