The other day I asked my class of 5th graders if they could describe an atom or a molecule. Only 1 student of my 17 had a vague understanding. I decided to give a mini-lesson on these concepts before introducing the Properties of Water lesson plan. So far it has paid off. They are able to talk about the water molecule as we conduct the various experiments (I have had to divide the entire lesson in to several days due to time constraints). They are enjoying all of it and I think it is partially due to our mini-lesson upfront.
Tue, 01/08/2013 - 10:41
Always a hook in the beginning to peak interest and keep them looking for more. What was mini?
I have done it as a magic show before with this lesson.
Fri, 01/18/2013 - 19:13
Aloha Kanesa and Bryan,
Since my students did not know what atoms and molecules are I gave a short lesson (30 minutes) about molecules and atoms. I used the water molecule as my example and drew pictures on the board illustrating the nucleus and electron shells. We discussed that the electrons actually 'travel in a cloud' and are not two-dimensional. This helped them to understand more of the concepts in the Properties of Water lesson.
Tue, 12/04/2012 - 09:49
Kathryn - I'm interested to know more about your pre-lesson that you gave your 5th graders. Any info. you can post would be great (and I suspect helpful for others!).