Grade Level | System Requirement | Product Number |
|---|---|---|
| Grades 3-6 | Apple 128K | A284 |
| Students investigate the factors that contribute to the formation of cavities. They manipulate various factors — the amount of sugar that kids eat, how often they brush their teeth, and how much milk they drink — then collect the data and draw conclusions.Adheres to the experimentation methods used by real-life scientists.Exercises higher-order thinking skills | ||
Introduction
Cavity Busters is a discovery-learning simulation that capitalizes on the natural curiosity of students, which they are encouraged to use while developing appropriate scientific processes and learning scientific content.
Cavity Busters is part of MECC’s Science Inquiry Collection. Like all the packages in this collection, Cavity Busters features a strong process orientation while presenting material that is firmly anchored in the elementary and junior high school curriculum.
In Cavity Busters students are challenged to determine how each of the four variables-sugar consumption, milk consumption, frequency of tooth brushing, and sources of fluoride—affect the number of cavities groups of fifteen children develop during five-year studies. Students make this determination by running studies with various combinations of the variables. Students observe and record the results of these studies. The information collected enables students to determine how each characteristic affects the number of cavities children develop.
The life science concepts addressed by, or related to, Cavity Busters include:
- cavities and dental health;
- nutrition;
- and population studies.
The science process skills developed by Cavity Busters include:
- observing;
- communicating;
- inferring;
- comparing;
- organizing;
- relating;
- designing and experimenting;
- and estimating.
Manual
Currently not yet available (in production)