Valerie ChandlerNovember, 24th, 2015Concoction ExperimentContent Area: Physical Science

Scientific Method Report

I. Question

Out of sugar, raisins, and candy corn which one will create the coolest concoction when dropped in water.

This investigation is important as it will help me decide what to put together to create a new and exciting mixture and will show the students how different substances react differently when placed in water, creating mixtures and or solutions.

II. Hypothesis

The participants will choose candy corn as creating the coolest concoction among the three choices.

I feel this will happen because the reaction of raisins and sugar in the water is typically a predicted reaction, whereas, the reaction of candy corn in water is a discrepant event. The participants will likely not be expecting the candy corn to dissolve and turn the water orange. I feel that because of this the participants will choose candy corn as creating coolest concoction.

III. Terminology

Concoction: A mixture of various ingredients or elements. Cool: For the purpose of this investigation the substance that creates

the coolest concoction will be determined by which substance the participants believe creates an exciting and neat reaction.

Solute: The substance that is dissolved. Mixture: A combination of two or more substances: substances in a

mixture can be separated. Solution: When one or more substances are dissolved in another

substance.

IV. Variables

Controlled variable: There will only be three options to mix with the water; raisins, candy corn, and sugar. All the water being used in the experiment will be warm. The participants will be paired in groups of two, each group will receive one cup, one piece of candy corn, and one tablespoon of sugar.

Manipulated variable: The substance being placed into the water is the manipulated variable because that is the attribute being observed. These substances are raisins, candy corn and sugar.

Responding variable: The responding variable being measured is the coolest concoction according to the most neat and exciting reaction.

V. Materials Needed Per Paired Group (1) Clear Plastic Cup (1) Piece of Candy Corn (1) Raisin (1) Table Spoons of Sugar (1) Recording Sheet (see attached) (3) Cups filled half way of Hot Water (2) Straw Stirrers (1) Ziploc Bag

VI. Procedures

1. Purchase sugar, raisins, candy corn, clear plastic cups, Ziploc bags, and straw stirrers.

2. Print out eighteen recording sheets.3. Place two stirrers, one piece of candy corn, one raisin, and one tablespoon of

sugar into nine Ziploc bags.4. Place one bag of materials into nine separate cups.5. Pair the students in groups of two.6. Provide each group of two with one cup of materials and two recording sheets.7. Have the students fill in their predictions of what will happen when sugar is

dropped in the water.8. After predictions are complete ask one student from the group to pour hot water

into their cup until it is half full.9. Have the student bring back the cup to their group and drop the sugar into the cup

of water.10. Have the students record what they see happening on their recording sheets.11. Have the students empty the cup.12. Students should repeat steps 7-11 with the raisin, and lastly the candy corn.13. After all of the groups have completed the predictions and observations, have the

students flip over the recording sheet and complete the 4th question which asks students to highlight the solutes on the front page.

14. Lastly, have the students fill in the last two questions on the recording sheets, asking them what concoction was the coolest and why, and determine if their chosen concoction was a solution or not.

VII. Discussion of ResultsOut of the eighteen possible participants, all eighteen participated in this

investigation. Prior to testing the reaction of placing the substances into the water,

participants were asked to record predictions about what they believed would occur when they placed each of the substances into the water. Seventeen students stated they believed the sugar would dissolve when placed into water, two students believed the sugar would dissolve, and five students believed the candy corn would dissolve in the water. These results can be viewed in graph one and table one below.

After making predictions the participants began testing their predictions by dropping the substances into the water. The participants dropped three different substances into water, raisins, candy corn and sugar. During the testing of the predictions, participants recorded the results on their recording sheets. Eighteen students found that the sugar dissolved, eighteens students found that the raisin did not dissolve, and eighteen students discovered the candy corn dissolved when placed in warm water. This information can be found in graph two and table two.

Upon completion of the testing, participants were asked to state which substance they thought created the coolest concoction. Five participants stated the sugar made the coolest concoction, two participants stated the raisin, and eleven participants stated the candy corn created the coolest concoction. This final information can be found in graph three and table three.

VIII. Data Table and Graph

Graph 1. This graph represents the predictions students made in regard to which substances they believed would and would not dissolve in the water.

Table 1. This table depicts the predictions students made identifying which substance they believed would and would not dissolve when placed in water.

Think it will dissolve Think it will not dissolveSugar 17 1Raisin 2 16Candy Corn 5 13

Graph 2. This graph represents the substances students discovered would and would not dissolve when placed into the warm water.

Table 2. This table shows the results of which substances dissolved and which did not dissolve when placed into water.

Yes, it dissolved No, it did not dissolveSugar 18 0Raisin 0 18Candy Corn 18 0

Graph 3. This graph shows which substance students believed created the coolest concoction.

Table 3. This table represents the response to the question: Which do you believe created the coolest concoction?Substance Number of ResponsesSugar 5Raisin 2Candy Corn 11

IX. Data Analysis and InterpretationIn regard to the responding variable, coolest concoction according to the most neat

and exciting reaction, the data in graph three shows that the manipulated variable, candy corn, ranked the highest with eleven votes which correlates to 61% of the total class.

I also analyzed the predictions and results the students made in finding out which substances dissolved. By looking at graphs one and two the data shows that out of eighteen students, seventeen correctly predicted that the sugar would dissolve. Sixteen students correctly identified that the raisin would not dissolve. Only five students were able to correctly predict the candy corn would dissolve. In converting this data to percentages, 94% of students were able to correctly predict the sugar would dissolve, 89% were able to correctly predict the raisin would not dissolve, and 28% were able to correctly predict that the candy corn would dissolve. This data shows that the students had difficulty determining what would happen when the candy corn was placed in the water. This could also be due to the fact that because the candy corn was about the same size as the raisin the students may have felt that is would react to the water in the way manner.

The data in graphs one and two show a positive correlation between the substances the students chose as creating the coolest concoction and the substances ability to dissolve in water. Out of the three possible substances 89% of the students chose one of the substances that dissolved; 61% choose the candy corn and 28% chose sugar. Only 11% of the students choose the raisin as the coolest substance. This data could be due to the fact that the students feel the when the substance dissolved it created an exciting reaction that they had not seen before. Because the raisin did not dissolve and just sunk to the bottom of the cup many of the students may not have been excited by this reaction.

When reviewing the information from graphs one, two and three it can be seen that the coolest concoction chosen, candy corn, had the smallest percentage of students correctly identify that is would dissolve. Students could have chosen the candy corn because it was the one substance that more than half of the class was unable to correctly predict what would happen when it was placed in water. This discrepant event may have excited many of the students as it challenged what they originally believed. Thus, making the reaction of the candy corn in the water exciting and neat and therefore, making this the “coolest” concoction to 61% of the students.

X. ConclusionsThe data I collected supported my hypothesis. My hypothesis stated that out of sugar,

candy corn, and raisins, students would chose candy corn as the substance creating the coolest concoction when placed in water. This hypothesis is supported as eleven students, majority of the class, stated candy corn created the coolest concoction.

XI. Modifications and Extensions

The next time I did this investigation there are several aspects I would change. I would have pitchers of hot water premade before the students began the investigation. This would limit transition time and provide more time for on task investigations. I would also use a black permanent marker to make a line of how far up the students should fill their cups with water. This line will help the students to know exactly how much water should be in each cup and help to keep the results consistent.

Next time I completed this investigation I would have an extension that asked the students to choose three different ingredients from home (e.g. mustard, cinnamon, parsley) and make predictions about what would occur when they were placed in water, as well as write a statement about which ingredient out of the three they thought made the coolest concoction and why. This would help to extend the lesson and allow me to see what more the students knew and see if they were able to start to see the pattern of which substances would dissolve and which would not.

XII.Content

This investigation is covered by Physical Science, more specifically, mixtures and solutions. This is covered as the students investigate what will happen when a substance, a solid, liquid or gas is mixed with another substance. In this investigation one substance; a solid (sugar, raisin, candy corn), is mixed in another substance; a liquid (water). This investigation results in mixtures, when two or more substance are combined and can be separated back into its original two substances. A mixture can be heterogeneous or homogenous. A heterogeneous mixture has different compositions and can be separated out. In this investigation the raisin in the water is a homogenous mixture. A homogenous mixture has a constant composition, more specifically it one substance is fully dissolved in the other substance, a homogenous mixture is called a solution. A solution is when two substances are mixed together evenly without large pieces (Mixture or Solution, 2013). This can be seen as a result of mixing the sugar in the water as well as mixing the candy corn in the water.

I. Reflection

My overall experience with inquiry based learning was positive. I feel that this method of learning is beneficial to students as it engages them and creates deeper thinking. During this lesson the students were engaged during the entire process and were engaging in higher order thinking. While the students were participating in this investigation they were engaging in conversation about dissolving, and how they believe the candy corn dissolved because it was made up of sugar, and the sugar dissolved therefore the candy corn would have to dissolve. I believe this was a great investigation that lead to students asking “why” and “how”. I think what went well was the responses

to why students thought a particular substance was the coolest. This question had students explain why they thought what they did; this also allowed me to see if they were using the terminology I taught during the lesson. However, if I could go back and do this lesson again I would make sure to ask the students why they believed what they did, for instance, why they believed the candy corn would not dissolve. I believe this would help me to better understand the students’ prior knowledge and better build upon what they know and do not know.

Next time, I would think about ways to improve set up time. During the experiment, there was a few times where the students were not engaged in the investigation portion as they had to fill up the cups with water, and empty the cups out. If I were to do this investigation again, I would think about ways to limit time spent setting up for the investigation. Limiting set up time would provide more time for the students to test their predictions and make observations.

The hardest part of inquiry based learning for me was trying to figure out and explain why the students should care about the investigation and or lesson. I found, and still find it difficult to explain why it matters that students learn particular lessons. With this lesson, it was hard to describe why it matters that students know what will happen when they place the substances into water. I believe that with more practice this part of inquiry based learning will come more easily.

II. Textbook Connections

The textbook discusses using discrepant events in inquiry based learning. The discrepant event is a scientific phenomenon that has a surprising outcome that the students will not be expecting (Carin, A., Bass, J. & Contant, T., 2013, p.162). The way I set up this investigation provided students with a discrepant event. The discrepant event for this investigation was the candy corn. Because the raisin did not dissolve many of the students predicted that the candy corn would not dissolve because of its similar size and weight. Having the students experiment with the candy corn last provided the students with a surprising event as the dissolving of the candy corn was an unusual outcome that majority of the students did not consider. The students were amazed, I heard students comment “Wow, this is so cool!” and “It’s disappearing!”. More than half of the class predicted that the candy corn would not dissolve, when it did dissolve, the students were shocked and began to ask more critical questions. Some of the students asked “Why is it dissolving?” and “Why is the candy corn disappearing when the raisin didn’t disappear?”. I believe discrepant events help to engage students and get them more interested in the concepts and the reasons behind why things occur, in this case students began asking why the candy corn dissolved.

The textbook discusses the importance of using questions to guide discussions of explanations. This causes the students to shift from observation to explanation. I do not feel that I did a good job of this part of the explain stage (Carin, A., Bass, J. & Contant, T., 2013, pg.191). Once students saw that the candy corn dissolved I should have helped to facilitate the students in the shift from observation to explanation. I should have asked the students something along the lines of “What ideas do you have about why the candy corn dissolved?”. If I had asked questions similar to this how the textbook suggests the students may have been able to better differentiate between observations and interpretations. I believe that while some of the students were able to reach the stage of

explanation and inferring, most of the students did not reach this stage. I blame myself for this, as I did not facilitate the students in asking questions about why they believed the results happened as they did. Reviewing this makes me realize how important it is to ask students these types of open ended questions.

References:Carin, A., Bass, J. & Contant, T. (2014). Teaching science as inquiry (12th ed.).

Boston: Pearson Education

Mixture or Solution? (2013). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceLesson/Preview/21042

Best Concoction

Substance Number of ResponsesSugar 5Raisin 2Candy Corn 11

Will it dissolve predictions

Think it will dissolve Think it will not dissolveSugar 17 1Raisin 2 16Candy Corn 5 13

Did it dissolve resultsYes No

Sugar 18 0Raisin 0 18Candy Corn 18 0

Results of Completion of at Home Investigation2nd Substance Prediction Result

Student 1 Filtered Water Sink, Dissolve, and Change color of water

Sunk, Dissolved, Changed water colors

Student 2 Soda It will not dissolve just sink

The color turned to a reddish orange, it dissolved when I stirred it

Student 3 Cranberry Juice Sink and Dissolve Wax from candy corn fell off, it sunk and dissolved

Student 4 Vinegar Candy corn will turn white then dissolve

Took some of the color away, when I woke up the next day the candy corn was gone! The vinegar was orange with no candy corn.

Student 5 Pink Lemonaid It will dissolve and fall apart because it is mostly made of sugar

After 33 minutes the candy corn completely dissolved and turned the pink lemonaid to orange