East Detroit Public Schools
Lesson Design

Author: Lynn Jankowski and Mary Jankowski
Subject: Science
Grade: 7th grade
Title: Eating Through the Metric System

Length of Unit: One or two days
Materials Need:
Power Macintosh G3 computer (with Internet capabilities)
printer
large T.V. monitor
laser disk player
kitchen classroom
metric measuring devices
word processing program (with graphic capabilities)
The Nature of Science recipes
(laser disk video)

Standards-Based Outcomes (MDE):

Science:

I. Construct New Scientific and Personal Knowledge

Content Standard I, 1: All students will ask questions that help them learn about the world; design and conduct investigations using appropriate methodology and technology; learn from books and other sources of information; communicate their findings using appropriate technology; and reconstruct previously learned knowledge.

7. Write and follow procedures in the form of step-by-step instructions, recipes, formulas, flow diagrams, and sketches.

IV. Use Scientific Knowledge from the Physical Sciences in Real-World Contexts

Content Standard IV, 1: All students will measure and describe the things around us; explain what the world around us is made of; identify and describe forms of energy; and explain how electricity and magnetism interact with matter.

1. Measure physical properties of objects or substances (mass, weight, area, temperature, dimensions, and volume).

2. Describe when length, mass, weight, area, or volume are appropriate to describe the size of an object or the amount of a substance.

Prior Knowledge:

• Students must be familiar with measuring devices and how to measure.
• Students must be familiar with the metric system.
• Students must be able to use the computer programs effectively.

Cue Set:

The teacher begins by posing two questions:

1. Why is it important to know how to measure?
2. Why is it important to know how to convert measurements?

Then the teacher and students discuss these questions. It is important to know how to measure things so that we put the right amount of spices in our chili or administer the correct amount of anesthesia to a patient before surgery. It is important to be able to convert measurements because the scientific community bases its measurements on the standard metric system. In addition, most of the world uses the metric system. If we were to travel abroad or compare ideas with others, we must know how to use and convert to either the English or metric system.

Best Shot Instruction:

• Before beginning to work with recipes for a cookbook, the class watches the Nature of Science laser disk video which discusses metric conversions and the importance of those conversions. The disk also provides a how-to approach for metric conversions.
• In cooperative groups, the students read recipes they have selected and decide what needs to be converted. They discuss the conversions and then work together to complete the conversions. As the groups work on their conversions, the teacher walks around to monitor and provide additional explanation if needed.
• After the conversions are completed, the students use the recipes to prepare their food items. All the measuring is done in the newly converted units. When the food preparation is completed, the students test the items to see if everything tastes as expected.
• The students then add graphics to the cards as they publish their recipes with the word processing program.
• After the recipes are on the computer, the students add them to the web site cookbook.
• Once the cookbook is complete, the students exchange the food and copies of their recipes.

Reteaching and Enrichment:

The students in a whole class group visit the web site to view the recipes and discuss what they learned about coverting measurements.

Review and Closure:

The students play a conversion game with large flash cards. The class is divided into several teams of two. Players compete one-on-one in each round. Each round consists of two players at a time racing to be the quickest to correctly convert the measurement displayed on a flash card.

Assessment:

• The teacher observes the students as they work on converting the original English measurements in the recipes to the metric equivalents.
• The students turn in hard copies of their original recipes and the converted recipes to be compared.
• The students enter their recipes onto the web site.
• The class members taste the food products to ensure that everything was measured correctly during preparation.
• The students are given a test on metric conversions. They are expected to pass with 80% mastery.

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