Phases of Matter Songs or Stories!
As we continue our look in to Matter, Mass and Motion, you will create your own story or song to show that you understand the different phases of matter.
Take a look at the following examples for some ideas about what your final product may look like:
After watching, take a few minutes to brainstorm individually what you might produce.
Keep in mind a few things that you will need to be mindful of:
entertainment value - it needs to be entertaining!
content knowledge - you need to show what you know!
More information will follow!
Monday, November 25, 2013
Make NA Smile!
Thank you to all of our 6th graders who braved the cold to help Make NA Smile!!!
Hopefully, if you came through the parent drop off loop, your day started off with a smile! Feel free to join us tomorrow!
Once again we get a great example of learners working at home on things that are of interest to them! I can't say enough how excited I am seeing this type of work!
Here is one of our students James Cao sharing his observations of some caterpillars found in his home garden.
NOTICE!!!! Weather permitting, we will be outside tomorrow! Baseline tracking box videos are below!
As we continue to explore the difference between observations and inferences, we spent today observing various demonstrations.
We also have our first of many daily updates from one of our students.
Below, are various versions of the demonstrations that we witnessed today in class. Each demonstration had various scientific elements as the cause. It was not our goal to come up with these solutions today, but to work through making inferences based on our current knowledge and our observations.
I would love for families to watch these demonstrations again and begin to help discover the underlying causes behind each.
On that note...I NEED EXPERTS!!! If anyone reading this would like to post an explanation of why each event happened, please add a comment to this post with your explanation or better yet, a link to a video explanation.
Here is a sample of our work today: (This is a YouTube playlist. You should be able to view all videos by scrolling through the list and clicking.)
On block day this week, we will be going outside to Swickard Woods. It might be a good idea to wear/bring long socks or boots to class! Diving deeper in to observation and recording, we (Mrs. Willmore and I) have set up 2 tracking boxes in the woods. I baited these boxes with peanut butter this afternoon and we hope to attract some animal traffic.
What an amazing first day back in the classroom! The learners were incredible.
Even with all of the confusion of a new building, new teachers and new friends, we were able to actually get some scientific thinking in during the day.
The goal for the day was pretty simple...get everyone thinking outside the box, being creative and being collaborative.
How many things can you make with 1 paperclip per person? (You must be able to document and prove your results!)
This lesson in modelled in a constructivist approach to learning, which relies heavily on learners building from past knowledge to "construct" new knowledge.
With only these directions, learners were forced to think critically about what was being asked, think creatively about possible solutions, and work collaboratively to expand their own thoughts.
The state of Ohio has the following standards set for this type of activity which deal with scientific ways of thinking:
Develop
descriptions, models, explanations and predictions;
Think
critically and logically to connect evidence and explanations;
Recognize
and analyze alternative explanations and predictions
Communicate
scientific
procedures and explanations.
Learners had some great ideas after the initial phase of anxiety and confusion.
We also began exploring ways to document our thinking in order to archive it and use it later. We will begin looking at our results today!
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Welcome back to school! Our goals for the first day are pretty simple:
Think...begin to revisit the scientific method and scientific ways of thinking.
We will do this through a paper clip activity.
Get learners comfortable with classroom and school procedures including:
Schedule
Lockers
Lunch
Name Tag creation
Notes for later this week...
We will be going out to Swickard Woods on Wednesday and Thursday!!! Dress appropriately!
Hope you had a good nights rest!
PARENT NOTICE...If you did not receive an email from me on Sunday evening, please fill out this form:
