Maggie Conrad's Elementary Science Methods Blog

This week we got to design our own learning activity. With this we got to pose a question that could frame students investigations, describe how we could engage students' curiosity and activate their initial ideas, describe how our students should collect their data, and how they would use evidence to answer the question. My group decided to look at what would happen to the weight once the baking soda and vinegar were mixed. We filled a flask with vinegar and then added 1/2tsp of baking soda to a balloon. We weighed each of these to get their weight in grams. We then pulled the balloon over the flask and shook it so they would mix. We observed that the carbon dioxide made the balloon fill and it got cold. We then weighed the flask with the balloon on it. We saw that there was a change in the weight. I can apply what I learned today to my future teaching by thinking about experiments that I will create in my future teaching, and the thought process that goes behind it.    ...

 This week, my group looked into the question of why do cold drinks get water droplets on the outside? With this we looked at three different simulations. They showed us particle attraction and temperature, hot and cold objects touching, and H2O heating and cooling. With this activity, we had to create a flip video showing what we discovered and answering the question we were given. In my future teaching I would use the use of flip videos because I think it would be a fun way for students to learn and teach others about their findings.          

 This week we continued talking about density. With this, we were asked the question Why do different substances have different densities? My group wanted to show the equation density= mass/volume. With this we wanted to show that the volume and mass of an object determines the density. We decided to draw two cups of water to show the volume. One has more water so it take up more space. The glass with less water has less space. For mass we drew to circles. One is filled in to show it is heavier. The other circle is not filled in showing it's hollow showing it's lighter.   The next activity we did was an M&M investigation. We did the same activity from a few weeks ago. This time we wanted to see if certain colors spread faster than others. The first round we didn't have instruction, and then we got to talk about what we noticed and what we could do differently. We decided that we needed to spread the M&Ms out to be able to tell which one would spread faster. The ne...

 This week we continued our talk on matter. We came up with properties of matter, and said that color, density, shape, height, texture, odor, and weight/mass were all properties. We then did five experiments with different matter small vs big to see if they each float or sink, have the same volume, same mass, conduct electricity, and if they would be attracted to a magnet. We got to choose five pieces. My group chose a cork, aluminum foil, a candle, chalk, and a marble.   Sink or Float?:  We recorded that the chalk and marble of both sizes sank. Everything else floated. We did notice that the smaller chalk floated for a bit but then sank.  Same Volume?:  We recorded that the candles were the only one that had the same volume. Same Mass?:   We recorded that they all had different masses.   Conduct electricity?:   The saw that the aluminum foil big and small were conductors of electricity.  Magnetic?:  None of them were...

 In class this week, we start Chemistry. In lab, we did six different experiments. There was cold soda, plunger push, melting ice, coke float, baking soda & vinegar, and M&Ms in water. With these we were asked to make predictions, record our observations, explain what happened, and then if we had any questions.  Cold Soda:  For this we had to take a water out of the cooler and make observations while it was on the table. This experiment we didn't notice anything different, but could guess what it was supposed to do.  We guessed that it was supposed to show the condensation on the bottle and on the table. For explaining what happened we said that the water in the bottle is cold, but the bottle is getting warmer because it is no longer in the cooler. Our question was where does the water come from?   Plunger Push:  For this experiment we pushed a plunger down onto the table to make it stick. We then had to try pulling the plunger up. Then try aga...

 This week, we talked about mutation and what it is. Mutation is changes in genetic material. It can be caused by mutagens radiation, chemicals, and other infectious agents. Evolution and mutation can go hand in hand.   We did two different activities. The first one was called Preying on Beans. We acted like predators searching for prey with three different traits. The goal was to demonstrate the process of adaptation and selection. Our group used a spoon, a fork, and then two knives. We had thirty seconds to collect as many beans as possible. We then counted each bean and figured out the percentage of beans that were left over. The person that had the least amount of prey(beans) died and then got to pick a new trait(utensil) to use. We ended with three forks and one spoon.   The final activity was a Peppered Moth Simulation. The goal was for it to simulate changes in moth population due to population and predation, and observe how species can change over time. ...

 This week we did a review of what we did in our class last week. We talked about cell to DNA, DNA structure, DNA to protein, and our baby lab. We shared our babies with the class. It was fun to see what their baby looked like and how different each one was. We also talked about the differences between DNA and RNA structure. DNA has a T and RNA has a U. We then moved into mutation. A mutation is a change in the cell's structure. This could be from deletion, insertion, substitution, and rearrangement. We also talked about codons which are a DNA and RNA sequence of three nucleotides that encode a particular amino acid.        For an activity, we did a mutation superhero worksheet. We saw how the different mutations affected Dr. Johnston. He was either normal, a supervillain, or a superhero. We discovered that mutations in DNA are both advantageous and disadvantageous. This is because depending on the mutation they can affect the chromosome structure positively or ...