Solids & Liquids
Investigation 1
Part 3
Construct with Solids
Students use solid materials to build structures — towers, bridges, and tunnels — finding the best materials to use for each application. (from the FOSS teacher guide, 2002 edition)
Students will discover which properties of solids lend themselves to building a tower through hands on trial and error and observation of others as they are building.
3. Lesson set up and Management
- PC01 1.1.1 Use properties to sort natural and manufactured materials and objects, for example size, weight, shape, color, texture, and hardness.
- PC02 1.1.4 Observe and examine physical properties of earth materials such as rocks and soil, water (as liquid, solid, and vapor) and the gases of the atmosphere.
- IP03 2.1.3 Use data to construct reasonable explanation.
- IP05 2.1.5 Record and report observations, explanations, and conclusions using oral and written expression.
- IP07 2.2.2 Design and test a solution to a problem.
- Solid materials have distinct uses based on their properties.
- Engineers are scientists who use their knowledge of materials to design useful objects and structures.
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
- Activity preparation: Have a parent or student tear off a piece of foil about 8 inches long for each student. Pass out the foil, rubber band, straw, two cups, and two pieces of cardboard to each student. I usually assign a student passer for each of the materials.
- Organization: Students may work with a partner to build a tower. Students may take walkabouts to get ideas. Scientists and engineers use what others know about building to improve their projects.
- Allow for enough time to assess each student's ability to describe the properties and the use of solid materials for specific purposes.
- Before students dismantle their towers, have each student draw and label the building. See handout for writing prompt and drawing. I use this as an assessment.
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Display of towers built by partner engineers |
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Student Management:
Safety precautions:
- Establish rules for the use of the straws and rubber bands. The kids can get carried away!
- Model think-aloud strategies for building a tower. Model thinking about the properties that would make a good base and what would make a good top. Encourage the students to share ideas with their partner. Sharing strategies will help students understand how building a tower helps them to understand first hand the properties of solids.
WRAP-UP/CLOSING
- Have the class take a walkabout to look at each other's towers.
- Add new words to the Word bank.
- Fill in the "What We Learned" Chart and update the "Questions I Have" Chart.
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Materials can be used in many different combinations! |
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ASSESSMENT
Use the handout to assess students' understanding of the properties of solids and how the solids can be used based on their properties. See Handout 1:3.
Writing Support:
Expository writing: Write down the steps it took to build the tower. Label an illustration.
Reading Support:
- Read the FOSS science story, Everything Matters.
- Use the questioning strategies in the teacher's manual to relate the story to the investigation. This is a good opportunity to model comprehension strategies by having students predict, summarize, infer, and link text to experience.