R.

Ingram
TAG Strategy for this Lesson: Graduated Difficulty REVISED

Unit Name
Gases, Liquid & Solids

Lesson Name Time Needed (Hours/Days)

“Gaseous Behavior” 2 90-min blocks/periods

Grade Subject Course

11-12th Science AP Chemistry

GA Standards of Excellence & TAG Standards

Please include both GSE & TAG Standards

GSE Standards
SC5. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the Kinetic Molecular Theory to model
atomic and molecular motion in chemical and physical processes.
c. Develop and use models to quantitatively, conceptually, and graphically represent the
relationships between pressure, volume, temperature, and number of moles of a gas.

TAG Standards
Advanced Communication Skills Standard:
1. The student uses written, spoken, and technological media to convey new learning or
challenge existing ideas.
2. The student produces written and/or oral work that is complex, purposeful, and organized,
includes relevant supporting examples and manipulation of language.
6. The student anticipates and addresses potential misunderstanding, biases, and expectations in
communication with others.
7. The student responds to contributions of others, considering all available information.

Advanced Research Skills Standard:

1. The student uses a variety of print and non-print resources to investigate a topic of interest.
2. The student formulates original and appropriate questions to test the limits of an existing body
of knowledge.
3. The student uses concepts within and across disciplines to develop valid hypotheses, these
statements, or alternative interpretations of data.
5. The student gathers, organizes, analyzes, and synthesizes data from multiple sources to
support disprove a hypothesis.
7. The student evaluates research methodologies and data to detect validity, bias, reliability, and
applicability to real-world problems and/or solutions.
8. The student allows for and accepts alternative interpretations of data.

Creative Thinking & Problem-Solving Skills Standard:

2. The student designs, applies, evaluates, and adapts a variety of innovative strategies when
problem solving (e.g., recognizes problems, defines problems, identifies possible solutions,
selects optimal solution, implements solution, and evaluates solution.
3. The student incorporates brainstorming and other idea-generating techniques (synectics,
SCAMPER, etc.) to solve problems or create new products.
4. The student demonstrates skills in fluency and flexibility to solve problems or create new
products.
 R. Ingram
5. The student develops original ideas, presentations, or products through synthesis and
evaluation.
7. The student uses analogies, metaphors, and/or models to explain complex concepts.
9. The student recognizes and assumes risks as a necessary part of problem solving.
10. The student monitors and reflects on the creative process of problem solving for future
applications.

Higher Order Critical Thinking Skills Standard:

1. The student asks probing, insightful, and relevant questions.
2. The student responds to questions with supporting information that reflects in-depth
knowledge of a topic.
7. The student examines an issue from more than one point of view.
11. The student draws conclusions based upon relevant information while discarding irrelevant
information.
14. The student identifies and illustrates basic principles and the foundational concepts that are
central to understanding the essence of a field of study.

Essential Question(s)
What should students know when lesson is completed?

How do gas laws conceptually and mathematically define and express the relationships between the
physical properties (temperature, pressure, volume, and moles) of gaseous particles?

If student advances beyond Activity 3:

What changes/property adjustments are responsible for a gas’s deviation from ideal behavior?

Teacher Lesson Preparation

Class Set of Directions (Includes the DECIDE template.)

A class set of packets will be created and provided to student based on the task they choose:
 One of the following activities:
o Activity A: Solving Gas Law Problems
o Activity B: Gas Law CER
o Activity C: Deflategate – A Gas Law Case Study
o Activity D: Mathematically Determining Deviations from Ideal Gas Law
 Explaining Gaseous Behavior
 Graduated Difficulty Self-Reflection
Answer Keys for Each of the Activities
Ensure technology and web sources are functional and accessible for research.

Activating Strategy (For example: Hook/Mini-Lesson/Warm-Up/Connection to Prior Learning)

Teacher will say (or similar to) the following to hook students into the day’s activity:

“Since we spent the last 2 class periods talking about gas laws and its numerous variations, I want to
give you a chance to not only practice but showcase your mastery of the content that’s been taught.
You’re about to be handed a worksheet that will present 3 different problems (or tasks) at increasing
 R. Ingram
levels of difficulty. Since I’m fully aware that everyone learns at different paces and maintains
information at different levels, I will leave it up to you to determine which task is the most
appropriate for you to complete, and yes, they all require an equal amount of work. You will also be
provided with a DECIDE template that you will complete to help you make an informed and
thoughtful decision about the task that you choose to ensure its whatever feels best for you.
Ultimately, after you finish, regardless of the task you choose, each of you should be able to answer
the essential question. Throughout this activity, you can ask your classmates for help anytime you
need it and you are welcome to check your work with the answer key anytime, as well. If at any point
you feel that the problem you chose is too hard OR too easy, feel free to switch problems.”

Instructional Sequence and Activities (Including use of technology.)

Day One (45 min)

Students will be handed the worksheet that lists and describes each of the following tasks as “levels”:
 Activity A: Solving Gas Law Problems (Level One)
 Activity B: Gas Law CER (Level Two)
 Activity C: Deflategate – A Gas Law Case Study (Level Three)
Per teacher and worksheet instructions, they will complete and use the DECIDE template to help
them choose the level they feel “best fits” them and their comfortability with the content. Teacher
will inform the students to only complete the “D” and “E” sections of the template before selecting a
choice, as all other letters can only be completed after finishing the assignment. Based on which
activity they choose, they will retrieve that particular packet from the teacher.

Teacher will walk around the classroom and observe student progress throughout the activity and will
facilitate only on an as-needed basis.

All students who complete Activity C (Level 3) will be challenged to complete the following Activity
D (Level 4) to ensure every student is met with an appropriate level of academic rigor:
 Activity D: Mathematically Determining Deviations from Ideal Gas Law using the van der
Waal’s Equation (Level Four)

Day One (45 min)

Once each student completes the assignment, they choose based on their comfort level, they will all
move on to Part 2 to complete the wrap up activity on gas laws where they construct an explanation
about how the physical properties of gases affect their relationship/behavior.

Day Two (25 min)

In the final activity, students will complete a self-reflection based on their experience.

Day Two (55 min)

Students will be chosen to share out their gas law explanation and self-reflection responses with the
class.

Day Two (10 min)

Teacher will conclude the lesson with a highlight of the overall goal of the activity (where should
each student be now regarding their understanding with the material) and what the next steps of
instruction are.
 R. Ingram

Assessment Strategies

The methods of assessment of the students within this lesson will come in 4-parts:
1. Their engagement in the activity through the use of the strategy (also helps gauge efficiency
of strategy implementation).
2. Students will have one of the following products based on the level of difficulty they chose:
 Activity A (Level One): Complete gas law problems with work and units shown.
 Activity B (Level Two): A properly constructed CER about the gas law
highlighted/responsible for the imploding train imploding soda can phenomena.
 Activity C (Level Three): A completed and well thought out post-analysis section on the
deflategate case study.
 If a student advances beyond Level 3 – Activity D (Level Four): Complete mathematical
problems that focus on calculating a gas’s ability to deviate from ideal behavior using the
van der Waal’s equation with work and units shown.
3. ALL Students will complete the constructed response wrap up activity on gas laws.
4. Students will complete a written self-reflection of the day’s activity.

All students will turn in #2, 3, & 4.

Differentiation
Scaffolds/ Interventions/Extensions/Enrichment

This lesson, which is based on the graduated difficulty learning/teaching strategy, is an example of
differentiation from the very beginning of the activity to the end. The tasks/levels, although they
embody the same content, they are presented in different ways that match students where they are.
Students then go on to choose which problem set they feel best fits them based on their individual
learning ability which leads to a difference in the products produced. This lesson highlights the
differentiation in both the process and product areas of teaching and learning.

Materials/Links/Text References/Resources

 Link: Imploding Train Video Imploding Soda Can Video (From 0:55-1:30) (Activity B – Level
Two)
 Link: Deflategate Case Study (Packet for Activity C – Level Three)
 Each of the following additional required documents presented/selected by the students are
included below on pages 5-10:
o Gaseous Behavior: An Investigation of Gas Laws Using Graduated Difficulty (Document
that provides students with different content levels to choose from.)
o DECIDE Template (Helps students choose the task/level that “best fits” where they are.)
o Activity A (Level One): Gas Law Calculations
o Activity B (Level Two): CER Template
o Part Two: Explaining Gaseous Behavior (All students will complete this activity after
individually completing the content level they chose.)
 R. Ingram
GASEOUS BEHAVIOR: AN INVESTIGATION OF GAS LAWS USING GRADUATED
DIFFICULTY
Ranked Tasks & Instructions

Part One: Decide

Per our previous class discussions, you have been provided with foundational knowledge of how Boyle’s
Law, Charles’s Law, Avogadro’s Law, and Ideal Gas Law describe how the four physical properties of a gas
are related (temperature, volume, pressure, and moles). Below, there are 3 different problems (or tasks) listed
in increasing levels of difficulty and based on your understanding/mastery of the content, I am charging you
with the task of choosing one problem/level to complete based on your comfort with the gas laws content.
After you have completed the “D” and “E” letters on the DECIDE template to choose which of the following
levels/tasks you want to complete, come and pick up your packet from me.

 LEVEL ONE: Complete a set of math problems (Boyle’s Law, Charles’s Law, Avogadro’s Law,
and Ideal Gas Law) that require you to use three of the variables to solve for the other.

 LEVEL TWO: Watch the “Imploding Train” video on YouTube. Then, determine AND explain the
gas law responsible for the behavior as well as the relationships involved. Your explanation should be
presented in a constructed CER (Claim – Evidence – Reasoning).

 LEVEL THREE: Read the “Deflategate” Case Study. Analyze the data provided and formulate a
hypothesis as to how the physical properties of the gas involved was “ideal.” Answer the questions
that follow.

Throughout this activity, you can ask your classmates for help anytime you need it and you are welcome to
check your work with the answer key anytime, as well. If at any point you feel that the problem you chose is
too hard OR too easy, feel free to switch problems.

Part Two: Explaining Gaseous Behavior

In Part 1, you chose one of the levels above to complete based on your comfort level with the content. Now,
after completing Task 1 and increasing your understanding of the content, you are to construct an
explanation about how each of the 4 physical properties (pressure, temperature, volume, and moles) of a gas
relate. On page 2 of your packet.

Part Three: Self-Reflection

The activity you have just engaged in was centralized around the Graduated Difficulty strategy, a
differentiation method that allows you to take more control of your learning by providing you with learning
tasks/projects that you choose to complete based your comfort level with specific content (Part 1). Yet, each
of you completed the same wrap-up activity despite following your own original road maps (Part 2). For the
final section of this assignment:
 Finish the remaining letters on your DECIDE template. As you complete them, reflect on your
process of selecting the level and think about what you need in order to continue to advance your
level of mastery. Answer them honestly.
 On page three of your packet, answer the self-reflection questions based on your engagement in
today’s lesson.
 R. Ingram
Directions: Answer each of the following questions to help you DECIDE which task/level will be the “best
fit” for you. In order to get the best out of this activity, be 100% honest. Complete “D” and “E” before
selecting a level and the rest after you have completed the activity.

Determine what you know about gas laws.

 What skills or knowledge do I need to solve gas law problems or explain the relationships?

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
 R. Ingram

Examine the levels of difficulty and choose the level that is best for you.
 What makes one level harder than the next?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
 What level do you think will work best for you? Why?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

Check your work. Change your level/request Level 4 (Activity D) if you completed Level 3.
 What was easy about the level you chose?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
 What was difficult about the level you chose?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify the criteria you used to make your choice.

 What criteria did you use to select the level at which you wanted to work?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
 If you are given another opportunity to choose the difficulty of your class work, will you change the criteria?
Why?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

Determine if you made a good choice and decide what you need to know/understand to move to the next level.
 Was your choice a good one for you? Why or why not?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
 What do you need to know/do to move to the next level?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

Establish a goal(s) for improvement. (What do you need to know or what actions do you need to take in order
to work successfully at a higher level of rigor?)
_________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY A (LEVEL ONE): Gas Law Calculations

Directions: Complete each of the following problems. Then, label which gas law is referenced within each
problem. (Remember to show your work and don’t forget to include both units AND sig figs!)

1. A balloon contains 30.0 L of Helium gas at 103 kPa. What is the volume of the Helium when the
balloon rises to an altitude where the pressure is only 25.0 kPa?
 R. Ingram

Gas Law: ___________________________

2. A balloon inflated in a room at 24.0°C has a volume of 4.00 L. The balloon is then heated to a
temperature of 58.0°C. What is the new volume if the pressure remains constant?

Gas Law: ___________________________

3. The gas in a used aerosol can is at a pressure of 1.02 atm at 25.0°C. if the can is thrown onto a fire,
what will the pressure be when the temperature reaches 928°C?

Gas Law: ___________________________

4. If I initially have a gas at a pressure of 12.0 atm, a volume of 23.0 liters, and a temperature of 200. K,
and then I raise the pressure to 14.0 atm and increase the temperature to 300. K, what is the new
volume of the gas?

Gas Law: ___________________________

5. If I have 4.00 moles of a gas at a pressure of 5.60 atm and a volume of 12.0 liters, what is the
temperature if R = 0.0821 (L•atm)/(mol•K)?

Gas Law: ___________________________

ACTIVITY B (LEVEL TWO): The Imploding Train CER

Directions: Watch “Air Pressure Can Crush” by The Sci Guys on YouTube and answer the question using
supportive evidence (what you analyzed from the video and what you’ve learned about gas laws). Your
response should be at least a paragraph in length and must include the correct gas law name.

Question: What trend in particle relationships caused the train to implode? Explain.
 R. Ingram

C
(Claim)
Your answer to the
question.

E
(Evidence)
Provide scientific data to
support your claim. Your
evidence should be
relevant and sufficient
enough to convince
someone that your claim is
correct. (Bullet Format)

R
(Reasoning)
Use scientific principles
and knowledge that you
have about the topic to
explain how your data
proves your point?
(Paragraph Format)

Part Two: Explaining Gaseous Behavior

Directions: Based on your sharpened understanding of the gas laws, use the space provided to construct an
explanation about various relationships between each of the 4 physical properties (pressure, temperature,
volume, and moles) of a gas. Be sure to use the proper scientific vocabulary, i.e. names of each of the laws,
etc. Your explanation should be at least two paragraphs in length.
 R. Ingram

Part Three: Self-Reflection

Directions: Answer each of the following self-reflection questions with honesty and in complete answers.

1. What factor(s) played a role in the task selection you made? Was today’s lesson beneficial for
improving your understanding of gas laws? Why/why not?
 R. Ingram

2. Was the task you chose a good fit for you? Why/why not? (Be sure to state if you had to switch your
selection and the reason why you chose to do so.) What do you think about the implementation of
Graduated Difficulty within today’s lesson? (Did you like/dislike it? Why/why not? Would you want
to see it incorporated in future lessons?)

3. What do you need to know or what actions do you need to take in order to work successfully at a
higher level of rigor? What improvements need to be made on the teacher’s behalf in order to make
this a better implemented strategy?

4. What improvements need to be made on the student’s (your) behalf in order to gain more from this
implemented strategy?