8th Grade Overview

8th Grade Physical Science

Outcomes

1. Analyze experiment to determine sources of error

2. Determine the cause and effect relationship between temperature, turbidity, flow rate and dissolved oxygen in the Chicago River

3. Formulate a conclusion on the relationship between two physical characteristics of the Chicago River

4. Use Microsoft Excel to compare data from the Chicago River in a coordinate graph

Overview

The Physical Science Team will be presenting their findings from measurements taken at the Chicago River. The goal is to determine what relationship, if any, exists between the different physical characteristics of the river, including: turbidity, flow rate, dissolved oxygen, temperature. In preparation for presenting their research, students first learned about the physical characteristics of the river, how to measure them, and why they are important to the overall health of the river. Then, they performed experiments, and finally applied their scientific thinking to make conclusions. This project connects to topics covered earlier in the course, specifically proper experimental design, identifying variables in an experiment, and writing a conclusion based on the data.

Suggested Questions

All students should be prepared to answer the following questions:

What are some variables that were controlled in the tests you did at the river?
Are there any variables that you were not able to control at the river?
How did a graph help you to represent your data?
How can you tell from your data if two variables are related?
Were your results what you expected? How could you explain any unexpected results?
How does your science fair project relate to something you have learned earlier in this course or another course?
If you were to give advice to students performing this activity next year, what would you recommend?

In addition, students are expected to have a deeper understanding of the two variables that they chose to present on. They should be prepared to answer the following questions for the two variables that they are comparing:

What is turbidity/flow rate/temperature? How is it measured?
What are some possible causes of elevated turbidity/flow rate/temperature in the river?
How does turbidity/flow rate/temperature affect the health of a river and/or the organisms living in the river?


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		8th Grade Physical Science Outcomes 1. Analyze experiment to determine sources of error 2. Determine the cause and effect relationship between temperature, turbidity, flow rate and dissolved oxygen in the Chicago River 3. Formulate a conclusion on the relationship between two physical characteristics of the Chicago River 4. Use Microsoft Excel to compare data from the Chicago River in a coordinate graph Overview The Physical Science Team will be presenting their findings from measurements taken at the Chicago River. The goal is to determine what relationship, if any, exists between the different physical characteristics of the river, including: turbidity, flow rate, dissolved oxygen, temperature. In preparation for presenting their research, students first learned about the physical characteristics of the river, how to measure them, and why they are important to the overall health of the river. Then, they performed experiments, and finally applied their scientific thinking to make conclusions. This project connects to topics covered earlier in the course, specifically proper experimental design, identifying variables in an experiment, and writing a conclusion based on the data. Suggested Questions All students should be prepared to answer the following questions: What are some variables that were controlled in the tests you did at the river? Are there any variables that you were not able to control at the river? How did a graph help you to represent your data? How can you tell from your data if two variables are related? Were your results what you expected? How could you explain any unexpected results? How does your science fair project relate to something you have learned earlier in this course or another course? If you were to give advice to students performing this activity next year, what would you recommend? In addition, students are expected to have a deeper understanding of the two variables that they chose to present on. They should be prepared to answer the following questions for the two variables that they are comparing: What is turbidity/flow rate/temperature? How is it measured? What are some possible causes of elevated turbidity/flow rate/temperature in the river? How does turbidity/flow rate/temperature affect the health of a river and/or the organisms living in the river? Learning at YWLCS \| Students at YWLCS \| Support YWLCS