While researching resources for 21st century skills, I came upon a great website for both teachers and students. NeoK12 is useful to grades K-12 and integrates technology into multiple subject areas including science, history, and english. I chose to focus my search on the topic of magnetism since I will be implementing the instructional plan I created in a few weeks. This website offers online games and puzzles, video clips, and perhaps most impressive is their photo gallery that my students can use to create presentations.
For more general searches of 21st century skills education, teachers will find The Partnership for 21st Century Skills very useful. After going to Tools & Resources for Educators, the Exemplars link directs you to Route 21. This pages offers even more resources and lessons. I came upon an excellent blog listing 30 multimedia resources for teachers and students to incorporate more inquiry, collaboration, and problem solving.
Having such a wide range of technological resources to use in the classroom will help students become better prepared for their futures using 21st century skills. Going forward, the challenges will be the amount of time necessary for searching for the type of activity I would need and preparing for the event that technology unexpectedly does not work.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Heat Inquiry
For this week's inquiry experiment I used 4 identical coffee mugs, one cup of hot water, and covered each mug with a different material: a plastic Tupperware lid, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and a potholder. I thought that the potholder would prevent the greatest heat loss because of what I know about insulators and how we use potholders. After thirty minutes, I measured the temperature of each mug. To my surprise, the mug covered with the potholder was the coolest of all four, and the mug with aluminum foil ended up being the hottest.
After doing a little research, I learned more about latent heat of vaporization and how evaporation causes cooling. As the water evaporated from each mug, the different materials covering allowed for more or less evaporation. The potholder absorbed a lot of the heat that was escaping, while the foil held it in. The condensation on the foil may have even fallen back in the cup thus reducing the cooling effect.
I thought about this experiment this morning on my way to church. I often put instant oatmeal in a coffee mug and take it with me in the car to eat on the go. This morning my oatmeal was too hot to eat right away so I let it sit in the cupholder to cool a bit. I began wondering how the temperature of the oatmeal would different from the water in my experiment if left to sit for 30 minutes. Also, would oil hold heat longer than water?
I enjoyed gaining a deeper level of understanding of heat and hope to convey this to my students as well.
After doing a little research, I learned more about latent heat of vaporization and how evaporation causes cooling. As the water evaporated from each mug, the different materials covering allowed for more or less evaporation. The potholder absorbed a lot of the heat that was escaping, while the foil held it in. The condensation on the foil may have even fallen back in the cup thus reducing the cooling effect.
I thought about this experiment this morning on my way to church. I often put instant oatmeal in a coffee mug and take it with me in the car to eat on the go. This morning my oatmeal was too hot to eat right away so I let it sit in the cupholder to cool a bit. I began wondering how the temperature of the oatmeal would different from the water in my experiment if left to sit for 30 minutes. Also, would oil hold heat longer than water?
I enjoyed gaining a deeper level of understanding of heat and hope to convey this to my students as well.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Guided Inquiry on Momentum
This week I chose to explore whether a heavier pendulum or lighter pendulum would come to rest more quickly. My initial hypothesis was that the heavier one would rest faster due to the pull of gravity. After testing washers with two different masses, I found that actually the lighter washer came to rest in a quicker time (in about 4 minutes versus about 7 minutes on the heavier washer). The variables were a little difficult to control such as the length of the string and being able to tell when the pendulum had come to a complete rest.
I am having a hard time making parallels to my own classroom because we do not cover Newton's laws in third grade. I could somehow integrate magnetism into this lesson and have students make connections to different size and strengths of magnets and how they may slow a pendulum. This would meet my standards as well as prepare students for momentum in fourth grade.
Ultimately, I learned that a greater mass produces greater momentum. This momentum takes longer to slow. If I conducted a similar guided inquiry lesson with my students using magnets, I would want them to discover that a stronger attraction will cause the pendulum to slow more quickly. This could be applied to real-world tools and machines that use magnets.
I am having a hard time making parallels to my own classroom because we do not cover Newton's laws in third grade. I could somehow integrate magnetism into this lesson and have students make connections to different size and strengths of magnets and how they may slow a pendulum. This would meet my standards as well as prepare students for momentum in fourth grade.
Ultimately, I learned that a greater mass produces greater momentum. This momentum takes longer to slow. If I conducted a similar guided inquiry lesson with my students using magnets, I would want them to discover that a stronger attraction will cause the pendulum to slow more quickly. This could be applied to real-world tools and machines that use magnets.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Lesson Reflection
This week I taught my structured inquiry lesson on "Protecting Natural Resources". I was suprised at how much background knowledge my students had on pollution. They did a great job discussing and completing the Frayer model graphic organizer. Here's a photo of a completed sample:
My students also did a nice job making records in their science journals of procedures and explanations.
Unfortunately, I ran out of time for students to do computer research during class time, however there are several informative websites such as the Environmental Protection Agency and even the European Space Agency. To close the lesson, students created posters to teach others about the importance of environmental education.
My most proud moment came when I took the class outside for recess. One of my students asked if he could pick up trash while we were outside. I was so excited to see this transfer of knowledge!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Melting Icebergs
Before beginning this experiment, I have only a little background knowledge on the possible outcomes of melting glaciers, increasing water levels, and potential worldwide flooding. This investigation may cause some to predict that the melting ice in a glass full of water would cause the water to overflow (thus modeling flooding) however this did not happen in my investigation. This proved my hypothesis to be true. By using what I know about water displacement, I predicted that the ice is already "taking up space" in the glass, and when the ice melts that mass is simply transferred into liquid state and will not overflow.
How does this investigation connect to the melting polar ice caps? I believe this experiment shows that ice's mass presently in water is already accounted for in the overall water level. On the other hand, ice from glaciers on land that melts would cause a rise in water levels. This would only be for a limited time however, until the entire glacier melted and the source of water stopped. Possible outcomes could be flooding, but perhaps even more severe would be the effects on water to countries for drinking and irrigation. If this "source of life" were to dry up, countries would require more imports and even put the world's food supply at risk. I found the video "On Thin Ice", as referenced in our investigation, very interesting, but also know that it is only one side of the story.
How does this investigation connect to the melting polar ice caps? I believe this experiment shows that ice's mass presently in water is already accounted for in the overall water level. On the other hand, ice from glaciers on land that melts would cause a rise in water levels. This would only be for a limited time however, until the entire glacier melted and the source of water stopped. Possible outcomes could be flooding, but perhaps even more severe would be the effects on water to countries for drinking and irrigation. If this "source of life" were to dry up, countries would require more imports and even put the world's food supply at risk. I found the video "On Thin Ice", as referenced in our investigation, very interesting, but also know that it is only one side of the story.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Reflection of STEM Lesson Week 2
This week I created a STEM lesson based on the unifying themes of scientific inquiry and patterns of change. My lesson is an investigation into the best type of insulator for keeping liquids hot or cold. This aligns with national and state standards for third graders. Students will measure the temperature of liquids over periods of time using different types of insulators.
This lesson integrates technology, engineering, and math by incorporating data, graphing, and making connections to effective insulators for homes. I plan to invite a heating/air conditioning specialist to further emphasize the importance of insulators and steps students can take in their own homes to save energy. This real-world application is beneficial throughout students' lives.
In planning the lesson this week, I used the 5 E's strategy from our resources. Honestly, I felt that this strategy was very similar to the Learning Experience/ Activity section of our lesson plan template and similar to what I use on a regular basis. It is important to have a type of "hook" or activator to get students thinking, then gradually build the lesson to make connections and extensions into other areas of study. Assessing students should not be the end of learning...teachers need to clear up misconceptions and do a review of concepts if needed.
If I were to implement this lesson, I would need to consider the amount of time needed to measure temperature every 15 minutes for an hour and what students would be doing during the "wait" time. Overall, I look forward to hearing students' thinking during this experiment.
This lesson integrates technology, engineering, and math by incorporating data, graphing, and making connections to effective insulators for homes. I plan to invite a heating/air conditioning specialist to further emphasize the importance of insulators and steps students can take in their own homes to save energy. This real-world application is beneficial throughout students' lives.
In planning the lesson this week, I used the 5 E's strategy from our resources. Honestly, I felt that this strategy was very similar to the Learning Experience/ Activity section of our lesson plan template and similar to what I use on a regular basis. It is important to have a type of "hook" or activator to get students thinking, then gradually build the lesson to make connections and extensions into other areas of study. Assessing students should not be the end of learning...teachers need to clear up misconceptions and do a review of concepts if needed.
If I were to implement this lesson, I would need to consider the amount of time needed to measure temperature every 15 minutes for an hour and what students would be doing during the "wait" time. Overall, I look forward to hearing students' thinking during this experiment.
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