FTCE Middle Grades Science 5-9 (004) case studies
FTCE Middle Grades Science 5-9 (004) · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Middle Grades General Science 5–9 (004) is one of the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE) listed on the FTCE/FELE program website, fl.nesinc.com. It is the subject-area test associated with the middle grades general science certification area, so it is aimed at candidates preparing to teach science to students in grades five through nine in Florida - typically people coming from a science or science-education degree route or career-changers adding a science field. The FTCE Middle Grades Science 5-9 (004) case studies are 5 cases and about 2,913 words.
1Paper Helicopter Trials: Which Conclusions Are Defensible?
Alvarez's eighth-grade class, four groups test how wing length affects the fall time of a paper helicopter. Each group cuts three helicopters with wings 4 cm, 6 cm, and 8 cm wide, drops each from a balcony, and uses a stopwatch.
639 words, about 3 min2Solar Water Heater Test: Separating Surface Effects from Confounds
Okafor's physical science class builds solar water heaters from identical 250 mL plastic bottles painted black. Group A leaves its bottle bare; Group B wraps its bottle in a clear plastic sleeve; Group C wraps its bottle in aluminum foil.
585 words, about 3 min3Potato Osmosis Lab: When One Outlier Changes the Story
Students place equal-mass potato cylinders in four salt solutions: 0%, 1%, 3%, and 5% NaCl. Each cylinder is blotted and weighed before and after 20 minutes.
571 words, about 3 min4Flagpole Shadows: Distance to the Sun or Axial Tilt?
At a school in the northern hemisphere, students measure the length of a flagpole's shadow at local noon on the first school day of each month. The flagpole is 6.0 m tall.
565 words, about 3 min5Natural Selection Simulation: Color, Predation, and Population Change
An eighth-grade class models natural selection with paper dots on fabric. Each team scatters 50 green dots and 50 brown dots on a 1 m × 1 m cloth.
553 words, about 3 min