Atom Frenzy – Getting Started

The information regarding testing is primarily intended for teachers who are participating in our research program. If you are not participating in our research, the tests may still be useful in assessing your own students’ progress and we strongly encourage you to contact us for more information about participating.

  1. Ensure that students have completed the Student Attitude to Science questionnaire and the Atom Frenzy knowledge Pre-test before starting Lesson 1.
  2. Immediately following administration of the Pre-test – begin by asking the students to do a “See, think, wonder” visible thinking activity. This involves them discussing and listing what they can see in the introductory slide pictures of the Atom Frenzy Lesson 1 PowerPoint, what they already know about what they see, and what they wonder (about Atom Frenzy).
  3. Use this worksheet as a template for the “See, think, wonder” activity if you don’t already have one.
  4. Following the visible thinking activity, teachers could introduce and plan for either the short reading play (Atoms and Molecules Play) to introduce four of the most common and important atoms: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, or sing a fun song to introduce the first 10 atoms with our Top 10 Atoms Song.

PowerPoints

All lessons have an associated PowerPoint presentation (often divided into two or more files) that can be downloaded by teachers and used to guide the lesson sequence and activities. These powerpoints have been designed for teachers as a guide, it is recommended that these are previewed and teachers adapt them to suit their own teaching styles and approaches.

Teacher note: The Post-Test contains an optional, additional question (7) that could be completed as part of the Post-Test or integrated into the Lesson 6, Sweet Water student worksheet. Student responses to this question could be combined with classroom observations of students carrying out the investigation to assess their science inquiry skills. It could also be used as the basis for a moderation exercise between classes and schools.

Three versions of the Post-Test are available.

On completion of the program, choose the test appropriate for your students and then be sure to re-administer the Student Attitude to Science questionnaire.