1. Investigating Mass Gain and Mass Loss Power point Power point to accompany Carbon Teaching Experiment Written by: Jonathon Schramm A, Eric Keeling B, Dijanna Figueroa C, Lindsay Mohan A, Michele Johnson C, and Charles W. Anderson A Culturally relevant ecology, learning progressions and environmental literacy Long Term Ecological Research Math Science Partnership 2012 Disclaimer: This research is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation: Targeted Partnership: Culturally relevant ecology, learning progressions and environmental literacy (NSF-0832173). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

2. Activity 5: Investigating Mass Gain and Mass Loss

3. Conservation of Mass (Except in nuclear reactions) the total mass of of the materials (solids, liquids, and gases) involved in any change in matter stays the same. MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

4. Tracing Matter Process Tool MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

5. Wetting a Sponge What is your prediction of the mass of the wet sponge? 20 30 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

6. Wetting Vermiculite What is your prediction of the mass of the wet Vermiculite? 30 40 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

7. Wetting a Sponge Prediction that follows Conservation of Mass 20 50 30 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

8. Wetting Vermiculite Prediction that follows Conservation of Mass 30 40 70 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

9. Your Predictions and Measurements When you measured the mass of the wet sponge and Vermiculite, how accurate were your predictions? Do you think conservation of mass applies to wetting the sponge and Vermiculite? Did the sponge and Vermiculite gain mass when you added water? MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

10. Drying a Sponge What is your prediction of the mass of the dry sponge? What happened to the mass of the water? 50 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

11. Drying Vermiculite What is your prediction of the mass of the dry Vermiculite? What happened to the mass of the water? 70 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

12. Drying a Sponge Prediction that follows Conservation of Mass 50 20 30 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

13. Drying Vermiculite Prediction that follows Conservation of Mass 70 30 40 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

14. Your Predictions and Measurements When you measured the dry mass of the sponge and Vermiculite, how accurate were your predictions? Do you think conservation of mass applies to drying the sponge and Vermiculite? Did the sponge and Vermiculite lose mass when you dried them out? MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

15. Watering Your Plants What is your prediction of the mass of the cup, soil, and plants after watering? 10 150 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

16. 10 150 Watering Your Plants Prediction that follows Conservation of Mass 160 MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment

17. Final Discussion Questions 1.Look back at the questions you answered before starting this activity. Do you now have different answers to any of the questions? 2.Do you think that conservation of mass applied to all the changes that you measured? Why were the masses you measured before and after sometimes different? 3.You can see that the measured mass of something can vary a lot depending on how much water is in the system. How could we tell whether plants are gaining dry mass (not just water) when they grow? MSP Carbon Teaching Experiment