New and Cool in Our Schools
SDAMLE is now accepting submissions from member schools to showcase and share new and cool projects. The information received will be used on the website, in our email blasts, and to help create a "resources" page for our members to look for new lesson plans and ideas.
We would love to have your help! If you have a cool or new project to share, please fill out the form at https://tinyurl.com/sdamle-new-cool. Feel free to add photos, lesson plans, rubrics, etc... for the project, so we can share them with others.
We would love to have your help! If you have a cool or new project to share, please fill out the form at https://tinyurl.com/sdamle-new-cool. Feel free to add photos, lesson plans, rubrics, etc... for the project, so we can share them with others.
School: Georgia Morse Middle School - Pierre, SD
Course: 7th Grade Life Science
Teacher: Jessica Bogue
Course: 7th Grade Life Science
Teacher: Jessica Bogue
This was a semester long project in the 7th grade Life Science course. It was very student-driven and there were three parts to the project: a rough draft research paper, a final draft paper, and a presentation in a “Science Fair” style. Students were given a lot of choice – they were allowed to choose a topic—basically anything they were passionate about that was Life Science related. Students could design an experiment and carry out the scientific method or they could do a research focused project on their topic. We designated 3 work days each quarter to the semester long project--
the rest of the time was put in outside of the classroom. The projects turned out great! Students conducted experiments such as testing the growth of plant height when caffeine tablets are added to the plant water, discovering how long it takes a dog to learn a specific trick, researching medical diseases, invasive species, monarch populations and migration patterns, and the impact of chronic stress on the brain to just name a few! We invited staff members, parents, and other students to view – and to vote on most outstanding and most educational projects.
the rest of the time was put in outside of the classroom. The projects turned out great! Students conducted experiments such as testing the growth of plant height when caffeine tablets are added to the plant water, discovering how long it takes a dog to learn a specific trick, researching medical diseases, invasive species, monarch populations and migration patterns, and the impact of chronic stress on the brain to just name a few! We invited staff members, parents, and other students to view – and to vote on most outstanding and most educational projects.
School: O'Gorman Junior High - Sioux Falls, SD
Course: 8th Grade Science
Teacher: Amy Lynch
Course: 8th Grade Science
Teacher: Amy Lynch
Air Resistance Lab
When an object is falling with a constant velocity, we call that terminal velocity. We used coffee filters to observe how air resistance affects the rate at which objects fall. Students dropped coffee filters under a motion detector (which was connected to LabQuest which was connected to a chromebook which was running Vernier graphical analysis app). This determined the terminal velocity of the falling coffee filters. To change the mass, we dropped 1 coffee filter, then 2 ... up to 5 coffee filters at a time. We used coffee filters because they are light enough to reach terminal velocity in a short distance.
Students were (objectives):
- observing the effect of air resistance on falling objects (coffee filters)
- determining how the terminal velocity of a falling object is affected by air resistance & mass.
Other skills used during this lab include:
- analyzing a graph to determine whether the data was erratic or they got a smooth good graph;
- working together: one student dropped the filter, another ran the graphing app, another held the motion detector, etc.
- computation skills (find slope which is terminal velocity)
- use the data & graph to make a new graph comparing different variables
When an object is falling with a constant velocity, we call that terminal velocity. We used coffee filters to observe how air resistance affects the rate at which objects fall. Students dropped coffee filters under a motion detector (which was connected to LabQuest which was connected to a chromebook which was running Vernier graphical analysis app). This determined the terminal velocity of the falling coffee filters. To change the mass, we dropped 1 coffee filter, then 2 ... up to 5 coffee filters at a time. We used coffee filters because they are light enough to reach terminal velocity in a short distance.
Students were (objectives):
- observing the effect of air resistance on falling objects (coffee filters)
- determining how the terminal velocity of a falling object is affected by air resistance & mass.
Other skills used during this lab include:
- analyzing a graph to determine whether the data was erratic or they got a smooth good graph;
- working together: one student dropped the filter, another ran the graphing app, another held the motion detector, etc.
- computation skills (find slope which is terminal velocity)
- use the data & graph to make a new graph comparing different variables