FBRI FBRI in the Middle Schools January 27, 2009 Middle School Collaborative Patrica Bernhardt Beth Hayes Tracy Vassiliev

Wood Composite Curriculum Connections Inquiry Project Science – Property of matter – Density, Weight, Pressure Math – Spreadsheets, programming formulas, ratios

Science/Math Notebooks – Modeling research Inquiry Inductive thinking – Record Protocol – Record the Data Qualitative – Observations Quantitative – Mass, dimensions, etc…

Classification of Matter

 Properties of matter and how matter changes  Alloys - a homogenous mixture of two or more elements (one of which is metallic)  Brass (Cu & Zn)  Steel (C & Fe)  Composites - Engineered materials made from two or more constituents materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties  Matrix & Reinforcement  Straw & Mud (Ancient bricks)  Fiberglass

 Wood Composite Test (flour,salt, sawdust,water)  How do composites affect the properties of materials?  Differentiate  Provide wood composite recipe  Allow students to develop and test their own recipes.

 Data Collection  Allows students to construct meaning from raw data  Technology Component  Spreadsheets  Formulas to calculate formulas  Volume, density, weight, pressure, ratios  Graph  density to mass ratio

 Curriculum Connections  Physical Science  Math  Cutting edge research  Relevant to WHY students need to learn STEM subjects

Funding for this work was provided by The National Science Foundation under grant numbers EEC and EPS