Lessonsactivities:

NGSS:
MSLS25.
MSLS22.

ActivityOne:
Studentswillcreateapondtodevelopobservationsaboutasmallecosystem.Todothisthey
aregoingtohaveaccesstosoil,hay,deadleaves,gravel,water,motoroil,duckweed,anda
blackworm.Eachgroupofsixstudentswilldecidewhattheywouldliketoaddtotheirpondandin
whatquantity.Therewillbesomesuggestionsaboutgravelandsoilamountsduetothematerials
available,buteachgroupwillhavetochoosewhattheywouldliketoadd.Oncethestudentshave
madetheirpondstheywilldrawanddescribewhattheyhavedone.Todothistheywillusethesheet
thatislistedbelow.Theobservationswillbeonamacrolevel,besidesthesmallcirclethatisused
fordrawingaduckweedsampleunderamagnificationof100x.

ActivityTwo:
Asanactivitytohelpstudentsunderstandtheoriginofmicroscopicobservationthestudents
willreadtheshortstorythatisbelow.Tofurtherchallengestudentsanyonethatwouldliketo
illustratetheworkisableto,thereisanexampleshownbelow.Studentswillalsobeformatively
assessedaboutthereadingandthethemesthatitcontains,twostudentresponsesarelisted.

ActivityThree:
Afterlettingthetwoweekspassstudentswillmakeobservationsonthemicrolevelabout
changestopond.Thisactivityneedstobedoneaftertheintroductionofmicroorganisms.As
studentsmakeobservationsontheirpondtheycanbeaskedquestionssuchas:
Wheremightasmallorganismneedtoliveinordertofindfoodinyourpond?
Whymightyourpondhavegainedadistinctsmell?
Whydoyouthinktherearemoreorlessduckweed?
Oncethestudentshaveupdatedtheirobservationstheycanstarttomakepredictions.Eachstudent,
willagainneedtodrawanddiagramtheworkthattheyhavedone.Somequestionstoaskstudents
tohelpthemwithpredictionswouldbe:
Basedoffofwhatyouhaveseenwhatdoyouthinkwillhappenaftertwomoreweeks?
Doyouthinktherewillbemoreorlessorganismwhenwearedone?

ActivityFour:
Whenthepondactivityhascometoaclosestudentswillhaveachancetomakefinal
observationsandmakeanyconclusions.Astheyworkontheirconclusionssomeguidingquestions
maybe:
Howdoyouthinkthatyourpondslocationintheroomaffectedthegrowthofduckweed?
Howdoyouthinkthemotoroilaffectedyourpond?
Whatwasthemostsurprisingoutcomeyounoticed?
Howdidyourponddifferfromothergroups?

StartofthePond
Name:____________________
Period:___________________

Drawandlabelyourpond:

Predictionsaboutwhatwillhappen:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

SecondweekofthePond
Name:____________________
Period:___________________

Drawandlabelyourpond:

Observationsaboutwhathashappened:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Predictionsaboutwhatwouldhappenifthe
pondweremovedtonearthewindow.
___________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

EndofthePond
Name:____________________
Period:___________________

Drawandlabelyourpond:

Observationsaboutwhathashappened:

____________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________

FinalConclusions:.
___________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

SmallTalk

diagrammingthecells.Thesearesomeofthe
drawingsthathewasabletocreatewithhissingle
KoltonBoyer
lens.

AntonivanLeeuwenhoek(pronounced
laywhenhook)wasaDutchscientistbornin1632to

afamilyofworkingclasstradesmeninthe

Netherlands.Earlyinhis

lifehisfatherpassedaway
Whenaresomesituationswhereascientistmust
andhismotherremarried,
becreative?
whichultimatelyaffected

hischoicesineducation.
WhileLeeuwenhoekwasdoinghisresearch
Duringthetimethathe
intheNetherlandsotherscientistswerealsoworking
wasayoungadult
onrelatedsubjects.OnesuchscientistwasRobert
Leeuwenhoekbecamean
HookefromBritainthatwasdoingsimilarwork,but
apprentice,butnever
withcompoundmicroscopes.ItwasthroughHooke's
attendedcollegeora
workthattheword
cell
wascreated.Both
highereducational
LeeuwenhoekandHookeactivelysentletters,and
institute.Ashereached
findings,totheRoyalSocietyofLondonforreview.
adulthoodLeeuwenhoekpursuedacareerasa
LeeuwenhoekonlyspokeDutch,andso,hisletters
bookkeeperforadraper,apersonthatsellsfabric.
neededtobetranslatedintoEnglishandLatinfor
Whilenothismainprofession,hewasableto
otherscientiststouse.Oneofthemorefamous
becomeanexpertinmicroscopicobservationsby
observationsthatLeeuwenhoeksenttotheRoyal
creatinglensesforhisownobservationsusing
lensesthatwereoriginallyusedfortheinspectionof Societywasabouttheplaqueinhisownteeththat
hedescribedas,Ithenmostalwayssaw,withgreat
fabric.
wonder,thatinthesaidmatterthereweremanyvery

littlelivinganimalcules,veryprettilyamoving.The
Whoarescientists?
biggestsorthadaverystrongandswiftmotion,and

AsLeeuwenhoekstartedtogetinvolvedwith shotthroughthewater(orspittle)likeapikedoes
throughthewater.Thesecondsort,ofttimesspun
hisworkherealizedthathewouldhavetocreate
roundlikeatopandthesewerefarmoreinnumber
manyofthetoolsthathewoulduse.Atthetime
(N.D.,2005).Thisdetailedcommunicationbetween
thereweretwoapproachestoachieving
scientistsishowthefieldofMicrobiologywasableto
magnification.Thefirstwasasimplelens,likea
magnifyingglass.Thesecondtypewerecompound start.Scientistssharingnewfindingscanchangethe
waythatweconsidertheworld,nomatterhowlarge
lenses,whicharestillusedinmostmodern
orsmallthosesubjectsmightbe!
microscopes.Throughaseriesofchangestothe

shapeofglass,Leeuwenhoekwasabletomake

simplelensesthatwereabletomagnifyasample
FinalThoughts:
wellpast250timestheoriginalsize.
Whydoyouthinkitisimportantforscientisttobe
UsingthesesimplelensesLeeuwenhoek
creativeandcollaborative?Giveexamples.
wasabletodescribeandillustrateawidevarietyof

organismsneverbeforeseenbyhumanbeings.His
magnifiedobservationswereevenabletoallowhim
toaccuratelydescribehumanredbloodcells.While
otherscientistswereabletonoticethattherewere
partstothefluidthatmadeupblood,Leeuwenhoek
wasabletofurthertheinvestigationsbyaccurately

observingand

(RobertHookeDrawnby6th
GradeStudentCarlisleMiddle
School)