Fifth graders at Varina Elementary have been learning about the elements in science (SOL5.4c) and cause-effect relationships in reading (SOL5.5j), so today we created cause-effect elements websites in Ms. Long’s class. First the students chose an element that they were interested in learning more about using the Interactive Table of Elements. I gave them some time to research their element and take a few notes. We reviewed plagiarism and copyright and discussed the importance of putting the knowledge they gained in their own words. Next we went to CheckThis, and I taught them how to use that tool to create their own website about the element. The students could change the fonts and colors and add pictures. They also needed to add an interactive poll question about a cause-effect relationship involving their element. We discussed cause-effect words they could use like “why” and “because” and “what would happen if…?” For example, we discovered that my sample element, aluminum, is used to build space ships, and we we asked ourselves why? We discovered that the cause was the lightness of aluminum. The students did a great job on their elements websites. If you’d like to see their sites and answer their cause-effect questions, click here.
