Science Fair

Last Tuesday we went to Elk Point and judged a science fair. We got there and we were served lunch right away. The lunch was alright but the fun was yet to come. After we ate I left with the other fifth grade judges and our teacher explained what we were to do. I was in the earth science department. I looked at presentations from a windmill to which golf ball will go the farthest. The presentation I chose from my group was which rock will react to a liquid thing. I found that one the most amazing and the board was the most creative. I then got together with the rest of my group and picked our top 4. Then all the fifth graders and sixth graders got together to pick a number 1 and 2 overall. It was a very fun day. One reason is because I never would have imagined these students would have been that creative.

Final Project

Today in class we worked on our final project. We picked out what grade we wanted to present. The grade that Brandon, Adam, and I chose was 8th grade. We have to connect the grade before and after us into our project. It was a good class because we were able to come up with ideas about what to do. All of our grades are connected in some sort of way. It was good for all of us to figure out what we were doing.

day of seamless

Today we finished our seamless assessment quiz. This quiz was over the readings we were to complete in our Seamless Assessment Textbook. This was a good textbook because it gave us examples and showed us different types of assessment we could use in the classroom. One of the things that is discussed was the 5 E model in great depth. I really like this model because if a teacher uses it, it is a great way to assess their instruction.

Last thursday

Since we did not have class on Tuesday and we have a bundle of assignments due in our classes, Dr. E awarded us with a work day. This was very helpful because Brandon, Adam, and I were able to communicate about our lesson we wanted to do. We discussed many important factors that we needed to do and we talked about how we were going to approach it. We decided to do a lesson about inertia. We found a lesson that we think would be fun for our future classrooms. After we settle on a topic and got a good head start on what to do, we left with a lot of confusion gone.

11-6 day of agenda

The main focus for this day was to make sure all of us students were on the right track. We have had an unique week and Dr. E wanted to make sure we knew what we had due in the future and other important dates. To make matters easier, Dr. E handed out a piece of paper that had all of our important dates and when assignments were due. She also wanted to know if there were any other questions or concerns from the class. It was very helpful because Dr. E has been flexible for what has all happened lately. After our talk we continued to discuss the 5 E model. We did an experiment that allowed us to see the 5 step model in full force. It was a great day to get back on track.

11-4 great day

Today we officially ended our presentations. We got to go outside and shoot rockets into the air. Most of them turned out to be duds or barely went off the ground. However, there were a couple of rockets that got some height when they shot up. After that we came inside and learned about the 5 E's. I believe these are critical in teaching and Dr. E emphasized that. If a teacher strives to make a lesson built around these 5 E's, the lesson will be beneficial for both the teacher and the students. It was good to learn what the E's were and why they were so important.

10-30 third day

Class started with a little blast. The blast was our balloon rocket experiment. We were the first group to present and I believe it went very well. All three of us played a huge part in presenting our presentation. All the work we put in out of the classroom paid off because we were very organized and well prepared. Our fellow students seemed like they enjoyed our presentation. Another group made Ooblak again. It was fun to make that again. We also did a fun experiment that involved jelly bellys. I enjoyed tasting the different kinds except for the popcorn kind. I also enjoyed the light presentation. It was short but it got to the point and I believe students would have learned a lot from that presentation. I believe most of the groups have gone, but their still may be a couple.

10-28 second day of presentations

Today is the day that my group and I were suppose to present our topic. However, other groups needed to present on this day because the material they had could not be kept over night. The two presentations that jumped out to me, literally, was the OOblak and the elephant toothpaste. The ooblak was fun because I had never heard or seen that before. The elephant toothpaste was my favorite however. I thought it was amazing how the mixture could make it jump out of the bottle. This was another experiment that I had never heard of but will never forget. We just ran out of time to get to ours so that means that we would have to wait till Thursday.

10-23 first day of presentations

This was the first day that groups presented their midterm presentations. Two of the presentations that I enjoyed the most was the mixture presentation that we all made our own jello and the other one I enjoyed was the different places animals lived. I really like the example they used because I think it would be fun for students to make biomes in shoeboxes. I did something like this when I was younger and it is something that I will never forget. Some of the presentations took longer than expected but I don't think anyone was bothered by it because they were all informative.

10-21 egg

This was a day that many of us asked questions that dealt with assignments coming up. Most of the questions were aimed toward the midterms that we had to present in the upcoming days. It seemed like everyone was getting their questions answered. This was good because it was a big project we had to present. After questions, we did an activity that was suppose to have an egg leap from one cup to another cup. We did not use an egg. We used a ping-pong ball and it work good. Adam was the longest blowing the ball in our group. We did not get an exact distance but it was far compared to Brandon and I.

october 16th, lab day

Today we were in a different room so we could use computers. The main purpose of the day was to research different websites that deal with safety for children. One paper we had to complete was safety on the interenet. My group then went to a Doug Funny website to find the answers for the worksheet. Some of the things we already knew but it was still good to look at websites that can inform out students. We also had to do another worksheet that dealt with all kinds of different types of safety. We did this one on our own. Another thing we did is voted on what color of shirt we would like to have for when we have to go judge. We decided on teal.

A day of Lessons

Yesterday, we had a day of getting our stuff figured out and ready for our midterm. My group and I took advantage of this time. We were able to pretty much finalize our lesson plan and tie up any loose ends. I really like our lesson because I think it is something that students would enjoy doing. I also liked how we had time in class so we could continue to work on it and ask Dr. E any questions that we had. She was right there and was able to answer and help when we needed it.

Mirror Image

Last Tuesday we had a very fun day of class. We began the class by covering any questions or comments. Then we began a very fun and challenging activity. It was called Mirror Image. The idea was to put a pencil through a note card and try to write names or different shapes on a piece of paper by using a mirror. The trick was that everything was backwards. I thought I had done something like this before but it was nothing like I thought it would be. I struggled the whole time trying to write different things. At the end I finally was able to draw a circle. I had no chance at writing my name. I think this would be a very fun activity for students. They would think it is easy and then I think they would like the challenge. This is an activity I could see myself using in the classroom.

online class

We did not have class today and were assigned to do some outside readings and assignments. We read two chapters that mainly focused on misconceptions of students. It was a very interesting read because I think these misconceptions are critical for students. It allows them to view the world through their own eyes. They do not allows have to believe what is expected and can make their own predictions about different things.

Plato's and the Cave

I have not blogged in a while so this blog goes a little bit back in my notes. This class was on October 2nd. The first day of October that we have had this great class. Anyways we begin class by asking if anyone had questions and Dr. E had a few comments. After that we went through a powerpoint involving Plato. It was about a prisoner who got released and then came back for the other one but his other prisoner could not identify him because all they knew were each other's shadows. After that we did a Mystery Box experiment. Then we talked as a class and presented what we came up with.

No class WEB

On September 25th we did not have class. Instead we learned a lot from a web seminar. This is the first time that I had ever attended one of these. It was pretty amazing all the different ways that we could react. Our teacher and another teacher were the main speakers for the seminar. They discussed many things about astronomy. All of their information was very interesting and it made me look at things in a different way. The time flew by that the seminar lasted. I liked how we got the chance to answer questions and ask questions when ever we had a question. It was a first time thing for me and I'm glad I did it.

A beautiful sept. 23rd

On this great day, we did a fun and exciting experiment. We did an experiment involving baking soda, vinegar, and different types of citric juice. The types of juice were: orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit. We first tested vinegar and baking soda and then we tested water and baking soda. We recorded all the information we obtained and then plotted it on a graph. After that came the fun part where we would take different types of juice and but it on the baking soda to see if anything happened. We did not find that many of the juices did anything with the baking soda. But we did learn that the juice reacts with the baking soda more by itself than with the fruit.

Technology day

Last Thursday, we went into a different room instead of our regular classroom. In this classroom, we split into groups of 3 and we all sat around a computer. We went to a health website and played a game involving calories and fat. We would try different combinations of breakfast foods to create a perfect meal. It let us see how we could use the computer in the classroom for certain lessons.

Tuesday Monopoly game

On Tuesday, September 16th, we learned more information about what science is all about. We discussed different ways to approach science in the classroom and discussed the four strands. After a little discussion, we created a safety game like monopoly. We took a little time and colored the board and created it to our liking. After that we played until time was up.

A day full of a lot of information

On Thursday, September 11th, we spent most of the day going over notes on the overhead. There was a lot of information that we went over. We discussed how to be an effective teacher. How it is important that the teacher is knowledgable about the information they are presenting to the class. If the teacher does not know what they are talking about the students might get off track or may not be concerned with what the teacher is talking about. The teacher must also make sure the way the information is presented must be exciting and keep the students involved. That is why hands on activities with science is a very good way to get information across in the classroom. We also got a sheet about how to write a lesson plan that we discussed at the end of the day.

Tuesday 9-9-08

In class today we did a lab about different temperatures using a Lab Quest. We had to find the neutral temperature first and then we stuck the probe into a glass of warm water. Once we got that temperature we recorded the information and got a cup of ice water. We then stuck the probe in the ice and recorded what we saw there. After this we graphed the information and answered some questions to make sure we understood the material. The next lab was to see who had the warmest hand. We each held the probe in the palm of our hands to see who had the warmest. My hand was the second warmest. After we all did it we greated a table of all of our times and the averages and went over our results.