OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

The goal of this lesson is to recognize the relationship of thermal energy and temperature. As thermal energy of water increases what happens to temperature of water? Similarly, what happens to particle movement as thermal energy increases. Students will utilize Micro:bits to create a timer that indicates time to collect temperature data during lab. Students will need to refine Micro:bit code to make timer more accurately represent time elapsed.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Science
• Grade Level : 6-8
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Algorithms and Programming
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Collaborating Around Computing, Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts, Communicating About Computing
• Materials:
  • Website, Micro:bit, https://makecode.microbit.org/_ipjfDDgLMDM8
• Considerations:
  • While programming, students will refine the base code given to them to make the timer reflect more accurately time elapsed. Try and get students to question and think about why the timer might be off? What in the code is causing the timer to not display at the same pace as a cell phone timer? This difference in time elapsed comes from the amount of steps in the program and the time it takes for the Micro:bit to carry out the steps.

Lesson Plan

Overview

The goal of this lesson is to recognize the relationship of thermal energy and temperature. As thermal energy of water increases what happens to temperature of water? Similarly, what happens to particle movement as thermal energy increases. Students will utilize Micro:bits to create a timer that indicates time to collect temperature data during lab. Students will need to refine Micro:bit code to make timer more accurately represent time elapsed.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

1. Which describes particle movement at cold temperatures? A. Particles move slowly B. Particles do not move C. Particles move quickly

2. An algorithm is? A. Math equation B. Steps or procedures C. Type of computer

3. When observing temperature, what kind of observations will you look for? A. Size/ shape B. Color C. Quantity

4. What is computer science? A. Problem solving B. Using a computer C. Particle movement

OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to refine Micro:bit programming to better suit their experiment needs Students will be able to observe and collect data Students will be able to model particle movement at hot and cold temperatures

CATCH/HOOK

Day 1- Micro:bit on front screen projecting: Welcome to class! Day 2- Teacher wearing goggles as students are greeted at the door

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

This lesson will take 2 class periods. 1 class period for the prelab and Micro:bit setup and 1 class period for the lab, data collection, and post lab analysis.

Day 1

Pre-lab Modeling (15 Minutes)

• Teacher gives students prelab handout to glue into their science notebooks • Students complete prelab handout by: o Writing the initial state of matter for cold water in a beaker o Modeling particles in that state of matter o Predicting particle movement (quick or slow) o Repeating the three prior steps for the after thermal energy has been added part of the model

Pre-lab Programming a Micro:bit (45 Minutes)

● Teacher introduces computer science component of lesson • Computer Science is used to solve problems • During the next class period’s lab, students need a way to keep time (without using a cellphone) • In order to observe changes in temperature at every minute, students will create their own timer using a Micro:bit • Teacher introduces Micro:bit to students as mini computer o Each student will use their own computer to simulate the Micro:bit but will work as a team to help each other • Computers follow steps called algorithms. In order to create a timer, students will need to tell the computer what steps to do by programming the computer (the Micro:bit in this case) • Teacher asks students to brainstorm what steps (algorithms) would be needed for a timer. What does a timer need to be able to do? o Examples: way to start timer, countdown, way to know when timer is done, and way to reset timer • Students will be given the base code for the timer program in one of two ways. Teachers can go code by code through the program with students following along, or they can share a URL with the project code o https://makecode.microbit.org/_ipjfDDgLMDM8 o See attached Base Code for Micro:bit for step-by-step directions o Source for code: https://makecode.microbit.org/projects/watch/timer • Once students have the base code, teacher reviews how the code matches the steps students’ brainstormed. o Programming under On Start sets the timer to 60 seconds o Programming for On Button A will reset the timer when button A is pressed o Programming for On Button B will start the timer when button B is pressed. The timer will count down by 1000 ms or 1 second at a time. The program will indicate what number the timer counts down by (-1). Then it will show the new number. Once the number reaches 0 it will show a heart. • Teacher introduces the timer problem for students to solve using the computer program. Ask students the goal of the timer. How long should the timer last? (60 seconds). Have them test the computer timer against a cellphone timer. Do they both stop at the same time? (No). The timer is set to show a number every 1 second. Have students brainstorm why the timer might be off? What in the code is causing the timer to not display at the same pace as a cell phone timer? (The Micro:bit takes extra time to carry out all of the steps. Some numbers take longer to display than other numbers). • Students will play around with the code for “on button B pressed” to create a timer that has similar elapsed time as their cellphone timer. Specifically, students will test changes to “pause (ms)” and “change timer by” to improve their timer. The goal being that their timer lasts 1 minute. Students will refine, improve, and test their program many times to find the iteration closest to an actual one minute timer. • In their team, students will agree on and choose their closest iteration to a cellphone timer. They will then share their program changes with the class so that the class can see the many different ways students solved this problem. • Lastly, students will download their program to their computer. o Select “download” o View under “downloads” section of computer

Day 2

Pre-lab Review of Lab (15 minutes)

*** Lab materials will need to be setup beforehand by teacher *** • Review with students, previous class period’s tasks. o One student will download Micro:bit program onto their team’s Micro:bit • Students will work in groups of 4 with the following roles: Team Captain, Recorder, Material Manager, and Timekeeper. • Review safety precautions before lab. • Teacher will model lab procedures and show where materials are located in classroom • Make sure to review skills for observing with students as students will be practicing observation skills for a majority of the lab o Students should observe quantity (how much, how many), changes in size/ shape, and any changes in color (if there are any). The key observation will be quantity focusing on temperature data, but students will also notice a change in state of matter as the water boils and turns into a gas

Phase Change Lab (30 minutes)

• Students will follow lab procedures as outlined in lab handout • Students will record temperature of water every minute it is on the hot plate for about 19 minutes or until boiling • After students are done heating the water, they will compare ending temperatures of both boiling water and room temperature water. • Teacher will then add food coloring to water so students can gain some idea of particle movement at different temperatures • After students clean up, teacher should remove hot water from hot beaker

Post Lab (15 minutes)

• Students will complete post lab handout using their team data o Post lab also requires students to revise their initial model based on their lab observations

Supplements

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REVIEW

• After students have had time to answer questions, students will share responses as part of classroom discussion o Looking at your temperature data, what patterns did you notice? o How did particle movement change when comparing the room temperature beaker and the hot beaker? o What happened to the state of matter when thermal energy was added?

STANDARDS