Lesson Implentation

This week when implementing my lesson plan I quickly realized that it was ambitious for my second graders.  We began by looking at a website that shows how earthquakes happen.  I then had students build their own model.  The model gave students the opportunity to have a hands on experience.  They were able to move the pieces to create their own earthquakes and shifting plates.  Although it was a great learning experience many of my students still discussed how confused they were on the subject.  I realized that although my lesson was a great idea on paper, it was a little too difficult for my students. 

Natural Disasters

Natural disasters can be detramental to any area effected.  Teaching students about natural disasters is very important.  This past year the Southeastern United States was effected by tornados.  Many of my students had damage to their houses, or knew someone that did.  We discussed how the tornado changed where they were living or things that they do.  We also looked at before and after photos using Google Earth.

Web 2.0

This week I investigated three types of presentation software to use for my organism project.  I looked at Pezzi, PowerPoint, and the presentation software from Google Docs.  All three had pros and cons to the software.

Pezzi was a user friendly online software that gave you the functuality to make the presentation completely yours.  The problem was that you had to have internet access to view the presentation.  It also was not completely free if you wanted to use the entire website.

PowerPoint is a very familiar product to myself and my students.  I have had several trainings and used this presentation software several times.  The problem is that you must either use a jump drive so that you can access it from other computers, or use the same computer to complete the presentation.

The presentation software from Google Docs gives you a mixture in functuality.  It allows you to complete the entire presentation online and access it from any computer with internet access.  It will also allow you to save it as a PowerPoint presentation and view it without internet access.  My school district has also given each student their own Google account and they have been using them for a few weeks. 

After looking at the pros and cons of each software I decided that Google Docs was the best choice for me.  It reinforces what my students are learning in computer class, and it gives me the flexibility that I need to complete my project.

The Heat is On

This week my focus for guided inquiry was which material was the best insulator.  I chose plastic wrap, aluminum foil, a kitchen towel, and notebook paper to test my question.  My hypothesis was that the aluminum foil would be the best insulator and notebook paper would be the worst.  I chose aluminum foil because many baking pans are made out of aluminum.  My thinking was that they helped disperse the heat evenly and held in the heat to help food cook.  I knew notebook paper was very thin, making it a poor insulator.

I began the experiment by lining up four mugs that were exactly the same on the counter.  I measured and placed a line inside each mug to ensure that I had the same amount of water in each mug.  I then heated the water to boiling in a tea kettle.  This allowed me to know the exact starting temperature of the water.  Once the water began to boil I immediately poured it into the mugs, and quickly placed each material on top, securing it with a rubber band.  I waited thirty minutes then used a thermometer to check the temperature of each mug of water.

I found that the kitchen towel was the better insulator.  This makes sense, though, many people wrap casserole dishes in towels to keep them warm.  I was correct in thinking that notebook paper was the worst insulator. 

I would love to test this with macaroni and cheese.  I have a two year old niece who loves macaroni, and I feel that it takes forever for it cool off.  I believe that pasta, due to its consistency, may stay warmer longer than water.  This may be my next experiment.

Losing my Marbles

This week I investigated how different surfaces affect the momentum of marbles.  I chose to roll one large and one small marble on the hardwood floor, a  fleece blanket, an area rug, and a tile floor.  I expected to find that it was easiest for the marbles to roll across the hardwood floor and hardest for them to roll across the rug.  My findings were pretty much what my initial thoughts were. 

At first I wanted to make sure that the size of the marble did not affect the experiment results.  It was very difficult for me to figure this out.  I had difficulty ensuring that I used the exact same amount of force on the marbles when rolling them.  If I were to conduct the experiment again I would use something that would apply a consistent force for all the surface areas.  I am having some difficulty deciding on the best approach to doing this.

If I were to conduct this experiment with students I would have some students place the blanket over different surfaces as well without discussing that differing variable.  Then we could discuss what why the results were different with the blanket.  This could lead to great conversation, and help students apply their new knowledge.

To make this experiment more fun for my students I could conduct a marble race.  Students could pick which surface they want to race on.  I could also place a target in the floor and see if students could cause the marble to stop in the middle of the bulls-eye.  This could make the experiment more engaging and fun for the students, and help them to see that you need to apply different amounts of force depending on its rolling surface.  They can also learn that different amounts of friction are placed on the marble based on the rolling surface as well.  This would be a great experiment for second graders.

Vibration and Sound Experiment

I recently conducted a lesson on Vibration and Sound with my class.  The students were asked to use a ruler and decide how to make a low pitch and high pitch.  At first my students thought that flicking the ruler in different ways would cause the pitch to change.  They soon found that they had to move the ruler using different lengths that hang off of the table to produce the different pitches.  They then used this knowledge to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with their ruler.  It was a very fun and educational experiment.  My students were engaged and exited during the entire experiment.  The only struggle that my students had was getting started on their song.  I think next time I will get them started with the first two notes so that do not get as frustrated and confused in the beginning.  Here are some of their data sheets that they completed during the lesson.

Vibration

This week I was asked to produce an Inquiry based lesson plan.  I decided to center this lesson on vibration and pitch.  In this lesson students are given a ruler and asked to decide how to get different pitches of sound using the ruler and table.  Then they will use this new knowledge to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" using their ruler.  I can not wait to perform this lesson in class.  I really think that my second graders will love it.  I will let you know how this lesson plan lays out.  Hopefully it will go as well I think....