Melt, melt, as fast as you can!

Our third-graders had tons of fun and exercised their creativity and resourcefulness during our second lesson The Melting Race!  After an introductory lesson on solids, liquids, and changes in matter, the students devised and implemented methods of melting ice cubes in the fastest time possible.  Our lesson introduction asked the students what they did and what they learned in the previous lesson.  I was glad that so many students remembered exactly what we did!  Then my partner Kathy sparked the student's interest by introducing The Melting Race and explaining the experiment.  There were not a lot of materials for this lesson, but the materials management was still very important!  Since our main material was ice cubes, my genius partner Kathy brought a cooler to prevent any premature melting while we were introducing the lesson.  Another important material was the plastic bags.  Even though we didn't anticipate needing extra bags, it was a good thing we brought them when a few groups needed a replacement.  We also made good use of paper towels to clean up any drips from the melting ice.  

We were impressed with the creative methods that the students thought of (using hot water, rubbing hands together, breathing on the bag, applying pressure)!  It was definitely beneficial to give them the freedom to explore their own ideas and use the resources in the classroom, but things got a little slippery when one group thought of lifting the desk leg and putting the ice cube under it to crush it and another group tried a dropkick method!  Luckily, Kathy and I were attentive and quickly addressed the situations by explaining that the method must be safe and cannot damage the bag.  The students are very respectful, and it was not difficult to redirect their efforts to a more appropriate method.  However, we could see how easily the situation could've escalated if we had not reacted quickly.  I am so grateful to be working with my partner, Kathy, who handled the classroom management like a pro!  Next time, we will anticipate possible desk lifts and stomping techniques and be able to prevent them, but I am relieved to say that these things did not interfere with the success of our lesson! 

Kathy also brought a great changes word search for the finished groups to work on while other students were still melting.  The kids enjoyed it, and this small detail made a big difference in the flow and management of the lesson.  Thanks Kathy!  During the experiment it took all of our eyes, ears, and attention to monitor everything that was going on, but it was well worth it when the students shared the results of the experiment with the class.  They all were excited to tell their melting time and method, and after hearing other methods, they realized the commonality that the methods that used heat in some way had the fastest melting times. The students were engaged in the lesson, enjoying themselves, and were able to take away the important point that heat is a factor that changes a solid (ice) into liquid (water)!  This directly connects to the Massachusetts Frameworks for science.  I am really enjoying teaching science and am looking forward to the next lesson!!

And the Adventure Begins!!!

 

Our first lesson was a success!  The energetic third-graders were excited, engaged, and fascinated by the introductory lesson on solids, liquids, and how they change.  I was impressed with how much background knowledge they had and their eagerness to convey their thoughts and ideas.  The highlight of the lesson was when it came time to drop the tablet into the water; one by one, each group gave out a loud "CoOoL!" or "AwEsoMe!".  The students had great ideas when I asked them, "What happened to the tablet?  Where did it go?  Did it jump out of the cup?".  They responded with explanations like, "It turned to air bubbles", "It dissolved", or "It mixed with the water".  My partner Kathy and I have a great group of students that were attentive, respectful, and inquisitive.  I was also happy to see how well they worked with each other.

This first lesson may not have gone so smoothly if we didn't do all the preparation and lesson planning that we did.  It was great that we were able to start thinking about the lesson and exploring the materials a good three weeks before our first lesson.  Just having it in the back of my head for that long made me feel much more prepared!  I read through the introduction and first lesson information several times before translating it to lesson plan format.  Seeing different organization of the lesson plan helped solidify the lesson in my head.  Kathy also made a great outline of the lesson for our personal use that kept us on track and on the same page while we were teaching.  Finally, talking through the lesson with Kathy and other classmates gave us just enough practice to make the actual lesson flow easily and naturally.

Before diving into the experiment, Kathy did a great job at explaining science safety in general and for this lesson.  She demonstrated the proper way to smell something by wafting your hand and explained that we were not using our sense of taste in this lesson.  She also explained why these safety precautions were necessary.  Throughout the lesson, Kathy and I monitored and reminded the students about safety.  Emphasizing safety turned out to be more necessary than I thought when the kids started talking about how the liquid looks like Sprite and how much they love Sprite!  It only takes a second for a kid to act on those thoughts and down whatever is in the cup!  We will definitely keep safety a priority!

Kathy and I worked very well together and I am lucky to have her as my teaching partner!  We collaborated on all of the preparation, planning, and execution of the lesson.  We bounced ideas off of each other and strategized together.  During the lesson, we rotated between the roles of leader and supporter.  While Kathy guided the group discussion, I recorded their responses on the class chart.  We were definitely working as a unit instead of two separate teachers.  We both viewed the lesson as a whole, which allowed us to assist each other throughout the entire process.  Another positive aspect of our collaboration was that we were both flexible and worked together to go with the flow of the lesson.  I can't wait to build on this great combination!


I am looking forward to our next lesson which involves ice and timed melting!  It is so beneficial to hear and read about everyone else's lessons.  We have already borrowed a few ideas to make our second lesson even better! This is a wonderful experience!  We get the opportunity to orchestrate an entire unit, but with the support of our classmates, classroom teachers, professors, and well-designed science kits!  It's the best of both worlds!

Meet and Greet!

Last week, we had the opportunity to meet the teacher and students that we will be working with this semester!  It was great to get a chance to talk to the teacher and observe some of her classroom procedures and teaching philosophies in action.  We also took a lot of notes regarding the student population, classroom setup, and the feel of the learning environment.  The third-graders seemed both curious and excited about the idea of us coming to teach them science!  We found out that this class does not receive much science instruction, so I think our lessons will be valuable to everyone!  We teach our first lesson next week, and I am very excited to get started!  Stay tuned!

You can never be too prepared!

We are in the preparation stages of teaching our first science lesson on changes (solids, liquids, and gases) in a 3rd grade classroom and the more I prepare, the more excited I'm getting!  Although I learned about the changes of matter years ago, I definitely need to make sure I know the ins and outs completely before I venture into the classroom.  Luckily, we are working in pairs, and there are several paris teaching the same unit, so I think my biggest resource will be my classmates!  I have already looked at many of their posts and checked out the awesome information they found.  I also did some searching and found these good websites:

- Hartcourtschool Interactive Demo : This is a brief, interactive example of the changes in matter and how the temperature and movement of particles differs in each state.

-Vision Learning :This upper-level site goes beyond the explanations meant for children, but is still easy to follow and has visual representations you can click on for each state.  

-FOSS Web Change It : This is a fun interactive demonstration of phase changes.  FOSS is another company that does the science kits.  Click on "change it" in the upper left hand corner.

- Chem Purdue Matter :This is a general overview of the states of matter.

I also went back to our trusted friends Moby and Tim at Brainpop, whom I've gotten to know all too well in preparation for the MTELs!  I will be personally thanking them if (and when) I pass =0)!  They have a video on the changes of matter that explains the processes very clearly.

I read the pages in the book Sciencesaurus that deal with matter and changes of matter.  This is also an easy to understand explanation.

Part of our lesson deals with real-life examples of changes.  So I found these websites that have examples of physical and chemical changes and the difference between the two:

-Physical vs Chemical Changes : This is a good description of the difference between physical and chemical changes.

- Examples Physical Changes

- Examples Chemical Changes 

Also, amongst my searching, I noticed that some sites considered there to be actually 4 stages of matter.  Although we are only teaching the 3 (solids, liquids, and gasses), I think it is good to at least know that plasma could be a 4th stage (stars and neon lights are plasma).  That way, if one student mentions plasma, I will have some background knowledge instead of thinking he or she is talking about a tv! =0)

- Plasma - this 3 minute video gives a great overview.  Scroll down to "Watch Videos" and it is the last video on the list.

-Vision Learning - also gives a good description

I also plan on talking through the lesson a few times with my partner, Kathy, so that we are on the same page and confident right from the start!

Although we can't prepare for absolutely everything, with all these resources we will be pretty close! I can't wait!