Introduction to Cause and Effect

In this learning segment, students will build an understanding of how controlling for a single variable in an experiment can help determine a cause and effect relationship in that situation. Students will first practice identifying causes and effects in everyday life situations. They will practice using vocabulary and begin to understand how to determine the cause by changing only independent variable(s) within an experiment.

Students will be presented with the example that sugar can dissolve in different amounts in different beakers of water (due to different temperatures). Students will work in groups to brainstorm potential causes for the change in sugar solubility. Then, they will develop a procedure to test one of their causes and carry out their investigation. Each group will present what their findings were and the students will use all of the data to complete their analysis. They will write a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning paragraph to explain what they think is causing the different sugar solubilities.

I will do a demo where the students try to figure out what causes food coloring to mix in water fastest, however I will change two variables (temperature and amount) between two beakers of water. Students will have a structured discussion around what caused the food coloring to mix at different speeds. Then, as a summative assessment, they will write an individual report that summarizes the variables in my demo and whether they can know the cause of the results based off of the demo. They will create a proposal for a different experiment to correctly relate a cause and effect.