Student Experience 5: Revisiting “What’s That Smell?”

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Purpose

[stextbox id = “info”] To assess growth in students’ understanding of (1) the particle model of matter, and (2) how the model explains the fact that we can smell things from a distance.
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Description

[stextbox id = “info”] Revisit the super strong glasses scenario from Student Experience 1. Have students again draw how an odor gets from a container to their nose using super strong glasses and this task sheet. [Task instructions for pilot teachers.] [/stextbox]

Questions to Ask Students

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  • Describe what’s in your drawing. What does each part represent?
  • How is this drawing different from your first one?
  • How does your drawing explain how an odor gets from the container to your nose?
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Student Thinking

[stextbox id = “info”] Some students may still believe that matter (in this case the substance they’re smelling) is continuous rather than made up of particles. These students are unlikely to include water particles, or any other kind of particles, in their drawings.
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Implementation Tips

[stextbox id = “info”] Challenge students to add more detail than they included in their first drawing, even those students who included particles the first time.
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