21st-Century Learning Tools

It is important as an educator to expose kids to the many resources that are available for becoming aware of scientific technologies in their communities, states, and the world at large. They can use these resources to learn the importance of their knowledge and their ability to make an impact now as well as when they are adults. One way I would stress the importance of this in the classroom is by involving students in community projects, letter writing campaigns, tours of local green industries (ex. wind farms), and classroom experiments. There is an annual project called “Igniting Creative Energy” that let’s kids compete nationally for creative ways to show responsible energy choices.

Content Area: Renewable Energy

Websites for info:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/renewable_energy/

http://www.academyofenergy.org/index.htm

Sample Lesson Plans:

http://www.res.is/

Online quiz about renewable energy:

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/games-quizzes/renewable-energy-quiz/

Current News on Renewable Energy:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/search.aspx?search=renewable%20energy

Contest:

http://www.ignitingcreativeenergy.org/FAQ.html

Exploring Heat Transfer

This week our assignment was to identify four different materials to test as insulators. I arranged four different ceramic coffee mugs, filled each of them to the same level with boiling hot water, and then placed my four different insulators over the top, securing each with a rubber band. The four materials I chose were newspaper, plastic wrap, tin foil, and a cotton cloth. I then allowed the experiment to sit for thirty minutes. The temperatures of the four mugs did not drop low enough to be measured by the thermometer provided, so I waited another thirty minutes. At this time I was able to get the following results.

The best performing insulator that I tried was the tin foil. The tin foil kept the water at approximately 125° F (I had to estimate). The second best performer was the cotton cloth at 120° F. I was really impressed by this performance. The third best performer was the plastic wrap at 118° F. I was slightly surprised by this performance as I expected the plastic wrap to come in second due to the fact that it created such a tight seal. The final performer was the newspaper at 110° F. I had expected the top performance of the tin foil, but didn’t have any real basis for my hypothesis other than the seal. The most surprising performer for me was the cotton cloth. My guess is that the air that is trapped in the fibers possibly helped the insulation. As I understand, air can be a great insulator. I am inferring this hypothesis by the tumbler coffee cups that have an empty space of air between the stainless steel cup with the liquid and the plastic outer cup. I had anticipated the newspaper to be poor because I knew that the evaporating air would be absorbed into the paper material and allowed to escape. Evaporation often cools as it happens. I know this because of being a kayaker. When on the water, I wear neoprene-insulating layers to fight the evaporation that is happening while upright.

The methods of heat transfer that were used were conduction and radiation. Using the Amusement Park website, I know that conduction is happening because of the process of the heat transfer that is happening through the ceramic material of the mug, as well as the different materials I placed over the top of the mug. I also know that radiation is happening because of the heat transfer through the empty space in the mug, as well as between the two layers of material I placed on top of each mug. I think that convection was discouraged due to the lack of movement.

I think that a different material that I would choose to use as an insulator would be a piece of neoprene. I would choose this one because of my experiences kayaking and the insulating capabilities that I can feel. Another insulator that I might choose for my next round would be a piece of rubber. This choice would be chosen because of the rubber that I have seen to insulate different things such as wire.

Other materials to test other than water, such as hot dogs or spaghetti, may dissipate heat a different rate due to the density of the materials. It would be fun to test different materials such as a piece of steel, or a soil sample.

I think that I would set up the experiment very similar for students in a classroom. One thing I would do to help engage the students is to create a contest. I would like to know who could come up with the best insulator, but also the worst insulator. I think it would also be fun for students to bring different items from home that would contain a sample of water to see which insulates the best so we could expand our real life experience and connect this experiment to their own home.

Ultimately, I would like to students to examine what they have learned from this experiment, and begin asking questions about different items they may use at home, or see around their communities that are good heat insulators. I also think this is a great experiment to introduce the three different methods of heat transfer.

Guided Inquiry Lesson

I chose to have my students answer the question, "How does the steepness of a slope and mass affect a collision outcome?" I did not particularly like the question, but felt that it could foster good conversation among the students.

The materials we used were:

Textbooks

12" x 24" ramp

three different mass marbles

standard wood pencil

cm ruler

data collection spreadsheets

groups of 4-5

I asked the question of my students, and then showed them the list of materials. We designed the experiment as a class, while I modeled the experiment in front of the room. This allowed us the time to discuss the change of only one variable at a time. We stacked three textbooks, and we then placed the ramp on the three textbooks. We then placed the pencil perpendicular to the proposed travel of the marble at the bottom of the ramp. To conduct the experiment, the students would roll the marble down the ramp colliding into the pencil. The distance the pencil traveled from the its starting point was measured in cm each time. Students rolled each size marble a minimum of three times to obtain an average. The first variable we chose to change was that of the size of marble used. Students then tested the two other size marbles. After a conclusion was created with regards to the mass of the marble, we changed the slope of the ramp to test a new hypothesis.

The students were able to anticipate the results of the experiment, and hypothesize that the mass of the marble would effect the force of the collision. Students were also able to predict the increase in slopes effect on the collision with the pencil. What went well was the discussion that was happening with the students. I listed different vocabulary words on the board that I expected to hear being used, and students dove right in. The opportunity to discuss with the students the law of conservation of momentum was also valuable since the students now all had the same experience to discuss. The only difficulty I had was getting all of the participating students to see the value in every role. I was given the opportunity to guide students in the art of communication to keep the groups productive.

To create a new design for this experiment, I would like to have students take what we learned from this experiment, and design their own experiment to prove the same scientific concepts. One idea that my students did come up with however was they would like to apply their new knowledge to our sledding hill. We could change the length of the slide, the number of people on a sled, and the different slopes we slide down.

My goal for students to learn in this experiment was the effect mass has on momentum. I think that students were able to grasp the concept based on our class discussion that followed the experiment. We live in big truck country, and students were able to grasp the idea of accidents that might happen between different mass vehicles.

Overall, the experience was valuable.

Inquiry Experiment Implementation:

This week I chose to be brave and make an inquiry experiment for the youngest of our audiences. I have always worked with grades 4,5, and 6, so this was particularly interesting for me. I had a kindergarten student I know, as it is summer, do the "Dancing Spaghetti" experiment. The student helped me make a solution of water, vinegar, and baking soda. We then placed spaghetti in the solution and watched it go up as it gathered carbon dioxide, and down as the carbon dioxide was released. My student recognized that baking soda looked similar to powdered sugar, so we made another solution using powdered sugar as our variable. My kindergartner had a great time, and was very engaged. He made the connection to the bubbles floating with a bubble bath. We also discussed the use of water wings while out at the lake. The ideas of density and mass were introduced. I am in assumption that this young man will use this experiment as prior knowledge for experiments dealing with mass and density in the future.

P.S. I had only rounded up one student to complete this experiment with due to the summer vacation, no summer school at this time, and it being professional development week for teachers. Thanks for your understanding.

Melting Ice Experiment

I was pretty excited to have a simple experiment to do with my students that would give them a hands-on environmental experience with a very hot topic. The experiment was fairly time-consuming, but the results were interesting. I anticipated more overflow than there was. This would help students understand that coastal regions are at risk, but where we live at 5,800 feet, we will be fine. I anticipate this being a great seed activity to discuss the living natural environments in these coastal areas. It would also be a great discussion boost to enter research and learning about the ice caps and the environments there. Students are obviously concerned about the polar bears, so we could discuss all predator and prey in they area.

STEM LESSON PLAN:

The lesson that I planned asks students to go to five locations of a creek that flows from our mountain on one side of town to the river that flows on the other side of town. The students are asked to measure dissolved oxygen in the water at the different points, discover, count and classify the different invertebrates in the area, and to do an observation map of the area. The students are asked to draw, journal, and categorize all of their data in their journals. At the end of the project the students will be asked to create a presentation with their small group about their hypothesis, data, and conclusion. When the experiment is complete, the students will then determine other areas of study for the area.

While using the template I found that I had to analyze many points of my lesson that I am not use to prior to the beginning of the lesson. The five E’s were helpful to me in this process because I had to be more analytical about the entire process prior to the beginning. I usually will allow experiments to be a little more student directed, so I don’t have the full process completely planned. I usually will just have an idea, bring that to the class, and guide the inquiry. I liked the extend and elaborate idea because it is easy with today’s guidelines to move on to the next concept without following up on the previous projects. I could have students maintain stream quality projects throughout the year making it a phenology project. We could also study other streams and rivers throughout the watershed. It will be important for the students to be allowed to share results through the Wyoming Stream Team website.

I do plan to implement this lesson one day, but I will have to be sure to address the issue of the students being in dangerous areas. It will be very important to set strict guidelines about stream and hiking safety. I will also have to address transportation issues. It would be best to get parent drivers, which would also answer the supervision issues.

Hello!

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