Students will encounter real examples of steel and rust in their community, observe a puzzling oxidation phenomenon, and develop a focused, investigable research question with a testable hypothesis that will guide their week-long investigation.

Students will design a systematic investigation plan that aligns with their self-developed rusting or oxidation research question, identify variables and quality controls, review relevant background sources, and revise their methodology through structured peer critique before beginning data collection.

Students will systematically collect high-quality data for their oxidation investigations, carefully documenting procedures, conditions, and anomalies so their evidence base supports rigorous analysis in the next phase.

Students will transform their collected steel oxidation and exothermic reaction data into meaningful evidence by creating visualizations, identifying patterns and anomalies, and interpreting how their findings relate to their original research questions and hypotheses about physical and chemical change.

Students will draw evidence-based conclusions about their steel and oxidation investigations, explicitly acknowledge limitations, generate new research questions, and present their full investigation—from question to conclusion—to an authentic audience at the culminating exhibition.