The Power of Science

A lot of fun and learning took place in class on march first. We began by discussing the shark dissection that we would be visiting and taking part of later in the week. We discussed the pro's and con's of having a shark dissection and any questions that we had. A shark dissection is great for learning because it is very hands on and works well for visual and kinesthetic learners. It is also something memorable that students can hold on to. The down sides are the possibility of a child passing out, the unpredictable nature of the activity, it can be expensive, and there may be some children who are against the dissection of animals. As a teacher it would be important to be aware of your student's cultures as not to offend them by doing this activity. Also make sure that safety is addressed very thoroughly and there is organization and plenty of prep time!



The next activity was my favorite part of the day. On our tables was a tray full of some kind of white powder. We were told to take a walk around to all the tables and see if everyone had the same powder. Using polleverywhere.com Dr. Pangan asked the question: Is the mystery powder the same at all tables? Yes, No, I'm not sure. Using our phones we all texted our answer and could see the results live on the screen. I thought this was so cool and such a great idea! It was a great way to incorporate technology and it was a very helpful visual. I would definitely use this with older students. Once we came to the conclusion that they were all the same we discussed what we thought the powder was. We observe the powder and made guesses of what we thought it was. Some of the hypothesis' were salt, sugar, and laundry detergent. None of those were right and we finally were told that it is insta-snow, or as we called it insta-polymer. This stuff is found through steve spangler science and is so cool! We poured about 60ml of water into the powder and it soaked up all the water and became puffy and large. We used this experiment with our 5th grade enrichment groups and they thought it was just as cool as we did. What a good lesson to talk about polymers and things soaking up water. We used it to show an example of physical change.



Afterwards we moved on to a cloud activity. As a class we were each given a cotton ball and took a trip outside. We lined up in the "penguin formation". We got shoulder to shoulder in a circle just like penguins would. This works really well with students to keep them organized and in the eye sight of the teacher. We were told to find a cloud and make our cotton ball the shape of the cloud. We did this and then went back inside and showed our groups what we had found. We then discussed the three types of clouds. Cirrus is the first type. They are light looking, wispy, high in the sky, and an example is the contrails that jet planes make. Stratus is the second type. Stratus clouds are flat, gray, sheets that are medium hight in the sky. The last type is cumulus. These are the fluffy, popcorn clouds that everyone loves to look at. They accumulate together in one bunch. After we learned about the types of clouds we determined what type ours was and glued it to a piece of paper in order of the height of the cloud. Then we wrote a description of what each type of cloud was. Finally we were asked in groups to make up some kind of chant or cheer to remember the clouds. I really liked this lesson all together. I thought it incorporated so many different kinds of learning styles and really got to the point of what was trying to be taught. All kinds of students would be engaged with this kind of lesson.



The final thing that we discussed was how to make a good lesson plan. Dr. Pangan used the hamburger as an example. She explained that a good lesson plan looks like this:
- Guiding question/title
- Description
- Standards
- Materials (website/tools/videos/books)
- Procedure, Time estimate, assessment
- Adaptations
- Closure
- Reflection

It was very helpful to see the hamburger style and give me an example of another way to complete a lesson plan!

This final picture is of the shark dissection. What a fun day! I had a great time at park tutor experiencing it with the students.