Students investigate the essential question by designing fair tests, collecting repeated absorbency and strength data, and using that evidence to compare paper towel brands. The work builds science and math understanding through hands-on testing, averages, bar graphs, and CER writing while students practice critique, revision, and respectful feedback in daily team debriefs. Over four weeks, teams create a comparison board and share their conclusions in the Towel Trials Museum gallery walk, where they explain how evidence—not opinion—supports their claim. The experience also develops collaboration, communication, and problem solving as students improve their procedures and analyze which product characteristics lead to better performance.

Students will design and refine a fair investigation by identifying independent, dependent, and controlled variables, collecting repeated-trial data on absorbency and strength, and using that data to compare paper towel brands. They will apply grade-level math by organizing measurements in data tables, calculating averages, and creating accurate bar graphs with labeled axes and appropriate scales. Students will develop and critique Claim-Evidence-Reasoning explanations, respectfully using numerical evidence to defend conclusions and respond to peer feedback during team debriefs and the gallery walk. They will also analyze strengths across multiple brands to identify the best characteristics that could be combined into an improved paper towel design.

Students create investigation planning sheets with a testable question, identified variables, and a fair-test redesign after the launch lab, then build data tables, trial notes, and hand-drawn bar graphs as they test absorbency and strength across repeated trials. Each team also produces quick daily debrief notes that capture one pattern in the data and one revision to improve fairness for the next round. By the end, each group builds a comparison board featuring test setup photos or sketches, labeled graphs, averages, sample materials, and a CER statement answering which brand performed best under the tested conditions. The final public product is a Towel Trials Museum display and brief gallery walk presentation for classmates and families, with peer feedback forms tied to evidence and the essential question.

Open with a Flawed Test Challenge Lab in which students watch two paper towel brands tested under obviously different conditions, then quickly list every variable that makes the comparison unfair. In teams, students use the essential question to redesign the test so only one variable changes, then share and defend their plan with evidence-based reasoning. Close the launch with a short whole-class protocol to identify the strongest features from each team’s design and agree on the criteria for a fair absorbency and strength investigation. This shared experience builds urgency for the project and prepares students for repeated trials, graphing, CER writing, critique, and the final museum-style gallery walk.

Host a “Towel Trials Museum” gallery walk where each team presents a comparison board with test setup photos, sample materials, data tables, averages, bar graphs, and a CER conclusion about which brand performed best. Invite classmates, families, and school staff to rotate through stations while students give a 1–2 minute explanation of how they designed a fair test, what their repeated trials showed, and how they revised their procedure over time. Provide visitors with a simple feedback form or sticky notes to leave evidence-based comments and questions tied to the essential question. End with a brief whole-group share-out in which teams name one surprising finding and one way their testing process became more fair and reliable.