Grade level
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Cause and Effect
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
Students conducted an investigation to look at relationships in the environment in which the beetle lives. One group (Sample A) looked at the role that water plays in controlling the temperature of the soil. Students were able to vary the amount of water in the soil and take the temperature in short intervals over a class period. Students then created a data representation and presented their data to the class to come to a conclusion about the role of water controlling soil temperature.
Sample B shows the data of a group that is investigating how gravity affects the flow of water. They used a binder at different angles to see whether there was a relationship between the steepness of the “terrain” and the distance that the water flowed.
Sample A shows that students have asked a question about the role of water and soil temperature. Students have a sense of the importance of independent and dependent variables in an investigation. However, they wrote on their paper that they will be changing both the water and the temperature instead of saying that they will change the water amount and measure the temperature. Students also show organization in their data table and their graph. However they show their data chronologically—that is, the order in which they collected the data—instead of showing it quantitatively. Hence, there is a positive linear relationship shown, but this is not the actual shape of the graph as the recorded temperature of 102 is below the recorded temperature of 89 on the graph.
Sample B shows that students have a much more clear sense of independent and dependent variables even though they have not used the academic terms. Students adjusted the angle of the binder ranging from 20° to 60° and then let water flow down. They recorded the measured distance of the moving water and plotted it on a graph. Student data showed a general positive, linear relationship and they came to the conclusion that the steeper the terrain, the further the water would move.
