Digital+Video+Unit+Plan


 * 21st Century Skills Unit Plan - The Scientific Method**


 * This unit teaches the scientific method using a central task - Researching advertising claims. The entire project will be captured onto a wiki so that the students can display their findings in one online location. Students will work in groups or pairs.

Prerequisites: Students will be taught several web 2.0 tools(del.icio.us, wiki's, wikipedia, teachertube, twitter, google search, doodle poll, excel, google docs, etc) as well as use of technologies such as digital video cameras and computers in general.

//Lesson 1://

Objective: TSWBAT: Define and apply the first step of the scientific method - Define the problem.

Procedure: 1. The teacher should ask students if they believe everything they hear. 2. Follow this by introducing several advertising claims from television. (examples: shampoo that leaves hair 20x shinier than other shampoos, Energy drinks that give you energy for 5 full hours, etc). 3. Pose the question: "Do you believe these advertising claims?", "How would you know they are true?" 4. Have students brainstorm some ideas for testing their advertisements. 5. Day 1 assignment is to pick an advertisement that you want to test. This can be done using the internet or finding an advertisement on television. Explain that the problem is that we do not know if the advertisement claims are true or not.

//Lesson 2://

Objective: TSWBAT: Define and apply the second step of the scientific method - Gathering information.

Procedure: 1. Model information gathering for students. 2. Students will take the advertisement that they chose from day 1 and gather information on that product. They need to find information from the manufacturer as well as from other sources on the internet. 3. They can use manufacturer's websites, wikipedia, consumer's reports, del.icio.us, Twitter, etc. 4. This information should be gathered into a document.

//Lesson 3://

Objective: TSWBAT: Define and apply the third step of the scientific method - Forming a hypothesis.

Procedure: 1. Introduce hypothesis and give a few examples. 2. Students will take all the information that they gathered from the internet and other sources and begin to form a hypothesis about the advertising claim. Do they believe the claim, or not and why? 3. Students need to ask other people their opinions as well. They can take a live, personal poll, or they can use an online poll such as doodle poll or survey monkey. 4. These findings will be included on the student's wiki page as culmination for their project.

//Lesson 4://


 * This lesson could take several days.

Objective: TSWBAT: Define and apply the fourth step of the scientific method - Testing the Hypothesis.

Procedure: 1. The teacher will explain how to conduct a scientific experiment as well as give several examples of scientific experiments. 2. The teacher will also define and give examples for "control", independent/dependent variables. 3. Students will design an experiment that will test the claims of their chosen advertisement. This design will then be approved by the teacher before continuing. 4. Students will capture their experiments using digital video recording. They should capture all the steps involved and the outcomes of the experiment. 5. Student videos should be uploaded to teachertube and then linked to the students' wiki.

//Lesson 5://

Objective: TSWBAT: Define and apply the fifth step of the scientific method - Analyzing the results.

Procedure: 1. The teacher will model how to display data accumulated from an experiment. Excel spreadsheets will be shown and graphs will be created. 2. Students will put the data they gathered from their experiment into a graph using excel. 3. The students should use google docs to post their graphs online, and then create a link in their wikis to the graph.

//Lesson 6://

Objective: TSWBAT: Define and apply the sixth step of the scientific method - Drawing a conclusion.

Procedure: 1. The teacher will demonstrate several examples of experiment conclusions. 2. Students will need to create a concluding statement from their experiment findings. 3. They can use digital video to present their conclusion, or a vodcast, or podcast, or a powerpoint presentation. 4. These conclusion should be inserted onto the student's wiki.

//Lesson 7://

Objective: TSWBAT: Create a lab report to demonstrate understanding of the scientific method procedures.

Procedure: 1. The teacher will go over all the steps involved in the scientific method and their purpose. 2. The teacher will explain the importance of accurate and clear presentation of experiment procedures and data. 3. The teacher will show several examples of good lab reports. 4. The students will spend the rest of their time cleaning up their wikis and the material that is found on them. 5. Once students are done with their wikis, they will give the teacher the link to the site.

__Overall Assessment:__ 1. Students will be assessed on each step of the scientific method based on a rubric. 2. Completed wiki will be assessed based on a rubric. 3. Students will be assessed on their teamwork based on a rubric. 4. Students will "peer review" the other wikis to provide feedback and ideas. They must do this for 2 other group reports.

__Graphic Organizer for Unit Plan__