Ernest Rutherford studied the structure of atoms in the early 1900s. He initially believed that atoms were like "loosely packed snowballs" with positive charge and mass evenly distributed. However, when he fired alpha particles at gold foil, some particles bounced back, contrary to this model. This led Rutherford to conclude atoms have small, dense, positively charged nuclei. Later, Niels Bohr built on this work by proposing electrons orbit nuclei in set energy levels, addressing a problem with Rutherford's model. Scientific knowledge is built through collaboration and ideas being tested, scrutinized, and built upon over time.

1. Your
divider for
process
section

2. Knowledge Building – Understanding It….
… A Look Back in History
Instructions-
1. Read the following article about an important historical case study in science
2. Then, try to answer the questions that follow at the end.
3. In the process, answering the questions using content from this reading should hopefully help
you to gain a bigger understanding about the bigger process in science: knowledge building…
The Article-
A Case Study on Rutherford and the Atom: A Science Prototype
(From Berkeley University, Understanding Science: How Science Really Works, page 1-13)
In the early 1900s, Ernest Rutherford studied (among other things) the organization of the atom — the
fundamental particle of the natural world. Though atoms cannot be seen with the naked eye, they can be
studied with the tools of science since they are part of the natural world.
He investigated the atom in various investigations using alpha particles, which are helium atoms stripped
of their electrons. Rutherford had found that when a beam of these tiny, positively-charged alpha
particles is fired through gold foil, the particles don't stay on their beeline course, but are deflected (or
"scattered") at different angles. Rutherford wanted to figure out what this might tell him about the layout
of an atom.
Before 1910, Ernest Rutherford and many other scientists had the
idea that the positive charge and the mass of an atom were evenly
distributed throughout the whole atom, with electrons scattered
throughout. You can imagine this model of the atom as a loosely
packed snowball (the positive mass of the atom) with a few tiny
grains of sand (the electrons) scattered throughout. The idea that
atoms are arranged in this way can be tested by firing an alpha
particle beam through a piece of gold foil. If the idea were correct,
then the positive mass in the gold foil would be relatively diffuse (the loosely packed snow) and would
allow the alpha particles to pass through the foil with only minor scattering.
When Ernest Rutherford's lab tested the idea that an atom's positive mass is spread out diffusely by
firing an alpha particle beam through a piece of gold foil, the evidence resulting from that experiment
was a complete surprise: most of the alpha particles passed through the gold foil without changing
direction much as expected, but some of the alpha particles came bouncing back in the opposite
direction, as though they had struck something dense and solid in the gold foil. If the gold atoms were
really like loosely packed snowballs, all of the alpha particles should have passed through the foil, but
they did not!

3. From this evidence, Rutherford concluded that their snowball model of the atom
had been incorrect, even though it was popular with many other scientists.
Instead, the evidence suggested that an atom is mostly empty space and that
its positive charge is concentrated in a dense mass at its core, forming a
nucleus. When the positively charged alpha particles were fired at the gold foil,
most of them passed through the empty space of the gold atoms with little
deflection, but a few of them ran smack into the dense, positively charged
nucleus of a gold atom and were repelled straight back (like what would happen
if you tried to make the north poles of two strong magnets touch). The idea that
atoms have positively charged nuclei was also testable. Many independent experiments were performed
by other researchers to see if the idea fit with other experimental results.
Though Ernest Rutherford came up with the idea that atoms have positively charged nuclei, the research
that led to this idea was a collaborative effort: Rutherford was assisted by Hans Geiger, and the critical
alpha-scattering experiment was actually carried out by Ernest Marsden, an undergraduate student
working in Rutherford's lab.
Furthermore, after his discovery of the layout of the atom, Rutherford published a description of the idea
and the relevant evidence, releasing it to the scientific community for scrutiny (critical analysis) and
evaluation. And scrutinize they did. Niels Bohr noticed a problem with Rutherford's idea: there was
nothing keeping the orbiting electrons from spiraling into the nucleus of the atom, causing the whole
thing to collapse! Bohr modified Rutherford's basic model by proposing that electrons had set energy
levels, which helped solve the problem and earned Bohr a Nobel Prize. Since then, many other
scientists have built on and modified Bohr's model.
Lithium atoms, diagrammed in the Rutherford and Bohr models. Rutherford's model does not
differentiate between any of the electrons, while Bohr's places electrons into orbits with set energy levels.
Questions to Answer
1. What did Rutherford want to learn more about?
2. What was Rutherford’s first idea before performing his first investigation? What did he do to test his
idea?
3. Did Rutherford keep his idea after performing the investigation? How did he support keeping or
changing his idea?
4. How is Bohr connected to Rutherford and his ideas?
5. Is there anything wrong with saying ―Rutherford’s idea‖?
-AFTER- you finish writing your answers, read through the following important ideas on the next
page to help consolidate your learning for this article. Be read to discuss with your class.

4. The Bigger Picture ….
Ernest Rutherford and his colleagues acted in ways that show a bigger process in how science works in
the big picture.
 Scientists understood the relevant knowledge in their field. Rutherford had studied physics for
more than 20 years when he proposed the idea of the nucleus.
 They exposed their ideas to testing. Even though his original view of the atom suggested that no
backscattering should occur, Rutherford decided to look for backscattered alpha particles anyway,
just to be thorough.
 Scientists assimilated the evidence. When their experimental results did not support the
"snowball" model of the atom, instead of writing those results off as an anomaly, modified their
original ideas in light of the new evidence.
 They openly communicated their ideas so that other physicists could test them as well. Rutherford
published the experimental results, a description of his reasoning, and the idea of the nucleus in
1911 in a scientific journal
In other words …
 Scientific knowledge is built by scientists involving a number of key actions or process:

5. ___________________________________________________________
General Overview
Most likely you have learned by now about a number of important actions or even processes in science.
For example, you have probably been taught that scientists do experiments, discover things, and make
conclusions. You may have learned about things such as
scientific investigations, inquires or even other related processes
such as designing technology and artifacts or problem solving.
Are things like experiments and investigations important parts of
science? ___________!
Are things like experiments and investigations the only important
parts of science? ___________!
It can be argued that the above actions/processes are actually only stages of a much bigger process
that real scientists actively go through to performing most of their work. This bigger process can be
defined in general as knowledge building.
____________________________________?
Knowledge building can simply defined as the kind of creative work communities of scientists (and
others) do where they brainstorm, debate and refine ideas that may ultimately form new theories, facts
or even truths. In addition, such idea creation and improvement often occurs through multiple
actions/stages including inquiry, discussion with others and reflection in an ongoing (continuous and
repetitive) fashion. Ultimately, the goal of knowledge building is to advance current knowledge by
judging it and identifying other relative information that can either improve upon it, discount it or even
replace it.
________________________________________?
Knowledge Building is a complex process. Part of the complexity may come from the argument that
nobody can agree on the specific steps that are followed. Many models of knowledge building have
been proposed over the year such as Thomas Kuhn’s model (See
http://www.cwu.edu/~warren/Unit1/kuhndiagram.gif) or Imre Lakatos’ model of progress (See
http://www.bauer.uh.edu/parks/fis/Bharadwaj.htm). Some scientists like Paul Feyerabend even think that
any way can be possible as with his saying ―Anything Goes in science!‖
However, it is possible to outline some of the more rough (basic) areas of action that general occur to
happen whenever scientific knowledge is built. The areas can then make a bigger and broader section in
science called the Knowledge Building process.
____________________________________-
1. ____________________________________ –
Science often begins with some critical or stressful event the demands a solution. In other words,
scientists are often not motivated to do science because of mere passion or desire. Rather, they do
science in order to so something to address a critical event in the world. Ex. They consider some
dangerous environmental problem. They try to build knowledge in order to create some important
technology or other artifact. Realization of the trigger event could involve merely watching or hearing
about the event, performing a relevant inquiry, or listening to the words of others in a critical way.
2. _____________________________________________-
Once scientists are motivated to do science (normally) by some trigger event, then they usually spend
good time and resources generating ideas on how to solve or address the event. There are various ways
scientists can do this. For instance, they may make observations and discover something but they often

6. read or review background knowledge on earlier ideas that relate to the event and then make predictions.
They may also become more opinionated and form strong ideas known as views. On the other hand, as
they learn more and suggest ideas, they may later realize there are other questions they must answer to
address the event or problem.
3. ___________________________________________-
While or just after generating some initial idea or other, scientists also often work together to share them
and find connections. In doing so, they can choose the better ones and eliminate the less feasible ones
which saves them time. Also, by relating different ideas and work, they can better understand the ―bigger
picture‖ and possible get a solution faster.
4. _________________________________________-
It is not enough for scientists to simply have ideas including even good ideas. They need to convince to
everyone of what they think is correct. And often, their ideas need to be explained better or even
corrected. All of this requires not only collecting evidence but also a lot of debating and reflection. So
scientists do do inquiries or investigations where they test their ideas by experiments. But they also often
research, talk to other people. They may design things as well depending upon the situation. And they
also spend good time –thinking- about what they did and how they can make it better. (ie. they reflect).
OR they get other people to check and even revise their work.
5. ________________________________________- Once the community is satisfied (at least for the
time) with the scientists’ work and evidence, their ideas or solutions can then be accepted as a more
formal piece of knowledge such as a widely accepted belief or even a scientific fact or truth.
6. __________________________________ – finally, it is important to note that science is an ongoing
endeavor. Scientists do not stop doing science once their ideas are accepted as hard knowledge. They
continue to constantly challenge established facts and truths as they are confronted with future trigger
events and learn or discover new things as well as think up new ideas. Thus, scientific knowledge is
never a constant but is constantly being refined, improved or even rejected and replaced.
_________________________!- The importance of _______________________________…
It is also extremely important to that the process outline above requires MANY people or more
specifically a ____________________________. Scientists do not usually work alone to build
knowledge. They collaborate to generate initial ideas, views or questions. They share their work and
critique others. In fact, at a later point, big committees read and judge before scientists can publish their
work. Only when the whole community agrees and accepts their ideas can they become knowledge that
is considered usable by society.

7. Knowledge Building – Stage ________
_______________________________
As you learned briefly in an earlier lesson, the building of knowledge is often
triggered (started or activated) by some stress. In this case, such a stress
could refer to a variety of things including something scary, something
alarming or even something exciting or puzzling. In other words, scientists
normally do not start making knowledge without any particular reason or
motivation. They often generate new knowledge because they are
stimulated or influenced to do so by something else. ―This something else‖
is called the trigger event.
Examples of Trigger Events-
1. _____________________________ – Something terrible is happening or has happened in the
environment. For example, there was a big oil spill, an animal species is about to extinct, an area
of the world has been devastated by a nuclear plant explosion. Scientists (and others too) are
stimulated to seek out new knowledge out of a sense of duty in order to solve or at least deal with
the effects of the environmental concern. The scientists might propose new theories that will lead
to clean up technology for an oil spill or nuclear explosion. Scientists might try to learn better why
an animal species is dying out and propose new ideas.
2. __________________________ – Many people are also motivated to do science in order to help
humanity. Scientists often begin research out of compassion and concern in order to learn more
about some disease such as cancer. Others make efforts to discover more about why people age
and eventually die. Certain scientists might seek to create new knowledge in excitement over
finding ways to help people stay thinner or become smarter.
3. _____________________________ – technology is a rapidly advancing field at presents.
Understanding how technology works and making it better or even making new technology often
requires the generation of new scientific ideas. For example, scientists may build or develop
current knowledge on electricity to improve computer hardware or improve their understanding of
magnetism and motion to make better cars.
4. _________________________ – scientists can be driven to improve their understanding of the
world out of a simple curiosity. Some scientists simply ask the question ―Why is that?‖ or ―Why
does that happen?‖ and then try to generate ideas to answer them out of curiosity. Again, often
(but not always), topics of their curiosity often indirectly and even directly related to important
things or even issues. For example, ―How long will the sun last for?‖ is an important question
since the sun is essential for the survival of all living things.
5. ______________________________ – sometimes scientists become motivated to do learn
something new because doing satisfies some personal desire or goal and/or gives them some
benefit. For instance, some scientists are ―persuaded‖ into conducting new research by
businesses that will pay them big money to help create some new product (ex. a drug) or solve
some problem (ex. make bigger fruit that stays fresh longer). Other scientists may build or

8. develop knowledge simply to gain personal recognition from the general public. They want to be
famous for some invention of piece of new information.
Final Note – Hopefully from above, you can understand that stage 1 of the Knowledge Building
process is not a stage of doing. Rather it is a stage of activation. Because of the trigger event, other
stages and actions/or event then happen that lead to the founding of new scientific information.
Hopefully, you too will be motivated by the trigger events in your science class to go through the other
stages of knowledge building with your class and seek out and secure knowledge.

9. Knowledge Building – Stage ___
_____________________________________________
Generating views is often the first real stage of action in knowledge building.
By now something (ex. a trigger event) has stimulated you to wonder about
something and hopefully take future steps to explore certain relevant
questions, seek out answers to what you wonder about and form logical
opinions of your own. In other words, you begin to
________________________.
Key Features of a View
i) _______________________________________
The generation of views is a personal action. Here, you (and others) first communicate your OWN
thoughts, possible answers or even questions or beliefs about something that relates to the event (or
other) that has stimulated you into action. So, you do not simply retell what someone else has already
said or thinks. Rather, you tell what YOU think.
ii) _________________________________________
When you first communicate your thoughts about something that has your interest, you do not need to
worry about whether you are wrong or right. Because you are dealing with knowledge building, you are
trying to find answers or pieces of knowledge that are unknown (at least to you) at least in part. So you
should not worry about being right or wrong because you cannot really know for sure at first! However,
you should try to create an idea, opinion or question that is sensible. It may not be right but it seems it
could be right. Therefore, your idea or other should be at least based on OTHER THINGS that you know
already to be right and true whenever possible.
iii) _____________________________________________
As just mentioned, to knowledge build, your ideas, opinions or questions are just your thoughts and
therefore they must be proven (as best as possible). As a result, you must consider ways to test out your
ideas to confirm them later. For instance, you could have an idea that could be proven in a future inquiry
of simply confirmed through dialogue with others. Most likely, your idea or other will change! That is okay.
Scientists are constantly changing what they first thought after they carry out later actions to check or
confirm them.
How to Generate a View-
Generating a view (again) is a personal action. Consequently there is no one best way to create it.
Generation also depends upon the particular trigger event as well as other constraints such as what
background knowledge do you already have or what resources will you be able use later to explore the
idea more. As well, your view’s composition could also be shaped by the strength of your thoughts. Are
you asserting a strong opinion or struggling away by considering other questions that might make sense
of your target event and/or situation involved.
However, there are some common characteristics that you should be aware of and include whenever
creating a view.
1. ________________________________________________________________-
All views should start with at least one (And possible more) sentence that clearly describes or marks a
personal thought about the trigger event or something relating to it. For instance, you could start by
simply writing ―I think …….‖ and answer an important question. You might even start by writing ―I simply

10. do not know or understand but…‖ and try to pose other questions or suggestions that might help you to
answer or understand something better about your trigger event. There is also again nothing wrong with
writing an opinion and even a weak one but try your best!
2. ___________________________________________________________________-
After you have written an initial sentence, you should try to include (somewhere!) in your view, a number
of sentences that help to make your opinion, belief, question or other more sensible and more believable.
To do that, it is advisable here that you include content from the work of others. For example, you could
give content from your textbook or Internet site that helps to convince others of what you think. You
might also simply use expressions like ―I believe I am correct because I heard from my teacher that …‖
or ―I remember hearing about …… ― Whatever you do though, it is important though that use specific
detail with good explanation to help make support.
3. _______________________________________________________ –
It is not enough to simply support your answer by reviewing or writing something that you learned from a
book, the Internet or someone else. You should also add extra comments of your own. There are many
ways to do this. You simple by explain further how your support helps your view. Sometimes, after
writing some support, you may realize another good point and then you can add onto what you wrote for
your support. You may even be critical of what you wrote for your support. You could point out possible
problems even though it seems basically write. Sometimes, you may also suddenly have some other
interesting and even insightful thought that you can explore by writing other sentences for your view.
Example View-
What is Tap Water?
I am not exactly sure but I think tap water is a mixture of things. First, of all tap water contains well water.
I’ve learned from my earlier grades that water is actually a mineral and it is made up of a bunch
of molecules. A molecule is a combination of 2 or more atoms. In this case, a water molecule is a
combination of one oxygen atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms. I think that these molecules also
must be colourless because normally water is clear. But if look really close at the tap water, it is not
exactly clear. In my opinion, this is because there are other things in tap water besides just water
molecules. I actually have seen them separated out of tap water at home. We have a kitchen item called
a water purifier. The cleaning lady has even shown my family and I the filter part when she visits. She
pointed out to us and even showed us there are a lot of small black substances that have
collected on the filter. I guess these substances are things like bacteria, maybe dust or even harmful
chemicals. I think there are harmful chemicals too because I have learned a lot last year about
pollution which gets produced by cars and even buildings. These harmful chemicals can enter
the water supply and contaminate slightly the water that we drink. In any case, I think tap water is
not completely safe to drink. I also wonder if there is anything we can do to make it safer instead of
having to also use and even buy bottles of water.
Paragraph Key-
1. Underlined part = Initial Sentence
2. Bolded part = supporting content from outside sources
3. Italicized parts = other comments

11. More Skill-Building for Knowledge Building –
Responding to Views
As you begin to form your views (and later revise them too!), it is not
enough to keep your views to yourself. Rather, knowledge built by
sharing your views with others and getting their feedback in an ongoing
fashion. In this way, ideas can be tested and challenged by others. Then,
they can be also revised and improved. By such collaboration, knowledge
can often be more accurate and also accessible to all.
Thus, it is important for people to respond to each other’s views to give
them constructive help or even to learn more from each other. In this note, you will learn how to do this.
Part 1 - How to Respond to Views-
The following outlines a useful (but not the only) format for responding to another’s views:
A. Begin with Your Purpose-
The beginning of any response should begin with a simple sentence (or two perhaps) that communicate
the purpose of your response. You see there are many ways you can respond to someone’s post to
assist them or even get assistance from them such as…
i) Agree – you could write (tell) that you agree with the person’s view. Then later, you may
explain why you agree. You can also use this purpose to elaborate on the person’s view. In
other words, you might have additional points, ideas or even questions that the person did not
include and you can add them onto his/her view in your response.
ii) Disagree – you could write (tell) that you disagree with person’s view. Doing this then allows
you to later explain why you think the person’s ideas are not all accurate, or maybe disturbing
or perhaps confusing. Again, you should be read to explain good reasons or other details later
for why you don’t agree.
iii) Ask for more- sometimes you may not understand the person’s view. They may write about
scientific concepts or other details that you have not learned before. Sometimes, they may not
write enough details to make their ideas or points clear. In this case, you can ask the person
to explain more about one or more areas. You should elaborate later on what exactly you do
not understand or wish to know more about.
iv) Other – sometimes you may have another purpose for writing your response. Maybe there is
something else interesting, surprising or shocking, scary, worrisome about the person’s view
and you have some other comments to add. Still, your comments should relate somewhat at
least to the general topic that everyone is posting about.
Final Note- Also remember, that posts can be really variable just like your opinion. You do not always
have to completely agree or disagree. You could agree somewhat or even be in the middle and then
state how you agree and also disagree. You might just need a little elaboration or sometimes you could
be totally lost. Try your best simply to be clear and honest about what you really think or mean.
B. Explain-
Once you have stated in the first or two sentences the purpose of your response, you should now
explain more. There are many ways to do this. It depends also a lot on the actual purpose for writing
your response. However, just like writing a view in stage 2, it is important to explain sufficient support.

12. Some of that support should come from what you just read or studied about prior to writing the initial
views in stage 2. Some support should come things outside of what you read such as your own ideas or
information from other resources such as other books or acceptable internet sites etc.
Part 2 - How to Respond to Views Politely-
Because you are responding to someone’s idea and giving feedback, you will often also criticize or judge
what they have write. Of course, you should be honest even when someone is wrong. But at the same
time, it is important to be POLITE when you write a response so that the person feels more positive after
viewing your response and will be more willing to listen to your feedback. As well, certain kinds of
responses could even seriously hurt the person’s feelings or make them upset in an unproductive way.
It is thus important to use good etiquette or in the case of posting online, netiquette!
Etiquette or netiquette are simply a code of choice or style of/with words, grammar, expressions and
sentences that tend to be received by others in more positive ways. To give an example, if you say
―Your view contains many good ideas but I have a concern about the last one…, you are using good
etiquette. What you wrote is probably not going to be too offensive. On the other hand, if you wrote, ―I
hate your last idea! It is completely wrong‖, you are not using good etiquette. You could hurt the person
with this sentence. Also, how can you even be sure that the person’s idea is –completely- wrong- ?
The following page outlines a few of the more common tips for employing etiquette or in our case
netiquette because we will usually post responses online.
10 Tips for Netiquette and Responding to Posts More Politely
1. Don’t shout. In other words, do not use all capitals when posting.
2. Don’t be completely negative. In other words, you may have some complaints or concerns but
try to say some positive things too in your response.
3. Be sure to use a proper heading, title and also greeting sentence. In other words, give your
response a title or heading that fits well. Your first sentence should not be your purpose and
definitely not negative sentences. Start first with a simple “Hello (name) How are you?” or
something similar.
4. Don’t mass (spam) post the same response to everyone. The people who wrote the posts
each have their own unique ideas. You should respond to each and everyone specifically.
5. Use proper grammar and vocabulary. For example, don’t use kiddi-speak or texting language
like “Cuz it rocks..lol” Use a proper sentence like .. “I think so because your idea sounds
great!”
6. Don’t write too little or too much – Make sure that you explain things well. At the same time, if
you write too much, many people may be unmotivated to read your response. 100 – 500 words
is a good rule of thumb.
7. Cite your information properly. (We will learn more about this soon).
8. Be sure to write your name at the bottom which is a normal custom people use to be polite just
like a greeting. You could also include some other warm or positive end sentence.
9. Be careful with your fonts and highlighters- be sure to use font sizes as well as font and
highlighter colours that are easy to look at.
10. Be careful with emoticons. Emoticons for the most part are not necessary in a response post for
the sake of good academics. Sometimes it might be nice to include one or two in an appropriate
place (Ex. at the end of a point that praises). At the same time, do not overuse emoticons and in
general be extra careful with the use of more negative emoticons.

13. Knowledge Building – Stage _______
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
Right after scientists think of, or find and express their views, the
often begin to connect them for sorting or grouping. This makes it
easier for them to decide on the next direction to take for build more
knowledge and learn more about their issue or topic.
___________________________________________
Step 1 – ________________________________
First, scientists must ensure that all initial views have been __________________________ in stage
1through or on some clear medium that allows them to understand and also analyze or judge them more
easily later. For example, scientists might collaborate online to record all ideas, opinions or questions in
a table or chart. When scientists have written a lot about their views they might publish their views in a
book or site and then spend time reading each other’s published ideas. Then after, they could do some
further sharing and write down summaries of the main points to look at and consider more.
Step 2 – __________________________________
Next, scientists often determine together how _________________________________ all views are. Of
course, doing so may involve guesswork since the scientists are considering ideas about information
that is new to them or not understood well. (They are trying to build new knowledge). But using proper
logic and other support, they can often decide which ideas to keep and which ideas to remove. Again,
this is a group effort. Normally, all or most scientists must agree to keep a view for further exploration. It
is also okay for everyone to simply be unsure and still keep the view for further researching too.
Step 3 – ___________________________________
After, scientists have agreed on sensible or apparently accurate views to view more, they next often try
to __________________________ them in ________________________________________ to make it
easier to study more after. For instance, they might put similar ideas in a single group with some
category word. (Example- Ideas on the Function of Water, Ideas on the Structure of Water, Ideas on the
Effects of Drinking Water, etc.) They might simply group ideas on their basis of understanding (ex.
Things We Understand Well Already, Things We Understand by need a little more help, Things We
Really Can’t Comprehend, etc). So this step involves making headings or categories, moving and
arranging ideas and other organizational methods.
Step 4 – __________________________________________
Once scientists have arranged their views well, they can then begin to _______________________ for
___________________________________. Here, they often decide on who will do what and how. For
instance, they might decide some scientists will simply try to read other sources and research more.
Other people might have to carry out new inquiries or investigations. Some scientists might have to even
do interviews, take trips, design things, make models… the list goes. What is important here is that the
scientists (and others) have made a good plan to learn more about their sorted and clarified views for
future study and knowledge development.
____________________________________- Look at your classes’ collaborative task in Google Docs!!

14. Instructions for Collaboration Activity with Google Documents
For today’ task, you will continue to learn more about knowledge building and also water by doing a
special collaborative activity with Google Docs.
** Please also note, this assignment will be viewed and marked as a task score. Try your best!
Part 1 – Understanding Your Task Assignment
- In this stage, you learn the basic ideas for completing this task.
1. Listen carefully as your teacher explains to you the basic ideas of this task. (creating a special
drawing to connect your ideas on water with other member of your group)
2. When instructed, go to Google Docs to view a sample for your task using the link below.
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/17Ul9RmOQ5FWq1npHudN8y_1j6Vme11tvi0HEzYwsAjY/edit?hl=e
n_US
3. You will then need to log into Google Docs to the view the example using your gmail email and
password. (Note other email addresses such as Hotmail should work)
Part 2 – Setting up your Collaborative Environment
- In this stage, you make all initial preparation that will allow you to work online
synchronously with your group to create a special drawing.
1. Click one of the links below according to the group you have been placed in by your teacher.
Doing so will take you to Google Document (Docs), a special online program that will allow you to
work with your group. (You can also access the link from a recent email you just received from Mr.
Zions)
Group 1
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/16Ud0SpPLGgDMHdhTxqpYWGIDxop5NZ5YS2YyZSbZ_Uk/edit
Group 2
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/14OkyUsh5PnqTHnU4DK21e5dSxuZD_aPjsIVe9ychHjk/edit
Group 3,
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1_Ffu9r8I0d6SGnJ_ChOvSDXKUwq-fDOHaBxizOPzQX0/edit
2. Log into Google Docs using your gmail email ID and password. (Note- If you do not have gmail, other
email addresses such as hotmail may work also)
3. Together with your group, play around with the icons to begin familiarizing yourself with the operations
necessary to create a drawing in Google Docs.
* Refer to the helpful instructions on the 1/2 page handout (or at the very bottom online) if necessary.
Part 3 – Creating your Drawing
- In this stage, you will work synchronously (and possibly later asynchronously if you don’t
finish in class) with your group to create a special online drawing that shows connections
for your ideas on tap water.
1. Look again carefully at the sample document you viewed with your class in Part 1.
2. Brainstorm with your group ideas on how you will make a similar document.
- You may use the chat window that appears in one of the corners
OR – you may simply talk face-to-face in your classroom

15. - Make sure you look at the MUST SEES list below when deciding on your ideas and
responsibilities for the task
3. Work hard with your group to create your drawing. Make sure that you check the MUST SEES list
below to ensure all parts are properly completed. You will be graded!
MUST SEES for Collaborative Diagram Task on “What is Tap Water?”
_____ Our drawing has a suitable title _____ Other ideas have been added to a centre
_____ Each member has his/her own box box titled ―What We Want or Need to Know‖
containing an image of him/herself and other ID _____ Other suitable words have been chosen
information. (ex. name) and put in the final centre box ―Useful Categories
____ Each member includes all main ideas and and Labels)
supporting ideas from his view post on ―What I _____ Lines have been inserted properly
water‖ in his/her own box. between each and every member’s boxes and
_____ Every idea from each member has been the first two centre boxes
placed in a centre box (ie. Ideas We Agree On _____ Everything is organized in a neat and
OR Ideas We Do not Completely Agree On) attractive way.
Part 4 – Posting your Drawing in Pepper
1. Please have one member create a note in Pepper that contains the link to your
google document.
 Then note should be created in the subfolder ―Connecting Our Ideas on Tap Water‖

16. Knowledge Building – Stage _____
______________________________________
So far you have spent ample time generating views, responding to views
and also organizing, sorting and even categorizing them. Hopefully, by
now you should be able to develop some of your starting ideas by making
them more concrete (visible) to your general community in an organized
way. Then, the community can begin to confirm your initial ideas or as
often happens in the knowledge building process, make them better. This is
stage 4 – Confirming and Improving Ideas.
Basic Goals for Stage 4 –
In Stage 4, you will be engaged in developing your ideas more that usually involves 3 important goals as
shown below:
1. Check all ideas that your community has agreed upon (_________________________)
2. Seek resolution for ideas that your community is in disagreement when possible
(______________________)
3. Search further for answers to questions your community has (_________________________)
Basic Features of Stage 4 –
Stage 4 is another BIG stage. Attaining the three goals above often involves various types of actions.
These actions can also be repeated again and again until your community is ―satisfied‖.
i) _________________________
Like stage 3, stage 4 involves (especially at first) good organization where your community makes
everyone’s ideas known to each other. There are various ways to do this. This may involve having
everyone simply reading each others’ views and sorting notes and then taking further notes on their own.
It could also involve the use of some collaborative organizer where students can arrange all of their
ideas, questions and other comments on paper or on the computer to help them see the bigger picture
better. As well, students might present through debate, formal presentations and other formats their
many individual and group ideas to their community for further development.
ii) ____________________________
At some point during stage 4, it is important to verify ideas that have been created by members of the
community. This can occur in various ways as shown at the end of the note
iii) ___________________________
As well, your community will likely have ideas that you are not sure about on whether they are in fact
accurate or not. It is important that you take further action to reach a resolution (a common agreement)
on their validity. In other words, you need to do other actions to convince everyone to agree with the
idea (where you can then keep the idea) or disagree with the idea (where you can then make it known
an idea is wrong or even throw out an idea if it is no longer needed or desired)
iv) ____________________________
In stage 4, you may also find out there are questions in your community that nobody knows the answers
to. In stage 4, you should also take actions when possible to find out answers to those questions. Then,
any answers you discover or learn can be further debated and check for reliability and added to your
growing sources of knowledge.
____________________________________________?

17. There are various ways that you can check further if your community’s idea is correct. You can also do
various things to show even that the idea is –not- correct. As well, there are useful methods to employ to
get more ideas for questions that you are not sure about. The following list outlines some possible ways
to do all of this!
 Research books and online sites
 Do an investigation or even a whole inquiry
 Design and test some product
 Consult professionals (ex. scientists, teachers)
 Attend a class or other learning environment
 Perform a correlational study (ex. give a survey and analyze the data)
 Review and reflect through silent writing
 Debate the ideas more with the community
_________________________________________________________-
 Take a look at your online table activity using Cacoo see an example of
confirming and improving ideas in effect.
https://cacoo.com/diagrams/aGJMUyy6trUcQDHY