Developing a Student's Passion for Science

If you ask me what I'm passionate about, it's teaching students to embrace a love of mathematics, see themselves as young mathematicians, and build a number sense that will allow them to think flexibly about numbers.  Teaching math to children, for me, is second nature. 

Science, on the other hand, isn't my forte'. So, I find myself working overtime trying to compensate for what I see as my weaker content area. These kids deserve the the best so though it's not my strength, I must remember it may be their passion. I must, as their teacher, show the same level of competence and enthusiasm for the subject that doesn't come as easily to me. So, as you can imagine, it takes a tremendous amount of planning and preparation, and professional reading on my part to make sure that I offer an engaging science laboratory for my students. I hope that as I'm building young mathematicians, I am also building young scientists. 

My goal this year was to plan more hands on experiences. I'm aiming for one a week and so far, I've been pretty successful. The post below is from our lab this week.

Can You Overcome Gravity?

Today, our young scientists were busy at work in their laboratory. They were seeking the answer to their essential question, How can the pull of gravity be overcome?  They were given a hairdryer, three ping pong balls, and a cotton ball. Their task was to set the hair dryer on cool, point it toward the ceiling, and then carefully put a ping pong ball in the stream of air. 

They concluded that the force of air was stronger than the pull of gravity so the ping pong ball floated in the air stream. Then, they turned the hair dryer slightly to the left and slightly to the right, and noticed that the ping pong ball would follow the air stream and stay suspended, unless, like one group discovered, the stream of air was not strong enough. In that case, the pull of gravity would be stronger and the ping pong ball would be pulled toward Earth.

 

Next, the young scientists tried floating two or more ping pong balls in the air stream. Some groups were successful while others were not. The discussion behind the mixed results provided an excellent way to introduced the independent variables (What changed?), dependent variables (What did not change?), and constants in this hands on lab. 

In addition, the students discovered that floating the cotton ball had a different result. In their exploration, they also discovered that the cotton ball would stick to the bottom of the hairdryer and stop the flow of air.

When this occurred, the forced air would be weaker than the pull of gravity.

In our analysis of the lab, students quickly made the connection that the air stream was stronger than the pull of gravity on the mass of the ping pong ball. (Actually, they even strengthened their understanding the following day after a video clip and a reading that the two forces were in balance and that's why the ball levitates in mid-air.)

We asked, "What do you think would happen if we tried the same thing with a golf ball or even a basketball?"  Students concluded that the mass of the golf ball and basketball would be too much for the air stream and gravity would pull it to the ground. However, they also recognized that with a great enough force, they would be able to get the golf ball and basketball to levitate. Some students thought that a leaf blower would work to levitate heavier objects. 

In Closing, one student shared that he once was in a machine that made him levitate!  He's bringing a video of the experience in for the class to see. How exciting! 

Today's lab explored Bernoulli's Principle, the principle that allows heavier-than-air objects like airplanes to fly. Bernoulli discovered that the faster air flows over an object, the less the air pushes on the surface of the object and so the lower the pressure. In this lab, gravity is pulling on the ball while the pressure from the forced air pushes up on the ball. The forces are balanced,so the ball hovers in the air. You can move the hair dryer from side to side, and the ball will stay hovering in mid-air until one of the forces is stronger than the other. 

The students loved the lab and the learning was evident. We hope your young scientist shared their enthusiasm. Furthermore, if you are a student reading this post, we'd love it if you leave us a comment and tell us what you liked most about today's gravity lab.

A Day of Learning

One of the things I admire most about our school is the focused attention taken on learning from others. We are a school community who embraces the culture of making teaching transparent and learning visible. We are not afraid of observing others, or inviting them to observe us. We welcome the opportunity to get and give honest feedback, and reflect on our classroom practice. Because of this unmistakable culture of observation, dialogue, and reflection, we move instruction and student learning forward each year.

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend a day of learning with the Second Grade Math & Science Team. The agenda focused on Math in the morning and Science in the afternoon, and the greatest portion of our day was set aside to observe in classrooms and then meet to debrief and have conversation about what we observed. We asked questions, compared what we saw to our own practice, and then brainstormed as a team how to move the instruction forward.

We began with a 15 minute observation of EveryDay Counts Calendar Math in Karen Morris' classroom, and then stayed for her 60 minute Math Workshop. Teachers observed Karen going about her regular classroom instruction and jotted notes as they observed. They saw how impeccable Karen's rituals and routines were established, how flawlessly her students transitioned, and they commented on her incredible wait time. They also remarked, in debrief, about how Karen never was satisfied with an answer, but always asked why, and how strategically she pulled students during Work Period for small group instruction.

Interestingly, some of the teachers had already taught the lesson they were observing and others had not. This made for interesting conversation in debrief, not only about the content of the lesson, but also about the little nuisances of teaching, like the fact that Karen had cut out the geometric shapes and had them on the board making it easy for the shapes to move as she explained the game rather than having to introduce the lesson from her document camera.

The 2nd Grade teachers were very interested in watching Karen, in particular, because Mrs. Morris' is a math teacher with experience in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade at Chets, and her insight as a 2nd grade teacher related to preparing kids for future years, is of great interest to this group of teachers.

After Mrs. Morris' lesson and debrief, we went out to lunch. We had conversation about our families, our interests, and about school. We strengthened our relationships and spent quality time in fellowship.

In the afternoon, we dedicated our time to learning in Science. The team decided to observe in Patricia Wallace's classroom because last year Patricia was a Grade 5 Science teacher, and once again, the Second Grade teachers are intrigued by the similarities and differences across grade levels. We observed Mrs. Wallace teach the first two E's of the 5 E model, Engage and Explore using a Sink or Float Science lab. Teachers noted how well her students transitioned from the lesson to lab stations, the organization on the part of the teacher to have everything prepared in advance for the lab, how independently students moved through the lab sheet, and how well the student's teams worked together. They commented about Mrs. Wallace's facilitation of the lesson during Work Period and her depth of questioning without giving away the answers. In debriefing, the team inquired about Mrs. Wallace's process for planning for this lesson and others, and asked whether she would change anything the next time she did this lab.

I observed teachers jotting notes, asking for a copy of the lab sheet, and discussing how they were going to tweak the lab to meet the needs of their students. The watched, reflected on their practice, and pilfered new ideas for to improve their own instruction.

The rest of the day was spent on Science content learning in the Administrative Conference Room.

No matter how many of these days I participate in, and it has been too many to count, I always leave thinking that the day was productive and the learning taken away valuable. I also know that practice changes exactly where it needs to in order to move student learning forward--in the classroom at the instructional level.

Science Demonstration Lessons

Last year, teachers filled out a professional development survey, and we discovered that the professional development sessions they found most helpful were related to differentiated technology. Teachers liked having the option to select their session and meet in small groups. So, we knew we had to continue that practice and find a way to offer more.

It didn't take long for visionary dayle timmons to come up with an idea. She thought we could choose a topic and invite teachers on a voluntary basis to participate in a day of lesson observation and debrief. Principal Susan Phillips agreed to secure substitutes and give it a try.

Per our School Improvement Plan and based on data, science is an area of focus for us this school year. So to begin with the differentiated offering, we found it fitting to focus on the 5 E model, and two of our Science Council members agreed to invite observers into their classrooms. Last Wednesday from 10 am to 2 pm, we offered our first session and ten teachers joined us for observation lessons and debriefs.

Rachel Bridges and Heather Correia co-taught a first grade lesson for their colleagues. We observed Day 2 of a 4 day lesson sequence. The four day lesson focus was for students to know that a push or a pull can change the motion of an object and for students to demonstrate using pushes and pulls to change the motion of 4 different objects. In addition, students needed to be able to record the motion of each object in their science journals using the words "push" or "pull."

On Day 2, observation day, Rachel and Heather's colleagues were able to watch the Explore portion of the lesson sequence. Students observed four objects and recorded in their science journal their predictions for how the objects would move. Then, during Work Period, students worked in pairs to explore how their objects moved and record their data in their science journals. To close, students returned to the floor to share their explorations as a whole class. Some students used the words push and pull, as well as fast and slow. Day 3 of the lesson will take the learning into the Explain portion of the 5 E model.

After the lesson, Rachel joined the group in the conference room for a debrief. The group was thoroughly impressed with the classroom learning environment, the young students use of science journals, and the teacher's implementation of the science word wall to aid student learning. They applauded the teachers for introducing journaling and a 5th grade teacher shared her connection with student's journaling in Grade 5. The observers asked questions, shared their ah ha moments, and immediately selected ideas they wanted to implement in their own classroom.

After the group enjoyed lunch together, we headed to Lynn Patterson's Fourth Grade classroom or another lesson. The students were trying to answer the question, How does the movement of the Earth affect the position of the Sun? Observers were able to watch classroom instruction on the first two E's, Engage & Explore. The Engage began with the teacher showing students photographs she had taken of a sunrise and a sunset with captions. They discussed what could be causing a change in the position of the sun and students recorded their hypothesis. Next, they quickly reviewed their materials and a procedure lab sheet before students set off to conduct a lab to explore the guiding question.

Students, in the lab, used models of the Earth and a flashlight to set up the scenario of a sunset and sunrise with the emphasis on the correct tilt and positions of the continents. Students worked in pairs to generate conclusions and record their findings. The lab sheet then provided guiding questions related to geography and required students to study maps in their Social Studies books to answer additional questions. Students gathered for Closing Session afterward and most students concluded that the sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west each day due to the counterclockwise rotation of the Earth on its tilted axis. Students also shared their learning related to the other questions.

After the lesson, the observers debriefed the lesson in the conference room. They all agreed that the students had adequate guidance to get started on the lab, but that the majority of the session required students to be independent learners. The teacher facilitated instruction as she visited pairs around the room, but the students were expected to read and follow the procedures to work their way through the lab. All students were on task and recording their findings. The observers were also impressed with the teacher's purposeful integration of geography, and having the conclusion in cloze form to get the students to think more deeply about their conclusions.

The teachers who participated appreciated the opportunity, raved about their colleagues classrooms, and each had ideas they wanted to implement into their own teaching. As a coach, I took note of those teachers who seemed eager to share and asked for further opportunities, as well as those that remained more timid. I think that one of the most important learning opportunities came when there were ah ha moments from intermediate teachers visiting the primary classroom, and primary teachers in the intermediate classroom were priceless. An element of the day that I hope we continue. I plan on follow up discussion with these teachers individually to find out which new ideas grew for them out of this experience and which ones they've successfully implemented in their own instruction.

Kindergarten Snapshot: A Look at the Afternoon

This afternoon, I took a stroll through Kindergarten. In many of the rooms, the teachers were knee deep in Science Workshop. These are a few highlights from my visit.

In the first room, Science Workshop was in full swing. Students were busy making observations as they circulated through five different stations. Each station focused on a different sense and students excitedly gathered information. The teachers were facilitating instruction as they circulated to each station. I could overhear them asking, "What does it taste like?" "What do you hear?" "What do you think is in the bag by feeling it?" "Why?" The young scientists were eager to make predictions based on their observations and student engagement was high.

In another room, young scientists were busy using balancing scales to measure objects at their table. They were sorting items into two different groups based on the weight of the objects. Students were working nicely in pairs to accomplish their task and the teacher was assisting as she circulated from one pair to the next.

Our young scientists in another room were focused on their sense of smell. They had read a text on the sense of smell, and were in work period drawing things that they could smell. Students' work indicated that they could smell items like flowers and food. The students were eager to share their work with me and really wanted me to photograph their work. :)

In one room, Math Workshop was in session. Young mathematicians were busy creating patterns during work period. When I asked one student to explain their pattern to me, he replied, "I built a blue yellow blue yellow pattern." I asked another student who exclaimed, "I build an A B B A B B A B B pattern." I questioned, "How do you know?" She proudly explained that she had a shape and then two squares, and then the shape and then two squares. Her reply caught the attention of another child at her table who quickly cleared her pattern. I asked her why she cleared her pattern and she said, "I'm going to make mine harder." "Sounds like a great idea to me," I exclaimed, before moving on.


The morning in Kindergarten is packed with ELA: Skills Block, Writers' and Readers' Workshop. Afternoons are generally reserved for Math and Science Workshop. So, I'll visit again soon and give you a snapshot of a Kindergartener's morning.