Gizmos's Growing Plants

Tech Tool: Growing Plants

Overview

Brief Description of Tech Tool: Gizmos has done it again! This interesting interactive gives students a chance to work on their data analyzing skills while attending to variables and constants, and the activity can be adapted to address various NGSS Grade 5 standards. With the tool, students are able to change the type of plant, its food, the light it is exposed to and the amount of water it receives. Data is summarized for students, so they can focus on interpreting the results.

Technical and Cost Considerations: Unfortunately, Gizmos's tools are only available through a paid school subscription. Teachers and their schools will need to decide if the benefits of Gizmos outweigh the costs. The interactive tools can be viewed on a laptop or iPad.

Evaluation

Description of Learning Activity: Depending on a teacher's preference, this tool can be used to support a lesson on gathering data, on variables and constants and/or on energy and organisms. This said, Gizmos does provide a student activity sheet which helps students explore how light, water and soil impact a plants growth and guides them in data collection. 

1. Learning Activity Types

• LA-Apply - In terms of the math in this lesson, students must apply what they know about data interpreting to convey their results. The Gizmo does provide a summary table and chart, so knowledge of how to gather and organize data is not required, but no instructions are given on how to interpret and present data (beyond two questions: "What did you discover? Why do you think it happened that way?"), so students will need to apply what they already know. 

2. What Mathematics Is Being Learned?

Standards

This tool meets the following math practices:

• CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP5. Use appropriate tools strategically.

As I am aiming to connect math and science, this activity could fit (depending on how it is adapted) the following Grade 5 Next Generation Science Standards:

• 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun. 
• 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water

It also meets the following science practices:

3. Planning and carrying out investigations

4. Analyzing and interpreting data

5. Using mathematics and computational thinking

6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)

7. Engaging in argument from evidence

Proficiency Strands

• Strategic Competence: Students need to consider and analyze data, thinking about different variables and constants, considering various math and science ideas. 
• Adaptive Reasoning: As they continue to use the tool, they will have to analyze and think about the best way to present their data. Also, they will need to adapt their arguments to explain what they are observing in their data. 

Additional Comments

As is evidenced by the various math practices, science practices and science standards listed, this activity has tremendous potential. Depending on the direction a teacher wants to go, students may access a variety of ideas. 

3. How Is the Mathematics Represented?

The data from the various experiments is presented in a color-coded table. Students are given the option to use either a bar graph or line graph to view a summary.

4. What Role Does Technology Play?

The visuals from the experiment, the two forms of data presentation and the accompanying worksheet combine to help students focus on analyzing the data. Also instrumental in helping students focus on the analysis is the ease with which data can be obtained. This is a result of the technology which allows many simulations to be run in a limited period and allows students to export each set of data.  

Affordances of Technology for Supporting Learning

• Computing and Automating: Data from the experiments is recorded for the students. 
• Capturing and Creating: Students are able to create their own experiments based on their conclusions about the data. They can easily test their theories in a small time frame. 

5. How Does the Technology Fit or Interact with the Social Context of Learning?

This activity is very flexible in that teachers can choose if they want students working on it individually or in a group. Individual students can reflect on the results just as easily as a small group of students can reflect on the results. The prepared data summary lends itself to group discussion because members won't need to wait for individual group members to write down all the data. Instead, they all start on the same page -- with the data in front of them and ready for them to consider.

6. Additional Comments

For teachers who are worried about the sheer number of different variables in Growing Plants, Gizmos offers an alternative to this interactive called Germination. Germination is much more simplistic. Rather than having to contend with three different types of plants, students have one type of plant and three growth factors to examine: heat, water and light.