HOT+(Higher+Order+Thinking)+Topics

HOT (Higher Order Thinking) Topics

A list of 7 projects in science that illustrate HOTS

1) Edible animal cell The students are asked to make an edible animal cell. They need to label all of the organelles and explain what the function of each organelle does. They then need to explain how all of the parts work together as a system. Since the cell is also a part of a larger system, the students need to compare the study of the cell itself as a system to the looking at the cell as part of larger system. The students also need to think about what they use to represent which organelle and why. This can have both verbal and non-verbal components and really makes them link to prior knowledge and think about their thinking. They need to link all of this together and be able to understand how a cell works and see that all of the organelles work together in order to have a healthy cell. Since this can be abstract and involved linking organelle functions together, this is a HOTS project.

2) Leaf project The students must pick 20 types of leaves and characterize them by their species. They must explain where they found the leaf, how it looked before the leaf was collected, observations of the tree it came from explain why the leaf color is the way it looks and label all of the parts of the leaf. The students must also sketch a cross-section of the leaf, which they look at under the microscope. This project supports HOTS by having the students characterize the leaf, label the parts, and analyze how the leaf and the tree it is from have changed throughout the year. Analyzing, characterizing, and identifying leaves are all higher order thinking skills. This is much more than a simple regurgitation of information.

3) Plant seeds/observe plants: leaves, stalks, and tropisms The students will plant grass seed, sunflower, peas, beans, and radish seeds. After a period of time, the students will observe the plants and their stems. They will compare and contrast each stalk/stem of each plant. They will then need to sum up their observations come to the conclusions of why each type of plant needs the stalk it has. Observation, compare and contrast and drawing conclusions are all HOTS. The students then need to turn the plants away from the light. They then come back next week to look at the plants and hey are leaning towards the light. The students must discuss why this occurs. Also, having to explain each energy transfer and characterizing them by energy type is also a higher level thinking skill.

4) Rube Goldberg Machine Once the students have learned about a Rube Goldberg device a played the game MouseTrap, the students now have to create their own Rube Goldberg machine to place a golf ball on a tee in 3 minutes. They must include at least 7 energy transfers and fit the dimensions of 5’ by 5’ (no larger). The students must work together in groups and submit their proposals. Once the proposals have been submitted, the students are then to make their device and explain why they chose the materials that they did to create the contraption. The HOTS here are analyzing the problem, problem solving, kinesthetic learning, working together, and thinking outside of the box. Metacognition is used here because they need to think about how they are to apply the task to their ideas. While they are brainstorming the issue, they are also thinking about their own thinking. This is an abstract idea and project that really stretches the students to complete a difficult task.

5) Why Don’t I Burn? I perform a demonstration in class. First, I have a bin of soapy water and a long hose hooked into the gas jet sitting at the bottom of the bin. I turn the gas on and I let it bubble. Where I wet my hands and arms, hold methane bubbles in my hands, and have a student light me on fire with a wooden splint. Once they see a huge fireball, I have them slap me five and they see that my hands and arms are cold and that I did not burn. The students are to construct a reason as to why I did not burn. The students can also do this as a laboratory experiment if proper safety precautions are taken. A written answer/explanation and a discussion then follow. There are several HOTS used here. First of all, the students need to use observation and attention to detail as well as linking to prior knowledge and metacognition to answer this question. There are multiple reasons why I did not get burned but the students need to put many pieces of the puzzle together to figure it out. This has written and verbal components to it. I believe that relating to their life is another important component. It is interesting to them that they experience the heat from the combustion of the methane gas, yet their teacher is completely unharmed.

6) What's This Powder? In chemistry class, I provide each group of 2 students an unknown white powder. The students then must run as many chemical tests and write down as many observations as possible about the chemical. For example, how does the powder look, does it reflect light? Is it soluble in water? What about other chemicals? Does it form precipitates? What is the pH of the solution in distilled water? etc. Once the tests have all been run the students then use their solubility rules and try to identify the powder, both cation and anion. This lab project/activity could take several days. It is very high on the inquiry scale for the students are responsible for coming up with the proper experiments to test for solubility, density, melting point, precipitation, crystallization, etc. The students are also asked to delve into their prior knowledge of everything they have learned throughout the year in terms of compound identification. They students are also working together kinestheticly and are being asked to draw some major conclusions about the mystery substance. They students are analyzing, characterizing, and identifying the substance using experimentation and careful observation, all HOTS.

7) Card Sort Activity

I have a deck of 100+ index cards all with quotes on them about science. These quotes come from scientists, journalists, doctors, lawyers, religious figures, politicians, philosophers, and the regular Joe on the street. The students are to organize 8 cards into 3 piles: agree, neither agree or disagree, and strongly disagree. Then the student get up, walk around the room, and trade cards with each other. They must read their cards aloud to each other in order to trade them. The object is to get the best had (the most cards that the students agrees with) as possible. Once that is done, then they find a partner and they have t narrow down their 16 cards to 8 that they both agree with. Once complete, they find another pair and narrow the cards down to 8 that all 4 of them agree strongly with. Then, the 4 of them write a paragraph about what makes something science, how science is different than belief, and why they all picked the quotes they did. This activity provides quote a lot of metacognitive strategies. The students are organizing and characterizing cards, learning what the person was trying to say, reading aloud, and analyzing quotes from other people about science. I really like having my students work on understanding why they think what they think and relating what we do to the real world so they understand that they can really impact society in a positive way if they are well-rounded, intelligent, and educated people.

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