Encourage tinkering with ideas, relationships, connections. Set up situations where students have to find information not readily available in school texts. Provide opportunity for students to design open-ended explorations of the concept. Provide multiple options so students can plan a unique "proof" of learning.

Acorn analysis problems.

Objective: To have students take what they have learned about the scientific process and write their own experimental design for an identified problem.

Activity: Students are given the following problem involving acorns: To the student: Select ten different acorns from the trays provided in class. They should be different in that they have caps or don't have caps, different shapes and different sizes. Record the similarities and differences on a chart you construct for the data section in your report. Fill a glass bowl or beaker nearly full of water and place one acorn in the container of water. Allow the acorn to sit for approximately 30 seconds. Determine if the acorn sinks or floats. Remove the acorn from the container and place it in a bag labeled either "sinker" or a bag labeled "floater". Repeat this procedure with the other nine acorns. Using your observations, form a hypothesis as to why you think the acorns float or sink. State your hypothesis as "If... , then..." Use the steps of the scientific process as described in class and the text. Use proper controls and variables for your experiment. When you are finished with the experiment, write a report about your findings. Include data charts and graphs to show your data. Author's note: This lab works well because acorns are so readily available at the beginning of the school year. There is a little worm which infiltrates acorns and eats the meat inside. Then the worm leaves by boring a hole. When acorns first fall from trees they are still filled with their meat; when these are dropped in water, they will sink. Those acorns which have been on the ground for a week or so which have been infiltrated by worms will float, if they are hollow. This becomes a fascinating observation/problem for those who do not know about the little worms. Why do some acorns float and others sink? It is important for the students to share their experimental hypotheses/results with each other.

Assessment: Quality of student reports, their ability to describe the problem, state a hypothesis, and design and perform an experiment.