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Score: 8
Awarded the NGSS Design Badge
Science Discipline: Physical Science
Length: Unit
Year Reviewed: 2023
Students explore properties of matter using the reshaping of broken pieces of glass into something new as an anchoring phenomenon. Sensemaking is motivated by student questions like, “How do objects change into other objects?” and “How can pieces of broken glass be reused?” This unit develops foundational understanding of the particulate nature of matter by exploring how heating and cooling pieces of matter, like glass, can make something new. Student learning builds on prior experiences and knowledge with matter and supports students’ growing interest in why some materials can be used to create new things and others cannot.
Students gain first-hand experiences with matter and determine how objects can be taken apart and put together into new things. They plan and carry out investigations and use their observations as evidence to construct an explanation for: 1) how different properties of matter are suited for different purposes, 2) that a great variety of objects can be built up from a small set of pieces, and 3) how temperature affects the observable properties of matter and that some changes to matter that can be reversed while others cannot.
This anchoring problem can be localized and made relevant to students by exploring other ways in which temperature can cause changes to matter such as food (e.g., melting ice cream, baking a cake, cooking pizza, etc.) and other materials.
NGSS Design Badge
Awarded: Dec 11, 2023
Awarded To: Carolina Biological: Glassblowing
The NGSS Design badge is awarded only to the version of this lesson that was reviewed. If any modifications are made to this lesson for your use, the revised version cannot be promoted as having earned the badge.
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