Heather Turner

Title: Watch Out! Acid Attack!

Subject Area: Science

Grade Level: First

Description or Outcome Statement: Students will be learning about the destructive nature of plaque acid in their mouths and will use the scientific method for proving a hypothesis.

QCC Objectives:

Topic: Dental Care

Standard: Recognizes practices for proper dental hygiene.

Topic: Science Inquiry, Process Skills and Problem Solving

Standard: Asks questions, makes and keeps simple records of observations, sorts and classifies objects, communicates with others, makes predictions, uses estimation and measurement, and makes sketches and diagrams to explain ideas.

Specific Lesson Objectives:

The students will

• understand the destructive nature of plaque acid in their mouths.
• use the scientific method for proving a hypothesis.

Materials:

• 2 small jars with lids
• Label
• Marker
• Pieces of eggshell
• Water
• White vinegar
• Science journals

Procedures:

MOTIVATION: Ask students what they know about tooth decay. Explain that you will be conducting a scientific experiment today on what happens when teeth are not properly cleaned and the acids produced by plaque attack the teeth.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: The purpose of this lesson if for the students to understand that the vinegar caused the eggshell to break down and become soft, the same way that tooth enamel is damaged by acid and bacteria in the mouth.

TEACHER MODELING: Explain that vinegar is a mild acid. If we do not brush our teeth, plaque forms and gives off acids very similar to vinegar. Also explain that one of the materials that make up eggshells, calcium, is also an important substance in teeth. For the experiment, you will be using eggshells to represent teeth, and vinegar to represent the acids in plaque. The second jar with eggshells in water is the control, or something you will use to compare the findings in the jar with vinegar. Place several pieces of an eggshell into each of the two glass jars and ask the students to hypothesize, or make their best guess, at what will happen when you put water in one jar and vinegar in the other. Fill enough water into one jar to cover the eggshells and do the same with vinegar in the other jar. Label and date the two jars.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING: Have the students record their ideas in their science journals. What do you think will happen to the eggshell that has been placed in the vinegar? What do you think will happen to the eggshell that has been placed in the water?

GUIDED PRACTICE: Allow the students to observe the contents of the two jars and note anything they see. (Small bubble will form on the eggshell in the vinegar - this is a chemical reaction). Explain that this is similar to what happens when you eat. Acids in your mouth, much like the acids in vinegar, react with the food and start to break it down. Some acid is helpful for us to digest our food but, unless we brush and floss regularly, we could have too much of it, which is harmful to our teeth.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: Ask the students to come up with a hypothesis of what will happen if you leave the vinegar and eggshell in the jar for several days. They should write this in their journals and at the end of the experiment can check to see if they guessed correctly. Observe the changes that take place twice a day and have the students record these in their science journals. In two or three days, the acids in the vinegar will dissolve the eggshell. The eggshell in the jar with water will remain unchanged. Explain that the acids in the vinegar are similar to the acids that attack the enamel in our teeth. If teeth are not brushed and flossed, the enamel can begin to dissolve and allow cavities to form.

Closure: Tell the class that the vinegar caused the shell of the egg to break down and become soft, the same way that tooth enamel is damaged by acid and bacteria in the mouth.  Brushing every day is the only way to keep this from happening.

Adaptations:

• For an ESL student I would do the following:
• Keep questions brief and to the point.
• Allow for extra time to complete assessments.
• Break down activities into small steps and provide a lot of verbal reinforcement.
• For a student with a mild intellectual disability I would do the following:
• Provide a sample of the finished product before beginning the activity.
• Have in place a clear roadmap for the child to follow. Sequence of steps precisely given to him.
• Change steps, eliminating multi-level tasks when needed.
• Place self-checking and self-rewarding activities after each step to motivate the student.

Assessments: Students will be assessed on participation and observation of the reaction of the eggshell in the vinegar.

Extensions: Hand out a large tooth for the children to write a sentence and draw a picture to illustrate why tooth brushing is important.

Remediation: For students who need extra help learning the destructive nature of plaque acids in their mouths, I would have these students use the following website:

http://www.mtnbrook.k12.al.us/academy/kind/activity.html