A.2.a. Scientific Investigation

Step 2 Scientific Investigations and Research: Today we will conduct research on how water normally freezes so we can practice making scientific models.

Intuitiveness: the ability to make correct decisions or judgments even though you do not have all the necessary information or a full understanding of a thing.

Since we have limited resources, being intuitive in science is essential because you have to make a decision about the best possible "hypothesis" to test in an experiment. The better your intuition the more quickly your thinking matches reality.


Class discussion

Are the first ideas that come to our head valuable? Why or Why not?

What are some of the reasons why humans discount their first ideas and are afraid to share them?

Why might the first idea that comes to mind be the first step to a new discovery?



Title your page: How does water freeze?

Team Discussion

Describe the first 3 steps in the scientific method in your notebook and then share your ideas with your classmates.

What information do you think you will need to learn in order to make a scientific explanation of the phenomenon?

Step 2 Research

4. Draw 3 water molecules in your notebook and

4a. Use your intuition to label the atoms on one water molecule with Hydrogen or Oxygen.

Team Discussion

How do you think the molecules interact at the molecular level?


Why is the water bending when the balloon gets close to the water stream?

What does this phenomenon tell us about water molecules?

5. Use your intuition to label one of your water molecules with this electrostatic knowledge.

Team discussions

:28 What does it mean for a molecule to be "polar"?

How does that "polarity" explain why water bends toward the balloon?

1:51 Why do water molecules stay together at room temperature?

2:17 Why did the water molecules evaporate (spread apart) into a gas? Use the word energy in your response.

3:45 What do you think will happen to the molecules when there is very little heat?

STOP Video and continue below.

6. Write in your notebook what you think will happen to the water molecules when there is little to no heat (when they freeze).

7. Draw a model of a Hydrogen bond between 2 water molecules. You could also call the hydrogen bond an electrostatic bond or polarity connection.

8. Correct all the labeling on your 3 water molecules so that the polar sides are marked with a positive and negative side and make sure the hydrogen and oxygen are correctly labeled with an "H" for hydrogen and "O" for oxygen.

9. Use 6 water molecules to draw a model of what you think ice looks like at the molecular level. Then return to the video to see how close your intuition was.