Earth's Structures~ Earth's Layers

WOW! So I taught this lesson in three parts in two sessions. The first part involved posing 5 questions to my students that I want them to learn over the next four weeks. The questions were:

1) How do the different layers of the earth cause  changes to the Earth's surface?

2) What happens to the pressure and the temperature the deeper you get into the earth?

3) which layer do you think has the greatest impact on humans living on the earth's surface?

4) Last year we had an earthquake near Culpeper, and volcanoes around the world were erupting.. what causes these geologic processes to occur?

5) what is the earth made of? how many layers?

 

Before being taught the introductory materials, the students were broken into teams of 5-6 and were asked to answer these questions. I am attaching the pictures of their posters. The students were then asked to utilize trade books in the classroom to locate the correct answers. This was to allow me to discover the misconceptons that my students had regarding the Earth's layers.

 

For the second portion of the lesson today, We utilized our interactive notebook to learn about the Earth and its layers and then the students began to create their models of the Earth and its layers in an ornament fashion.

 

The project was more difficult for my students than expected. I began by giving them cardstock that contained 2-12cm circles pre-drawn, a compass, ruler, and a piece of ribbon. The students were asked to measure the circles diameter in centimeters with a ruler. Once they confirmed the diameter to be 12 cm (which was difficult for them), we measured lengths at 3.5cm, 5cm. 6cm, 7cm, and 8.5cm.

 

The students used compasses for the first time in their school career. They learned how to use them to draw circles. Timing only allowed the students the ability to measure, draw, and color one of the four circles and label the layers of the Earth. We will continue with the lesson on Monday. I have also included student samples and a final product of my own that was used as a model.

 

What would I do differently? Well, I would have the layers pre-drawn. They struggled to do this part of the activity and especially with measurement, since this topic in math has not been covered as of yet. I had one other adult in the room assisting students, but that still created a 14-1 ratio for this activity. I believe it would have gone more as planned had it been done in small groups or in an 8-1 ratio.

 

The students are really enjoying the activity and now that the most difficult part is done, the students should be able to complete the activity in (3) 15 minute sessions.

 

 

Natural Disasters ~ Tsunamis

Tsunami's are a devastating fact of nature. In recent years, Japan and Indonesia have suffered great losses of land, life, and home. The critical component of tsunami's is that they are not preventable, but they are predictable. Seismic waves that are released from underwater plate boundaries give enough warning with updated changes to create Tsunami warnings. These warnings may result in a Tsunami or they may just be overly cautious. With the damage that was caused and the near nuclear meltdown in Japan, they are planning and learning to use vertical evacuations instead of the escapes that led to many deaths.

Tsunami's are caused by sudden shifts in plates in an up or down shift. This sudden movement sends a force of energy through the water that causes waves, previously known as tidal waves.

The Great Heron Challenge

During the course of this lab, students will mimic the patterns of herons in their natural ecosystem. Herons in the wild feed at lakes, ponds, and other water sources. They lack posable thumbs or hands that allow for grasping needed items to survive. Their long legs also pose a possible behavioral problem with feeding. The heron has a beak that has adapted for survival and ends in a very spear-like end. The herons use their beak to spear food and bring it to their head level in order to feed.

The students used a straw, a cup containing 500 ml of water, and three swedish fish. The students will clasp their hands behind their backs and only use the straw to collect the fish from the cup. They must spear all three fish within 7 minutes.

The first part of the inquiry is for students to gain a greater understanding of what it is like to use structural features to survive in the wild.

The students then were presented with the problem of environmental pollution.  They were asked if the water was polluted, how would that have impacted the birds that ate 1, 2, or 3 fish. The overall goal was for students to understand that birds are highly susceptible to pollution in their food supply. The birds would most likely have died that had eaten three fish, two would have had genetic deformities that were seen in future generations, and those who ate one or less would have had virtually no effect. The students discussed how we were able to see those effects of pollution as an early effect on humans and that birds were a quick indicator of a healthy ecosystem.

Web 2.0 Tools for Presentations

There are many different Web 2.0  tools that you can choose from, however, I chose Google Docs and Prezi. The basic reason for my choice is that these are the two programs that my classroom students are given access to when completing projects. I would like to become more versed in each, so that I can in turn teach them to a great extent.

I have decided to utilize the Prezi application tool for my project on the Shenandoah Salamander. My reason is simple. By the time I have completed the major course assessment ofr SCIE 6662, my students will be embarking on their first research project and I will be able to guide them in using Prezi. Last year, I chose Googe Docs for their project.

So how do they compare?

Category of Web 2.0 Program	Ease of Use	Special Features	Reliability	Learning Curve/availability of training materials (tutorials)	Equipment/technical requirements
Prezi	Very easy to use	Editing from remote locations, changes are real-time, online storage	Relies on internet	Tutorials are available. Basic Prezi presentations are easy to develop, but more complex will take time to learn.	PC  & internet
Google Docs	Very easy to use	Editing from remote locations, changes are real-time, online storage	Relies on internet	Tutorials are available. Easier to use than Prezi. Less of a learning curve.	PC & internet Maximum size 10MB

 

Category of Web 2.0 Program	Potential for collaboration and file sharing	Cost of Use	Accessibility from home, school, or classroom	Multi-media capabilities (such as animation, sound, video elements)	Engagement/ motivational Factors
Prezi	You choose who to share it with.	Free	Portable by internet access	Allows for embedding of files, hyperlinks	Allows for more creativity
Google Docs	You choose who to share it with.	Free	Portable by internet access	Allows for image insertion, videos, animation	Power point presentation

For those of you that are not familiar with either, I found a great website that will walk you through each phase of development.

http://www.uni.edu/coe/ci/240-020/documents/labpdfs/GoogleDocs-Prezi.pdf

This document will allow you to set up your project and insert videos, music, hyperlinks, and so much more.

 

21st Century Skills and Physical Science

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The 21st Century classroom no longer teaches stand alone core subjects. All areas of learning have been integrated in ways that allow the students to demonstrate their knowledge through performance based learning experiences. Inquiry-based learning is a part of the 21st Century skills. It encourages critical thinking, problem solving, communication, engagement in their own learning, and the ability to discover for themselves the "big" questions in life.

The "big ideas" or "essential questions" that need to be answered by students guide their learning experiences, but they still allow them the freedom to discover for themselves.

"What is matter?" is an essential question in physical science, but can also find itself being answered in all facets of science. Matter is the basic unit of all things living and nonliving. Students can have this "big idea" presented at the beginning of the academic year, and it can slowly be answered as different units of science are introduced. The overarching idea can be placed in an obvious location that allows students to add their own answers to the question as they discover them.

One tool that will allow the students to move into the 21st century in science would be to develop a blog or a wiki. This tool will allow them to the freedom to communicate with each other about their discoveries, as well as communicate with others globally.

As students begin to research the molecular structure of matter, I would pose a question on the blog or wiki that they would have to respond to after researching. The question would be presented in a way that would require research or hypothesizing. Students would be asked to post their hypothesis to the site and then would move to the testing component. Students would then again blog about their results and whether or not their hypothesis was valid or faulty. This will spur the discussion and the discovery process.

Blogging also allows the students to interact with other students and collaborate with them during the discovery process.

The largest challenge that may occur would be access to the appropriate amount of technology. We have limited amounts of laptops, and so making sure that they are accessible on a daily basis to the students would be the most difficult aspect.

http://www.acps.k12.va.us/curriculum/design/science.php

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12771&page=61

http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.htm

The Heat Is On

Heat is defined as “a measure of the internal energy that has been absorbed or transferred from one body to another” (Tillery, 2008). This inquiry focused on the use of heat insulators and those that were more effective than others. During the course of this inquiry, I used polar fleece, wax paper, brown paper towel, and plastic wrap. I tried to vary my materials based on those that were transparent, translucent, and opaque, as well as those that I felt were able to absorb, release, or contain heat energy.

At the onset of the inquiry, I predicted that the plastic wrap would prevent the greatest loss of heat energy due to the lack of a porous surface. I chose not to test aluminum foil due to its known property of reflecting light and retaining heat. At the beginning of the inquiry, water was heated in a microwave for three minutes. It registered a temperature of 60° C. I made some initial observations as the water was poured into the four containers, and they were as follows: water vapor was observed as the water was poured into cooler containers and condensation immediately began to collect on the sides of all four containers. The containers were then covered and placed in the same location for thirty minutes.

When I returned to the containers thirty minutes later, I first recorded the temperature on each of four identical thermometers. Then I uncovered each glass container one at a time and measured the temperature. The first container with the polar fleece had a temperature of 23° C, the wax paper 38°C, the paper towel 39°C, and lastly the plastic wrap registered a temperature of 48°C.

When looking at the materials used, the level of transparency allowed for you to see the amount of condensation or lack of condensation that had collected on the top of the container. The materials themselves all had very different textures. The cloth can be said to have a very porous surface, thus it allowed the most heat to escape from the container. The wax paper had smaller pores in its surface which allowed less heat to transfer than the cloth. The paper towel had very tiny pores and retained even more heat than the wax paper. Lastly, the plastic wrap is perceived as air tight and therefore does not have a porous surface, so it retained the most heat and allowed very little transfer.

This inquiry was not difficult to complete. This would, however, be much more difficult to complete in my 5^th grade classroom with small groups due to the water temperatures and the lack of proper safety equipment. My students would benefit greatly from watching the heat transfer process and understanding how insulators work to benefit them in their everyday lives.

Guided InquiryUsing Marbles

"Momentum equals the mass of an object multiplied by its velocity." (Tillery, 2008.) During this guided inquiry, I tested Newton's second law of motion. He stated that, "the relationship between the net force, acceleration, and mass that describes the cause of change in motion." (Tillery, 2008.

The focus of my guided inquiry was, "How do different surfaces affect the momentum of marbles?" (Laureate, 2012.) I designed an inquiry involving an inclined plane, two marbles of different masses, a ruler, and multiple surfaces for the marbles to cross during the investigation. The first part of the inquiry involved testing both marbles with a plain surface to demonstrate how the marbles acted without increased friction. Next, the marbles were released at coinciding times and travelled across the different surfaces and observed for any differences based on the increase of friction and surface.

The marble with the smaller mass travelled faster than the one with the greater mass over the plastic wrap. They both travelled equally as far over the plain paper, aluminum foil, and the plain surface. The marble with the greater mass travelled a further distance over the foam, cardboard, wax paper, and the polar fleece. I believed that the marble with the smaller mass would slow down as it passed over the foil, foam, and plastic. I also believed that the marble with the smaller mass would stop not far it began to travel across the fleece.  The results were not as expected with the marble with the smaller mass. I believed that there would be more friction present in all the materials. The majority of the inquiry went really well. The one thing that was a struggle was releasing the marbles at the same time to ensure that the same result would occur. To get the desired results, I tested each marble run three times.

If I were to repeat this inquiry, I would try to design a device that would include a gate that opens at the push of a lever in order to control the equal release of the marbles.

I would have prototype models available in a variety of ways to allow students the ability to create their own design. It may help them to visualize the direction they need to move in order to be successful. The students would be provided with a scenario regarding a new ramp that is being built from the highway into their school parking lot. The students job would be to decide which type of surface would slow traffic and create more friction to prevent speeding coming off the ramp into the school.

I would like for my students to gain an understanding of friction's affect on momentum and how friction can have positive benefits in their daily lives. Most of the time we talk about friction slowing us down in a negative way, but I want them to see it has benefical uses also. Yes, I think I did achieve this goal.

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Structured Inquiry at its best...
So during the course of this lesson, my students were posed with the problem of noise pollution in the educational setting. They used I Pads initially to document the decibel levels of sound throughout various places in the school. These were places they were either a part of such as the gym or library, or places they passed on their way to other classes or their own room. They were amazed at how high some of the levels were. I think the one that surprised them the most was the cafeteria. Our classroom is right about the cafeteria, so from 10:30 AM-1:15 PM daily my students learn to focus their attention no matter the noise level.

Once this process was completed, my students then were tasked with creating noise barriers using a variety of materials from air pouches to cottonballs or spray foam and they again documented the decibel readings before and after their application. For this part of the experiment, we used a Rock-It amplifier to exhibit how sound travels and its decibel level and then once the barriers were in place, we repeated the process.

Since true science involves repeated trials, we had six groups (due to the time constraint) and each group had a different media to test. The results were then shared as a whole group and the percent of change in decibel readings was recorded. The students graphed the results, and then were tasked with writing persuasive letters to the Principal to suggest ways that she could improve the levels of noise pollution in the building.

What did I/we discover? Well, the cafeteria is the hardest place to sound proof or prevent from travelling due to the sheer volume of students in that area. The other thing that we discovered is that cottonballs muffle the sound, but they do not truly prevent the transmission. Lastly, we found that the most effective means in the building would be spray foam insulation. It fills all air space and prevented the sound from travelling.

Every aspect of this experience went well, except for the letter writing. My students struggled with persuasive language, even though we had covered it. They need more direct instruction and implementation to pull this one off. Also, since I have ESL and SPED students, it made this area even more difficult to master. We ended up scraping individual letters and writing a group letter based on others we had read in the local Letters to the Editor column.

I am currently trying to embed the Flip Cam videos of my students, but i is not working so well. If I am unable to get them in, please forgive me as I continue to try. My technical support person at my school was out all last week and won't be back until Tuesday.

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Science and Inquiry

So how does inquiry affect our lesson plans? I really like the template that we are using, but I use it much more as a unit organizer and break it out by days and not by date. This allows for unpredictable changes in schedules. It also allows you to modify your plans and instruction based on student needs.

By detailing the activities and learning experiences, you know exactly what materials you need and can prepare ahead of time. It can be time consuming in the beginning, but it alleviates the work and sets your goals from the beginning of the unit.

I believe this lesson plan is effective in science, but I doubt I would use it in other areas.

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WOW! This week has been very busy in learning and investigating the cause of the polar ice caps melting. There are many different reports and opinions on why this process is occuring. Some scientists say that it is solely the cause of the greenhouse effect,which we have caused. Other scientists disagree and say that it is a natural cycle of change and that it can be proven by studying permafrost. So where does that leave us?

Well, I believe that we do have an impact and that the greenhouse effect has had an impact on the polar ice caps melting. I also disagree that this is the sole cause of the melting process. The earth has been around for billions of years and we have had ice ages, hotter periods of time, cooler times, and it continues to cycle. The human impact on this cycle is that we do increase the temperatures with the increase in carbon dioxide levels. We are not, however, the only cause of increased temperatures. Solar flares and massive eruptionson the planet are also causing increased temperatures according to scientists.

So with this being said, I believe the polar ice caps will sadly continue to melt, but that there will also come a time of cooling and the ice will reform. Unfortunately, it could cause the demise of several species of wildlife and coastal living areas before the cooling comes.

It Stinks of Chemistry: This weeks post is about the ice caps melting a...

It Stinks of Chemistry:

 This weeks post is about the ice caps melting a...:  This weeks post is about the ice caps melting and so this cartoon is quite fitting! We were to complete an inquiry experience where ice c...

Interesting thoughts. I had not necessarily thought of it like that. While you are talking about the ice in the North Pole melting and displacement alrady occuring, I think that what they are talking about would be the glacial sheets of ice that are part of the landmasses and not the icebergs themselves. So I would have to agree with you about the icebergs, but disagree with glacial melting (which is part of the polar ice caps.)

Thereasa's Science Education Blog: Week three blog "Icebergs"First I would like to ...

Thereasa,

I think that is an interesting way to present the inquiry to students about acid rain. It is also an excellent way to help the students understand how we can impact the environment based on our behaviors. Sadly, acid rain is caused by pollution and the things that we do.

By understanding the direct impact of acid rain on the polar ice caps, they can surmise how to prevent it.

My question: If the ocean is made of salt water, how would the salt water solution truly demonstrate acid rain? Could you use a vinegar and water sollution to truly demonstrate an acid effect?

Theresa Sicheri
Thereasa's Science Education Blog: Week three blog "Icebergs"

First I would like to ...: Week three blog "Icebergs" First I would like to say thanks for all the comments it is nice to see that we share similar ideas.  So for ...

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Scientists believe that the polar ice caps control the amount of CO₂ emitted and its impact on the environment. The “Greenhouse effect” has been an ongoing problem as the ice caps continually shrink each year. The shrinkage has a major impact on wildlife, sea life, human life, and the ozone. Animals, such as polar bears, are losing their hunting grounds and open ranges at an overwhelming rate. As the polar ice caps melt, the level of the oceans increases. Scientists believe “that if Greenland’s ice caps melt, the level would  rise 23 feet and cause coastal areas in Florida and most of Bangladesh to become flooded” (Kluger, 2006, p. 3). As ocean temperatures increase, so does the rate of hurricanes and the level of their destruction.

How does this impact all of life on the planet? Well, the ice caps work as a reflective barrier from UV heat as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere. As the ice caps decrease, this reflective surface is removed and the ocean waters absorb the heat. The absorption of heat by the ocean changes the ocean currents and benefits provided by the currents. The increase in the number of years with an El Niño weather pattern is causing droughts, which can also lead to an increase in wildfires.

So how does all of this pan out? Well according to some scientists, we are the cause of the greenhouse effect and the melting of the polar ice caps; but in reality there are many scientists that disagree with the greenhouse effect. Professor Ian Clark believes that the increase in CO₂ levels is cause by and increase in solar activity such as a massive eruption (Wheldon, 2007, p. 1). Scientists have studied ice core samples from Antarctica, and they prove that the process of warming and cooling has been occurring for centuries. Professor Paul Reiter challenged the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change after his name was added to the list of scientists that agreed with its findings, and he challenged the report with a lawsuit until his name was removed because he disagreed.

So how accurate can these findings really be? Well, I do agree with scientists that we are not helping the situation. I also disagree that we are alone responsible for the greenhouse effect. I think that we need to find a way to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions and our carbon footprint. The Earth is an ever changing planet and she cycles from cooler periods to hotter periods, and it is my belief that the Earth will again change her cycle and cool. We may not see it, but in the future I believe that this will occur.

Kluger, J. (2006, March 26). Earth at the Tipping Point: Global Warming Heats Up. Time, 1-8.

Wheldon, J. (2007, March 5). Greenhouse effect is a myth, say scientists. Daily Mail, p. 1.

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What a week this has been trying to get this blog up and running. Whew! Now to remember how I did this again for next week.

Where to start! It has been an interesting week learning about the 5 E's and trying to put them into place within the template. It is not that I don't already use them, it is just that I integrate and not define them on my plans. I have also enjoyed reading about each of the different scientists that you have brought to light and are not readily thought of or recognized. It is through all of us that they receive recognition and value in the eyes of our students.