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!

Useful Science Resources!

I was surprised to see just how many science resources are out there!  The list is endless!  While I think it's great that we have all this info at our fingertips, it takes some time to search through all the websites to find the valuable ones!  Here are a few I found:

- Dragonfly TV (http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/index.html):

  This site, mainly geared towards students, has episodes of Dragonfly TV that you can view online.  There are episodes on a variety of science topics that are fun, interesting, and use kids as the main characters.  There are also videos called "Real Scientists" where professionals in scientific fields explain and show what they do.  There are some really unique ones, like mud scientists and glue-ologists.  This would definitely broaden students' ideas about scientists.  There are also a ton of experiments, games, message boards for students, info about science centers and science fairs in the area, downloadable podcasts, and even a science section especially for girls called SciGirls.  They also have a parent/teacher section with guides for the episodes and additional activity ideas.

- Science Kids- Bringing Science & Technology Together (http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/):

  This site has A LOT of information for students and teachers on a variety of science topics.  It has science experiments with descriptions and instructions, lesson and activities for classrooms, ideas for science projects, interesting science pictures, science videos, facts, quizzes, and games.  

-The National Science Digital Library (http://nsdl.org):

  This site has information for science educators including current science in the news, science articles, science lessons, interactive activities, videos, blogs, publication info, links to other science resources and museums, and professional development opportunities.

My Science Story

My science story starts very young when I used to go to the school where my dad taught agriculture, plant science, and animal science.  My brothers, sister, and I used to play in the greenhouse and barn, not even realizing that we were surrounded by science.  We would help out with planting flowers and feeding the goats while my dad and his high-school students offered tidbits about how plants grow and proper care for animals.  I still surprise myself when I pull out the name of a random flower or tree, and definitely attribute my natural interest in science to the experiences at my dad's school.


I also used to play a lot outside with my brothers and sister.  Our favorite things to do were explore in the woods, climb trees, climb rocks, dig for things, and create things from what we found.  We also had a lot of animals growing up which made me a definite animal lover.  I used to love to catch bugs and look at them before letting them go - I still do that if I find a bug in the house =0). 


Throughout school, I always liked science.  I had some great teachers who really made science fun and fascinating!  I loved to do any kind of hands-on experiment and was always interested in why things are the way they are.  I also loved learning about animals, nature, the human body, the solar system, clouds, stars, and weather.  I am still interested in all of those things.  I had an amazing second grade teacher and in that class we hatched chicks in an incubator, witnessed a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, saw a solar eclipse, made our own silly putty, took care of class pets, and maintained a garden outside of our school.  I aspire to create such lasting, influential memories in my future classroom.


Also, I am really into photography and one of the types of pictures I love to take are nature landscapes.  The beauty of nature fascinates me and I thoroughly enjoy attempting to capture it in a picture.  I have a lot of nature pictures from my travels and a some sets of the same landscape during different seasons.  The picture at the top of this post is one of many I took in Greece.


I am very excited to learn more about teaching science and transferring the fascination and appreciation I have for science to my students.  There are so many possibilities in the science classroom because we have infinite examples in the world around us.