This is a full lab sheet for one class experiment: which melts an ice cube fastest, salt, sugar or nothing. The 3-page 3rd grade science sheet gives the question, a hypothesis space, a materials list, five numbered steps and a results table for minutes to melt on page 1. Page 2 has a bar graph frame from 0 to 30 minutes in steps of 5 and lines for a conclusion. The key gives sample times of 12, 18 and 25 minutes and a sample conclusion.
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices, grades 3-5
“Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution.”
Students time each ice cube and record the minutes in the results table on page 1.
3.MD.B.3
“Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.”
The page 2 bar graph counts by 5 minutes, with three categories: Salt, Sugar and Nothing.
The question sits in a box and students write a hypothesis on two lines. The materials list names three ice cubes, three small bowls, a teaspoon each of salt and sugar and a timer. Five steps cover labeling the bowls, adding salt, sugar or nothing, and timing the melt.
One row, Minutes to Melt, with a column each for Salt, Sugar and Nothing (Plain Ice).
A blank bar graph called Time for Ice to Melt, with minutes from 0 to 30. Below it, six lines to say which cube melted fastest, whether the hypothesis was right and what students learned.
Sample results (salt 12 minutes, sugar 18, nothing 25), where each bar should reach, and a sample conclusion.
Freeze the cubes first
Freeze same-size cubes the night before and check them before class. Cubes of different sizes spoil the comparison.
Pool the class times
Write each group's times on the board before anyone graphs. Students see that groups get different minutes and talk about why.
Model the graph
Use the sample times in the key to draw the first bar with the whole class. Then students graph their own results.
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