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Maybe I'm just blind, but I can't seen to find the handouts we have in our binders (with tables for students to fill in as well as procedure and activity questions). I wrote all over mine and would like fresh copies to give to groups.
I decided to upload these again instead of posting only in Kevin's thread. Can you tell I am getting a little frustrated with this process!?! Not sure which Phase I'm in but for now I'll choose Insanity. See you on Wednesday, a hui hou.
Here is the link! http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/secretlife/
Hope you enjoy it!
This lesson made my students really think, especially when some of the sugar soda like the Strawberry Crush actually floated inside of sank. This really amazed the students and made them question their whether something was wrong with the soda that they even went around to other lab tables with sugar sodas that sank to check out their cans. Awesome lesson!!
I really enjoyed doing this activity with my students and they seemed to love it as well! They were really engaged through out the lesson and it sparked a lot of discussion. They were required to use their critical thinking skills that they don't use enough in school. Also they were able to share their ideas with their peers and possess the demeanor of a scientists through out the activity. Overall, this is a great activity and I will definitely be doing it again!
I think density is a challenging concept for middle school students. This lesson really helped my students with their misconception that small things float and big things sink. The students were also able to understand how salinity and temperature affects density.
I had students draw another picture of "what a scientist looks like", telling them to incorporate their new understanding of science and who conducts it.
My students truly gained much knowledge about science and what scientists do. In the beginning of the lesson I asked the students who knows a scientist, and only one student raised their hand saying, "I know you Ms. Kay." At the end of the lesson, I asked the students again who knows a scientist and all the students raised their hand. I followed that question with, "Raise your hand if you think you are a scientist." Again, everyone student raised their hands! Mission accomplished!! :)
Here is my lesson plan and reflection for density bags.
This activity was really fun! Students were engaged the whole time and used a lot of their critical thinking skills that they don't use enough in school! They seemed to really enjoy it.
Attached is my lesson plan and reflection, I hope this is where I should post it :)
I waited too long to write this up. I won't do that again...I've forgotten some of the details that would have fleshed out my phase diagram a bit more.
Here is my lesson plan for the Soda and Scientific Reasoning Activity.
Lesson 3: Soda & Scientific Reasoning