National Geographic Science - Spanish Sampler - Grade K
Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/157347
Teach, continued •Read the first paragraph on page 69 aloud with students. Ask: ¿Por qué creen que los científicos planifican sus investigaciones? (to decide how to solve problems and answer their questions) •Ask: ¿Qué tipos de investigación podrían los científicos hacer sin cambiar las variables? Encourage students to think of topics for investigations, such as animal migration, weather, or erosion. In these investigations, scientists make observations so that they can describe what happens or look for patterns. •Read the second paragraph on page 69 with students. Ask: ¿Qué es un experimento, o prueba imparcial? (an investigation in which scientists identify, manipulate, and control variables to test a hypothesis) •Discuss how variables can be changed to affect the outcome of an experiment. Direct students to the photographs of scientists studying plants. Ask: ¿Qué variables podrían afectar al crecimiento de una planta? (sunlight, water, temperature, type of soil) •Ask: Si hicieran un experimento sobre cómo afecta el agua al crecimiento de una planta, ¿qué variable cambiarían? ¿Qué variables no cambiarían? (Possible answer: change the amount of water; keep the same type of plant, type of soil, and amount of sunlight) Raise Your SciQ! History of Scientific Methods As early as the17th century BC, records show descriptions of early investigations into nature through an Egyptian medical textbook. Aristotle introduced the concept of empiricism—knowledge from observation and experience. During the Middle Ages, Muslim scientist Alhazen used experimentation and mathematics to obtain results, and in the mid-1200s AD, Roger Bacon added the step of verification. In the late 1600s AD, Isaac Newton shaped the methods that most scientists follow today. •Discuss how a scientist might test the effects of water on a plant. Guide students to think of a plan and create a hypothesis. Write student ideas on the board, such as adding water once a day, twice a day, every other day, or once a week. Ask: ¿Por qué un científico solamente cambiaría la variable del agua en este experimento? (If other variables changed, there would be no way to know which change caused the results.) •Ask: En el experimento de la planta, ¿qué tipo de datos podrían reunir? (height and number of leaves over time; color, sturdiness, or growth of plants) Life Science T228r