Learning Progressions

Since I was unable to view the live web seminar, I have decided to do my blog on the reading for last week. One of the things that I learned about in chapter 4 of ready, set, science! was the benefits of learning progressions. Some benefits are that they require serious thinking about underlying concepts, they prompt educators to think about how topics are presented at each grade level, they can draw on research about children's learning in determining scope and sequence, they incorporate all four strands of scientific proficience, they engage students with meaningful questions, they suggest the most appropriate ages for introduction of core concepts, and they can suggest the most important tools and practices to assess understanding.

Acid Test

I thought that our lab today was very interesting. In my groups acid tests, we found that vinegar and lime juice had the biggest affect on baking soda. There was a lot of fizz (a full reaction) when combining vinegar and baking soda, as well as lime juice and baking soda. I was a little surprised that both pink and white grapefruit and orange juice did not have a bigger reaction to baking soda. I thought that those juices would be much more acidic than they were. The reaction that we got for these juices was about 1/4. My group also found that the actual pieces of fruit did not have a very great reaction to the baking soda. All of our results came in at under 1/4.

The Safety Game

I really enjoyed learning how to play the safety game in class yesterday! I think that this game would be very beneficial to students when learning how to be safe in the science classroom. However, besides helping the students learn about safety, they will also be able to have fun! I think that games and other such fun activities are a good way to get students to really pay attention; they will be learning without even knowing it!

Teaching science

I thought it was interesting to learn about the reasons to teach science well, as well as the importance of teaching science well. I really believe the fact that in having scientific knowledge we can become participants rather than merely observers. I also agree with the fact that science can improve the quality of life on a global scale. Science can really help people understand the issues, environmental and otherwise, that may be occuring throughout the world. I am excited to learn more about science and how to teach science to my future students.

Temperature Probe Response Time Activity

The temperature probe activity that my group did on Tuesday did not go so well. We had a number of technical difficulties while trying to complete this activity. We had the most trouble trying to set up the LabQuest to take our measurements. Though we didn't have much success, it sounded like all of the other groups were able to gather all of their data. From the numbers shared in class, it seems that there were a variety of response times when moving the probe from the cold water to the warm water. I don't think that anyone's measurements were the same.