Aquatics and Jigsaws!

This week in class we worked on our cooperative learning presentations using the jigsaw method. I really enjoyed this. At first I was hesitant to the success of the assignment and method, but after personally experiencing it, I understood the purpose and method of using jigsaw. I personally would implement jigsaw in my classroom. Many teachers are resistant to using jigsaw, but if it is used properly, it can be a successful way for students to become "experts" in a topic and take charge in their learning. Jigsaw seems very similar to a research project. Rather than calling it a research project, which sounds very overwhelming, especially for children, it is a fun, hands-on cooperative project. I also like that jigsaw allows the students to take a firm role as "teachers" of their topic within the project. We taught the cooperative method, PIGS. One person from each group took on a specific letter of the acronym, researched it, became an expert, and created a presentation with the other group member who had the same topic. Then we each taught our letter/topic. This made me feel more responsible to fully understand my topic. Jigsaw does not leave much room for any student to fall under the radar. Each student is equally responsible for their topic and it is very clear for the teacher to observe to see which students do not fully complete the assignment. Our expert group focused on Oceans and coasts. Our powerpoint is attached here. The other groups focused on different topics. Since there was a time restriction we did not go back to our home groups in order to present but instead we just presented in front of the class. I am glad that I am also doing this method in my other class because I had the opportunity to actually see what the jigsaw method was all about. However, I did learn a lot from each person's presentation and everyone did a great job! We even were able to get some feedback from Dr. Smirnova's friend and her husband who are expert in this field. The feedback was very helpful for our group to make changes and improve our presentation. I no longer take feedback negatively because with this class I learned how important it is in improving myself as a teacher! Overall, I loved this method and look forward to using it one day!

 

So really... Why does Static Cling?

For my research article I decided to read Why Static Clings by Laurie Naab and David Henry. This article addresses "common student misconceptions about static electricity and magnetism". Many teachers teach students what static electricity is by rubbing a balloon on their head as an example but many do not really explore why exactly static electricity occurs.

Static electricity can be taught between grades four through six. This article explains possible lessons to teach students about static electricity and to inform them of their common misconceptions. Using the 5E learning-cycle model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, and Evaluate). Students were encourage to make predictions within their investigation and also to make observations. Hopefully, throughout this experience, students will become aware of their misconceptions that they might have had, and eventually learn the right information to correct them. Its also important that students explain there predictions and how their thoughts changed based on their observations and what they learned through the lesson. This helps them to form "mental models" of their investigations. Outlined below are common misconceptions that students had about static electricity:

 The article give ideas for several days of engaging students in learning about static electricity. Day one suggests "engaging with static". The usual balloon can be used to bring about the common misconceptions in the classroom or using a plate, rubbing it on a child's head and sticking it on the wall. Most students will usually make a statement that magnetism and statics are related. The article than suggested to explore further through the use of tape and eventually magnets. (The lesson in its entirety is explained in the attached link) The final steps include evaluating understanding to see what the student found out by asking the original question

in order to see a change in answers. These inquiry-based investigations were powerful
because the students were able to create their own understanding of static electricity through their own observations and create a more accurate mental model of static electricity. These activities also let the students experience doing science as they gathered, recorded, and debated evidence. They started with ideas, and they changed their ideas based on their observations.
I really enjoyed reading this article because it included a lot of information about a science phenomenon and misconception that most people had. Before reading his article, I did not fully understand why static does cling but this article was helpful in helping me understand it. It also included engaging and exciting lessons to include in the classroom to teach students how static clings. Research articles are a great resource to use in the classroom because they provide students with brief and to the point information on a particular topic. Students may be engaged in reading a research article to learn because it discovers one topic and zones in on a particular area of that topic. In addition, research articles provide interesting and concise information for students' further learning. Research articles also incorporate literacy into a science subject because they help students work on their writing skills. If students create a project or write a response to the research article explaining important parts of the article or their most important part of the article, they will also be practicing their writing skills! Teachers can also benefit greatly from research articles because they provide a plethora of information for instruction in a classroom. Overall, research articles are a great tool to use and can be found almost anywhere including online!

Inquiry Skills!

Their are 12 skills of inquiry. First of all is observing. Observing includes using the senses to obtain information, or data, about objects and events. Observers must take an active role. Second is using space/time relationships. Space/time relationships are all objects that occupy a place in space. The next inquiry skill is using numbers. Numbers are needed to manipulate measurements, order objects and classify objects. Next is questioning. Questioning is something that you can find the answers to by doing research about a topic, based on a hypothesis. The fifth inquiry skill is classifying. Classifying is the process that scientists use to improve data and research. Communicating is clear and precise and is essential to all human endeavors and fundamental to all scientific work, which makes communicating skills valuable. Inferring is defined as using logic to make assumptions fro what we observe and question. Inference is an assumption based on an observation. Hypothesizing is a proposed relationship put forth to explain a phenomenon. Next, measuring is the process of assigning numbers to individuals according to specified rules. It is the way that observations are quantified. It has three requirements. One, it requires the ability to use measuring instruments properly. Two, it is the ability to carry out calculations using the instruments. Third, it is the judgment to decide with instrument/measuring tool or unit to use. When students acquire these skills, they will learn to measure length, are volume, mass, temperature etc. Number ten is predicting. Predictions are based on observations, measurements, an inferences about relationships between variables. Identifying variables are variables that factors that can make a difference in an investigation. The prediction is the basis for an experiment. An independent variable is the variable that is being tested. Dependent variables are the change that is measured. The control is all the other factors that are kept the same. Finally, the last skill of inquiry is designing experimental controls. Interpreting data involves finding patterns and trends based on the data collected in an investigation. Defining operationally is when students define terms in the context of their own experiences.

Let's Talk about Childhood Misconceptions!!

Let's talk about childhood misconceptions! Today during class we discussed common scientific misconceptions that many of us had as children and that many children still have. A misconception is defined as "a view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding". Children are filled with imagination and wonders. Not being in school very long children have a lack of knowledge in certain subjects. Of course a child might believe that the sun comes up every morning and goes down every night because that is what they observe. However this is a common misconception because those that already learned about the solar system now know that the earth is constantly revolving as well as moving around the solar system and the sun is not "actually" coming up or down. In the class PowerPoint we outlined common misconceptions that we have personally had as children for the given topics.
The Solar System- The moon/sun follows us. The moon is made out of cheese. There’s a man on the moon. The sun goes down and it becomes the moon. The sun goes down and then comes back up (didn’t understand the sun’s rotation).
Mammals- Anything with four legs and fur must be a mammal- some misconceptions came from movies ex.) Bats drink blood.
Volcanoes- People were in the center of the volcano and press a button to make it erupt. Volcanoes are erupting constantly.
The Zoo- We did not know that animals are taken from their natural habitats to bring to public zoos. We had thought the animals were born and raised there and that the animals belonged there.
Green Plants- Trees, plants and veggies are not plants. Plants are not alive.
Human Reproduction- thought that the stork dropped you off, baby was considered a gift/present, Had no concept of reproduction.
Dinosaurs- Believed that they were a made up story. They were all bad and dangerous. They would come destroy my house and eat me.
Violent Weather - The rainstorm with intense wind would pick me up and blow me away. The twisters were going to suck my house up.
Space Travel- They could only travel to the moon and no other planet. Space ships keep the booster rocket even after orbit.
Rocks and Minerals- all minerals are diamonds. Rocks could only be one specific color.
Life in the Desert- Animals with fur cannot live in the desert. Animals don't need water to survive in the desert.
As a teacher it is extremely important to acknowledge misconceptions in the classroom. Misconceptions come from prior knowledge that children have developed from imagination, observation or from other people. Many children will have the same misconceptions and it is important that teachers know the misconception in order to address it and inform the students with the truth. Teachers can develop an entire lesson based off a misconception and could use the misconception to direct a lesson in a certain way. Constructivist teaching is the process in which teachers are accessing the students’ prior knowledge and building off of what they know. Misconceptions are what the students know prior to teaching the lesson, whether it’s right or wrong. We identify how student misconceptions relate to constructivist teaching so that we can take the student's ideas and build more engaging lesson plants around the topic. Constructivist teaching builds on misconceptions in that students will either assimilate or accommodate new information built on prior knowledge. Teachers must know misconceptions in order to design lessons which challenge students to assimilate or accommodate them. Constructivist teaching recognizes that each child brings results in different beliefs and knowledge.

 

Science Fair!

For my science fair project I decided to conduct an experiment on popcorn. I had a hard time figuring out ideas for my science fair project so I resorted to technology to help me out! I found several ideas on Pinterest and I decided on the popcorn experiment. Off to the store I went to buy three different brands of popcorn. When I came home I popped all the bags of popcorn... 9 bags my gosh! Each trial, I increased the amount of pop-time for the popcorn. Of coarse I made sure that all of the popcorn bags were the same amount of butter to make this experiment as accurate a possible. After each trial I counted the amount of popcorn kernels that were uncooked.  I then averaged the three trials per brand together to get an average amount of un-popped popcorn kernels. In conclusion I found out that ACT II had the least amount of un-popped kernels and Jolly Time brand had the most amount of un-popped kernels. The purpose of the experiment was to investigate the various types o popcorn and to compare each brand, based on the amount of time that the popcorn was popped. The ultimate goal was to figure out which brand of popcorn had the least amount of un-popped kernels by the end of the experiment. My hypothesis state that Pop-secret would have the least amount of unpopped kernels but I found my hypothesis to be very incorrect! Overall I had a great time making this project. It was exciting to be back into an elementary school setting and participate in event just like when I was younger. I never did a science fair project when I was in school, so it was interesting to finally be part of the science fair after all these years! I definitely wish that I had time to stay longer to walk around and see everyone's projects!