I really enjoyed the experiments I asked my students to perform this week. We’ve been talking about motion and all vocabulary attached all week, but putting words into action was a whole different experience for both me and the students.
We worked on 2 experiments; the first was to calculate the speed and velocity of foam balls falling from different inclinations. The second was to test the effect of mass on the momentum of different materials of balls of the same size. During both experiments I was surprised at the accuracy of students’ record keeping and the enthusiasm they had, but I cannot blame them, it was a lot of fun. The experiments were simple so the results were clear.
I was not one to use ‘guided inquiry’ and would always use the first two levels of inquiry. But after this experience and both myself and the students enjoying and learning a great deal, I have decided to let them explore more on their own under my supervision, rather than ask them to follow my guidelines all the time. The experiment has really achieved its goal both for my students and namely myself. I have learned just as much about motion and teaching.
If I had to add one more thing to make this experience more engaging, then I would have to say, I will let the students explore even further with different sized objects, combined objects, and allowing these objects to actually collide with a surface and see their effect on both surface and object. I might actually try that this week. I am just as excited as I know they will be if I tell them to go ‘explore’!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Reflections
One of the main characteristics of a leader in science education is to understand science deeply and understand the nature of it (Laureate, 2010i). Through guided inquiry, many lessons are taught, which include; the science concept or standard in target, teamwork, how to stay safe, information about the world, other subject standards, and general skills for planning any project and applying the plan to action.
During this week’s experiment, my students showed great enthusiasm about the topic and were eager to begin their terrariums. I built up their excitement even more by demonstrating the control experiment and giving them a vision of where we were headed. Building the control terrarium myself was a form of Confirmation Inquiry (Banchi & Bell, 2008). In Life science it is not very easy to use other forms of inquiry because it is mainly observatory work with little room for manipulation as with other divisions of science. One cannot simply break an ant’s leg to see how it will react, therefore supervised confirmation inquiry was my choice for this experiment.
However no students were allowed to begin until safety regulations were handed out (attached). I took the time to explain what each material item was used for and gave them the opportunity to ask any questions that would help them begin. It took the students a while to figure out what factors they would change for their terrarium, so I asked them to give me examples of environmental factors and we made a list on the board to help them choose. At this point students were required to answer the questions provided in their worksheet to help guide them into their plan.
More questions were asked during the set up of their terrariums, like, “how much soil do we need?” or “should I mix up the seeds or put the seeds or plant them in different sections?” Some students needed help while setting up while others went through the process with great ease. The problem was that because the classroom was divided into groups, some students dominated the set up more than others for several reasons. Partly because I assigned one of the higher performing students to each group to guide, and partly because others were lazier and less engaged than they should be. To overcome this, I moved around and spent a great deal of time with each group, asking questions to those less participating about what they had done and what to do next. If there were still a few unplanted seeds, I would ask them to show me how they should plant them.
As planned out as our lesson plan was, there were still a few missed points here and there. For example, we used lab trays to reduce the amount of dirt or seeds falling on the floor, but it may have been better to use paper beneath their work to make it easier to pick up the paper with dirt and seeds and discard. It took more time cleaning up. Another point I will consider is to perhaps begin this experiment a couple of weeks earlier so the students can have plants to manipulate factors for. They will now have to wait until seeds germinate and then begin their trials.
Some plants have actually begun germination and the students have started changing their desired environmental factor. For their abiotic factor, the four groups had chosen; lower temperature (placed in front of the air conditioning vent to maintain lower temperature but to keep it in the same location as others for less change), less space (by placing plastic wrap over their tray to limit room for vertical growth), more water (750ml of water instead of the standard 500ml for all other groups), and more sun (having the tray in direct sunlight rather than on the science table farther away like all the other trays).
On a positive note, I found that the lesson plan template and the Five E’s have truly helped in creating a well rounded lesson with all the elements being considered. While writing the lesson plan I visualized a great deal of what would happen so I was able to plan ahead for any setbacks such as cleanliness or balanced group members. My thoughts were very organized and I was able to navigate the lesson and student thought processing in a structured manner.
One of the main setbacks of my experiment was time. I was taught the old fashioned way and while I have great resources, I have taught best when I was able to visualize the experiment beforehand. It would be wonderful to have more workshops and live demonstrations for more visual inspiration and support. A transformational leader at a school can also be a great resource and fulfill some voids that fund can create to support teachers (Laureate, 2010j).
During this week’s experiment, my students showed great enthusiasm about the topic and were eager to begin their terrariums. I built up their excitement even more by demonstrating the control experiment and giving them a vision of where we were headed. Building the control terrarium myself was a form of Confirmation Inquiry (Banchi & Bell, 2008). In Life science it is not very easy to use other forms of inquiry because it is mainly observatory work with little room for manipulation as with other divisions of science. One cannot simply break an ant’s leg to see how it will react, therefore supervised confirmation inquiry was my choice for this experiment.
However no students were allowed to begin until safety regulations were handed out (attached). I took the time to explain what each material item was used for and gave them the opportunity to ask any questions that would help them begin. It took the students a while to figure out what factors they would change for their terrarium, so I asked them to give me examples of environmental factors and we made a list on the board to help them choose. At this point students were required to answer the questions provided in their worksheet to help guide them into their plan.
More questions were asked during the set up of their terrariums, like, “how much soil do we need?” or “should I mix up the seeds or put the seeds or plant them in different sections?” Some students needed help while setting up while others went through the process with great ease. The problem was that because the classroom was divided into groups, some students dominated the set up more than others for several reasons. Partly because I assigned one of the higher performing students to each group to guide, and partly because others were lazier and less engaged than they should be. To overcome this, I moved around and spent a great deal of time with each group, asking questions to those less participating about what they had done and what to do next. If there were still a few unplanted seeds, I would ask them to show me how they should plant them.
As planned out as our lesson plan was, there were still a few missed points here and there. For example, we used lab trays to reduce the amount of dirt or seeds falling on the floor, but it may have been better to use paper beneath their work to make it easier to pick up the paper with dirt and seeds and discard. It took more time cleaning up. Another point I will consider is to perhaps begin this experiment a couple of weeks earlier so the students can have plants to manipulate factors for. They will now have to wait until seeds germinate and then begin their trials.
Some plants have actually begun germination and the students have started changing their desired environmental factor. For their abiotic factor, the four groups had chosen; lower temperature (placed in front of the air conditioning vent to maintain lower temperature but to keep it in the same location as others for less change), less space (by placing plastic wrap over their tray to limit room for vertical growth), more water (750ml of water instead of the standard 500ml for all other groups), and more sun (having the tray in direct sunlight rather than on the science table farther away like all the other trays).
On a positive note, I found that the lesson plan template and the Five E’s have truly helped in creating a well rounded lesson with all the elements being considered. While writing the lesson plan I visualized a great deal of what would happen so I was able to plan ahead for any setbacks such as cleanliness or balanced group members. My thoughts were very organized and I was able to navigate the lesson and student thought processing in a structured manner.
One of the main setbacks of my experiment was time. I was taught the old fashioned way and while I have great resources, I have taught best when I was able to visualize the experiment beforehand. It would be wonderful to have more workshops and live demonstrations for more visual inspiration and support. A transformational leader at a school can also be a great resource and fulfill some voids that fund can create to support teachers (Laureate, 2010j).
Monday, March 22, 2010
Global Warming
Imagine spending your summers on a familiar beach; a place you grow to like and begin to build memories with. You might make new friends there, spend hours relaxing or reading, and at some point buy a house very close to that beach because you feel at home there. Then a flood. Your beach no longer exists, your memories have been washed away and your home has disappeared forever.
Shores will be covered and new shores will appear. Many homes will be lost, some islands, even countries, will disappear. Our geography will change as we know it and earth will even look different. A lot of our civilization will be lost. But those are only the physical changes. Chemical changes will also occur such as changing sea water salinity which in turn will affect all aquatic life. Some organisms will die, others will thrive and the natural balance will be compromised.
An important question would be: How can we save our earth before it is too late? Is the damage too extensive or can we still reverse it? And most important, what if it is too late, what can we do to prepare for this 'change'? Human are very adaptive, so can we adapt to this one?
A lot of these questions must be answered if we are to survive.
Shores will be covered and new shores will appear. Many homes will be lost, some islands, even countries, will disappear. Our geography will change as we know it and earth will even look different. A lot of our civilization will be lost. But those are only the physical changes. Chemical changes will also occur such as changing sea water salinity which in turn will affect all aquatic life. Some organisms will die, others will thrive and the natural balance will be compromised.
An important question would be: How can we save our earth before it is too late? Is the damage too extensive or can we still reverse it? And most important, what if it is too late, what can we do to prepare for this 'change'? Human are very adaptive, so can we adapt to this one?
A lot of these questions must be answered if we are to survive.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Science Journal Blog
I enjoyed analyzing my lesson accroding to the 5 E's method. It is a well rounded and simple system that fulfills the criteria of a good lesson plan. By going through the process I noticed that I have already been applying these steps but perhaps in a different order and under other headlines. This is another simple form to get organized for proper planning and effective teaching.
I also liked the lesson plan format. While it was extremely detailed but it was thought provoking because it really got down to the roots of the lesson, its objectives, and its effectiveness. The only downside is that it was too thorough and would be challenging to find time to apply this template for all lessons taught. But another idea is to use it to plan chapters or prolonged lesson plans divided over a week or more. That way it would be time friendly as well as useful. It was a great skeleton though.
I have also sent a copy of this template to my staff members and administrators. I felt it was a good way for self, and peer evaluation. By adding a score system this can create a good rubric for annual assessments of teachers' performances, and it can also serve as an outline for benchmarking.
I also liked the lesson plan format. While it was extremely detailed but it was thought provoking because it really got down to the roots of the lesson, its objectives, and its effectiveness. The only downside is that it was too thorough and would be challenging to find time to apply this template for all lessons taught. But another idea is to use it to plan chapters or prolonged lesson plans divided over a week or more. That way it would be time friendly as well as useful. It was a great skeleton though.
I have also sent a copy of this template to my staff members and administrators. I felt it was a good way for self, and peer evaluation. By adding a score system this can create a good rubric for annual assessments of teachers' performances, and it can also serve as an outline for benchmarking.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Divers
I am now in the Red Sea and cannot believe how many people are learning to dive daily. It made me wonder how necessary it is for a scientist to acquire that skill. Be it a marine biologist, a geologist, a botanist, an archeologist, or any other branch of Science, they almost always need to make a dive and explore. Other like engineers setting up petroleum stations or drillers, and people building tall towers in the hear of the sea, must also learn to dive to explore and plan.
I was afraid to do it once, but now I am encouraged and inspired by all those who have paved the way. It really is beautiful down there and well worth the dive.
Friday, March 5, 2010
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