Unit Overview

Students learn questioning claims, designing valid experiments, and building evidence-based arguments. Through debunking Halloween candy myths or testing TV commercial claims, conducting controlled experiments testing paper towel absorption and tape strength comparing brands, and designing plus testing their own products using full scientific method, students discover how scientists use observations, testable questions, controlled experiments, and data making sense of the world.

  • Lesson 1
    Lesson 1: Solve: Commercial Claims + Sugar Mystery

    Solve: Commercial Claims + Sugar Mystery

    Parents want to ban Halloween, claiming sugar makes kids hyperactive—but is it true? Students follow Mosa as she investigates this national controversy using the scientific method: making observations, asking testable questions, designing a controlled experiment, collecting data, and drawing conclusions. By the end, they discover that humans make sense of the world through evidence-based reasoning, not myths or assumptions.

  • Lesson 2
    Lesson 2: Make: Experience the Scientific Method

    Make: Experience the Scientific Method

    Bounty claims their Select-A-Size sheets are 50% more absorbent than the leading brand. Students watch the commercial, analyze the claim, then design their own scientific test using the scientific method. They identify variables, conduct controlled experiments with paper towels and water, collect quantitative and qualitative data, and present findings to a Consumer Product Review Panel. Real science meets consumer protection.

  • Lesson 3
    Lesson 3: Engineer: Engineer a Custom Experiment to Test a Real-World Phenomenon

    Engineer: Engineer a Custom Experiment to Test a Real-World Phenomenon

    Design your own product, then use the scientific method to prove it works. Students invent something (a better insulator? stronger bridge? faster-dissolving tablet?), write their own experimental procedures, identify independent and dependent variables, conduct controlled tests, collect and analyze data, then present findings. It's science fair meets product development—students become both inventors and researchers proving their claims with evidence.

  • Next Generation Science Standards

    A unit focused on Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) and the Scientific Method can cover several Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), particularly those related to scientific practices, inquiry, and communication.

    The following NGSSScience and Engineering Practices (SEPs)are enhanced during this unit:

    • Asking Questions and Defining Problems:Students learn to formulate testable questions and problems, which is a key step in both the scientific method and developing a claim in CER.
    • Planning and Carrying Out Investigations:This involves students designing and conducting experiments, collecting data, and testing hypotheses—central to both CER and the scientific method.
    • Analyzing and Interpreting Data:analyze the data they collect during investigations to make evidence-based claims.
    • Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions:In the CER framework, students construct explanations by making claims, supporting them with evidence, and providing reasoning.
    • Engaging in Argument from Evidence:CER emphasizes arguing from evidence by constructing well-supported claims and reasoning, which is directly related to this NGSS practice.
  • Inquiry Scale
    • Each lesson in the unit has an Inquiry Scale that provides directions on how to implement the lesson at the level that works best for you and your students.
    • “Level 1” is the most teacher-driven, and recommended for students in 4th-5th grades. “Level 4” is the most student-driven, and recommended for students in 7th-8th grades.
    • For differentiation within the same grade or class, use different inquiry levels for different groups of students who may require additional support or an extra challenge.
  • Common Misconceptions
    • When first asked to make observations about objects, students often skip straight to assumptions, or inferences. Emphasize that observations are things you can observe with your five senses.
    • Students often think that the scientific method can only be applied to the topic of science in a lab setting. Encourage students to think about how they constantly use the scientific method in their daily lives unrelated to science.
    • Learners struggle to differentiate between independent and dependent variables, so use memory tricks, such as “Independent starts with an I, which means I change it. Dependent depends on that change.”
  • Vocabulary
      • Independent Variable
      • Dependent Variable
      • Controlled Variable
      • Observation
      • Question
      • Inference
      • Hypothesis
      • Procedure
      • Results
      • Analysis
  • Leveled Reading

    * To give our users the most comprehensive science resource, Mosa Mack is piloting a partnership with RocketLit, a provider of leveled science articles.

    • What is Science: Inductive vs Deductive

      This article outlines the differences between a hypothesis, scientific theory and a scientific law. We also give students examples and explanations of the differences between inductive and deductive reasoning.

    • Science is a Debate

      This article introduces students to the evolution of scientific knowledge and the importance of peer review. Scientists are always subject to criticism and once it becomes clear that ideas are wrong or right through repeated validation, paradigms can shift and the way we view the world may completely change.

    • Peer-Review and Collaboration in Science

      In this article, we introduce students to the concept of a "peer" and the process of peer-review as a way for scientists to check each other's work and to collaborate. When they work together, they can all lift each other up and help to strike down studies that are false or poorly constructed.

    • Scientific Method

      Both real and pseudoscience can have a dramatic effect on our world. In this article, we look at examples of pseudoscience, such as phrenology and astrology, to identify science-like traits that aren't actually scientific. We also introduce students to the ways that science can and will impact society, whether it's based on empirical evidence or not.

    • Empirical Evidence and Repetition in Science

      This article explains the importance of repetition and replication in science. Science is based in observation, but it takes more than one observation to say something it correct. In order for a discover to be thought of as valid, it must be possible for other scientists to replicate it. Good experiments are repeated multiple times and involve multiple trials within the experiment to ensure there weren't any errors or conclusions being drawn from small data sets. In cases where we can't observe or collect all data, we rely on inferences to fill in the gaps.

Mosa Mack Science

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