Structured Inquiry Lesson~

For my structured inquiry lesson I taught a lesson called, A Radioactive Dating Model. This lesson gives students an idea of how the process of radioactive dating works by using a model that explains parts of the process. Students will have completed a previous lesson on radioactive dating which introduced what radioactive dating is and how scientists use it for fossils and rocks. It also introduced basic vocabulary including fossils, different types of fossils, and relative dating. By completing this lesson students will be able to describe the process of radioactive dating and how the model is similar is similar to the decay of a radioactive element, create a graph using data from the experiment, and explain the similarities between the model and radioactive dating.

To complete this activity, students were given 100 pennies and a box with a lid to demonstrate radioactive decay in an element. First, students made sure all 100 pennies were face up. Then, they would shake the box of pennies for ten seconds.  After shaking the box, students would remove any pennies that were tails up. After they graphed their data they were to compare their graph to a real graph that showed radioactive decay of an element. Students loved having the opportunity to make lots of noise and were actively engaged in filling out their graphic organizer.

By doing an inquiry lesson with this class I noticed after reviewing student work, looking back on student participation and the percentage of students that completed their homework this style of teaching is very successful. I misjudged the level of understanding of all my students on how to fill out the graphic organizer, and how the model they completed compares to radioactive dating. I re-taught the lesson the next day walking students through how each section of the graphic organizer is filled out and what information is expected to be there. We also looked at their graphs and compared them to a real radioactive element. Pictured below is an example of a student’s completed graphic organizer with their original lab and their revised lab.

From completing this lesson I learned to take each lesson step by step and to work together as a class. Doing this will allow me to make sure all students are understanding the lesson, they can hear about what other groups are doing and what their results are, and it will keep up the classes motivation and curiosity (Laureate Education, 2010). I will have students continue to complete this graphic organizer as we continue to complete labs to continue reviewing what goes into each section and it will also help me check the understanding of each student. Overall it was a very successful lesson and students walked out of class with a better understanding of radioactive dating is and how it works.

Resources:

 Laureate Education Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Science Inquiry: Classroom

          Demonstration.Baltimore, MD: Author.

Melting Icebergs Experiment

Based off of what I have heard in the news and on TV and then reviewing my results from the Melting Icebergs Experiment, there are two different answers to the question what would happen if the polar ice caps melted. Putting ice cubes in a glass, filling the glass up with water, and allowing the ice to melt is an example of what it would be like if the icebergs melted that are floating in the water. Since water expands when it is frozen, the icebergs have already displaced the water throughout the ocean. If all the icebergs were to melt, the same amount of water would still be present throughout the ocean. If you did the same lab with a different twist by filling the glass with water and then putting the ice cubes into the glass, the amount of water that would overflow would weigh the same as the ice cubes. If the ice cubes were then left in the glass to melt, the water would not overflow again because the weight of water that originally overflowed from the glass would be refilled by the same amount of water from the ice cubes. The other answer to this question would be if the glaciers on land were to melt, then yes the water level would rise. This is because the glaciers on land have not displaced any water that is currently in the ocean. As these glaciers begin to melt, it is adding more water to the rivers, lakes, and oceans thus causing the water levels to rise.

Before completing this experiment I had ideas that came from what was said on TV about global warming and all the icebergs melting would cause the water level in the oceans to rise. After completing this experiment I now realize how that is not possible. This experiment also brings to mind that if the icebergs and glaciers melted it would not happen instantaneously putting everyone’s lives at risk. From completing the experiment it took nearly 25 minutes for my group of 4 ice cubes to melt. If you looked at the scale of my ice cubes to an iceberg, it would happen slow enough that people would have time to adjust and move. After completing this experiment with my class, I would do a second experiment that would show what would happen if the glaciers found on land melted. I feel it is important for students to understand the difference between the two kinds of ice melting and what kind of effect it would have on our oceans. It also gives students the needed information to know what stories about global warming are worth looking into.

STEM Strategies Lesson Plan~

For this week’s lesson, I found it challenging to come up with an idea that was true to STEM education. STEM combines science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by removing the traditional barriers that stand between the four disciplines by integrating them into one cohesive teaching and learning paradigm (Lantz, 2009). My biggest challenge for this lesson was coming up with a lesson that met the engineering aspect of STEM education. Thanks to an article by Patty O’Brien Novak, he introduced me to what the basic elements of engineering are.  Engineers do many different things, but the basic elements of the engineering method are generally the same: brainstorming, planning, creating, modifying, and team problem solving (Novak, 2010). When I thought of lesson ideas with that in mind, science activities mostly carry the basic elements of what engineers do and it made it a lot easier to come up with a lesson idea.

When planning lessons for my classroom, I do not write out a lesson plan that is as extensive as the lesson plan format we filled out this week. When coming up with lesson ideas it is so important to keep all the components of the lesson in mind including the objectives, the outcome, what standards you are meeting, and what the lesson is going to look and sound like when you teach it to your class. It is not practical to sit down and write a lesson plan like this one for every lesson that is taught every day. This lesson took me about two hours to write from start to finish. Multiply that by the seven lessons I teach everyday and I am looking at 14 hours of lesson plan writing for one day of teaching. It is important to remember the different pieces of a lesson plan, but it is not feasible to write one for every lesson done in class.

For my STEM lesson this week I had my student’s complete the egg drop. A practical issue that came up when I did this lesson earlier in the school year is I did not give my students the materials needed, but instead allowed them to bring what they wanted from home. In some communities this would have been ok, but since the level of poverty is high and parental support lacks I should have provided the materials needed to keep it fair for each student. Even though I did not follow my initial instinct, everyone’s project turned out great and only two eggs were lost.

Resources:

Lantz, H. B., Jr. (2009). STEM education: What form? What function? SEEN Magazine.

Novak, P. (2010).  Integrating STEM in the elementary years: Your Lesson plans may already hold the

     answer. Retrieved: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/04/02/integrating-stem-in-the

     elementary-years-your-lessonplans-may-already-hold-the-answer/