Assembly Programs: Brain Benders
Mr. Martin demonstrates a discrepant event by making a piece of paper disappear in a flash.
Can you walk through a piece of paper? Are you stronger than air? It’s true that some things that may look like magic are actually science. Observe discrepant events: mind-boggling demonstrations with unexpected outcomes. Students will be surprised as they start looking at everyday objects through scientific eyes.
“Brain Benders” aligns with the following points of the Maryland State Voluntary Curriculum:
Skills and Processes
Grades K, 1, 2
- Explain that when a science investigation is done the way it was done before, we expect to get a very similar result. (A.1bde)
- Develop reasonable explanations for observations made, investigations completed, and information gained by sharing ideas and listening to others’ ideas. (B.1b)
- Recognize that everybody can do science and invent things and ideas. (C.1e)
- Recognize that tools are used to do things better or more easily and to do some things that could not otherwise be done at all. (D.1b)
- Explain that something may not work if some of its parts are missing. Explain that when parts are put together, they can do things that they couldn't do by themselves. (D.2bc)
Grades 3, 4, 5
- Gather and question data from different forms of scientific investigations which include…observing what things are like or what is happening somewhere…and doing experiments. (A.1b-f)
- Seek better reasons for believing something than "Everybody knows that..." and discount such reasons when given by others…developing explanations using knowledge possessed and evidence from observations and investigations. (B.1a-c)
- Recognize that doing science involves many different kinds of work and engages men and women of all ages and backgrounds. (C.1e)
Grade 6
- Design, analyze, or carry out simple investigations and formulate appropriate conclusions based on data obtained or provided. Explain that scientists differ greatly in what phenomena they study and how they go about their work. Develop the ability to clarify questions and direct them toward objects and phenomena that can be described, explained, or predicted by scientific investigations. Explain and provide examples that all hypotheses are valuable, even if they turn out not to be true, if they lead to fruitful investigations. Give examples of when further studies of the question being investigated may be necessary. (A.1abcf)
- Verify that while there is no fixed set of steps all scientists follow, scientific investigations usually involve the collection of relevant evidence, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising hypotheses and explanations to make sense of the collected evidence. (B.1a)
Chemistry
Grade 1
- Ask and seek answers to “what if” questions about the changes made to the objects and how they affect the way objects work. (A.1c)
Physics
Grade 5
- Observe and give examples that show changes in speed or direction of motion are caused by an interaction of forces acting on an object. (A.1a)