By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain what a correlation coefficient tells us about the relationship between variablesRecognize that correlation does not indicate a cause-and-effect relationship between variablesDiscuss our tendency to look for relationships between variables that do not really existExplain random sampling and assignment of participants into experimental and control groupsDiscuss how experimenter or participant bias could affect the results of an experimentIdentify independent and dependent variables

In this 28 day unit, students will gain background information on historic wars, compare different genres presentations of events, recognize different points of view, research an essential question, compile evidence, create warrants that lead to a claim which answers the essential question, and write an argumentative essay.

In this experiment, two chemicals that can be found around the house will be mixed within a plastic baggie, and several chemical changes will be observed.

Earthquakes happen when forces in the Earth cause violent shaking of the ground. Earthquakes can be very destructive to buildings and other man-made structures. Design and build various types of buildings, then test your buildings for earthquake resistance using a shake table and a force sensor that measures how hard a force pushes or pulls your building.

This is a lesson that introduces students to cause and effect in reading passages. It also includes signal words that can assist students in identifying cause and effect. This is the introductory lesson. Extension activity (challenge) allows students to write their own cause and effect statements.

Explore a NetLogo model of populations of rabbits, grass, and weeds. First, adjust the model to start with a different rabbit population size. Then adjust model variables, such as how fast the plants or weeds grow, to get more grass than weeds. Change the amount of energy the grass or weeds provide to the rabbits and the food preference. Use line graphs to monitor the effects of changes you make to the model, and determine which settings affect the proportion of grass to weeds when rabbits eat both.

Explore how populations change over time in a NetLogo model of sheep and grass. Experiment with the initial number of sheep, the sheep birthrate, the amount of energy sheep gain from the grass, and the rate at which the grass re-grows. Remove sheep that have a particular trait (better teeth) from the population, then watch what happens to the sheep teeth trait in the population as a whole. Consider conflicting selection pressures to make predictions about other instances of natural selection.

This lesson introduces the concept of cause and effect with Trinka Hakes Noble's books about Jimmy and his boa constrictor. Each lesson begins with the teacher reading a new story about Jimmy and his boa and the chaos they bring to each place they visit. Class discussions about each event and its cause are followed by tasks for the students to help illustrate understanding of the concept. Students create cause-and-effect pictures, puzzles, and flow charts as they explore the genre. As a culminating activity, students write their own book with causes and effects, which are assessed with a rubric.

Determine the dew point temperature for your classroom through a hands-on experiment. Use humidity and temperature probes to investigate the temperature at which it would rain in your classroom! Learn about water density and the conditions necessary to produce fog or rain.

Students explore the nature and structure of expository texts that focusing on cause and effect and apply what they learned using graphic organizers and writing paragraphs to outline cause-and-effect relationships.

Build your own miniature "greenhouse" out of a plastic container and plastic wrap, and fill it with different things such as dirt and sand to observe the effect this has on temperature. Monitor the temperature using temperature probes and digitally plot the data on the graphs provided in the activity.

Discover how electricity can be converted into other forms of energy such as light and heat. Connect resistors and holiday light bulbs to simple circuits and monitor the temperature over time. Investigate the differences in temperature between the circuit with the resistor and the circuit using the bulb.

This article highlights seven science lessons that teach elementary students about seasonal change. Suggestions for integrating literacy and science include two lessons that use informational text and cause and effect relationships.

This article describes key aspects of the nature of science by comparing the reactions to a sensational story between scientists and non-scientists. This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications.

Monitor the temperature of a melting ice cube and use temperature probes to electronically plot the data on graphs. Investigate what temperature the ice is as it melts in addition to monitoring the temperature of liquid the ice is submerged in.

This seminar consists of a mixed review, application, and design of all the text structures you have learned in the past; Descriptive/Spatial, Compare/Contrast, Chronological Order, Sequence, Cause/Effect, and Problem/Solution. You will be exposed to texts using all of the text structures. In addition, you will be further reminded of how text structure is applied to real life situations. Lastly, you will be given more opportunities to design your own texts which correlate to the text structures you have practiced and learned.StandardsCC.1.2.5.E Use text structure, in and among texts, to interpret information. 

This issue of the free online magazine, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, highlights ways to teach about the extremes in day and night and seasons in the Arctic and Antarctica. The targeted literacy skill is cause/effect relationships. Art and poetry are integrated through a study of the aurora.

This article highlights children's literature about day and night, seasons, the aurora, and cause and effect for use in the elementary classroom.

Many factors influence the success and survival rate of a population of living things. Explore several factors that can determine the survival of a population of sheep in this NetLogo model. Start with a model of unlimited grass available to the sheep and watch what happens to the sheep population! Next try to keep the population under control by removing sheep periodically. Change the birthrate, grass regrowth rate, and the amount of energy rabbits get from the grass to keep a stable population.