Throughout this unit, students will be engaged in many hands on learning experiences, and will participate in numerous lab activities. During this unit, students will review the names and functions of the various pieces of lab equipment that they will be using throughout the year, and will spend some time focusing on safety procedures. Students will then review and perfect their measuring skills with metric rulers, graduated cylinders, and triple beam balances. Students will spend some time exploring how the mass and volume of substances interact to affect density. Students will learn how to calculate the density of a substance, and will learn how to properly show their mathematical calculations in science class (they will learn how to show their work while including units). Students will learn how substances of different densities interact with each other, and may have the opportunity to create a density tower of their own for extra credit.
Further developing student understanding of the scientific method is ann important component of this unit. Students will review the differences between independent and dependent variables, and will be able to determine what the independent and dependent variables are in an experiment after reading the procedures. Students will learn the correct format for writing a hypothesis, and will utilize that format for all of the lab activities that they complete for the rest of the year. Students will practice collecting and interpreting data, and will use that data to formulate conclusions for the various experiments that we conduct.
