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Overview
After you have introduced the project, lead the students in
developing their own hypotheses. Depending on the age and
ability of the students, you may choose to have them develop
the hypotheses as a whole class activity, as teams, or as
individuals. At the end of the project, when the students
have analyzed the data sent in by the other participants,
they will revisit their hypotheses and decide whether or not
the information supports or does not support their
hypotheses).
Objectives
Students will:
- Develop hypotheses to determine the following:
- Whether the quality of a local fresh
water body is good or polluted.
- Whether or not water quality will
be better in some areas of the world or worse.
- Whether or not organisms found in
the water will be the same or different all over the
world.
- Use language to clarify observations and to summarize
information.
- Convey information to others in written form.
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Time
One 45 minute class period.
Materials
Teacher Preparation
Writing a Hypothesis: There are many
ways to write a hypothesis; the following links are just a few
suggestions.
Assessment
The students' hypotheses can be used for assessment based on
the following sample rubric. Additionally, if students
develop the hypotheses as a whole class activity or as
teams, the students' participation in the activity can be
used for assessment.
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Score |
Criteria |
| 5 |
The hypotheses are thorough,
based on scientific facts, AND identify the problems. |
| 4 |
The hypotheses are based
on scientific facts AND identify the problems. |
| 3 |
The hypotheses are based
on some facts AND identify the problems. |
| 2 |
The hypotheses are guesses
AND based on some facts. |
| 1 |
The hypotheses are guesses
and cannot be supported by facts. |
| 0 |
The student did not write anything down. |
NOTE: you can also make up your own
Rubric using
Rubistar.
Procedure
NOTE: The following instructions
also appear in the Project Instructions
section of this web site.
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Activity 1: Develop
a Hypothesis |
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For this project, you will engage in a variety of activities that
follow the scientific method beginning with making initial
observations and developing a hypotheses (see
Student Guidelines for the using the Scientific Method for more information).
- Introduce the Project: The main purpose of this project is to
make a general determination about the water quality of a fresh
water body, compare the data collected by all project
participants, and look for relationships, trends, similarities,
and differences. To do so, you will:
- Conduct a variety of water sampling tests to analyze physical
and chemical substances commonly found in a fresh water body
- Compare your findings with other participating classes.
- Initial Observations:
- Select a fresh water body such as a river or stream close to your community where you would like to conduct the
fresh water sampling tests.
- Make an initial visit of the site. If that is not possible, it
is recommended that you take a picture or several pictures of the
fresh water body and show them to the class.
- Develop Hypotheses based on the following questions:
(this can be done as a whole class activity, as teams, or as
individuals)
- Do you think your water is of good, or poor quality? Why?
- Do you think the water quality will be better in some areas
of the world or worse? Why?
- Are the organisms found in the water the same all over the
world? Why or why not?
- Once you have written down your hypotheses, continue to the
next activity.
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Printable Student Worksheet
