their surroundings Key Vocabulary: Camouflage, environment, surroundings, adapt, applications, background, colour, predator, prey, military Teacher can then ask students about any other examples they know of camouflage to discuss in pairs, then get some pairs to feedback. There may be some links here to man-made camouflage and how this ties in with the topic and how humans have used examples of how nature uses camouflage for applications such as military, videography/photography, architecture etc. Teacher to set up and students can then play a game in where they have to try and pick up as many squares of paper as possible in a set time. There are 2 different coloured squares of paper and 2 different backgrounds of the same colours (so all the colour squares are placed on each background). Students must pick up the piece of paper using only a finger and thumb, or pair of tweezers, in a 20-30 second time frame. After the activity has been completed and the students have some observations. Students should be directed to evaluate the activity and suggest how it might be related to camouflage in nature. *Note the aim of the game is to illustrate how a predator is more likely to choose a prey item from Inquiry: This same activity can be expanded to include 3 or 4 different colour backgrounds, where students carry out a full investigation using the question; How does the colour of the background affect the most common chosen colour of prey? Students should be able to observe a pattern about the ease to detect prey Some real examples or pictures of man mad camouflage. Small squares of 2 different colours of paper, 2 large pieces of background paper those 2 different coloured pieces of paper. Stopwatches, tweezers (optional) Same as above, but with 3 or 4 different background colours of paper. Videos showing how some organisms can use objects to camouflage themselves. themselves with their environment. Students will be able to discuss and share what they know about camouflage Students will model how camouflage can be a selective pressure, and investigate the impact of different coloured environments.
using kettles to observe the differences in the time taken to change the states. Chemical changes – changing reactants into products E.g. Making caramel sauce demo, as many chemical reactions, the change is permanent/irreversible Other examples can be used to exemplify irreversible changes and why we would want to do this – for different uses. E.g wood and paper are both useful but for different purposes. Students will compare the difference between reversible and irreversible changes, linking to examples of both. Investigate how rusting can be controlled, for example, observe that the use of paints and oils (grease) will prevent rusting and protect iron Key Vocabulary: Rust, oxidized, corrosion, grease, water, undesirable, desirable The Catch: Show the class concept cartoon about rusting and have a rusted and unrusted example of something for students to see and feel. What are the major differences? Teacher can link to examples of rusting iron being undesirable and how we can use other materials to help prevent undesirable effects. This a particularly common occurrence on boats, cars, household objects etc. Then can ask the students to brainstorm about the ways people protect these items from corrosion. This is a good opportunity for students to use research to help shape the focus of their investigation. Inquiry: What conditions cause iron nails to rust the fastest? Select materials can be given out to small Research materials printed. Number of iron nails, test tubes, water, salt, oil, grease, paint (or pre-painted nails) Students have the opportunity to extract key information using research in order to inform the focus of the investigation. Students will also be reminded about and use dependent, independent and control variables within an investigation. In small groups, students plan, carry out, measure and record, present data on, conclude and
their explanations of each layer. *Note – this can also be run as a homework project. The teacher can then talk about the cross subject topic of the convection currents in the mantle. This can be demoed in a number of different ways, for example: A glass beaker containing water, heated on a hot plate, place some red food colouring in, and add an ice cube with blue food colouring. This can further demonstrate what happens with the movement of the crusts using items floating on the surface of the water. Alternatively a hot plate, tomato soup, a metal tray and some pieces of bread, or crackers – this shows the movement of the crust. Inquiry: What is the effect on the time taken for an ice cube to melt in different temperature water? Students work in small groups, and using beakers with different temperature water, along with ice cubes that have food colouring in them. Students can time how long it takes in the different temperatures for the ice cube to completely melt. * They may also be able to view convection currents at the same time. Glass beaker, red food colouring, ice cubes with blue food colouring, hotplate, pipette, pieces of Styrofoam/polystyrene Hot a metal try (deep), tomato soup, pieces of bread or crackers. describe the structure of the and model what it looks like. Students are able to link understanding of the Earth’s structure with the physical process of heat transfer i.e. convection using a model. Students can draw comparisons between a simplified more to convection and what occurs in the Earth’s mantle.
Ice cubes (with blue food colouring in then), beakers, kettles, thermometers, stopwatches. Students work in collaborative groups to look at the effects of changing temperature and ice melting Describe and group rocks and soils on the basis of their characteristics, including appearance, texture and permeability Key Vocabulary: Rocks, metamorphic, sedimentary, igneous, texture, permeability, characteristics, gravel, sand, soil, pressure, heat Catch: using a collection of different types of rocks (including some local examples) along with “bio viewers” or hand lenses. Students can then sort out the rocks based upon some of their physical characteristics. The teacher can ask students/groups of students, why they grouped the rock samples as they did. Teacher can link these skills to ones previously developed when classifying animals using the same method of dichotomous keys. Rocks can be classified into 3 broad groups, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. Explaining some of the key characteristics, like their appearance (getting students to observe), texture (getting students to feel) and permeability (getting students to observe trying to pour water through them) Students working in small groups can then demonstrate the basics of the rock cycle and the features of each type using the “Chocolate rocks demo” Different samples of rocks (including local examples), hand lenses or bio viewers and dark chocolate, plastic knife, aluminium foil, hot water, grater Examples of local fossils in rock such as corals and conch etc. Students will be able to observe and identify different properties of rocks. They will be able to use their own methods for classifying rocks, then using dichotomous keys. Students understand the key characteristics of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, specifically their
This can be linked to local examples, much of the local rock is sedimentary as it has examples of fossils in it. Inquiry: Students will investigate in small groups looking at sediment, and how quickly water permeates/filters through different materials. Different materials such as gravel, sand, soil, placed in filter paper inside a funnel. Then a certain amount of water poured through each, and timed to measure the rate of permeation. Alternatively can look at how quickly sediment settles in a jar containing different types of sediment and water. Filter paper (coffee filters will work), beakers, funnels, measuring cylinders, timers, different samples of materials such as: large gravel, small gravel, sand, soil, etc Alternatively: Jars, stopwatches, samples of materials such as: gravel, small gravel, sand, soil, etc appearance, texture and permeability. Students will be able to model the characteristics or types of rocks as well as the rock cycle using simple models. Students will also be able to evaluate these models. Students will work in small groups to carry out a full investigation into the permeability of different materials. Learn about fossils and how they are formed Key Vocabulary: Fossil, shell, bone, mineralization, plastercine, cast, impression, layers, excavate, plaster cast The teacher can show the class some examples of fossils for them to observe and hand lenses. Ask if students know of any fossils that can be found in Cayman and fossils they know of in general. The teacher can then demonstrate the process of how fossils are formed by placing an item, such as a shell in the bottom of a large jar/beaker that has already has a layer of plastercine/modelling clay in it, then layering it with soil, sand, gravel and water etc, to represent the layers that build up over time. Then leaving, for a while, to represent the long period of time that the process takes. Sample of various fossils examples of corals and shells) etc. It may be possible to borrow some from the national museum/national trust, hand lenses. Students will observe and compare the similarities and differences between different fossils. Students will identify fossils found locally as well as internationally.
the long teeth mutation, wait a couple of generations, then select food as the selection. Students will then be able to see how the rabbit population with short and long teeth changes as time goes on. Laptop trolley, computer suite, Students will be able to carry out a full virtual investigation that focuses on the process of natural selection. Unit 3: Physical Processes Materials: Forces and Energy Big Picture questions: What is magnetism? How do magnets work? How do you know a magnetic field exists? What are the uses of magnets/magnetic fields? Common Misconceptions: All metals are magnetic. Aluminium cans are magnetic. Suction/surface tension and magnetic attraction is the same The bigger the magnet, the stronger it is.
students could also explore the effect of thickness of the line on LED output. Graphite pencils, thick paper, 9V batteries, LED bulbs, sticky tape, voltmeter (optional) understanding of other models. Students can work in groups collaboratively to carry out an entire investigation on how the length of the wire/drawn line affects the brightness of a lamp.