CarolineEwen001142954

Grade 3 Science
Topic C: Testing Materials and Designs Safety Warning Posters
Date: December 4, 2014
Lesson Length: 35 minutes
General learning outcomes:
3-2 Students will identify patterns and order in objects and events studied; and,
with guidance, record observations using pictures, words, and charts; and make
predictions and generalizations based on observations.
3-4 Students will demonstrate positive attitudes for the study of science and for
the application of science in responsible ways.
Specific learning outcomes:
3.2.8: Students will record observations and measurements, using captioned
pictures and charts.
3.2.9: Students will state an inference, based on observations.
3.2.10: Students will identify applications of what was learned.
3.4.5: Students will show growth in acquiring a willingness to base their
conclusions and actions on the evidence of their own experiences.
Learning objectives:
1. Students will discuss the experiment conducted in the previous lesson
(compression of cylindrical paper pillars).
2. Students will review the significance of drawing conclusions based on
evidence, and the importance of sharing scientific results.
3. Students will create imaginative Safety Warning posters on 8 x 11
paper in order to represent their findings from the experiment.
Resources consulted:
Alberta Program of Studies
YouTube video (demolition of Nuclear towers)
Materials required:
Google Drive presentation (video)
Whiteboard
Pre-made Safety Warning
Card stock paper (for Safety Warnings)
Pens & colored markers
Workbooks from previous lesson
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Introduction: (5 minutes)

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Hook/review of material: Ask students to share their thoughts and/or questions

about the experiment conducted in the previous lesson (compressing cylindrical
paper pillars). Discuss the experiment as a class. What did we find surprising?
Were our hypotheses correct? Do we feel comfortable drawing conclusions
from our experiment?
Go over the term compression (squeeze, press, crush, etc.)
Expectations for behavior: Instruct students that today we will be focusing on
representing the findings from our experiment by individually creating Safety
Warning posters, and that they will need to refer back to the workbook from
the yesterdays lesson in order to do so.
Transition to body: Bring up the Google Drive slides displaying numeric
calculations & bar graphs from yesterdays experiment. Show students how you
went about figuring out the maximum weight for each set of pillars (changing
all our different weights into grams).
Go over the term data (pieces of information, usually numbers)
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Body (28 minutes)
Activity #1: (3 minutes) Ask students why they think it is important to share
their findings?
As a class, discuss the reasons why it is important to share the results of
scientific experiments. 2 main reasons are:
Comparing results with other scientists
Reporting findings for the public to see (re: safety)
Activity #2: (25 minutes) Students will work on individual Safety Warning
posters to represent their findings from the experiment. Begin by showing
students the pre-made example of what a poster could look like.
Review the 4 criteria required for the Safety posters:
1. Name of structure
2. Sentences describing why it is a safety risk
3. Data from the experiment
4. Picture (drawing) of the structure
Tell students that you would like for them to finish their posters before
the end of class, but we can use extra time during next class to finish if
necessary.

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Instruct students that for this assignment it is equally important to

include important information on the posters but also to present
information in an exciting and creative way!
Differentiation:
1) For the single student with exceptional learning needs, offer the option of
creating a simpler, visual representation of the experiment - this could be as
basic as identifying the stronger structure, and then drawing and labelling it
(diagram).
2) For the 2 students who were absent for the experiment, instruct them that
they can use the data compiled from their peers, or they can draw on their
previous experiments (arches or beams) to create a Safety Warning poster for a
different structure.
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Closure: (3 minutes)
Feedback from students: Throughout the class, allow time to answer questions
and clarify expectations for this assignment.
Feedback to students: Offer positive encouragement to students upon their
completion of the Safety Warning posters. Emphasize that sharing and
reporting scientific findings is one of the most important steps in the scientific
process.
Transition to next lesson: Tell students that next week in science class we will
be doing a few more fun activities (quizzes, games) in order to review the
information and concepts we have learned related to testing materials and the
scientific method.
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Glossary terms:
1. Compression
2. Data
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Assessment: For this lesson, I will base my assessment of student learning
heavily on written evidence. The Safety Warning posters will be collected
either at the end of the class, or during next class, and assessed for completion
and understanding. Throughout class discussions, I will also use a great deal of
questioning in order to gauge individual students levels of understanding.
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Sponge activity: YouTube video of Nuclear tower demolition.

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