End of Semester

Yesterday was the last day for Physical Science for me since my partner Courtney will not be in class tomorrow for the work day because of a commitment for another class so we will meet at another time to finish the project.

Today was a work day and Courtney and I got a lot accomplished with our project. We came up with our idea, did our lesson plan, and now we just have to finish our power point which should go smoothly. We found a great idea to demonstrate solids and liquids by mixing corn starch and water so we are using that as our bell ringer. It will be different this time since we are not actually presenting them, but it will be okay.

Since science is over, I just want to say that I enjoyed this class and I learned very much about being a teacher!!

Class on Tuesday, November 25

Today we started of class by answering any questions. Then we finished going over the reading guide since we ran out of time last Thursday. It was nice to go through the reading guide to clear up any questions I had. Now, I know what Dr. E. is looking for in answers and I can better complete my reading guide. After we went over that we did a fun lab that consisted of different sound activities. I think kids would LOVE this lab. It was so much fun!! We started off by doing the activity called "Tuning Fork" which allowed us to see how the tuning fork reacted in different situations. We stuck it in water, held it on a paper, and held the tuning fork next to a ping pong ball. It was fun to hear it and see what happens. Then, the next activity was called "Sounds Through Air." In this one, we held the tuning fork to our ears and then through a tube to determine the difference. We couldn't really tell a difference between the two, but it was still neat to experiment with different ways. The next lab was called "Sounds Through Water" but we did not get to this one, but with this one, you were supposed to tap your fingers together, then do it again while listening through a stethoscope. After that, you were supposed to tap your fingers underwater. Then you were supposed to tap your fingers underwater listening with the stethoscope underwater. You were supposed to notice the difference of the sound of tapping your fingers together. The last activity that we did complete was called, "The Waterphone." We were to take glass bottles that had water in them and line them up in order of pitch. This was fun because we got to discuss which one we thought would go where in the line-up. I think kids would love this!! I think they would love all of these activities--it was a great way to learn about sound. Overall, I thought today went very well and I enjoyed class!! Thursday we do not have class due to Thanksgiving and then next week, Tuesday and Thursday will both be work days for our final project! I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Class on Thursday, November 20

Today we started off class by confirming what is due and also some impotant dates to remember before the semester is over. Dr. E. reminded us of the online simulations and told us to be sure to complete them and then blog about them, which I already have! :) For once, I actually have something done before I am reminded aobut it!! Just kidding! --but I am really bad at procrastinating!! After we talked about the online simulations, we discussed our bell ringer projects that we will complete with a partner. Courtney and I are doing our bell ringer together, but we are not sure what we are doing yet. Once we do figure it out, it should go okay since we will have a work day next week to get things going on that project. After we discussed the final project, Dr. E. asked us if we had any questions. After that, we started to go over the reading guide module 4, but like always, we ran out of time during that but oh well, because the section we did go over helped because the answers were very in-depth. We stopped where we did on that because we had an activity to do. It was called "Electroscope." It was very interesting and I think kids would love this activity! It is a great activity to do because the kids can actually build their own electroscope, which is a device that detects electrical charge. It was very simple to do too!! You just take two film containers with clay in each of them to hold two straws in each one. Then you stick tape on the table and then on each straw to see the pieces of tape repel. Then, you stick the tape to each other and then on the straws and you see the tape attract to each other. Then, you take a balloon and rub a wool cloth on it and hold the balloon by the pieces of tape. Then, you see that the balloon repels the piece of tape whose smooth side was in the middle of the "sandwich" when we stuck the tape to each other and the balloon attracts the tape whose sticky side was in the middle. And when we held the balloon by the tapes pulled from the table, the balloon repelled both tapes. This activity would be a great way to teach students about electrical charges!

Online Simulations for Tuesday, November 18

Today, since we do not have face-to-face class, we are to complete the online simulations and then blog about them. I went to the two websites to do the simulations and I thought they were very interesting. The first one was about magnets and electromagnets. With this simulation, there was a magnet and a compass and you could move them around to see how the movement affected the magnetic field. I think kids would love this interactive way to see how magnets work. The second simulation was called Electric Circuit Construction Kit. I think kids would love this one, too. This one was a little more complicated than the first one so I think the kids would need to have detailed instructions given to them before they started. It was neat, though, because you are able to build any kind of circuit that you want. I think kids would enjoy this because they are able to do whatever they want. Both of the online simulations would be great tools to use in the classroom to teach the kids about magnets, electromagnets, and circuits.

Class on Thursday, November 13

Today, we started off by getting any questions we had answered by Dr. E. After that, Dr. E. reminded us of the changes she made to the calendar. Then, we talked about the final project again to clear up any confusion. After we were done with all of this, we restarted the lab we started last week, since we were rushed and ran out of time last Thursday. The lab was called "A Good Sock" and it was to demonstrate that insulation slows the flow of heat. It compared the insulation effects of socks, using a dry cotton sock, a wet cotton sock, and a wool sock. We used Lab Quests for this activity, and surprise, surprise..........ours didn't work!! The temperature probes were not working correctly, so we used the data from the group next to us. Our Lab Quest was the only one not working, but then eventually Dr. E. got it to work, but it was too late to start over so we just continued with using the data from the other group. It was interesting to see the results from this lab. We concluded as a class that wool is the best insulator out of the three socks. This would be a fun experiment to do with my class someday. I would probably only do it if I feel more comfortable with Lab Quests because right now I am not very good with technology but it was fun to use it today for this lab.

No Class Tuesday

On Tuesday, November 11, we did not meet due to Veteran's Day. That is why there is not a entry for that class period.

Class on Thursday, November 6

Today we started off class by asking any questions we had so we got to hear a little bit about our final presentations that we will have to do in December. Dr. E. will explain our projects in more depth later. After asking questions, we went on to go over our reading guides. Since we had a lot to do today, we went through the questions pretty fast, but that was okay since we got through all of them anyway. It was nice to go through these as a class since we have a quiz online today that is due at midnight tomorrow so I feel like this helped me refresh my mind. After we got done going over the reading guide, we started a lab. It was called "A Good Sock." We ran out of time so we are going to start it over next week. The purpose of it was to demonstrate how insulation slows the flow of heat. We had two water bottles, and one was covered in a sock. We were to use Lab Quest computers with two temperature probes to calculate the temperature of the two bottles. We will do the activity in more depth next week since we barely had any time to figure it out.

Class on Tuesday, November 4

When class started we went over what was due on what day. Then we did presentations. Today was the last day to finish up midterm project presentations. Two groups went. The first one was called "Mystery Box." It was a neat project that I could use someday. They took a shoe box and cut a flap in it to allow students to stick their hand inside to determine if the objects inside were living or nonliving. I think this would be fun for kids. The next group to go did their project on colors and shapes. They would have their students make animal books with coloring pages of animals. In the book, they would have to determine what two coverings of animals are and two movements of animals. This was planned for first graders. I think this was a good project, too. After we finished up these two groups, we went on to discuss temperature and heat. We took quite a few notes which will come in handy when I finish up the reading guide. We discussed the difference between temperature and heat and we defined each one. We also covered specific heat, thermal energy, kinetic energy, and potential energy. On Thursday we are going to go over the study guide.

Class on Thursday, October 30

Today was another day to give presentations and my partner and I went today. We were first!! Since we did not get through everyone that was supposed to go Tuesday, today we had to go quick. Our project was called Water Magic and it was for second graders. We started off showing water in a solid form, which is an ice cube. Then to show water in liquid form, we allowed it to melt. Then, we explained that the next part would take longer than one class period so if we would actually do this in a classroom, we would just explain it now and then show them the cup in a week or so. The part that takes a while is showing the water evaporated. A film is supposed to appear on the cup after sitting on a shelf for a while. After discussing that, we showed water in gas form, which is steam. We heated up water in a tea kettle and held up a mirror to the spout to show the steam. After this part, our presentation was completed and the class filled out the assessments we created. The second group to go did their project on simple machines. They did a good job. Their lesson plan was for sixth graders, which I think sixth graders would have loved this project. They took apart a clock to see what simple machine was inside. If I would ever teach older kids, this would be a good project to share with them. The third group did a project on which type of cup would keep ice the coldest the longest; they had a metal cup, Styrofoam cup, and plastic cup. This was for 4th graders, which I think was appropriate. The next group went and their presentation was called Matter and Mixtures. This would be a neat experiment to do for older kids instead of third graders like they said. Some of the vocab words used like heterogeneous would be hard for third graders to understand. Group number five was next and their project was about magnets for 2nd or 3rd graders. This was a good project, they went through different objects to see if they were magnetic. The sixth group went next their lesson was called "Motion of Molecules in Water." I am not sure what grade level this was for but I think kids would enjoy this lab. They gave each table hot water and cold water and we were supposed to put a couple drops of food coloring in each one and see which temperature of water would disperse the molecules faster. The hot water dispersed faster than the cold water. This was a neat experiment. The last group of the day went and their experiment was to teach the scientific method to 2nd or 3rd graders by using frosting to mix secondary colors. This would be a neat experiment also because it was fun and it taught something at the same time. It was fun to watch everyone today, I think I got some great ideas that I could use in the classroom some day.

Class on Tuesday, October 28

Today was the first day of the presentations of our midterm projects. My partner and I did not go today since we go on Thursday, but four groups did go today. Before the presentations started, Dr. E. talked about D2L issues. After that, the first group began. Their presentation was about magnetism. They handed out a worksheet for groups to fill out and it was a very hands-on activity. They had a great project aimed toward second graders. The second group's presentation was called "The Strength of an Ordinary Egg." This would be a very fun activity to do in a classroom. They taught it towards first graders. They stacked children's books on top of a egg to demonstrate how strong an egg actually is. It took 59 books to break the egg!! The next group went then and their project was about crushing cans with air pressure and their lesson plan was aimed toward eighth graders. Their project did not seem to work at all during class even though they tried many times, but I think as everyone was leaving, it did finally work but not very many people got to see it. Although it did not work during class, the idea represented was very good. It would be a fun one to do in a classroom some day, if it would work. After this, group number four went. Their project was about solid and liquids for second graders. Their activity would be fun to do in a classroom some day because they put different examples of solids and liquids in baggies, so the kids would be able to actually see first hand what a solid is and what a liquid is. They had an excellent presentation. Since the projects today took longer than expected, we only got four done, so we will have to hurry on Thursday. Overall, today was fun to be able to watch all of the experiments.

Class on Thursday, October 23

Today Dr. E. started by asking us if we had any questions. After this, she discussed velocity and pressure and used the example of an airplane wing and she drew a picture for us to help us understand how it works. The picture let us know that at the top of the wing where it is slightly rounded, there is a slower velocity and decreasing pressure and at the bottom of the wing there is a higher velocity and increasing pressure. This was interesting to see to be able to comprehend it. After this, we talked about density and viscosity. We were able to see first hand what density is: Dr. E. had us pass around an air-filled bouncy ball and a bowling ball. It was easy to tell that the bowling ball was more dense than the bouncy ball. After we were done discussing density, we did an activity about pressure. We split up into groups and went into the hallway to determine what pose would apply the most pressure on the floor. In our group, Janelle was the one to stand on the paper. We decided to have Janelle stand on one foot since there would be less area that way. It ended up that we did not win with the most pressure, but we did pretty good. This activity was a great way to see first-hand how area affects pressure. This confirmed that the highest pressure occurs with smallest area and the lowest pressure occurs with the biggest area. This activity would be a fun one to do with my future students.

Class on Tuesday, October 21

Today in class we started off by discussing the midterm projects and we also confirmed our partners with Dr. E so she was aware of who will be working with each other. After we cleared that all up, we briefly went over Archimedes principle and buoyancy. We were reminded that it is because of buoyancy that a steel ship can float. After we discussed that, we were shown two demonstrations online. One of the animations was of a container of water with a weight being dropped down into it and there was a scale to show what happened during the whole thing. That assimilation demonstrated that the weight was being transferred from the top balance to the bottom balance. The other assimilation was a container of water with a "boat" in it and then you added cubes to see how many you could add before it sunk and also you could play with the width and height of the boat to see if that affected anything. Once we were done with these animations, we did an activity in groups of four. We had two beakers, one with a funnel and one without, and a ping-pong ball. We were told to blow air as hard as we could at the ball in the funnel, trying to make it "jump" to the other beaker. This would be a fun activity for my students to do someday!

Class on Thursday, October 16

Yesterday in class we got to have a work day with our partners to determine what our midterm projects will consist of. My partner Courtney and I came up with the idea of having our project be over solids, liquids, and gas at a second grade level. Our activity starts with an ice cube in a cup, letting it sit on a shelf, and seeing what happens. Then we take water in a tea kettle on a hot plate and hold a mirror over the spout to see what happens. This way, students will get to experience solid, liquid, and gas. To incorporate safety precautions, we will advise safety when dealing with the hot plate, tea kettle, and steam during our activity. We thought this would be a neat experiment for second graders since you get to start off with an ice cube in a cup and see a solid, and then experience the ice evaporating into a gas and then seeing water in a tea kettle evaporate. While working together, Courtney and I found which standards went along with our project. We will be sure that each standard we picked is met during our project. Overall, we had a very productive work day. We figured out what we were going to talk about, what our activity is going to be, what our outline looks like, and what standards we need to cover. Now we just have to get organized and get it done by October 30!! :)

Class on Tuesday, October 14

Today we started out class discussing our midterm project. This was nice since it cleared up any questions anybody had. For our midterm, we learned today that the lesson plan we have to do before October 30 has to just include safety precautions instead of just being a lesson about safety. We are supposed to pick out a subject related to physical science and then include safety precautions in the lesson. This class period was useful to find out what is expected of us. Also, we were told to bring our computers to class on Thursday so then we can have a work day to work on these midterm projects. After we talked about our projects, we finished going over the second reading guide. It was nice to do this in class, since we went over each question in depth, answering any questions anybody had. While we were going over the reading guide, Dr. E demonstrated the bowling ball example again which helped since it was hands-on. The bowling ball example was to demonstrate potential and kinetic energy. This would be a good example to show my students in the future. After we discussed each question on the reading guide, we were dismissed and were reminded to complete the quiz which is posted on D2L and answer the discussion question, also on D2L.

Online Assignment for Thursday, October 9

Instead of face-to-face class today, we were to complete the online assimilation of Kepler's Laws. This website was confusing to me, but I still did it. On this website, there was an "interactive java animation which allows the students to experiment the planet motion under Kepler's law." It was interesting to see, but I did not really understand what it was. There was a clock which showed the units of an earth-year. And there were buttons you could push to change the assimilation. You could also push the "sweep" button to allow you to see the area that was swept by the planet. This was an interesting assignment to do. since you could see the distance between the earth and the sun. Overall, I think this would be a useful experiment to show my students in the future just so they understand what is happening.

Class on Tuesday, October 7

Today was an informational class period. We started by asking any questions we had about anything we were confused about. After that, we went over our midterm projects. We were told they are due October 30 and today we got to sign up with a partner to work with. The assignment is to create a lesson plan with your partner that involves safety with physical science. The lesson plan has to include some hands-on activity to make it fun for the students. After going over the details of the midterm project, we went over the Reading Guide Module 2 that is due this Thursday on D2L. Since the class is only an hour long, we did not get through all of the questions and we will finish next Tuesday, since we do not have face-to-face class this Thursday, instead we will be having an online assignment.

Class on Thursday, October 2

Today in class we started off by going over D2L again to clear up any confusion anybody had. It was nice to be able to ask questions and hear what we were supposed to be doing. After awhile of discussing different issues, we went over Chapter 3, such as Newton's laws. We took notes over Newton's second law, which is: F=ma. We also talked about the inverse square law, which is: 1/r squared. After these notes were taken, we talked about the coming chapters that we will be discussing in our second reading guide. After that, we talked about how things fall and what happens. To demonstrate what we learned today, each table got the chance to make their own paper airplanes and come up with a design that had the greatest "hang time." Two of the planes in my group were folded the same, and the other two were folded in two other ways. Even the planes that were folded the same did not fly the same. The instructor informed us that this happened because you not only have to worry about how you fold it, it matters how you throw the airplane as well. This would be a good lab to use in the classroom since kids would have fun flying paper airplanes.

Mass Spring Lab Online Assignment

Instead of having class face-to-face tomorrow, we were to complete the mass spring lab online assignment. Although I was confused when I arrived on the website, I played around with the different gadgets. I put different sized weights on the springs to see how they varied. The lighter weights sprung up and down faster and longer than the heavier weights. I also got to see how friction plays a part. The more friction, the less the springs bounce. I also noticed that it does not matter how much weight you put on the springs when there is no friction, they will never stop moving. I experimented and put all different sizes on and changed the slider to no friction and they springs kept moving up and down. When I did this, the softness of spring three did not matter either, since I set it so the softest it could go, and the spring never stopped, since there was no friction. This was a neat experiment. It put everything in perspective since it was so interactive. I could see how everything was related. It was also neat that it showed the energy of each spring if you chose. It appeared in a graph as the spring was moving. Another neat thing that this lab could do was see how gravity affected the springs in different places, such as on the moon and or on Jupiter. I really like this lab since it was so interactive and fun. It did not seem like science as I was experimenting with the springs. Overall, I enjoyed this lab.

NSTA Web Seminar

The web seminar called "Celebrating Astronomy: A Star's Story" on NSTA just got done. Although it was a lot of information to take in for one night, it was a very interesting seminar to watch. All the presenters did an excellent job and seemed to know what they were talking about. It was neat to see the spectrum pictures and see where the sun falls in a spectrum. It was also need to see what a star consists of. I never realized that all of those different elements made up stars, so that was neat to see. This was also a fun experience since it was held over the internet on a program called "Elluminate." The seminar was also very hands-on. Viewers could ask questions in a chat box and give their input. Also, the resources that were given during the presentation will help me in the future when I am a teacher. The presenters used great websites to show us what we can use when we teach. These will be great use to me if I ever teach science. I appreciate the hard work it took to present this seminar. Overall, the web seminar was a very neat experience.

Class on Tuesday, Sept. 23

Today's class was more informative instead of doing a experiment. Due to the nature of the internet and technology, there was a lot of confusion in the class about blogging, so we spent the first part of class discussing how to blog and where to post our blog URL at. After that, we discussed a little about the web seminar that will take place instead of regular class on Thursday. We are supposed to log on to the NSTA website at 5:00 pm to attend a web seminar about space that our teacher is hosting along with others. After discussing all of this information, we went over our Module 1 Reading Guide since we have a quiz that will be posted sometime today which is due by midnight tomorrow. The reading guide was nice to go over as a refresher since I have not taken a Physical Science class for a while. Now I feel a little more comfortable about taking the online quiz!

Graphing Your Motion

Today, we did the lab called "Graphing Your Motion" which we were tried to start on Tuesday. The Lab Quests were charged and ready to go today. They worked! Once we discovered that our Lab Quest worked, my group found an empty classroom to complete the lab in since we needed more room. After we hooked the motion detector up to the Lab Quest, we started. First, we started with the position and time graph. We discovered that the slower you walked, the broader the line would be on the graph. So, if you would go faster, the line would be steeper. After we completed the position and time part, we moved on the the velocity and time part. This graph was more complex for us. Ours looked like big squiggles. We discovered that the slower you walked again, the squiggles on the graph were more spread out. When we walked faster, the graph was closer together. This would be a neat experience to try in the classroom someday, only if I grow more accustomed to technology. Right now, I would not trust myself doing this since I am not very familiar with this equipment. This lab was interesting though, showing us in person what position and velocity mean. It was neat to see what the speed of the walker did to the graphs. Overall, this lab was a great learning experience.

Technical Difficulties!!

On Tuesday, we discussed D2L further and got to ask any questions we had about the class. After that, we were supposed to do a lab called "Graphing your Motion" using Lab Quest computers and motion detectors. Due to technical difficulties, we were not able to get any data from the lab. After trying to figure it out for a while, the instructor informed us that it was because the power strips were not on all night, causing the batteries to die which is why we could not perform the lab. Once we figured this out, the class time was up, so we did not complete a lab at all on Tuesday.

Moving Man Online Lab

Before Tuesday's class, we were to complete an online lab called "Moving Man." On that website, there was a man at the top of the screen that you could drag along the top for twenty seconds. The whole time while the man is moving, the position, velocity, and acceleration of the man is posted. You can see exactly what everything is while you move the man. It allows you to correlate the terms position, velocity, and acceleration with the man. I do not fully understand these terms, but this experiment let me actually see what each word means and what happens to each one when the man moves. I understand these words better now by seeing firsthand the results of the moving man. I also understand that it does not take much to change the position, velocity, and acceleration. I played around with the lab a couple of times to compare the numbers and I noticed that even the slighest movement of the man causes the numbers to change dramatically. This experiment was neat to do since it allowed me to learn more about something I know very little about!

The Science of a Kiss Lab 9/9/08

On Tuesday, September 9, 2008, we did an interesting experiment. It was called "The Science fo a Kiss." Before we started the lab, we were presented with two containers filled with Hershey kisses. One was skinny and tall and the other container was short and round. We were asked which one contained more or if they contained an equal amount. By doing this, we could put in perspective what the information in the lab was about. Before we found out the answer, we had to complete the lab. In the lab, we had to measure the kiss mass (kg), height(m), gravitational field(m/s/s), and gravitational potential energy(J). We were to drop kisses from .1m, .5m, and 1m and see the results. We recorded the information needed to complete the formulas. This experiment was useful in reinforcing the use of formulas. We were required to use formulas to record the information. After we filled in all of the information, we went back to the containers to see if the information matched. My group thought there was an equal amount in both containers, but it turned out that we were wrong. The shorter container had more kisses in it than the tall and skinny container. Although everything did not turn out perfectly, this experiment was interesting to see the results from dropping the kisses. This lab would also be a good one for me to use in the future with my students.

Snowflake Lab 9/4/08

I just want to say that I have NO experience with blogging so this is my first time ever!! On the first day of ELED-121, we did a fun experiment that would be neat to do with my students in the future. We were learning about patterns in nature, so we each got to create our own snowflake. My group chose to do a two-repeat pattern so we didn't confuse ourselves! We each had an instruction sheet which also helped to follow along while making our snowflakes. When I do this with my students in the future, I would make sure the directions were very clear to them before they started since this project could be very confusing for young students. I would make sure the instructions were clear so they have a better understanding of not only HOW to do it but also WHY they were doing it. By making the snowflakes, they are creating their own example of pattern. After they were done with it, they could discuss others examples of patterns they find in nature.