[Grades 9-12 and Conservation of Matter]

Standards- and Research-Based Study of a Curricular Topic

Section and Outcome
I. Identify Adult Content Knowledge

Selected Sources and Readings for Study and Reflection Current Research on Topic
Big ideas and major concepts of this topic include the flow of energy and the concept that the total amount of matter and energy remains constant within a system despite their form or location undergoing continual change. In addition, elements are conserved throughout a chemical reaction. There is no net gain or loss of matter. New content presented was mainly the historical background and research of combustion reactions in relation to the conservation of matter. The theory was widely accepted since it complimented several already accepted theories, such as Daltons Atomic Theory. Some examples used to explain the conservation of matter are food webs, ecosystems, and combustion reactions. All adults should understand that the universe has a finite amount of matter. It cannot be created or destroyed. It can only change for or location, and therefore, the total amount of matter is conserved. Adults should be familiar with the following technical terminiology: element, matter, combustion, energy, molecules, food web, reaction (as it applies to chemistry), atom and ecosystem. Many interconnections emerge within the topic and include the relationship between the seen and unseen. For example, not all matter is visible like that of odorless, colorless gases that may leave a system during a reaction leaving a visible product that weighs much less than the reactants. It is also related to the connection between atoms (and other building blocks of matter) that people may have difficulty comprehending and higher forms of matter that people readily experience and see (organisms, plants, animals). There is another interconnection between the living, growing, decomposing, and recycling of matter. The reading suggest that K-12 education wants students to grasp a broad understanding of the conservation of matter that can be applied to several examples and bridge the gap between different science topics, i.e. Biology and Chemistry. IA. Science for All Americans Chapter 5, Flow of Matter and Energy, pages 66-67 Chapter 10, Understanding Fire, pages 153-155 IB. Science Matters There was no section IB for this topic. Effective instruction of the topic includes being aware of what grade level one is teaching and not forcing overly complicated concepts on students before or if they do not have the proper background knowledge to understand the concept. Teaching is also suggested to be inquiry-based and hands-on. When preparing for instruction, it is important to consider misconceptions and student development. For example, students may fail to understand that atoms are matter and

II. Consider Instructional Implications

III. Identify Concepts and Specific Ideas

are the building blocks of all more readily experienced forms of matter. When it comes the students development, it is important to know which ideas are appropriate for the grade level one is teaching. Kindergarten through fourth grade students are able to reflect on similarities and differences of common objects through observation, manipulation, and classification. On the other hand, Grades 5-8 focus on the properties of what the object is made of rather than the properties of the object. Grades 9-12 should progress further and develop the ability to relate macroscopic properties to the microscopic structure of substances and have the ability to investigate these properties through lab experiments with chemical reactions. Tinker toys or legos are helpful in allowing students experience building things from small objects. Students can use magnifiers to view things they might have not otherwise seen or noticed without the magnifier. It may be helpful for students to see many reactions where the products are very difference from the reactants to effectively learn about the conservation of matter. Lastly, middle-school-aged students can investigate with rolling balls and mechanical toys to help them go from qualitative descriptions to quantitative descriptions like forces. Benchmarks for Science Literacy discusses the mental development of students as they go from kindergarten to 12th grade. It explains what students should know at grade level checkpoints that correspond to mental development. The material taught to students builds on each other throughout students years of school. Students will not be able to understand a more detailed related concept if they do not have the proper foundation. In the grades kindergarten to fourth grade inquiry is seen an example of students discovering of similarities and differences of objects through hands-on observation and manipulation. In addition to this, students in grades 5-8 measure characteristic properties of objects to bring in a quantitative aspect. In grades 9-12 inquiry is seen in student investigation of properties of matter through laboratory experimentation with chemical interactions. IIA: Benchmarks for Science Literacy 4D, Structure of Matter general essay, page 75; grade span essays, pages 7679 10F, Understanding Fire general essay, page 249; grade span essays, pages 250-251 IIB: National Science Education Standards GradesK-4, Standard B essay, pages 123,126 Grades5-8, Standard B essay, page 149 Grades9-12, Standard B essay, page 177; Standard F essay, pages 193, 197 Learning goals of this topic include that the total mass of a system stays the same and the total amount of atoms in a chemical reactions stays the same throughout the reaction. In order to achieve those goals, students must master such concepts as the characteristics of atoms and how they interact with other atoms through bonding by transferring or sharing electrons. The Learning

IV. Examine Research on Student Learning

goals emphasize a focus on the conceptual aspects of the conservation of matter rather than computational. Benchmarks for Science Literacy and National Science Education Standards contain similar ideas when concerning bonding and atomic characteristics. Benchmarks goes into more depth about protons, neutrons, and electrons as well as atomic charges. It also elaborates on the rates of reactions and isotopes. NSES specifically talks about the difference between the phases of matter while Benchmarks alludes to it. Both resources hint at periodic trends. The NSES presents several facts and concepts within their standards, which include how atoms interact through bonding (either by sharing or transferring electrons), the chemical and physical properties of atoms, periodic trends, and the differences between solids, liquids, and gases. Ideas within the topic of conservation of matter can be organized by first presenting the foundation (atoms) and then building upon it (bonding, molecules, etc.). IIIA: Benchmarks for Science Literacy 4D, Structure of Matter, pages 76-80 10F, Understanding Fire, pages 250-251 IIIB: National Science Education Standards GradesK-4, Standard B, Properties of Objects and Materials, pages 127 Grades5-8, Standard B, Properties and Changes of Properties in Matter, page 154 Grades9-12, Standard B, Structure and Properties of Matter, pages 178-179 There are many misconceptions and alternative ideas that a student might have about the conservation of matter. They might associate mass with the word massive and go to associate mass with size or volume, which allows them to estimate mass by bulk of appearance. In addition, when students observe solid changing to liquid, they may think that the solid loses weight or mass. When children observe liquid changing to a gas they may construct the idea that weight or mass is lost. Likewise, students may think there is a loss of mass during combustion. Ideas about physical state of material are found to influence how students interpret a change. They cannot accept weight as an intrinsic property and cannot distinguish between weight and density. These misconceptions can be attributed to students not fully understanding what matter is and not understanding what they do not see. For example, students may not see a gas, but it stills has mass. It is suggested that by the fifth grade, students are more likely to understand qualitatively and quantitatively that matter is conserved in transforming from solid to liquid and qualitatively that matter is conserved in transforming from solid or liquid to gas if the gas is visible. Important prerequisites for the conservation of matter are the definition of matter and the importance of building blocks of concepts like physical properties, mass and states of matter. The benchmark idea emphasizes the total mass of the system stays the same no matter how things interact, combine, or break apart. If the number of atoms stays the same

V. Examine Coherency and Articulation

regardless of arrangement, the mass stays the same. The reading allows teachers to be better prepared to deal with student misconceptions; however, the reading does not offer solutions to presented misconceptions. The reading offers some tasks that can be used to find out what students know about conservation of matter. These include a combustion experiment and a demonstration with frozen ice and melted ice. The teacher can interview class about weights of the two. The reading does not give suggestions for overcoming student misconception, rather it describes multiple misconceptions. When it comes to reason about ideas within the conservation of matter, observation mainly determines students perceptions. IVA: Benchmarks for Science Literacy 4D, Structure of Matter, pages 336-337 IVB: Making Sense of Secondary Science: Research into Childrens Ideas Chapter 8, Conservation of Matter, page 77; Mass, pages 7778 Chapter 9, The Solid State, page 79; The Liquid State, pages 79-80; The Gaseous State, page 80; Melting, page 80; Evaporation, page 81; Dissolving, pages 83-84 Chapter 10, Combustion, page 87-88; Conservation of Matter Through Change, pages 88-89 A map helps trace a concept or skill from its simple beginning to a more advanced, interconnected idea. Lines on the map show conceptual growth from Kindergarten to 9-12. A concept box in a lower grade (K-2) will have a line with an arrow pointing to a new box showing how the ideas are related and how the concept has evolved to a more complex one. The topic can be broken into four main concept categories: changing vs. constant properties, parts and wholes, changes of state, and keeping track. The overall connection between the categories is that the amount of matter must remain the same within a closed system. The topic of conservation is important within the topics of Physics and Biology due to energy being conserved within different systems such as a ecosystem or food web. Because the map deals with grades before 9-12, the prerequisite ideas would encompass the whole map. Some prerequisite concepts include understanding what atoms are, the total mass of a closed system stays the same despite any interactions within the system, and the fact that atoms can explain the concept of conservation of matter. If the number of atoms stays the same no matter how the same atoms are rearranged, then their total mass stays the same. The organization of the map suggests that concepts within the topic be organized by complexity. Concepts of lower complexity are lower on the map than concepts of higher complexity which are higher on the map. It also emphasizes that certain concepts must be mastered before a student can properly understand the conservation of mass. The topic is much harder to understand without a firm foundation of prerequisite concepts. The map helps in improving the overall understanding of the topic by

VI. Clarify State Standards and District Curriculum

organizing crucial concepts by complexity and by giving a guideline of when certain topics should be learned. This way students receive the proper foundation without being overloaded by too complex a topic. The skill benchmarks include students being able to measure and make observations about objects, manipulate properties of objects, and keep track of things. Without proficiency in these skills, students may fail to attain understanding of the knowledge benchmarks. V: Atlas of Science Literacy Conservation of Matter, pages 56-57 According to the district curriculum, students will have already learned about atoms and their characteristics, the four states of matter, physical changes, and chemical changes. These four concepts are important in giving students the foundation knowledge so that they can properly learn and understand the Conservation of matter. In relation to stoichiometry, the conservation of matter is not taught beforehand. Instruction focuses on the computational skills needed to complete stoichiometry problems rather than the concepts behind the math. The addition of cognitive performance verbs enhance the learning of ideas in this topic because they explicitly tell the student and teacher what the student needs to know in order to measurably understand a certain concept. The verbs used in the district standard are apply and calculate, which are appropriate for the nature of the content. Research has shown that students have difficulty visualizing the conservation of matter in some cases, especially those dealing with gases. These verbs ensure students can have experience with foundational concepts, both in relation to computational skills and conceptual knowledge. The research findings can inform the placement of district standards by showing misconceptions that students have about and within a certain topic. For the conservation of matter, these misconceptions are due to the fact that students do not understand the foundation for the topic. Having a foundation in what atoms are and differences and changes in states allow students to better understand conservation of matter. The standards seem to be appropriately placed with the atomic theory and states of matter placed before the conservation of matter. The readings have improved my interpretation of the concepts and skills associated with the topic of the conservation of matter. I have previously thought of the conservation of matter in terms of a couple examples. When it comes to stoichiometry, I had never realized the reasoning behind the math that must be done. It is important to focus just as much on the concept of conserving matter within a system as it is to discuss relevant examples and learn how to do the math involved with stoichiometry. In addition, I have learned the importance of having a strong foundational knowledge in concepts like atomic theory and the states of matter as well as the importance of knowing potential student misconceptions. The curriculum program does not give specific lesson that need to be taught, but research from the study emphasizes the teaching of foundation concepts before proceeding to a more advanced topic.

The Curriculum Topic Study has shown that almost all knowledge builds off of itself. Within this topic, many concepts need to be revisited at different grade levels and in new contexts to be properly understood at an increased level of sophistication. VIA: State Standards: There is no End of Course Exam for Chemistry VIB: District Curriculum Guide or Instructional Materials: Chemistry Pacing Guide for Alachua County Visit www.curriculumtopicstudy.org for updates or supplementary readings, Web sites, and videos.