Matter & Energy
Grade 7: Matter & Energy
Pure Substances & Mixtures
For PDSB Educators: if you are looking to reach out to the Peel Field Centres for further ways to connect your learning to the environment visit the PDSB Field Centre Share Point site.
Nature Journaling: I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of...
Nature Journaling is an incredible tool for students to the positive and negative impact of substances and mixture on the environment. Their nature journal allows them to write/draw their observations helping to cement the concepts being taught.
At this age all three prompts "I notice..., I wonder...?, and "It reminds me of..." become very intuitive. However the statement "I wonder..." becomes very important at this age all the way up to 18 years as students deepen their understanding of the world around them. Encourage students to begin writing using single words, simple sentences, lists, point form, paragraphs and even poetry. Please note that spelling is not a focus in the nature journal. At this age you may start to see art fears - please ensure you are re-iterating it is not about a pretty picture. It is about their observations. Please see the link feedback at the bottom of this lesson for tips on this. Using words, pictures and numbers allows the students multiple tools to document their observations. With permission Bethan Burton has allowed us to link to her website as she has written a blog post for Teaching nature journaling at all ages.
Here are some more ideas to get you started.
Engage the fives senses (whenever possible)
Make leaf prints ( paint the leaf and press the print into the journal)
Make leaf rubbings
Trace the items they are looking at
Add leaves into the journal using tape
Count the birds/squirrels/insects etc.
Measure as much of the phenomena as the students can using non standard and standard units of measurement.
Here is a downloadable lesson from John (Jack) Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren book: How to Teach Nature Journaling. All resources shared with permission. "I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of..."
GIVING FEEDBACK here is a fantastic resource from Jack and Emilie
NOTE: You are encourage to spend time in the outdoors Nature Journaling. However, you can also bring nature inside, look out your wonder window, have a refrigerator Safari or even observe a house plant or pet.
Ice Sun Catchers
Materials needed:
- 4 containers of the same size, for example: plastic containers from recycling bin, pie plates, bread pan (avoid glass)
- A measuring cup or a container that you know the amount it holds
- Boiling and room temperature water
- Tablespoon of salt
- Tablespoon of sugar
- Found objects from inside or outside, for example: banana peel, apple seeds, leaves, flowers, pine needles, etc.
- String or rope (approximately 30 cm per sun catcher)
- Tape (or scrap piece of paper) and marker
- A way to freeze your experiment, for example: freezer, balcony, backyard, etc.
- A place to write down your hypothesis and your results, for example: online document, paper and pencil, etc.
Before you start the activity gather the materials needed and find a space where you can pour boiling water safely. Follow the steps below:
1.Write down your hypothesis answering these questions:
- Which pan will freeze first?
- Which pan will freeze last?
- Why do you think this will happen?
2. Fill 1 container with 1 cup of room temperature water, 1 container with 1 cup of boiling water, 1 container with 1 cup of room temperature water mixed with the one tablespoon of salt and 1 container with 1 cup of room temperature water mixed with the one tablespoon of sugar
3. Label each container (boiling or room temperature, sugar or salt) on a piece of paper or tape and attach it to the middle of a 30cm piece of string
4. Place both ends of the string (tied together) and your natural objects in the water. Try to use same objects in both tins to keep consistent variables
5. Monitor how long they take to freeze. Check in on the containers after every hour and record your observations. Once you see slush forming then make sure to check the containers more frequently (every 30 minutes or even every 10 minutes). Record the timing and the observations at each check.
6. Once totally frozen, remove from containers and hang on a nearby tree. You can record your results of how quickly they melt as you enjoy the beauty of the sun catcher changing.
Extension ideas:
Use the data collected to create relative frequency tables and consider real-world problems involving water mixtures freezing over time (Data Management & probability).
Conduct a similar experiment but instead look at boiling time when using room temperature water versus hot water from the tap, and using salt and sugar.
NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity at the top of the page.
Sweet Water - Mixture
An important part of this land is the trees. We, in Southern Ontario, are extremely fortunate to live next to our special Sugar Maple trees. Long before Europeans arrived on this land Indigenous people received the gift of sweet water from the maple trees. This provided them a much needed first harvest of the year. Sweet water, commonly known as sap, contains minerals, oligosaccharides, amino acids, organic acids, and phenolic compounds.
There are many ways sweet water is harvested and used. At the PDSB Field Centres we use taplines to collect sap from Sugar Maple trees and then bring the sap to the sugar shack to be processed. Research the mixture of sweet water (also known as sap) and answer the following questions:
What is in the mixture of sweet water?
Is the mixture heterogeneous or homogeneous?
What is the solvent in maple syrup?
What are some of the solutes of maple syrup?
Why must the syrup be filtered before being bottled?
Now get outside and thank the trees for all they provide. Remember they are alive even in the winter time, but need to slow down and conserve energy during the cold months. Sound familiar?
Curriculum Link: see Earth & Space Systems
NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity at the top of the page.