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.