12/2 Class

Today's class consisted of working on our Bell Ringer Projects. My partner and I chose to do our project about Diet Coke and Mentos Geyser's. In this project we would take our students outside and put Mentos in a tube and drop them into a 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke. This immediately would cause a geyser! This project would be a great way to grab students attention and make them eager to learn. In this project our students would learn about what caused the chemical reaction between the Diet Coke and Mentos. We would also experiment with different kinds of pop, such as Sprite. Our students would hypothesize what they think would happen and why. My partner and I successfully completed our project today and submitted it to our instructor. I think that Bell Ringers are an excellent way to engage students in their learning. If they are excited about an activity it will cause them to pay close attention and learn much more.

11/25 Class

Today, class started out with going over updates as to when our final projects, reading guides, and quizzes are due. We then went over our reading guides, which helped to clear up many of the questions I was unsure about. I feel more prepared to submit my reading guide and take the quiz. Next, we did a lab that taught us about several sound activities. We used a tuning fork by hitting it on a wood block and then touching the fork to different objects. The most interesting object was a ping pong ball taped to a string. We also held it to the edge of a piece of paper and put it in a cup of water. The next activity we did included us putting the tuning fork to our ears to hear what it sounds like, and then we held a long tube over our ears and then held the tuning fork at the end to hear a change in the sound. We also put different amounts of water in glass bottles and were to line them up from highest to lowest pitch. We tapped on the bottles with a wooden mallot. This activity was fun because the bottles were like instruments. I found today's activities to be the most fun lab that we have done so far. I think students in our future classroom's would really enjoy this lab because everything is hands on and easy to understand the concepts.

11/20 Class

Today's class began with Dr. Ezrailson discussing our upcoming Final Projects, which will be Bell Ringers. She posted sites on D2L that give examples of projects we may do. Next, we briefly went over the study guide for Quiz 4. Dr. Ezrailson showed an example to one of our questions by rubbing a balloon in her hair and showing that it sticks to the wall because they have opposite charges. She rubbed the balloon on her hair again and then blew up another ballon and held them next to each other. At first they attracted, which caused the balloon rubbed in her hair to transfer its negative charge onto the other balloon, and they repelled since they had the same charge. We then began to work on an Electroscope experiment. We pressed modeling clay into two film cans and placed flexible straws into the clay in each can, with the straws bent. We then tore off two, 4 inch pieces of tape and pressed them firmly onto the table, leaving one end of each tape sticking up as a handle. We quickly pulled the tape off the table and stuck them to the bent pieces of the straw. Then, we moved the cans closer together and the two tapes repelled each other. Then, we tore off two more pieces of tape and pressed the sticky side of one against the smooth side of the other and put them on the staws. These two tapes attracted each other. From this lab I learned that when the tape was ripped off the table, there was a "tug-of-war" of electric charges between the tape and table. The tape either steals negative charges from the table or leaves some of its own negative charges behind. Both pieces of tape end up with the same kind of charge, either positive or negative. This lab was interesting. We had to be sure not to touch the tape once it was placed on the straw because the tape would then lose its charge. I think that young students would find this lab fun and interesting.

11/18 Class

Today we did not have class due to a situation Dr. Ezrailson needed to attend to. Instead of class our assignment is to do simulations on a couple of sites given to us. On the Electricity and Magents Simulation site I chose two simulations to talk about that I like the best. I thought the Electric Field Hockey was fun and interesting. You play hockey with electric charges. You place the charges on the ice and hit start to get the puck in the goal. Students are able to view the electric field caused by the charges and trace the puck's motion. It is pretty challenging and requires strategic thinking to place the charges in the right places to get the puck to go in the goal. You can also raise the difficulty after each time you make a goal. I think this simulation will be fun for kids because it involves sports and science and causes them to think in new ways. The other simulation I enjoyed was the John Travoltage simulation. By rubbing John Travoltas foot on the carpet he picks up charges. Then, you move his hand towards the door knob to get rid of the excess charge in his body. The more you rub his foot in the carpet the more charges are built up, and the bigger "shock" he is given when he touches the door knob. I think this simulation would be great for younger students because it is simple to understand and they can actually see the charges in Jonh's body and the electric shock that occurs. On the next web site I did the Electric Circuit Construction kit. Students can build their own circuit. The "kit" includes various materials to build it, such as wires, lightbulbs, resistors, a battery, and switches. Students can click on the "hand" and can choose from various exhibits which will build a circuit for the student and explain how and why it works. These simulations were all very entertaining and informational, and I think students will have fun with them and also be caused to use critical thinking methods.

11/13 Class

We did not have class on 11/11 due to Veteran's day. Today's class began with Dr. Ezrailson giving us a brief overview about our final project. It is called a "Bell Ringer" in which we will prepare what we will do at the beginning of class to get our students attention. Next, we began to work on our "Good Sock" lab that we did not finish last week. My group completely started over since we did not collect any data the last class period. We put hot water into two glass bottles and placed a wool sock over one of them and the other one was left alone because it was the dependent variable. However, we did have some technical difficulties with our Lab Quest and were unable to collect any data. Dr. Ezrailson tried to help us many times, but the little computer would not work until the very end. She wanted to show us that we should not give up or ever let our students give up, you just have to keep trying. Ultimately, we ran out of time and had to use our neighbor's data. From this data we discovered that the wool sock is a better insulator than the dry cotton and the wet cotton sock. When the bottle was covered with the wet sock the temperature dropped the most becuase the heat transfered from the warmer area to the cooler area. This taught us that wet clothing in cool weather will cause you to be much more cold than wearing dry clothes. After answering questions on our lab worksheets we discussed our results with the class. Overall, this project was very interesting. I think that by using this project in the future my students will have a better grasp on the idea of heat transfer.

11/6 Class

The majority of today's class was spent going over our reading guides to prepare for our third quiz for chapters six through eight. We went over every question, which helped to clear up any questions that I previously had. The last twenty minutes of class was spent on doing an experiment called A Good Sock. My group did not get very far into the experiment because we experienced some difficulties early on. We were to fill up 2 plastic bottles with hot water and put a sock over one of them to help insulate it. One of our bottles leaked everywhere because there were three small holes in it. We also had trouble using the Lab Quests and probes to find the temperature of the two bottles. Dr. Exrailson said that next week we will work on the experiments again, so hopefully we will have better luck and will be able to determine the outcome of the experiment. From this experience I have learned that you just have to go with the flow of things and not panic when difficulties arise during projects with students.

11/4 Class

Today in class the last two groups presented their midterm projects. The first group's lesson plan was about a mystery box containing living or non-living things. The students place their hand in a hole in the box and feel the object to decide if the elements of the object are living or non-living. The second group made an Animal Book to teach students about the different elements of animals. Such as if they have feathers, fur, or scales, if they swim or walk, etc. Each student then would make their own book and describe different animals. After the presentations Dr. Ezrailson then began to discuss thermal energy. Thermal energy deals with temperature and heat. It is the total of all the kinetic potential energy of all the particles in a substance. We learned that as temperature increases, so does the thermal energy because the kinetic energy of the particles increased. We learned that some things heat up and cool down faster than others. An example that Dr. Ezrailson talked about was that water has an insulating effect on land. Such as Michigan being surrounded by lakes. It takes a longer amount of time for the temperature to decrease in Michigan than it does in South Dakota because it is surrounded by lakes and South Dakota is not. We learned that water has a high specific heat because it has more density and the molecules are close together. Also, we learned how to calculate changes in thermal energy. This class was very informative about thermal energy. I liked it because I had little previous knowledge about it. After today's lesson I feel much more confident in teaching it to my future students.

10/30 Class

Today in class we continued presenting our midterm projects. Six groups presented their lesson plans today, including mine. The first group that went did a lesson plan called Water Magic. For this project they demonstrated the difference between solids, liquids, and gases. They used an ice cube (solid) for their experiment. They melted the ice cube to show it in its liquid state, and pointed out the steam, which showed it in its gas state. The next group that went was my group. We did a lesson plan on Simple Machines. We took apart a clock to show the class what simple machines were used to make the clock work. The next group used dry ice and placed different pieces of it in a metal cup, a plastic cup, and a styrofoam cup to see which was the best insulator. This group focused their lesson plan on learning about conductors and insulators. Next, a group presented on Matter and Mixtures. This group put different materials in cups and we were to identify different elements of the materials with a magnifying glass. They also talked about homogeneous mixtures. Then, the next group presented a lesson plan using magnets. They discussed that magnets are used in many things in our everyday lives, such as headphones, TV's, computers, and many more. They used magnets and several materials to show which were attracted to the magnet. The next group talked about motion of molecules in water. They put hot and cold water in cups, then food coloring, and we were to decide whether the hot or cold water dispersed the food coloring the fastest. The last group discussed the scientific method using frosting and food coloring. They wanted us to hypothesize what would happen when mixing red and blue food coloring into the white frosting, and the result was that the frosting turned purple. All of the groups that presented today did a great job and chose neat lesson plans. Everyone did a good job at explaining the safety issues with their projects. I think all of these projects would be very helpful and fun for students in the classroom.

10/28 Class

Today in class we began doing our Midterm Lesson Plan presentations. Four groups went today. The first group did a lesson plan on how magnets attract and repel. Each table was given a bag with different items that either attracted, repelled, or had no reaction on the magnet. The second group did a lesson plan which showed how many books could be stacked on a cookie plate, which was placed over the egg and a piece of wood, to see how many it took before the egg broke. The number of books it took was 59 children's books. I liked this project because I have never heard of anything like it before. The third group did an experiment in which a pop can with a small amount of water in it was placed on a hot plate, and then put upside down in very cold water. The can was supposed to crush by itself due to the pressure, but some variable in the experiment was wrong and it did not work. Dr. Ezrailson explained that that is how science works sometimes, you just need to figure out the right variables in order to see the results. Although this experiment did not work at the time I still find it to be a very neat project that students would enjoy. The fourth group did a lesson plant to teach students the difference between solids and liquids. They passed around small bags of solids and liquids for us to see which was which. There were also mistery solids and liquids which students had to go up to the desk and see (ice, burning candle). All of today's projects were very interesting and enjoyable to watch. I think they are definitely projects I could use in the future.

10/23 Class

Today class began with Dr. Ezrailson talking about density and pressure. She discussed the shape of airplane wings and how the curved shape of the top of the wing causes slower valocity and the straight bottom of the wing causes a higher velocity. There is pressure pushing up towards the wing and down on the wing. With density, we learned that the more mass in an object the more dense it is. We also learned that higher pressure = smaller area, which was discovered by an activity that we did. We were to get in groups and try to exert the most pressure on a large piece of butcher's paper using our bodies. My group decided that standing on one foot would create the most pressure. We then traced my foot on the paper and measured it in centimeters. We then calculated that number with my weight to find out the pressure I was exerting on the paper. We also discussed ways in our daily lives that involve pressure and density. Snowshoes were discussed becuase they increase the body's surface area so one does not sink in deep snow. One student discussed how massages involve pressure whether you are using your thumbs or your entire hand. I think that the activity involving the large paper and using a student's body to make the highest pressure would be a fun and engaging activity for future students.

10/21 Class

Today in class Dr. Ezrailson began by talking about buoyancy. A buoyant force is the net upward force that a fluid exerts on an immersed object. She showed us a simulation of a weight being submerged into a container of water, and we made a hypothesis as to what we thought would happen. We learned that the weight of the water pushed aside is the buoyant force. We also learned about Archimedes' Principle. Water displaced is = to water pushed aside from an object. We also looked at a simulation of this concept. She told us that boats have wider dimensions that their height, which enables them to float. Next, we did a project that involved an empty beaker, a beaker with a funnel, and a ping-pong ball. We were to blow on the ball that was in the funnel and tried to make it "jump" into the empty beaker. From this we learned that the air being blown on the ball created a force. The egg jumped out of the first beaker into the second due to pressure being blown on it. If we blew on the near side of the ball it stayed in a state of equilibrium. The stronger blowing force the further the ball would go. Force of wind is directly proportional to the distance it went. After the project we were then given time to work on our midterm projects and sign up for the day we wanted to present.

10/16 Class

Today in class Dr. Ezrailson began by discussing our midterm project. She made an outline on the board to show what she wanted us to include on our outline for our projects that was to be handed in at the end of class. We got in our groups and began discussing and researching what we are going to do for our project. My partner and I chose to do a project for sixth graders to learn about Newton's Law of Motion. They are going to be taking apart a clock to see the cause and effect of all the parts in the clock. They are also going to learn how to be safe while disassembling their clocks. We have not yet figured out all the complete details we are going to use in our lesson, but we are going to get together next week to finalize our project. I think this particular project will appeal to students because they enjoy taking things apart, and it will be a great learning experience for them. Today's class was successful because we got a pretty detailed outline figured out and discussed many things that we would like to include in our plan. I am anxious to see how it all comes together.

10/14 Class

Today, class began with Dr. Ezrailson discussing our midterm projects. We have already chosen our partners and now we need to choose a topic to present. She let us know that the projects are not to teach students specifically about safety, but to include a safety component to inform our students of possible safety issues during the lesson. This discussion cleared up many questions I had regarding to the project. Next, we went over our Module Two study guide for chapters three through five. Dr. Ezrailson discussed in depth about potential and kinetic energy. She drew a diagram of a bowling ball falling as a visual aid for a more clear understanding. I learned that in the middle of the ball falling the kinetic and potential energy are equal. We discussed that simple machines we are able to save time and work at the cost of distance. Also, we discussed how the moons gravitational pull and the sun create tides on earth. The different pulls of the moon stretch the earth, producing ocean bulges that extend nearly one meter above the average surface level of the ocean. We also talked about projectile motion and escape speed. This discussion cleared up most of the questions I had about the study guide, and I feel more prepared to take the quiz.

10/9 Class: Kepler's Laws Simulation

Today we did not have face-to-face class, so our assignment was to explore a simulation to teach us how Kepler's Laws work. Upon arriving at this site I was very confused as to what I was supposed to be doing. It took a few minutes and I explored by clicking on different things, and then I eventually started to understand the point of the simulation. Changing the value of the semi-major axis and eccentricity caused the path of the planet to become closer or further away from the sun and earth. The unit of the semi-major axis is measured in AU, which tells the distance between the earth and sun. There is also a clock that shows the time that has passed in the unit of earth-year. In this simulation I experiemented by measuring the periods of the planet to find a different semi-major axis. Also I clicked the "sweep" button which showed the area swept by the planet. This simulation is a bit confusing at first, but after exploring it for a while I began to enjoy and learn more about Kelper's Laws. I found it to be very interesting and I think that younger student's will also enjoy it.

10/7 Class

Today class begun with Dr. Ezrailson talking about our assignment that is due on Thursday (10/9) because we will not be having face-to-face class. We are going to be doing a Johannes Kepler and Planetary Motion Animation simulation. Then she began discussing our midterm project. We chose a partner that we wanted to work with, and now we are to decide on a topic to present a science lesson with emphasis on safe practice in physical science. I think this will be an interesting project becuase I have never written a lesson plan for this content area. Dr. Ezrailson showed us several links that she posted in D2L that contain information to help us with our plans. I think they will be very useful becuase some have good ideas for hands on projects. After that discussion we then moved on to going over our study guides for quiz two. Dr. Exrailson got through the Chapter four section and said that next time we meet she will go over the rest of the questions. She provided in depth explanations to the questions we went over which helped me to more clearly understand the information.

10/2 Class

Today class started out with Dr. Ezrailson catching us up on what we need to be including in our blog reflections, and she also talked about students who still need to make their blogs. Also, it was stressed that everyone needs to attend class, especially when we have not had face-to-face class in a while. If anyone had any questions about the blogs or anything else, this was the time to ask. Next, we had a lesson on Newton's Second Law, which, according to our textbook, states "The acceleration produced by a net force on an object is directly proportional to the net force, is in the same direction as the force, and is inversely proportional to the mass of the object." We discussed the formula, which is a=f/m. I also learned that gravity on earth is 9.8m/s squared. We were given an example about standing next to an open fire for the concept of the Inverse Square Law (1/r squared). We also looked at a cannon ball simulation where Dr. Ezrailson first shot the cannon at 90 degrees, and we saw that the cannon went straight up and came straight back down. Next, she shot the cannon at 75 degrees and the ball formed a parabola. Then she asked the class which degree would we point the cannon in order for the ball to shoot the longest distance. The answer was 45 degrees. Lastly, we made paper airplanes in order to see who could make one with the longest hang time. My paper airplane was not very successful(14 ft.), but I think with a little different folding technique and a stronger throw it could have flown longer and further.

Mass Spring Lab

On 9/30 we will not have class, but we were assigned an online lab called the mass spring lab. Upon arriving at the sit I was trying to discover what it is we were supposed to do, so I put the different sized weights on the springs and changed the friction and the softness of spring 3. The smaller the weight applied to the spring, the more it would bounce up and down. The heavier the weight applied to the spring the less it would bounce. The higher amount of friction that was place on the spring the less the weight would bounce. If the spring was soft the more it would stretch, and if it was hard it would bounce with less stretching of the spring. When placing lots of friction with a hard spring the weight would bounce really fast. When there was no friction and a soft spring the weight would bounce slower and less than when there was a hard spring. I also watched the difference between the springs moving in real time, 1/4 time, and 1/6 time. It was really interesting to see how the different weights, friction, no-friction, and softer and harder weights affected how the weights and springs bounced. I can see that this would be a fun andgreat learning activity for students that I will teach in the future because I enjoyed it myself. Visually seeing how friction, weight, and thickness of the springs all acted together was easy to understand.

NSTA Web Seminar

Instead of class today we enrolled ourselves into a NSTA web seminar about Astrology. It was really interesting to use Elluminate technology as a classroom; I felt like I was actually in class and was able to ask questions, reply to questions, and engage in converstation with the others in the seminar. It was neat to be learning with others from all over the U.S., there was even a woman from Australia. I learned more about stars in this one session than I have probably learned in my whole life. I learned that stars are massive hot glowing balls of gas and are made up of 70 to 80% hydrogen. We were shown pictures of stars forming, learned about high and low mass stars, and were shown simulation videos. All of the material that we were shown was really interesting and informative. We were also given the links so that we can see them again and possibly show future students. At the end of the seminar we were offered a list of web resources that could be very useful to learn about science and to relay that knowledge onto students. They inluded videos, lesson plans, and much more relating to the field. The web seminar was a new and interesting experience for me and I plan on attending more of them!

9/23 Class

Today in class we went over how to blog and use D2L since they are new technologies and are causing confusion amongst the classroom. We also discussed the NSTA web seminar about Astronomy we are to participate in on Thursday the 25th. Lastly, we went over our study guides in order to prepare for our Module 1 quiz, which includes the Prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2. We discussed the answers to the questions on our study guide as a class, which helped clear up questions we had. The study guide helped me to recognize the key points of the reading material and helped me to recall information during the quiz.

Graphing Your Motion Lab Activity

Today in class the instructor gave us a brief explanation about how to use the Lab Quests, which caused my group to be less confused today during our activity. We set our motion detector which was connected to the Lab Quest on a chair and marked off a 4m straight line on the floor directly in front of the motion detector. During the first trial I stood at the 1m mark and slowly walked backwards holding a clipboard (for the motion detector to have a flat surface to detect), and walked slowly backwards towards the 4m mark; then again walking faster. We then looked at the graphs that we made and drew them on our paper. The graphs showed that when we walked slowly backwards (negative motion) the graphing line moved down then up with smoother lines, when we walked faster in the negative motion the lines were much more jagged and closer together than before. When walking forward (positive motion) the graphing line went up then down. We graphed our data on position vs. time graph and a velocity vs. time graph. This was an interesting activity, and I realized today that much more explanation would need to be given to younger students because it was a little confusing learning how to use the equipment and understanding what the data meant.

9/16 Class

During this class period we listened to the instructor discuss details about D2L, including signing up for the web seminar and how to submit Module 1 under the dropbox tab. We were then able to ask any questions we had about D2L and class in general. Next, we were given Lab Quests and motion detectors and started the Graphing Your Motion lab acivity. This activity was unsuccessful because the Lab Quests' batteries were not fully charged. Before the batteries completely died, my group was confused as to how to actually use the Lab Quest. I learned that before I use technology like the Lab Quest's, to be sure to explain to the students how to use it before sending them off in their groups.

Snowflake Patterns

On the first day of class we folded and cut paper to make "snowflakes." We did this by folding our square paper in half, then into a triangle to being making the snowflake. My table chose to make a two fold snoflake for our first time to be sure we wouldn't confuse ourselves. Next, we cut designs and shapes into our snowflakes. With this exercise I can see why it would be useful to teach young students because of the use of patterns and repeat symmetry that is shown in the final snowflake. This project will help them to understand that there are patterns all around us nature and out environment.

The Moving Man Simulation

The Moving Man Simulation was an interesting way for me to explore how the position, velocity, and acceleration of an object all work when an object is in motion or at rest. When I left the man at rest all three lines on the graph would remain at 0. When I moved the man backwards towards the tree (-10) the Position graph would move to negative numbers and vice versa when moving in a positive direction. The Velocity graph would make spiked lines between 0 and -10 when moving in a negative direction and between 0 and 10 when moving positively. On the Acceleration graph the line would spike starting from a lower number to a higher number depending on the speed I was moving him while moving backwards, and from higher numbers to lower numbers when moving forward. It was neat seeing all three graphs move at the same time to show how position, velocity, and movement are affected depending on where you are at, in what direction you are moving, and your speed. This is a great learning activity to show students visually what position, acceleration, and velocity are doing when they themselves are in motion.

The Science of a Kiss: Conservation of Mass and Energy

The reasoning for this experiment was for our class to learn about the conservation of energy. When the kiss was moving it had kinetic energy, and when the movement was stopped when the kiss hit the table it resulted in gravitational energy. We took the mass of the Hershey's Kiss which was .0022kg and we dropped it from the height of
.1 meter, .5 meter, and 1 meter. We recorded the data and calculated the gravitational potential energy. The equation we used was 2KE/m = v^2. We also found the final velocity just before the kiss hit the table by using the equation
Vf = 2(9.8 m/s^2)X .53m which = about 9.8 m/s^2. This experiment helped me to start understanding how kinetic and gravitational energy work. I was able to see how and why the numbers we used worked in the equation. I know have a better understanding about the terms kinetic energy, gravitational energy, and velocity.