Learning Links
Instinct / Friendship / Balance / Time / Communication / Pi / The Past / Emotions / Learning
Related Concepts
Physical Constancy (e.g., gravity, speed of light)
Biological Constancy (e.g., cell division, growth)
Demonstrators should be read from top to bottom, but need not be demonstrated sequentially.
Elementary Demonstrators
• Identify, observe, and communicate recurring events.
• Describe an event or system that includes a constant process.
• Investigate and describe steady state systems and components of a system that work together to achieve constancy.
• Investigate factors which may disrupt constancy and describe their effects in a steady state system.
Middle School Demonstrators
• Analyze the relationship between change and constancy.
• Analyze the relationship between scale and the appearance of constancy.
• Investigate the characteristics and effects (e.g., nature, size, frequency) of a disruption to a steady state system.
• Apply constancy concepts to make hypotheses and predictions.
High School Demonstrators
• Evaluate systems to determine if they are steady state.
• Analyze the concept of conservation in the universe.
• Predict outcomes of a real-world situation, using universal laws.
• Analyze the relationships between cyclic subsystems and negative feedback as they contribute to the maintenance of equilibrium.
• Analyze the processes which return a system to equilibrium following a disruptive occurrence.
Sample Teaching/Assessment Strategies
Collaborative Process: / Community-Based Instruction: Service Learning, Networking, Mentoring / Continuous Progress Assessment: Anecdotal Records / Problem Solving: Investigation, Simulation, Formulating Models / Technology/Tools: / Whole Language Approach / Writing Process
These sample strategies offer ideas and are not meant to limit teacher resourcefulness. More strategies are found in the resource section.
Ideas for Incorporating Community Resources:
• Visit one of the planetariums in Kentucky and investigate the constancy of the universe over time.
• Invite a soil conservationist, agriculture extension agent, or park ranger to explain how, why, and when system design is sometimes necessary to control erosion.
• Invite a representative of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet to demonstrate how pollution is detected, monitored, and corrected.
Core Concept - Constancy
Sample Elementary Activities
• Identify the self-regulating components of a system in your home or community that work to achieve a balance (e.g., thermostat on a heating system; traffic lights to control traffic patterns; time periods in sporting events). PE, OE
• Graph sunrise and sunset times for a period of 14 days. From the data, predict the sunrise and sunset times for each day of the following week. Verify your predictions by data collection. P
• Correspond with a pen pal in Hawaii via telecommunications. Describe and compare the sequence of seasonal changes in Kentucky and Hawaii. Analyze the effect on daily routines. OE, P
• Make a chart depicting your daily routine. Identify and record patterns. P
• Determine the influence of light and gravity on seed germination and growth. Use the information to select the best place in the school to grow plants. OE, P
Applications Across the Curriculum
Language Arts
• Read different versions of favorite fairy tales to determine elements which remain the same. Analyze why some elements changed. OE, P
Mathematics
• Compare your weight on Earth to your weight if you were on the moon or another planet. Analyze reasons for any differences noted. OE
Social Studies
• Analyze a report on the ability of the environment to rebound after a major disaster (e.g., volcanic eruption, oil spill, hurricane). OE, P
Arts and Humanities
• Create a mural illustrating your classroom without gravity. PE
Practical Living
• Illustrate how pulse varies around a stable norm. Collect data while sitting, tying down, working, and standing during different times of the day. PE, P
Vocational Education
• Record and graph a six-second pulse count daily for one week. Explain observatons. P
• Identify local endangered species. Present findings of efforts to bring them to a relatively constant state. P
• Investigate homeostatic examples within a body (e.g., body temperatures). P
Sample Middle School Activities
• Describe the probable appearance of the night sky in 500 and 5000 years when viewed from a specific latitude. OE
• Analyze the components of plate tectonics to describe why the earth's surface area remains constant even though the surface changes. Access supporting information using CD-ROM. OE, P
• Predict the position of one of the planets in our solar system in 90 days and 90 years (Earth time) by applying concepts of constancy and using the rate of its revolution. PE, P
• Communicate via telecommunications with a pen pal in the Southern Hemisphere. Explain how the motion of the earth affects stellar and lunar observations and the seasons from each location. P
• Investigate and explain what happens when effervescent antacids are placed in water. Use a balance and the Laws of Conservation to justify the explanation. PE, P
• Communicate the manner in which topography influences changes in weather even though the climate of an area remains relatively constant. OE, P
Applications Across the Curriculum
Language Arts
• Design an investigation to demonstrate to a primary student why there may be a difference in temperature between the deep and shallow water of a swimming pool. PE, P
Mathematics
• Create a balsa wood structure at least .5m tall to support 2kg of mass. Explain why one particular infrastructure design works better than another. PE, P
Social Studies
• Explore the disruption in South Africa's long-standing apartheid system of government. Produce a fictional diary of life before and after the governmental change. P
Arts and Humanities
• Investigate the relationship between noise and music. PE, P
Practical Living
• While performing static and/or dynamic balances (e.g., balance beam, skate board), explore and demonstrate the principle of the center of gravity. OE, P
Vocational Education
• Maintain a 90-day mood chart to identify a pattern of constancy of your emotions. P
• Evaluate global conservation practices and use of natural resources. Compare to local practices. P
• Examine x-rays of a fracture taken throughout the healing process. Observe and analyze the steps in the healing process. PE, P
Sample High School Activities
• Create a computer simulator to demonstrate how alterations in input affect the output of chloroplasts during photosynthesis. Predict implications of the effect on agriculture. P
• Assume the role of a United States patent office reviewer; respond to a proposal for a machine which claims to produce more energy than it consumes. Justify your decision to accept or reject the patent. PE, OE, P
• Describe the processes that take place in body systems as they return to homeostasis following the ingestion of large quantities of concentrated sugar solutions during diabetes diagnostic tests. PE, OE, P
• Predict the climate in Kentucky 100 years from now, assuming current trends in ozone depletion and global warming continue. P
• Present a chemical magic show illustrate a variety of science concepts to a primary classroom. PE, OE, P
Applications Across the Curriculum
Variation on a theme: Disasters
Language Arts
• Read a variety of fictional and nonfictional accounts of a major disaster. Analyze the similarities and differences of the responses of the victims. OE
Mathematics
• Chart the frequency of occurrences of a particular type of natural disaster in a specific geographic region. Research possible explanations for the causes. PE, P
Social Studies
• Analyze a report on the ability of the environment to rebound from a major disaster (e.g., volcanic eruptions, oil tanker spills, hurricanes). PE, OE, P
Arts and Humanities
• Locate examples, using a CD-ROM, of natural disasters depicted in art. Create a HyperStack of the examples according to personally developed criteria. Use the HyperCard stack as part of a multimedia presentation. P
Practical Living
• Prepare and distribute a pamphlet of quick-response community agencies and services which could be used in the event of a community disaster. P
Vocational Education
• Volunteer to be part of an emergency response or disaster readiness team in your community. P