This quarter, our unit focuses on physical and chemical changes. One activity that I knew I wanted to try was 3D modeling! This was an offline/online task completed in pairs, where students had to depict two different changes : a change in states of matter (physical) and a change in molecular structure (chemical).
These students LOVE to use their laptops for anything, but they also love being hands-on and creative. For this task, I thought why not combine the two skills? Students could use clay and toothpicks to create one model, and 3D modeling software for the other. It was up to them to decide which model should be in which medium, and all of the color/size/placement choices were up to them too!
Working in pairs, they were allowed to pick whichever change they wanted to model first. The only rule was that both students had to work on both models, rather than splitting up the tasks. That way, they need to be able to accurately show the fundamental difference between physical and chemical changes: that molecules are the same before and after a physical change, but they are different after a chemical reaction.
Our students have used TinkerCAD before for designing shapes and buildings, but to show the changes in molecules, I wanted them to use something new that they have already downloaded on their school laptops: Paint 3D. In collaboration with the Creative Arts Department, we wanted to help introduce students to the Microsoft Paint 3D app, which will be used later on in the year for some of our collaboration STEAM projects. I hinted to some groups that they might want to think about the advantages of using the computer over using clay - for example, you can copy and paste in Paint 3D, which makes replicated molecules easier for the physical reaction.
In grade 6, most of my students haven't learned much chemistry, and this was the first time they got to examine molecular structure. I had resources for them to use as guides to show how each molecule should look, but I really didn't focus on how or why each molecule would have a double or single bond here or there. I did emphasize that if they use a red ball for oxygen in this molecule that it should also be red in the other molecules, and with a little bit of practice and revision, they all got it in the end.
Best of all, this was a collaborative, hands-on, authentic assessment. A few groups tried changing molecules during the physical reaction (for example, from ice to water) and this was a great way for me to double check their understanding. I love having enough time during our block periods for this type of work, and happy to have found a way to integrate more technology along with offline crafting as part of our STEM class!
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