© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Spreadsheet Model: Showing Relationships Total time: 6 weeks Subject: Life Science Observing Complete Metamorphosis: The Life Cycle of the Darkling Beetle Beryl Rieke 6 th Grade Kimberly Middle School Kimberly, ID

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Getting Started Ms. Reike and her 6 th grade students are studying the life cycle of invertebrates. They will record their daily observations of mealworms in a spreadsheet. Students will then analyze their observations and compare them with other groups’ observations to discover patterns and/or differences. Listen to Ms. Reike’s introduction. Click here to see other appropriate problems for 6 th grade Click Image to Start Video Click here to view a copy of Ms. Reike’s lesson plan Insert SETUP

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Other Appropriate Problems Students in a 6 th grade classroom can use a spreadsheet to solve many problems including teacher or student-created story problems or problems involving their school, community, or classroom. Here are some examples of problems that 6 th graders could solve using a spreadsheet: What hot lunches are most preferred by students in a particular grade, school or state and how does this compare with other grades, schools or states? How might the use of various materials to assemble paper airplanes or various designs of paper airplanes determine flight distance? Can you think of an appropriate problem that a sixth grader could answer using a spreadsheet? Click here for another problem with sample questions Click Image to Start Video

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Teaching Students to Ask Questions Once the children know what the problem is, Ms. Reike then must teach her students how to ask questions. Click here for another problem with sample questions Insert MEALWORM Click Image to Start Video

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Sample Questions Earlier we listed some problems that a 6 th grader might be able to solve using a spreadsheet. Let's take one of those problems and break it into parts so you can see how the problem would be solved. Problem: Do plants exposed to sunlight grow more than plants not exposed to sunlight? This is a question that students in a sixth grade classroom may explore when learning about Newton’s Laws of Motion. Students can use the scientific method to solve this problem. After developing hypotheses about various designs and materials and their affect on flight distance, student groups will design planes to test their hypotheses. Visual analysis of the results may be adequate, but for more detail teachers may wish to provide probes to measure distance and even velocity. Probeware sends this data directly to the computer. In some cases, teachers find it appropriate to use both probeware and the spreadsheet so students can have experience writing the formulas, forcing a more complete understanding of the math behind the experiment. Integration of the spreadsheet can help students and teachers take this problem to the next level. Let's see what some student questions might be. How might we set up the experiment? What information will help us determine the answer? (materials used, velocity, design, etc.) In what unit will we measure the distance? How long will we run the study before we determine our answer?

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Collecting the Data Click Image to Start Video

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Data Collection Details Click Image to Start Video

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Entering and Analyzing Data Click Image to Start Video

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Teaching Students to use Spreadsheets

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Analyzing the Data

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Analyzing the Data Using the Original Questions

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Comparisons to Real World Examples

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Comparing Conclusions

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Student Products

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001 Review the Steps

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001

© Building Bridges with Technology Boise State University, 2001