Mission Statement: 

This resource is for teachers, after school care providers, or anyone who is looking for an interactive and educational learning activity for students in or around fifth grade. There is a need for this resource because it will help provide ideas on ways to teach computer science skills in creative ways to students while combining it with other areas of study.

Through these lessons, we are trying to teach students about density, how to use computer programming to model their hypothesis, and practicing tracking and analyzing data. Students will work with the five lessons from this unit, which consists of a series of assignments and worksheets that will enhance their computer science skills. These assignments are intended to teach students computer science skills in a fun and creative way that will help them stay engaged, and eager to learn.

For the outcome of these lessons, students will demonstrate a level of comfort with writing a hypothesis, designing and conducting an experiment, and analyzing data. Students will understand density in regards to what it is, and how it affects whether an object will sink or float when placed in water. In the end students will have a greater understanding of science and will be able to demonstrate their computer science skills.

This resource aligns and works with Computer Science Teaching Association (CSTA) Learning Standards 1B-DA-06 and 1B-DA-07. This also follows the general science properties of chemistry and physics. 

Team Video:

Pitch:

With this unit we strive to help educate students about the topic of density, and how we can use our knowledge of computer science alongside our scientific knowledge. We will enhance the students’ computer science and scientific thinking skills through these lessons. This unit is accessible and engaging to all in a fun and creative way. By the end of this unit, students will be able to collect data, sort data, and understand what it is telling us, all while engaging in lessons and learning about density. We will incorporate this with a hands-on activity that will leave students feeling confident with their data analysis skills. 

Our first lesson will serve as an introduction to scratch programming. In another lesson students will create their own scratch program to display their hypothesis to show us their predictions of how the experiment will go.

Our second lesson will give the students an introduction on what a hypothesis is, how we use “if, then, because” statements, and they will be allowed time to practice making their own hypothesis.

Our third lesson is where we will introduce the students to the topic of density. They will be given a list of items and asked to make their predictions about whether when placed in water the item will sink or float. In this lesson students will also form their own hypothesis for each item they select.

Our fourth lesson will include the students revising their hypothesis and designing the experiment they will conduct. This lesson is where students will create their scratch program to display their hypothesis.

Our fifth and final lesson is where the students will conduct their experiment, create a data spreadsheet, and analyze their results to determine if their hypothesis is correct.

For any comments, questions, or concerns, please reach out to us at:

Madscientists422@Gmail.com