Rolling marbles III

Rolling marbles III

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
speech bubble: Will a marble roll further on a smooth or rough surface?
Your teacher will give you some cards.
Choose one card that shows how to plan a fair test to answer the question: Will a marble roll further on a carpet or a smooth floor? 
You will need to think about what has to stay the same, and what will need to change.
  • Show your teacher the card you have chosen.
  • Tell your teacher why you chose this card, and why you didn't choose the other ones.
Cut into 4 cards. 
marbles cards to cut out
Task administration: 
Equipment:
Four planning cards
  • This task requires students to choose cards that make a fair test.
  • The teacher will need to make up the four cards before students work on the task (one set for each group).
  • This task could be completed in small groups, or pairs, and children can respond orally to the follow up question.
  • Display and read the question, "Will a marble roll further on a carpet or smooth floor?"
  • Ask the children to select the card from the provided set that would be a fair test to answer the question.

Once the students have had their choices checked they could carry out the investigation.

Level:
2
Curriculum info: 
Science, Investigating in science, Physical World
Keywords: 
fair testing, controlling variables, friction, marbles, investigation
Description of task: 
Task: select a card to show how to control the variables of an investigation into the rolling distance of marbles on different surfaces. Assessment focus: controlling variables.
Curriculum Links: 
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
 
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss the meaning of “fair” in science investigations.
Science capabilities: 
Gather and interpret data
Making Better Sense: 
Friction
Answers/responses: 

a)

A

b)

Any answer that indicates that the marble and slope have to be kept the same to keep the test fair;
or
Any answer that indicates that the surface has to change because that is the variable being tested.

 

Diagnostic and formative information: 

Question

Answer

Will a big marble or a small marble roll further?

D

Will a marble roll further down a steep slope, or a gentle slope?

C

Research suggests that students can recognise "fair tests" before they are able to produce these independently. Many students can "do" more than they can talk about. They find it difficult to say why a test is "fair" or not. This is more obvious at Year 4 than Year 8. Providing younger children with opportunities to select fair tests during assessment might allow them to better display their developing skills (Hipkins and Kenneally, 2003).

Resources

Rolling marbles 

Rolling marbles II

Ministry of Education (2003). Marbles. Building Science Concepts, Book 42. Wellington: Learning Media

Ministry of Education (1999). Making better sense of the physical world. Wellington: Learning Media. In the section on forces and motion, Activities 10 - 12 explore friction.

Further Information
Further reading about children's investigation skills:
Ministry of Education (2003). NEMP probe study findings 2003. Dunedin: Educational Assessment Research Unit. Developing children's science investigation skills, page 14, provides a clear teacher-friendly summary of a research project by Rose Hipkins and Natasha Kenneally about children's science investigation skills.

Hipkins, R. and Kenneally, N. (2003). Using NEMP to inform the teaching of scientific skills: a report to the NEMP board. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
Hipkins, R. and Kenneally, N. (2003). Simple teaching strategies to use during primary science investigations. Paper presented at ASERA Conference, Melbourne, July 8-12, 2003.