Tuesday, 12/2/08

Today in class, my partner and I completed our final bell ringer project. We are going to do a Bell Ringer project using Diet Coke and Mentos Mints. We are going to take the class outside and drop the mints into a two liter bottle of Diet Coke and observe what happens. Then, we will take the class back inside and they will be put into group and we will hand out 4 ounce plastic cups to each group and sprite. Then, we will hand out Mentos Mints to each group and they will drop them into the sprite. They will be able to observe first hand what they observed outside using the Diet Coke. We will have the students write simiarlities and differences between the two projects. This would be an exciting lesson plan to use in the classroom because the students would be to watch the experiment and then they would get to do the experiement! :)

Tuesday, NOV 25

Today in class we finished going over the study guide and answered any questions that we sill had. My partner and I talked about how we were going to work on our final project. We also did an experiment working with sound vibrations. We took a tunning fork and hit it on a wooden block. Then we put the tunning fork up to various objects to see how the pitch varied. It was interesting to see how it changes and this would be a fun activity to use in the classroom. Students could get very creative and think of different ways to see the different sounds each object creates.

Thursday, NOV 20

In class today my partner and I picked out topic for our final project. We research on the internet and found that when you put mentos in a diet coke bottle, it makes the diet coke explode into the air. We are going to do a lesson plan on why that happens when the mentos are put into the diet coke. Also, in class today, we focused on Chapter 9 on our reading guide and went over a few questions. It was a great chance to ask questions and get feedback. It was interesting to see the demonstrations with the balloons of positive and negative electrons and how they change.

Online Simulations

We did not have face to face class on Tuesday, November 18. Instead, we were asked to look at and engage in online simluations about electricity and magnets. I thought the simulations were very interesting because there were so many different ones to explore in. When teaching these concepts to students in the classroom, interactive simulations would be a great way to engage students in what they are learning. Some students will not be able to grasp and understand the concepts in science but these simulations could help those students relate science material to real life sitations and be able to interact with what they are learning. Very cool.

Thursday, NOV 13

We did not have class on Tuesday, November 11, because it was Vertern's day holiday. Class was pretty fun today minus our technical difficulties. We were measuing temperatures of water that had different types of insulators around them. On one glass bottle, we put warm water in it and measured the temperature... In a similar glass bottle, we put warm water in it and put a wool sock around it and measured the temperature. A few minutes later, we checked the temperature as well and figured out which bottle had the warmest temperature to determine if a wool sock is a good insulator or not. Then, we used a cotton sock and a wet cotten sock around the glass bottles with warm water. It was interesting to see which socks kept the temperature the warmest and which ones did not. I can see how this experiment would be a good learning tool to use in the classroom because students are visibly able to see the different in different insulators and which ones are the best.

Thursday, NOV 6

Class was very informative today. We went over the study guide and we were able to answer questions and ask questions to prepare for the quiz. After we were done going over our study guide, we did an experiement about insulators; we put warm water into two bottles, they can be plastic or glass. Around one bottle, we put a sock and the other one we didn't put anything around it. We had two temperature thermators to test which one would keep the water warmer the longest. We were unable to finish this project because we ran out of time. I will be looking forward to doing this project in the future. I think something like this could be fun to use in a classroom because students are able to see the difference between temperatures and the relation to what is placed around them.

Tuesday, NOV 4

Today in class, we finished our mid-term presentations. There were two more groups to go. The first group had a lesson plan on a mystery box, I think this activity could be a lot of fun for smaller grades because they could find it interesting about the mystery part about it. I could see how this would be fun to use in the classroom. Also, we found out that the lesson plans will be available to all of us on the internet and that will be very nice becuase it will be nice to have a large amount of lesson plans for science when we start teaching. We also started going over the reading guide and I always find this to be helpful!!!

Thursday, OCT 30

Today in class we gave our presentation about our lesson plan!! I think it went very well. Our lesson plan was about simple machines and we took apart a clock. We had a worksheet that says "this makes... this move" and we passed it out to all the tables and had them look at it and then we we passed around the clock that we dissected. We explained how safety was incorporated into our lesson plan and we also explained the objectives and standards that were met. The other lesson plans were interesting as well. One lesson plan was about mixing colors, the differences between a gas solid and liquid. I can see how defining the differences between a solid liquid and gas would be something that students need to understand because it can be confusing to some students. I really enjoyed class today!

Tuesday, OCT 28

Today in class some of our groups went through their mid-term projects. I enjoyed this class period because it was interesting to hear about different lesson plans related to physical science and how to use them in different grade levels. The first lesson was on magnets and it was directed towards second grade. I really thought the board with the safety rules was a good example for second graders. The second lesson was on the Strength of An Ordinary Egg Experiment, it was interesting because it was something that I didn't know... It took 59 books to crack an egg. The third lesson was about how to crack a can by using hot and colder water. The experiement did not work during classtime but I could see how it was an interesting to learn. The fourth lesson was on liquid and solids... I found this to be interesting as well because students were able to make their own assumptions on different solids and liquids.

Thursday, OCT 23

In class today, we learned about pressure and area. We did an activity about how pressure is related to the amount of area. In our small groups, we had to find out how much area creates the highest amount of pressure. We were given a large sheet of paper and had to trace around the area that we thought would have the highest amount of pressure. Our group decided that if we stood on one foot, that would create the highest amount of pressure. Other groups used their whole body. In the end, it was the area that was the smallest that had the highest amount of pressure. I thought this activity would be fun to use in the classroom because it gives students the chance to make a hypothesis and test it. Also, students could relate this activity to things related to their life.

Tuesday, OCT 21

Today in class we did a project called "The Leading Egg (of Ping Pong Ball)." I thought this activity was pretty interesting becuase we learned about force and pressure and how certain amounts of force and pressure can make certain things move. In this activity, you can also use eggs, but we used ping pong balls because that is what was available. The other materials that were needed were 2 identical glasses, tape and a funnel. I could find this activity very entertaining for young students because they would get the opportunity to see how far they can make their ping pong ball go just by blowing on it. They are also learning about the pressure and force and how it is affected by the area. It would be interesting to see how the students interpret the information by making a graph to show how when the force when up then the distance of the ball went further.

Thursday, oct 16- MIDTERM project

Today in class, we got together with our partners to work on our Midterm project. Our midterm project has to be a lesson plan related to physical science with some aspect of safety involved. My partner and I created a lesson plan focused on Newton's Law of Motion; our lesson plan focuses on the uses of simple machines, for example the clock. Our lesson plan is centered towards sixth graders but could easily be used with fourth and fifth graders. We chose to have a clock as an example of our simple machine and have groups of students deconstruct a clock and make hypothesis as to what they think makes a clock work. They will be given safety goggles and tiny screwdrivers to complete their activity. As a form of assessment, the students will complete a worksheet about "this makes... this move." I feel as though this lesson plan gives students the ability to explore Newton's Law of Motion in a enjoyable manner.

Tuesday October 14

In class today, we discussed our Reading Guide for Chapters 3, 4 and 5. I found this class period very informing as I had a lot of questions that got answered. I enjoyed the demonstration with the marker to demonstrate vertical incline. I thought this was interesting becuase that is a hard concept for me to understand. Work is the energy that we put in that gives us work. Also, the deomonstration on the board of what happens to Potentional and Kenetic Energy when one goes up and vice versa. When the potential energy and kenetic energy are in the middle, then they are equal. When the height gets less, then the potential energy gets less. In Kenetic energy, when the r goes up then the kenetic energy goes up. In potential energy, when the high goes up then the potential energy goes up.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Today for class, we didn't have a face to face class, we had to look at the Kepler's Law simulation on the internet. I found this simulation very interesting because it was neat to see how the things can change by clicking on the buttons to change the value on the semi-major axis and the eccentrincity. Also, the simulation shows the unit of earth-year. I think this simulation would be nice to use in the classroom becuase it shows kids how Kepler's law can be implied and it is a good interactive activity.

Tuesday, October 7

In class today, we dicussed our project for the Midterm exam. We are to come up with a project about safety with an experiement. I think this will be a great opportunity to explore certain projects that, as future educators, we will be able to use in the classroom. It will be a great learning opportunity to learn about how to integrate certain topics and experiements in the classroom once I start teaching. Also, we discussed our reading guide two. I had a few questions from the reading guide that I did not know and found out the answers in class. It was interesting to learn about how if you were to get into an accident with a truck and you were driving a small car that the since the truck has more mass then the truck will have more momentum. We are not able to change the mass but we are able to change the moment and velocity of an object.

Thursday, October 2

Today in class, we learned about Newton's second and third laws. It was very interesting to learn the formuals and how they are represented in science and throughout our environment. If you apply more force then there will be more acceleration. The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is 9.8 m/s squared. The closer that two objects are together, the higher the force will be between those two objects. We looked on the internet at an activity of the Inverse Square Law, the formula for that is 1/r squared. It was interesting to see what angle would shoot the cannon the furtherest. The angle that made the cannon go the furthest was 45 degree's. I thought this internet activity was very interesting and it could be something really fun to use in the classroom. The students could create a hypothesis about what they think the angle would be to create the greatest distance and then be able to test that hypothesis on the computer and see the outcome right away.

Sept 30 Class

Instead of having class face to face today, we had to look at a website that had weights and springs on it that measured the kinetic energy, potential energy, thermal energy and the total energy. It was a very fun activity becuase you were able to hang different amount of weights onto the springs. You were also able change the gravity level as it would be on earth, jupiter, the moon and planet x. That was interesting to see becuase you were able to compare the gravity of the planets without actually being on the planet. You could also change the friction and the softness of the different springs. Also, you could vary the time of the springs to to real time, 1/4 time, 1/16 time and pause. I thought this activity was a great learning tool and something that I could use in my classroom to show my students varying levels of gravity.

Web Seminar

Instead of class on Thursday, we enrolled in a web seminar about Astrology on NSTA. It was a really great experience because we used Elluminate technology and I have never dones that before. It was interesting becuase our whole class was on there at the same time and we were able to use a lot of different features and ask many questions at the same time. During the seminar we were able to communicate with the presenters and our classmates. It was a great opportunity to learn with people who were from different areas of the United States as well as from different countries other than the United States. This session was about Astrology and I found it really interesting and learned a lot about stars that I did not previously known. The pictures were really cool about how stars form, high and low mass stars and videos of the stars. It was great to answer questions during the seminar because I generally did not know many of the answers and that was a great learning experience. It was gret to have a list of we resources that we are able to use when we become teachers. Thank you for this opportunity and I can't wait to attend more of these!

Tuesday, 9/23/08

Today's class was very informative. We went over the reading guide for the first reading quiz that we are taking today. I find it important to talk about the concepts that are going to be on the quiz because it prepares myself for the quiz. I think it is important to give students a reading guide like that so they can feel prepared and it enables them to be successful. Also, I find it important to give students quizzes because they need to be held acountable for his or her learning through assessments.

Graphing Your Motion- 9/18/08

The acitivty that we did today was very educational. It was interesting to see how velocity changes on the Motion Detector. You could see the changes between how fast you walked and how slow you walked on the screen and it was a great learning experience. Also, it was great to learn about the position and how that changes.

Activity 9/16/08

I was not in class today so I could not participate in the activity. After talking to a few of my classmates it sounds like it was rather exciting. Working with technology is such an important part of the classroom in todays world. Children are working with technology more and more and it is important that as teachers, we are keeping up with that technology. I will be looking forward to figuring out how to do the activity!

Moving Man

The Moving Man website was so much fun! There was so much information located on the website that could be used to show and explain to students how velocity and acceleration are related. I thought it was very fun to move the man around and see how the acceleration, velocity and position are all related to the man. I like how there is a tree and a house located and you can move the man back and forth from there. It is a great tool to show how science works! All age levels could enjoy this!

The Science of a Kiss: Measurement, Mass and Energy

After completing the experienment "The Science of a Kiss: Measurement, Mass and Energy" I thought it was a great way to introduce mass and energy to any grade level. I think it is a great example of how mathematics and science are so related. In the experiment, we were able to use science by understanding mass, measurement and the GPJ, gravitational potential energy; we were also able to use mathematics in realtion to science by plugging the information into a formula. This is a great activity to use at all age levels and a great way to relate math to science for students who understand one subject more than the other.