Standards Addressed

National Science Education Standards:

Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop

• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
  • IDENTIFY QUESTIONS AND CONCEPTS THAT GUIDE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS. Students should formulate a testable hypothesis and demonstrate the logical connections between the scientific concepts guiding a hypothesis and the design of an experiment. They should demonstrate appropriate procedures, a knowledge base, and conceptual understanding of scientific investigations.
  • FORMULATE AND REVISE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS AND MODELS USING LOGIC AND EVIDENCE. Student inquiries should culminate in formulating an explanation or model. Models should be physical, conceptual, and mathematical. In the process of answering the questions, the students should engage in discussions and arguments that result in the revision of their explanations. These discussions should be based on scientific knowledge, the use of logic, and evidence from their investigation.
  • RECOGNIZE AND ANALYZE ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS AND MODELS. This aspect of the standard emphasizes the critical abilities of analyzing an argument by reviewing current scientific understanding, weighing the evidence, and examining the logic so as to decide which explanations and models are best. In other words, although there may be several plausible explanations, they do not all have equal weight. Students should be able to use scientific criteria to find the preferred explanations.
  • COMMUNICATE AND DEFEND A SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENT. Students in school science programs should develop the abilities associated with accurate and effective communication. These include writing and following procedures, expressing concepts, reviewing information, summarizing data, using language appropriately, developing diagrams and charts, explaining statistical analysis, speaking clearly and logically, constructing a reasoned argument, and responding appropriately to critical comments.
• Understandings about scientific inquiry
  • Scientific explanations must adhere to criteria such as: a proposed explanation must be logically consistent; it must abide by the rules of evidence; it must be open to questions and possible modification; and it must be based on historical and current scientific knowledge.
  • Results of scientific inquiry--new knowledge and methods--emerge from different types of investigations and public communication among scientists. In communicating and defending the results of scientific inquiry, arguments must be logical and demonstrate connections between natural phenomena, investigations, and the historical body of scientific knowledge. In addition, the methods and procedures that scientists used to obtain evidence must be clearly reported to enhance opportunities for further investigation.

Physical Science CONTENT STANDARD B: As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of

·         Structure and properties of matter

• Atoms interact with one another by transferring or sharing electrons that are furthest from the nucleus. These outer electrons govern the chemical properties of the element.

·         Chemical reactions

• A large number of important reactions involve the transfer of either electrons (oxidation/reduction reactions) or hydrogen ions (acid/base reactions) between reacting ions, molecules, or atoms. In other reactions, chemical bonds are broken by heat or light to form very reactive radicals with electrons ready to form new bonds. Radical reactions control many processes such as the presence of ozone and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, burning and processing of fossil fuels, the formation of polymers, and explosions.

History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of

• Science as a human endeavor
  • Individuals and teams have contributed and will continue to contribute to the scientific enterprise. Doing science or engineering can be as simple as an individual conducting field studies or as complex as hundreds of people working on a major scientific question or technological problem. Pursuing science as a career or as a hobby can be both fascinating and intellectually rewarding.
• Nature of scientific knowledge
  • Because all scientific ideas depend on experimental and observational confirmation, all scientific knowledge is, in principle, subject to change as new evidence becomes available. The core ideas of science such as the conservation of energy or the laws of motion have been subjected to a wide variety of confirmations and are therefore unlikely to change in the areas in which they have been tested. In areas where data or understanding are incomplete, such as the details of human evolution or questions surrounding global warming, new data may well lead to changes in current ideas or resolve current conflicts. In situations where information is still fragmentary, it is normal for scientific ideas to be incomplete, but this is also where the opportunity for making advances may be greatest.

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Grade-Level Expectations

Strand 1: Properties and Principles of Matter and Energy

1. Changes in properties and states of matter provide evidence of the atomic theory of matter

A. Objects, and the materials they are made of, have properties that can be used to describe and classify them

Scope and Sequence – Atomic Theory and Changes in Matter

b. Identify pure substances by their physical and chemical properties (i.e., color, luster/reflectivity, hardness, conductivity, density, pH, melting point, boiling point, specific heat, solubility, phase at room temperature, chemical reactivity)

B. Properties of mixtures depend upon the concentrations, properties, and interactions of particles

Scope and Sequence – Atomic Theory and Changes in Matter

b. Compare and contrast the properties of acidic, basic, and neutral solutions

Strand 7: Scientific Inquiry

1. Science understanding is developed through the use of science process skills, scientific knowledge, scientific investigation, reasoning, and critical thinking

B. Scientific inquiry relies upon gathering evidence from qualitative and quantitative observations

Scope and Sequence - All Units

a. Make qualitative and quantitative observations using the appropriate senses, tools and equipment to gather data (e.g., microscopes, thermometers, analog and

digital meters, computers, spring scales, balances, metric rulers, graduated cylinders)

C. Evidence is used to formulate explanations

Scope and Sequence - All Units

a. Use quantitative and qualitative data as support for reasonable explanations (conclusions)

E. The nature of science relies upon communication of results and justification of explanations

Scope and Sequence - All Units

b. Communicate and defend a scientific argument

Strand 8: Impact of Science, Technology and Human Activity

2. Historical and cultural perspectives of scientific explanations help to improve understanding of the nature of science and how science knowledge and technology evolve over time

A. People of different gender and ethnicity have contributed to scientific discoveries and the invention of technological innovations

Scope and Sequence - All Units

a. Recognize contributions to science are not limited to the work of one particular group, but are made by a diverse group of scientists representing various ethnic and gender groups

Lesson 1

Acids and Bases Unit