12/1/08 Final Lesson Work Day

Today in science class, we were allowed to work on our final lesson plans that are due on Dec. 11th. My group got a lot accomplished today. We almost have our lesson done, but we still need to work on the powerpoint for it. I'm sure it won't take us much longer anymore, which is a good thing because we have a lot of things due in the next several days. Overall, it was an extremely productive day.

11/25/08 Science Fair Judging

Instead of class last Tuesday, we all went to Elk Point, SD for the Science Fair that they were having. I had a lot of fun judging the science fair because there were so many different and unique projects out there. Katie and I were partnered up and had to judge some of the 6th grade science projects. Some of the projects that we judged were really great and some fell short of the expectations they were suppose to meet. We saw many projects, including the density of water and salt water, the difference between an aluminum baseball bat and a wooden one, how a telephone works, and a solar powered clock. Those are just a few of the many different projects that we saw on Tuesday. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed viewing all of the displays.

11/20/08 Work Day

On Thursday in science class, we were asked to bring our laptops to class so that we could work on our final lesson plan. We discussed the requirements for the final lesson plan and signed up for grade levels. My group picked 4th grade to work with. We are required to do a lesson on measurement and link it to the 3rd and 5th grade lessons. That was basically all that we did on Thursday.

11/13/08 Work Day

Today in science class, we discussed some things that needed to be made clear, such as our second lesson plans and the science fair judging.
After we discussed those matters, we got to working on our second lesson plans. Tessa and I had already finished ours, but we realized that we would need to make a few minor changes to it. Since Tessa and I had already done the lesson plan we just talked about what we could do for our next lesson plan and about the changes that we need to make to the second lesson plan. We didn't get much done, since I hadn't brought my computer to class and our lesson plan was on my computer. However, we did make some progress.

Discrepant Events

A discrepant event is when you expected certain results, but got completely unexpected results instead. Discrepant events are important to use and have in the classroom because it is a learning experience for students. They learn how to find out why the results of an experiment turned out differently than they expected. Discrepant events are great teaching points because the teacher can address and discuss with the students why something turned out the way it did and not the way everyone expected. Students can reflect on their answers and figure out why things turned out differently.

11/6/08 Potato and Sodium Experiment

Today in science, we viewed a PowerPoint presentation on the 5E Model. We learned all about the 5E's and what they are and how they help students learn. After we learned about them, we were given the task to set up the procedure for an experiment involving potatoes and salt. Our group decided that our experiment was part of the explore phase of the 5E Model. We decided our procedure should involve the students getting their supplies and then adding 1 Tbsp of salt with 1/2 cup of water to a potato. Then we would have them add 4 Tbsp of salt with 1/2 cup of water to another potato slice. Finally, the students should add 1/2 cup of plain water to another potato slice and see what happens between the three. The students are to record their observations and they should arrive to the conclusion that the potato with the most salt floats, while the lower sodium potato floats a little bit, and the potato with just water does not float at all. Overall, science class was extremely fun today.

The 5 E Model

After reading the article about the 5 E's, I realized how important it is to use these in my future classroom.The 5 E's include: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. These five stages are important to use in the classroom because they offer a variety of ways to help students learn. The engage stage is where students use their prior knowledge and make new connections. The explore stage is where students get a hands-on experience. The explain stage is where the students talk about what they are learning. The elaborate stage is where students expand on the things that they have learned. The evaluate stage is where the teacher assesses whether or not the students have learned the material. When teachers use these five stages in the classroom, they ensure that their students will learn new things and build on different competencies. Some day when I have a classroom of my own, I will be sure to use the 5 E's to help my students understand the content that they are being taught.

11/4/08 Assessment

Today in science, we had one more presentation to see. It had to do with the four seasons and what we do in each season, such as how we dress. They had a handout that we were allowed to color and the video of the changing seasons was really cute.
We also got to shoot off our bottle rockets that we had not been able to do previously due to time constraints. One of the rockets shot really high into the air and some of them fizzled out. Our bottle rockets drew a little crowd that watched what we were doing.
After the last presentation, we talked about assessments. We viewed a powerpoint on the topic of assessments and learned all about formative and summative assessments. We learned all about assessments and how to use them and when not to use them in the classroom. It was a very interesting class period.

10/30/08 Midterm Presentations 3

Today in science class, we had our third day of presentations. Tessa and I gave our presentation on tornadoes today. We had the class make tornadoes in a bottle and then explained what tornadoes were. The other presentations included mixtures, newtons laws, heat/light, and senses. They were all very interesting and informative presentations. I think that all of the presentations so far have been great. We have one more presentation left for next Tuesday and then we are done with the midterm presentations. I have really enjoyed participating in and learning about all of these different science presentations.

10/28/08 Midterm Presentations 2

Today in science class we continued our midterm presentations. Due to technological problems, we only got through four presentations. They were very good presentations though, one that I really liked was the baking soda rocket one. In that presentation, the presenters explained how to make a rocket and how it works. They demonstrated the rocket and it flew up and hit the ceiling of our classroom. We also had presentations about oil spills and two presentations about mixtures. All of the presentations we exceptionally good. We had to allow another day for presentations since we did not get to all of them yet. I can't wait to see the rest of them on Thursday.

10/23/08 Midterm Presentation 1

Today in science class we started the midterm presentations. There were four groups that went today and they were all great presentations. One of the presentations was about mixtures, another was about habitats, one was about oil and water, and the last one was sink/float. The oil and water activity turned out to be disastrous for my table because our oil and water fell over and went all over the table and floor. It was quite a pain to clean up, but we got it pretty good. It was a very informative day today and I learned a lot from all of the presentations. Oh, and we also got to make jello and then eat some too. Let's just say this was one of the most interesting science classes so far.

10/21/08 Reading Guides and Ping Pong

Today in science class, there was some confusion regarding our reading guides and quizzes. So, we took a majority of our class time to go over the most recent reading guide. We went through each question and came up with answers for each. We took notes on what we were discussing about the reading guide.
After our reading guide discussion, we still had some time left over for an activity. We did an activity where you take a ping pong ball and put it in a funnel, which is put in a plastic container. Then a person is suppose to blow on the ping pong ball and try to get the ball to go into the other plastic container that is sitting just a few centimeters away. Our group had Whitney blow on the ball and we got the ping pong in the other container on our first attempt. We noticed that the air that we blew created a current underneath the ball that forced the ball up and out. It was a very fun class today.

10/16/08 Internet Safety Scavenger Hunt

Today in Science class, we were handed a piece of paper and were told to use the internet to find the answers to some questions. So, we got into groups and started searching the internet for information about internet safety. We learned a lot of interesting information, such as a person's username should be the only thing that a person shares with someone else online. We learned that you should never open an email from someone that you do not know because it could contain a virus and so it should be deleted right away. We also had to turn in a url address for a website that we found on safety in the science lab. Needless to say, my group found all of our internet safety tips and got them all correct.

10/14/08 Work Day

Today in science class, we talked about science stories and everyone got to read a part of a science story on eggs. After that, we discussed questions about our midterm projects and cleared up some misconceptions that some people might have had. Then, we were allowed to work with our partners on our midterm project. Tessa and I looked up the SD Content Standard that we wanted to link our lesson to and then we chose a grade to gear it towards. Our project is about weather patterns and safety tips for severe weather.

10/9/08 Midterm Outline

Instead of class today, we were asked to meet with out partners and form an outline for our midterm project. The midterm project is due on the 23rd of October, so it is coming up quite quickly. My partner, Tessa, and I got together and came up with our outline and submitted it to the dropbox. It was nice to have the extra time out of class to work on this project.

10/7/08 Mirror Writing

Today in science class, we discussed some important questions that people needed answered. Then we discussed judging a science fair properly, since we will be judging the Elk Point Science Fair on the 25th of November. It sounds like a lot of fun!
After all of that, we were instructed to get some supplies and try our hand at mirror writing. It is much harder than it sounds! We had to take a note card and punch a pencil through it and then hold up a mirror and write our name. Mine looked quite horrible. Then we had to do a series of different shapes using the mirror writing technique and all of mine looked terrible. Maybe I'll try practicing mirror writing to get better at it.

Web Seminar Make-up

I was unable to attend the webseminar, but I just viewed the presentation and I was amazed at all the things I learned about stars. I had always thought that stars were made up of mostly carbon, but I found out that they are in fact made mostly of hydrogen. I also learned that stars are hot glowing balls of gas. I never knew there were so many different types of stars until I viewed this webseminar. I learned a lot about high and low mass stars that I had never known before now. I thought this webseminar was quite interesting and am disappointed that I missed the actual presentation. I did think that there was a lot of information, which is important for people to know, but it was slightly overwhelming for someone who doesn’t have that much background knowledge of stars and how they are formed. Overall, I was very impressed with the presentation and learned a great deal of information from it. Thanks!

10/2/08 Mystery Boxes

Today in science class, we viewed and discussed a powerpoint on chapters 3 and 4 of Ready, Set, Science. After that, we did an activity with mystery boxes. We had a big sheet of white paper and had to draw a box in the middle and then lines to each corner to create five different boxes. Then we were given small black boxes that had mystery items in each one. We had to investigate each mystery box and write down our observations in our box on the white sheet of paper. I thought that there were toy cars in two of the boxes because they were heavier and seemed to roll around pretty easily. After we had all written down our observations, we discussed in our groups what we thought was in each box. After our group discussions, we came together as a class and discussed what we thought was in each box. It ended up that each box had a marble and some cardboard pieces in it. The pieces of cardboard were in different places within the box though.
Overall, it was a very fun and exciting activity.

9/30/08 Reading Module

We did not have science methods today, but we did have an online assignment. The online assignment was to read chapters 3 and 4 of Ready, Set, Science and then answer the questions on the reading module.
I learned a lot from reading the chapters and enjoyed reading about the case studies on air pressure. I thought it was interesting to learn about teaching core concepts about science over years, rather than teaching it in one year and then going on to something else. It is hard for students to comprehend so much in so little amount of time. So, I think that teaching these core concepts over an extended time period is a great idea to help students really learn the concepts. Overall, I thought the chapters were really informative and the reading module helped me to think about what I had read.

The Amazing Food Detective

I thought this game was very interesting. It would be a good game for kids to play in the younger grades because they would get a kick out of it and they would be learning from it too. I did think it was a little repetitive and slightly boring, but as I said, younger kids would like it. It helps kids to determine what is healthy to eat and how much exercise they should be getting. I like that it is interactive and they can move the magnifying glass around the page and click on things. I also liked that when the magnifying glass moved over certain objects it gave facts about those particular objects, which is a good for kids to see. Overall, I thought this was a neat little interactive game that many younger children will learn from and enjoy.

9/23/08 The Acid Test

Today in Science Methods we did a lab that tested the acidity of different kinds of fruits and juices. We had to put a little bit of baking soda into a cup and then add some of the juice. We also tested vinegar and water for acidity too.
My group started with the vinegar and added it to the baking soda, it fizzled a lot. We cleaned out the cup and tried just using water and baking soda, which did nothing. Then we tried a 50/50 combo of vinegar and water with the baking soda, which fizzled pretty good.
After that, we got into the fruit juices. We started off with white grapefruit juice and added it to the baking soda. The combination did not fizzle like we thought it would. Then we tried lime juice and baking soda, which had a huge effect and fizzled a lot. Next, was orange juice and baking soda, which did not fizzle hardly at all. Finally, we tried pink grapefruit juice, which fizzled about the same as the pink grapefruit juice.
Then we tested the acidity of real fruit pieces. First, we tried a lemon piece and sprinkled some baking powder on top of it. It did not fizzle well at all, but we still got a little reaction out of it. Next, we tried an orange piece. It fizzled, but was very hard to see because it was hardly noticeable. Then we tried a piece of lime, which did about the same as the lemon. Finally, we tried a piece of grapefruit, which we all thought would do something, but it did the same as the lemon and lime pieces.
We recorded all of our observations on an Acid Test graph. It was clear to our group that the vinegar and lime juice fizzled the most out of everything. The 50/50 combo came in third.
All in all, it was a very fun lab activity and I hope we get to do the second part of the lab the next time that we have class.

9/18/08 Food and Nutrition

Today we had class in a different room, so that we could take advantage of the computers. We were told to get into groups of three and then we discussed food and nutrition. I learned lots of new things about calories, carbohydrates, protein, etc... Our groups had to go online and play a game where we drag food onto a plate and try to meet the requirements for the task. If we wanted to get rid of something we fed it to the dog on the screen...he cannot be a healthy dog. My group had a lot of fun trying to get the right amount of calories and fat on the plate.
After we did the online activity, we got a worksheet and had to pick three things to have for lunch. Then we had to figure out how many carbs, protein, and fat were in our lunch. For our lunch, we chose to have a plain hot dog, a carrot, and a cola. When we figured it out, we came up with 370 calories, which I think is pretty decent. Overall, I learned a lot about nutrition in class today.

9/16/08 The Safety Game

Today I learned about content and processes in science. I also learned about the four strands of learning in science.
The four strands include:
Strand 1 - Understanding Scientific Explanations
Strand 2 - Generating Scientific Evidence
Strand 3 - Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge
Strand 4 - Participating Productively in Science
The class as a whole asked a lot of questions at the beginning of class and many of the questions were answered for them.
The last half of class was devoted to making The Safety Game. The game is about learning safety within science. However, I did not get to play the game because I was too busy making it look nice. It looks like a lot of fun and hopefully I get the chance to play it one of these days.

9/11/08 Nature of Science

Today in Science Methods we discussed the importance of science in the classroom. We talked about how theory has a different meaning in science than it does outside of science. Theories include: scientific claims, evidence, hypothesis, and facts. Our class seemed to be a little misled by what a theory was, but we had our questions answered through the PowerPoint presentation.
We did an activity in class with one cylinder vase and one spherical vase. Each vase contained Hershey's kisses and we were supposed to guess if the vases contained the same or different amounts of kisses. The class thought that they were the same, but we learned that the spherical vase actually contained more chocolate.
The last topic of the day was a tutorial on Desire2Learn (D2L). A lot of us were having troubles or misunderstandings concerning D2L and the tutorial really seemed to help.
Overall, I learned quite a bit of information in today's Science Methods class.

9/9/08 Lab Activity

Today in Science Methods we did a lab activity called Temperature Probe Response Time. In the lab we had to find two different temperatures using the EasyTemp temperature probe. We wanted to measure the response time of the EasyTemp temperature probe. We also used this lab activity to learn more about the EasyData program.
The lab activity required us to obtain the data of both hot and cold water and to find the response time for the EasyTemp temperature probe to level off. My group had a little trouble with the technology and did not quite get the data figured out. We tried our very best, but class ended before we were able to get it all worked out.
This lab was very informative on how technology can be frustrating, but it was interesting to say the least. Hopefully, next time our group can get the technology to work for us and then we can collect some data.