Pendulum

What is your personal experience with swinging on anything like a trapeze? Being on a playground they had a trapeze like play thing and I would swing and do flips, but do not really remember much. What applications to "real life" do swinging objects have? Swings and playground or recess activities. What is your prediction about what will happen if two people are on one trapeze and only one is on the other and they are both let go at the same time? Explain I think it will be the same time. I remember learning about gravity and two objects fall at the same speed even if their weights are different and I think that would apply to this. What understanding or ideas do you have about the science of back-and-forth swinging objects? I just have understanding about gravity. 9 for 1 washer I think for two it will be the same 9 for 2 washers I think it will be the same for 3 washers 9.25 for 3 washers I think it will be the same for four washers 9 for 4 washers My prediction was correct for all of the washers. Why wasn't a bigger angle used? Does this relate to gravity where the weight of the object does not affect the falling object? For both of my questions it is beyond the scope of the experiment. I think my question about it relating to gravity is interesting to me because I know that is another misconception.

Chapter 9 assessment

Inquiry continuum

Our whole lab was completely teacher centered. It told us exactly how much water to pour into each cup, how long to stir, when to time to it, and how long to time it.

Inquiry Criteria	Inquiry continuum specific statement from the column/row	Why do you believe this fits that column/row (your argument)	How would you improve this part of the lesson to make it more inquiry based?
Engage	Learner engages in question provided by teacher, materials, or other source	We were told when to stir, when to measure, and how long to measure.	To make this more inquiry based I would suggest not presenting the students with every step to the experiment.  They could test different ways to cool the water.
Evidence	Learner given data and told how to analyze	We were told what data we would be collecting and how to collect it.	I would let students design their own experiment and decide for themselves what data is best to collect.
Explain	Learner given possible ways to use evidence to formulate explanation	We used our own evidence that clearly pointed to the answer.	Let the students decide how to use their evidence and how to analyze.

B, B &W

Pink Lab: We couldnt figure out a way to light the bulb in a different way with one wire, one battery, and 1 light bulb When lighting the bulb with two pieces of wire, we had to have the light bulb in the middle of the two pieces of wire and then each wire touching an end of battery. Strengths: Student-centered lab with little instruction from the teacher, so the students can learn more. It is an inquiry based lab. Weaknesses: I could see this lab being a little hard for students to understand and them having to ask the teacher a lot of questions. Yellow Lab: When making a simple circuit and with two light bulbs they were both lit dimly and when we unscrewed a light bulb the second lightbulb lit up more. In the series circuit when we unscrewed a lightbulb, then the second light bulb went out. Strengths: Very straight forward lab and the teacher would not have to answer many questions. Weaknesses: Does not require any inquiry from the students. Physical science content standard b: light heat, electricity, and magnetism. Benchmark c: electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic effeects. Electrical circuits require a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass.

The reading gives two stories about classrooms and their teachers who are in the same district.  The first reading is completely teacher centered.  There was no inquiry.  She did not engage the students at all.  She went straight into the experiment without engaging the students.  She starts it by giving vocabulary to the students that she thinks they need to understand the lab.  She then gives them step by step instructions of what to do.  I am sure the students do not learn about electricity in this lab and are tested only on the vocabulary.  They will then remember the vocab but not know how to apply it.  About electricity they will know that if you connect a wire, lightbulb, and battery you will get light.  The second story is inquiry based.  She engaged the students by asking the question of how would you buy a pound of electricity?  She took all students answers and focused on the students answer who said that you can't hold electricity.  She then challenges the students by letting them form experiments.  She encourages them to walk around the classroom and see how others students did and didn't work.  They will get the most out of this inquiry based because they were challenged and hard to form their own experiment.

Weather

Standard Benchmark	Learning Goals	Formative Assessment	Learning Performance
Content Standard: K-4 Earth and Space Science Content Standard: D Changes in Earth and Sky Benchmark: Weather from day to day changes and over the seasons	-The changes in weather from day to day can be forecasted by air pressure.	Only 11% of the students got the correct answer of D. more information is needed.  Students may have choose their answer due to personal experiences rather than their knowledge of weather.	-Build a simple barometer to measure air pressure, then forecast the weather by using the air pressure.

Learning performance found at http://www.gowildnewyorkcity.com/teachers/lesson_air.pdf

1.       Explain how the learning performance you chose would help you understand what students know about the standard you identified  (learning goals: what students should know)

a.       The lesson teaches students why the weather changes and how they can forecast then by using air pressure as a measurement.

2.       Explain how your Learning Performance contains all five features of inquiry.

a.       They are engaged by being asked questions like:

                                                               i.      • How do we know whether tomorrow will be a rainy or a sunny day?

                                                             ii.      • What are the different ways to find that out?

                                                            iii.      • How do meteorologists predict weather conditions

b.      They give priority to evidence, by first taking the air pressure for a week before weather forecasting so they know they are doing it correctly and then the next week can form their predictions

c.       The second week of the experiment they use their evidence about air pressure to make explanations for forecasting the weather.

d.      Students are evaluating their explanations by comparing to the other students in the classroom.

e.      After they evaluate they communicate to justify their conclusions on predicting the weather.

Activitymania

A main point of the article is over stimulation of many activities that do not have a purpose. This is how I remember schooling. We went from activity to activity that we had to do exactly how the teacher wanted us to. We did not learn much from the activity then. Inquiry takes more time and has a purpose.

INSES

The topic of inquiry is important for the article.  It includes letting children explore the natural world and producing explanations from evidence, then it also shows an example.  The example was a simple observation of a 5th grade class observing three trees and their watering cycle.  I like how the teacher encouraged them to write a letter to the custodian, he then made changes and they were convinced of their conclusions.  The teacher let them be out in nature, form a hypothesis, create a solution, and then see real results.  I never did this as a kid and would love it.  I remember science of reading a lot and then doing experiments that were step by step explained by the teacher. I hope to incorporate these kinds of activities into my classroom. It lets the students get out of the classroom and use their applied knowledge towards a real world problem.

Iowa Core

The Iowa Core website will be a website I look at frequently while I am a teacher.  Every lesson I plan will have a content standard from the Iowa Core.  The Iowa Core and the website have been discussed in numerous of my classes.  I have heard that districts split the content up between grade levels, so I like becoming familiar with the website.  I also think it is interesting that Iowa doesn't follow the national standards, but made their own.  I clicked on the science grades 3-5 and it gives me all of the standards in science as inquiry, earth and space, life science, and physical science.  I don't understand all of the standards but when I click on the star it has bullet points that explains the standard.  Right now looking at all of the standards, it makes me nervous for my first year of teaching.  It's hard to think about covering all the science standards and then have to cover the math, literacy, and social studies standards.  Before the teacher education program I didn't realize teachers went by standards.  In my elementary classes I remember just going from textbook to textbook for subjects.

Mosart Website

All four tutorials tied together and explained how to get rid of misconceptions.  I liked how it asked us questions about children and misconceptions, because I got some wrong and then the videos and text showed us the right answers.  This is exactly what we need to as teachers.  First ask them what they think and instead of just drilling them with the correct answer, show them the correct answer.  I also thought it was important how the website talked about the reasons for misconceptions and to not blame it on past teachers.  They get most of them from experiences outside of school.  The last thing I thought was important about the website said the misconceptions are in all ages and levels.  Even advanced students have misconceptions.  I think this is important for me in the classroom to not expect the advanced learners to have the right answer. This is important so that I have to focus on every student and not assume anything.  I thought the value of the website was to explain why they have misconceptions, who has misconceptions, and how to figure out what misconceptions they have.