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.