The Finished Product
So what will our science students "look like" after this unit? Well, hopefully they will be able to do the following:
The teacher may select from any of the objectives below, depending on her or his focus for the lesson. Included are some of those found in implementation to be most relevant to the activity.
Ohio Mathematics Academic Content Standards Grade Level Indicators:
Patterns, Functions and Algebra
Grade 7:
- Represent and analyze patterns, rules and functions with words, tables, graphs and simple variable expressions.
Grade 8
- Relate the various representations of arelationship; i.e. relate a table to graph, description and symbolic form.
- Use symbolic algebra (equations and inequalities), graphs and tables to represent situations and solve problems.
- Write, simplify and evaluate algebraic expressions (including formulas) to generalize situations and solve problems.
- Solve 2by 2 systems of linear equations graphically and by simple substitution.
Ohio Mathematics Academic Content Standards Process Standards:
By the end of the 5-7 program:
- Clarify problem-solving situation and identify potential solution processes; e.g., consider different strategies and approaches to a problem, restate problem from various perspectives.
- Apply and adapt problem-solving strategies to solve a variety of problems, including unfamiliar and non-routine problem situations.
- Use more than one strategy to solve a problem, and recognize there are advantages associated with various methods.
- Recognize whether an estimate or an exact solution is appropriate for a given problem situation.
- Use deductive thinking to construct informal arguments to support reasoning and to justify solutions to problems.
By the end of the 8-10 program:
- Formulate a problem or mathematical model in response to a specific need or situation, determine information required to solve the problem, choose method for obtaining this information, and set limits for acceptable solution.
- Apply mathematical knowledge and skills routinely in other content areas and practical situations.
- Recognize and use connections between equivalent representations and related procedures for a mathematical concept; e.g., zero of a function and the x-intercept of the graph of the function, apply proportional thinking when measuring, describing functions, and comparing probabilities.
Ohio Science Academic Content Standards:
Grade 7: Earth and Space Sciences: Earth Systems
- Explain that Earth's capacity to absorb and recycle materials naturally (e.g., smoke, smog and sewage) can change the environmental quality depending on the length of time involved (e.g. global warming).
- Analyze data on the availability of fresh water that is essential for life and for most industrial and agricultural processes. Describe how rivers, lakes and groundwater can be depleted or polluted becoming less hospitable to life and even becoming unavailable or unsuitable for life.
Grade 7: Diversity and Interdependence of Life
- Investigate how organisms or populations may interact with one another through symbiotic relationships and how some species have become so adapted to each other that neither could survive without the other (e.g., predator-prey, parasitism, mutualism and commensalism).
Grade 8: Abilities To Do Technological Design
- Design and build a product or create a solution to a problem given more than two constraints (e.g., limits of cost and time for design and production, supply of materials and environmental effects).
- Evaluate the overall effectiveness of a product design or solution.
Grade 8: Scientific Inquiry Doing Scientific Inquiry
- Read, construct and interpret data in various forms produced by self and others in both written and oral form (e.g., tables, charts, maps, graphs, diagrams and symbols).
- Apply appropriate math skills to interpret quantitative data (e.g., mean, median and mode)
