How can we choose the best material for a reusable item?
Overview
Unit: Trends and Reactivity
Grade Level(s): 10-12
Duration: 5 weeks
Materials: Click here
The major task of this unit is to design a unique piece of 'keepsake' that lasts a long time and can be passed to the next generations of their families. The unit begins by sharing stories about a unique family keepsake, inviting students to think why some items last and why some others doesn't last. The students learn to explain how & why materials break down/corrode over time due to reactions with their environment (water & oxygen in particular).
Duration: 5 weeks
Grade Level(s): 10-12
Duration: 5 weeks
Materials: Click here
The major task of this unit is to design a unique piece of 'keepsake' that lasts a long time and can be passed to the next generations of their families. The unit begins by sharing stories about a unique family keepsake, inviting students to think why some items last and why some others doesn't last. The students learn to explain how & why materials break down/corrode over time due to reactions with their environment (water & oxygen in particular).
Duration: 5 weeks
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
HS-PS1.A: Structure and properties of matter
HS-PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
ETS1- A. Defining and Delimiting an Engineering Problem
ETS1-C. Optimizing the Design Solution
ETS1- B. Developing Possible Solutions
HS-PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
ETS1- A. Defining and Delimiting an Engineering Problem
ETS1-C. Optimizing the Design Solution
ETS1- B. Developing Possible Solutions
Trends and Reactivity Unit Storyline
This unit is designed in 11 lessons with a focus on designing a durable keepsake that lasts a long time. The unit product will be a video made by the students which represents the students and their legacy (who they are). During the first implementation of this unit, the students were trying to pick the best material for making a reusable water bottle. However, revisiting this unit allowed us to attend to students' identities by focusing on a keepsake that could be passed to the future generations.
Assessment
- Keepsake Video Assessment. (Click here).
- Rubric. (Coming soon...)
Google Drive Material
Please find all materials in this folder (Click here).
curriculum development
People
- Co-designing the unit storyline & assessment: Lindsay Fay, Abbey Zinsser, Paul Tshida & Hosun Kang at UCI
- Implementing the curriculum and assessment in classroom: Lindsay Fay, Abbey Zinsser, Alicia Fortier
- Curriculum writing: Lindsay Fay, Abbey Zinsser, Paul Tshida & Hosun Kang at UCI
- Reviewing the curriculum: Hosun Kang and Hamideh Talafian
what students say
"I liked how we could come with ideas for a water bottle and like what materials would be best, and then I don’t really have a dislike"
"I learned like a lot about the periodic table and the way it was formed. Like it actually depends on the Bohr model, like how many electrons there are in it. Like hydrogen and helium, they both have one orbital so they are on the top"
"We just like figured out which kind of material is good to make a good water bottle, and how the metal reacts to the water and see if it’s stable or not with the water"
"I learned like a lot about the periodic table and the way it was formed. Like it actually depends on the Bohr model, like how many electrons there are in it. Like hydrogen and helium, they both have one orbital so they are on the top"
"We just like figured out which kind of material is good to make a good water bottle, and how the metal reacts to the water and see if it’s stable or not with the water"