21st Century Tools

The topic I decide to research as my “big idea” is the structure of atoms in different states of matter such as solids, liquids, gases and plasmas.  This is a concept that students must learn which will help them understand concepts such as melting points, boiling points, pressure, conduction of electricity and sound waves just to name a few.  I found many websites that provided students with access to lots of information about the topic as well as provided the students with simulators and other tools to help understand the concept.  One of the better sites was http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/589.  This site is great for students because all of the sites have been checked by the University of Missouri’s department of education for kid appropriate resources.  

The links provided from the site let students access many videos and models of how the atomic structure changes when matter changes it states.  This sites also are good at helping students gain a basic understanding of atomic structure and how things work by watching the videos from Brain Pop website, http://www.brainpop.com/science/matter/statesofmatter/. 

One activity I can plan to help my students gain knowledge is to allow my students to use the website and its various resources by creating a webquest.  I can have students go through the sites in search of answers that the students would be able to learn from the various sites linked to University of Missouri’s website.  The webquest would have the students visit several sites and learn about how atoms interact with each other and how matter moves through the states of matter.  This is a great activity to help build and increase the students' ability in researching topics using web resources as well as learning important information about atomic structure.

A challenge I can see arising from my use of a webquest would be students running into issues not being able to find the information on the websites.  In the past, I have found that some students can have issues reading through websites and locating information.  I think this issue can be reduced or fixed by grouping students in pairs so they both read through the websites and can help each other find the information needed to answer the questions.  Also by working in groups, the students can discuss the topics with each other to help clarify the information for each other. 

Heat Transfer Guided Inquiry

Cups, with "HOT" water.

This week I conducted an experiment to find out which material would insulate the mug of hot water the best.  I decided to use tin foil, wax paper, plastic wrap and a t-shirt.  The first three were materials I use in the kitchen and wanted to see which worked best for keeping something warm.  I decided on the t-shirt just because I thought it would be interesting to see it's heat retention properties and we use it for clothing to stay warm.  After putting hot water in identical mugs and then covering the mugs with the 4 materials as lids, I waited 30 minutes to then measure the temperature of the water inside.  I then compared my before and after temperatures and determined the temperature changes.  I ran three trials of my experiment before I was comfortable with my data's results.  I wanted to verify my findings were right because my first trial produced interesting results.

Materials Used

Predictions and data from first two trials.

The t-shirt actually was the best in 2 of the 3 trials and had the best average temperature loss.  It kept the water the hottest out of the 4 materials.  I was very shocked because I thought it would be the worst of the all.  After reading about heat transfer, I realized the reason the t-shirt worked the best because it had lots of spaces.  Space is a poor conductor of heat because it increases the space that the molecules have to move to transfer the heat.  It had lots of space and therefore was a poor conductor of heat, and trapped more heat inside than it let out. 

Trial three's data and average temperature change chart

Out of the 3 kitchen materials, the tin foil, plastic wrap and wax paper, the tin foil was best, followed by the wax paper and lastly the plastic wrap.  The tin foil was much better than the other two.  The wax out performed the plastic which was interesting to me.  The picture above shows the third trial's data plus the average temperature change chart. 





I would like to run this experiment with liquids of different densities.  I think if I used a thick gravy the results might have been different.  Because the gravy is denser than the water, it would probably retain heat on its own better, and then the covers might not play as large of a role as they did in the water experiment.  I would even try other materials like a hamburger or pasta.  Again, maybe the density of the object would affect the outcomes.

Pendulum Experiment

 The question I decided to investigate this week was “Which pendulum will come to rest more quickly- a lighter pendulum or heavier pendulum?”  To investigate this question I set up two pendulums of equal length (15 inches) but with different sized washers.  One pendulum had a washer weighing 28 grams, the other had a washer weighing 2.8 grams.  After conducting a few trials, my results were exactly what I had predicted to happen, the lighter one came to rest sooner than the heavier one.  This was a pretty easy experiment to conduct, there were not too many things that could go wrong.  I had a few issues at first trying to get the pendulum to swing without hitting into the desk it was hanging from, but after a few trials, I was able to get it to swing in a semi-strait path without any contact with the desk. 

Materials needed for the experiment, minus the vitamin water.

Some things that I could change to this experiment to get a different or modified result would be to change the question to “Does the length of the pendulum affect the time it will take for a pendulum to come to a rest?”  This would change the variable tested during the experiment from testing the weight to testing the length of the strings used.  I’m sure that with different variables would come different results. 

This experiment could easily be modified as a lesson for my 5^th grade class.  I could change the wording around to make it more engaging for my students.  Instead of using the word pendulums, which I would then introduce to them after they conducted the experiments, I could call it a swing experiment.  I would pose the question as “Does the weight of the person affect how long they will swing without being pushed?”   We could then use the swings on the playground to test out their hypothesis.  I think by changing some vocabulary and making it relevant to something they use in their free time during recess would make it more engaging for my students.  Also the fact that we would be using swings on the playground would increase the fun and interest level among my class.  I think that this would be a great way to teach the children about the affects mass plays in momentum of objects, much like the pendulum experiment taught me. 

Structured Inquiry Lesson: Erosion

Last week I ran a structured inquiry lesson dealing with the variables that affect erosion.  The students performed many different experiments to test the affects variables such as elevation, water volume and soil types play in the amount of erosion on landforms.  

Students setting up stream tables.

The students performed the experiments over a few days.  Each group would record their data on observation sheets and make drawings of the results from running water through the stream tables.  The students really loved the hands-on approach of the structured inquiry lesson.  With the focus of the students doing the work and being active learners, I felt they took away more out of this lesson than any lesson I have done so far this year.  There are usually some behavior problems but I saw all these bad behaviors disappear.  I think with the onus being on the students to learn, they focused more than they usually do and really enjoyed the lesson. 

(On Left)
Students running water through a soil and rock mixture to observe the affects of water erosion.

                                   (On Right)
      Students running water through a      sand mixture.






As they performed the multiple activities, the students would record their observations on graphic organizers.  I created the observation sheet below and the drawing organizer was from our FOSS science series.



 Here are a few drawings from the students of their observations.

Here are some of the observations made by a student.  As you can see from the notes that were recorded, this student was making connections and noticing differences between the different experiments that were performed.  They even learned some new vocabulary terms such as porous, depression, canyon and delta. 

 

Here is a student's essay summarizing his findings on the affects of the variables tested during experimenting.  This student did a great job identifying the variables tested and explaining the affects they had during the erosion process.  This was the original goal of the lesson, to identify the affects of different variables.  While all of my students were not able to articulate their thoughts as well as this one, they all were able to understand that different situations are going to have different outcomes and they were able to identify which situations would cause the most and least amounts of erosion. 

  

Melting Ice?

1) What happens if the polar ice caps melt?

After conducting the experiment and seeing that none of the water actually overflowed from the cup, I'm torn.  Part of me thinks that ocean levels would have to rise and cause flooding along coastal areas, but then now I think maybe it will not happen.  I still think flooding will occur, just maybe not nearly as much as some people have predicted. 
The biggest affect I see coming from melted ice caps would be the destruction of the habitat of polar bears, seals and other arctic animals.  This would have deadly affects on all of the animals of that area which would most likely lead to extinction. 




2) What other questions do you have about this Science Inquiry Experience?

What would happen to the sea life if all this freshwater was added to the saltwater.  It would obviously dilute the salt content, but would the sea life be able to adapt to it or would it cause mass destruction of sea life unable to adapt to less salty seas? 

Reflection on STEM Strategies

Prior to this week's readings I was unaware of the term "STEM".  Before I started reading I was confused trying to figure it out, but then I felt a little dumb when I realized it stood for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  That's basically how my week went, from clueless, to feeling dumb, and then finally realizing I understood and did most of this stuff unintentionally. 

When I sat down to write up my lesson plan for this week's application, I felt really overwhelmed, I don't usually use templates this detailed when I do my weekly lesson plans and I recall having difficulty with the last lesson plan I had to complete for a prior class.  A lot of the stuff on there is pretty easy to fill out, but some was very detailed.  Much more detailed than the lesson plans I put together for my school now.  My school plans are very basic and we share them amongst my 5th grade colleagues.  Sometimes I don't even write them, we share the workload and rotate who does which subject each week.  If my current plans are more than a page long, that would be extremely rare.  That might have played into part of the reason I had such a difficult time putting together this one. 

The most difficult part was filling out the 5 E's section.  I had not been introduced to this method before.  After reading a bit about the 5 E's it was very simple to understand and should have made planning easier, but I kept running into mental blocks.  When not trying to complete a lesson plan for Walden (which stresses me out), I think the 5 E's would be very helpful.  They are great guidelines for setting up a well flowing and informative lesson.  This is very different from how I have planned in the past, but I'm definitely going to try to incorporate these E's into my planning.  While I wasn't aware of the steps prior, I think I tried to stick to something like this in the past.  My typical planning consists of using the teacher's guide and plopping it onto something to turn into the principal.  We now have the FOSS program which is written like a cookbook for teaching.  It's very well thought out and developed and has lots of hands on activities.  It is great for my position now where I'm teaching 5 subjects and don't have lots of time to focus on one subject.  The 5 E's would be very helpful if I ever get my dream job of moving into a science only position where I could focus all of my time and energy into one place.  I feel once I get a position like that, I would be responsible for creating my lessons without the help of a "cookbook" style program that I have available now in my 5th grade position. 

In the end my plan was based around a lesson on soil erosion.  The outcome was for the students to learn how elevation, gravity and soil type affect soil erosion.  This lesson would eventually lead into a project where they would then put themselves into the shoes of an engineer and have to decide where to build a new housing development, taking into consideration the different land types.  The biggest issue I might run into if I decided to go through with the lesson would be getting the materials needed.  My district has been pretty tight with money lately due to budget cuts, which I'm sure other districts around the state are feeling too.  Most of the stuff I would need is earth materials and plastic containers, so it is all pretty much cheap stuff, so if I couldn't get funding from school, maybe I could ask parents for some donations to buy the supplies. 

I've been rambling a bit, so I think I'll stop.  But before I do, did anyone else find the lesson plan format a bit difficult to fill out?  I wish they had some sort of sample lesson plan to work with.  I always find I go overboard with these assignments and having a sample would be nice to compare to and base mine off of. 

Thanks for reading,
Chris

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