Science 3 Stage UBD Lesson Plan

Teacher and NOS

Grade Level
Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence
Miss Moran
and Miss Shaw · Science explanations can change based on new evidence.

3rd Grade

Title: Disco
Fever Fleas

Disciplinary NGSS Standard(s)

Core Ideas
PS3.B. Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer (3-5)
4-PS3-2 Energy
Energy can also be transferred from place to place by electric currents,
Physical which can then be used locally to produce motion, sound, heat, or light. The
Science: currents may have been produced to begin with by transforming the energy
Energy of motion into electrical energy. (4- PS3-2),(4-PS3-4)

Purpose: To understand how electrostatic energy is transferred through different objects.

Topic Question: Do opposites attract?

Student Naïve Conceptions Science Background Knowledge for

Misconceptions:
· Students believe is that static electricity is
electricity which is static or nonmoving
· Static electricity is a buildup of electrons
Science:
Discrepant Event
· Atoms are composed of protons,
neutrons and electrons, which hold a
positive, negative and neutral charge.
· Everything has a charge and
opposite charges attract to each other
while positive charges repel each other

· What is really happening during static

electricity is those bonds between the positive and
negative charged particles are trying to escape and
transfer energy.
Materials:

 A large sheet of paper, 11 × 17 inches (28 × 43 cm or A3)

 Four supports- Wood blocks, each about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) high
 Plexi Glass (about 1 foot [30 cm] square and 1/8 inch [3 mm] thick)
 Paper napkins
 Pepper
 Wool sock

Stage 1: Exploration

Introduction

Miss Moran does the discrepant event first while Miss Shaw greets the students at the line. We
will trade off every other group.

The presenter make sure that the waiting students cannot see the dancing fleas, only the group
of students currently participating.

“Hello, My name is Miss Moran and Miss Shaw.

Ask: What are your names? Ask the students to raise their hands if they are in kindergarten,
first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade or fifth grade. For the remainder of the
event we will call the students by their names.

Pre-Assessment

Have you ever rubbed a balloon on your head and had your hair stand up after?

Student response: Yes

Why do you think that happened?

Student response: “Because it was sticky”,” I don’t know”

Hook

Hand one student in the group a blown up balloon, have them rub it on their head. Ask the
student what happened to their hair.

Student response: It stands straight up. It sticks to the balloon.

Ask: Do you think this works with other objects?

Student: Yes/No

Do you want to see a cool experiment to see if it works with other objects?
Student: Yes!

This pepper is about to look like a bunch of fleas dancing!

Point to survey on our interactive board- Ask “What do you think will make the fleas dance
better?”

Raise your hand if you think the wool sock will make the fleas dance better.

Students raise hand if they agree.

Raise your hand if you think the paper napkin will make the fleas dance better.

Students raise hand if they agree.

Perform the dancing fleas discrepant event.

1. Pour pepper on construction paper.

2. Place four wooden blocks attached to plastic on top of construction paper.
3. Pull out wool sock.
4. Rub the wool sock in a horizontal movement across the plastic.

5. Watch as the pepper jumps up and attaches to the plastic.

Stage 2: Concept Development

Ask: What just happened?

Younger Student: Magic, it jumped, it stuck to the plastic.

Older Student: Static electricity, it was magnetized, it stuck to the plastic, the fleas jumped.

Listen to what the child says: Restate key parts of what the child says and use the child’s
words to help them develop and understanding of how static electricity works appropriate for
their age. Refer back to the experiment when necessary.

You’re on the right track! Why do you think it did that?

Younger: When you play with two magnets sometimes the sides stick together and sometimes
they push apart. With this experiment the pepper is one side of a magnet and the plastic is
another side. The pepper and the plastic are like magnets and when the cloth is rubbed over the
plastic they try to stick together. The cloth produces static electricity when rubbed against the
plastic which produces an attraction between the 3 items.

Think of the pepper as one magnet and the plastic as another magnet. When I rub the cloth
over the plastic it creates static electricity that makes the two surfaces want to stick to each
other.
 Older: The fleas and the plastic both have the same charge (level of power). When I rub the
wool cloth on the plastic it creates static electricity and gets the pepper and plastic excited by
transferring opposite charges within the space under the plastic and that is what makes the
pepper jump up and down attaching to the plastic.

Stage 3: Expansion and Evaluation

Repeat the procedure above with a paper napkin as a substitute for the wool sock.

Ask: What happened?

Student response: A lot of pepper stuck to the plastic. Listen to student responses.

Ask: What was the difference between what happened with the wool sock and the paper
napkin?

Student response: More pepper stuck to the plastic and it jumped quicker.

Evaluate: What do you think is making the fleas dance?

Student response: Opposites attract, static electricity, magnets, the napkin, negative and
positive charges.

Thank the students for watching our fleas dance and participating in our experiment.

Ask: Would you enjoy trying this at home with your family members?

Offer the students a Pixie Stick and walk back to the waiting line.

Citation in APA 6:

Beaty , W. J. (1995). "Electricity" misconceptions spread by k-6 textbooks. Retrieved from

http://amasci.com/miscon/eleca.html#friction.

Exploratorium Teacher Institute. (2015, November 30). Electrical fleas. Retrieved March 29,

2017, from https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/electrical-fleas.

Library of Congress. (2011). How does static electricity work? Retrieved from

https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/static.html.
Static electricity. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2017, from https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/static electricity.