Presentation Night Reflection Questions and Answers

1. Using the three levels of inquiry framework (Structured, Guided, and Student-Initiated), characterize how inquiry was facilitated in the activity. Identify specific aspects of the activity that demonstrate the level.

We structured the activity in a way that was engaging, activating prior knowledge and then hooking/engaging the students with a video clip. Then we continued structuring when we demonstrated what happens to a nail (iron) as it was being pulled into the magnetic field, the magnets force pulled it in (observed by a student). Then we guided the students, having them lead us to an inquiry question, writing their responses and choosing the one we had the materials and lesson guided to. 

Finally we let the students go on their own, create their own procedures, and preform the experiment. This was still guided as me and my partner continued to monitor student progress, give feedback, continue to question where they were going, what they were thinking (and why) and finally we came back together to compare our data and explain our results. 

2. What aspects of the activity were most surprising to you as a facilitator? What made these experiences surprising?

The most surprising part was that the data was so inconclusive. We found this was probably due to letting students write their own procedures and next time we may continue to guide this closely and make sure the whole group is following the same procedures next time. 

3. What aspects of facilitating the activity were most challenging or difficult, and why?

The most challenging part of the activity, for myself, was trying not to talk too much, give leading information and feed the students with information.. I remembered to hold my tongue and was thoughtful to the questioning suggestions as in the handouts we have received in class and models shown from Dr. Nelson.

4. What interactions seemed to demonstrate student learning most clearly for you, and why? 

I could tell students were learning when they were discussing that they needed to consistently put the nail toward the magnet (in the same direction) as they were asking questions like "What if we moved the nail this way, or quickly vs. slowly toward the magnet?" I could also tell they were understanding what the question was as they were writing their procedures which aligned to measuring and collecting data that was applicable to our investigation. In one case a pair of students wanted to measure data in a way that may not have been aligned to the rest of the class and the data we were collected, so we redirected these students reminding them of the inquiry question, clearing up any misunderstandings.

Inquiry Activity..

For your blog post, please identify the NGSS Performance Expectations, Disciplinary Core Ideas, CrossCutting Concepts, and Science and Engineering Practices that are relevant to your Inquiry Activity.

Identify the NGSS Performance Expectations: 

Forces and Interactions

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS2.A: Forces and Motion

• Each force acts on one particular object and has both strength and a direction. An object at rest typically has multiple forces acting on it, but they add to give zero net force on the object. Forces that do not sum to zero can cause changes in the object’s speed or direction of motion. (Boundary: Qualitative and conceptual, but not quantitative addition of forces are used at this level.) (3-PS2-1)
• The patterns of an object’s motion in various situations can be observed and measured; when that past motion exhibits a regular pattern, future motion can be predicted from it. (Boundary: Technical terms, such as magnitude, velocity, momentum, and vector quantity, are not introduced at this level, but the concept that some quantities need both size and direction to be described is developed.) (3-PS2-2)
• PS2.B: Types of Interactions

Objects in contact exert forces on each other. (3-PS2-1)

Electric and magnetic forces between a pair of objects

do not require that the objects be in contact. The sizes of the forces in each situation depend on the properties of the objects and their distances apart and, for forces between two magnets, on their orientation relative to each other. (3-PS2-3),(3-PS2-4)

Cross Cutting Concepts

Patterns

Patterns of change can be used to make predictions. (3-PS2-2)

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified. (3-PS2-1)

Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change. (3-PS2-3

Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science

Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Scientific discoveries about the natural world can often lead to new and improved technologies, which are developed through the engineering design process. (3-PS2-4)

Science and Engineering Practices that are relevant

Asking questions and defining problems in grades 3–5 builds on grades K–2 experiences and progresses to specifying qualitative relationships.

Ask questions that can be investigated based on patterns such as cause and effect relationships. (3-PS2-3)

Define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. (3-PS2-4)

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Planning and carrying out investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to include investigations that control variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions.

Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, using fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered. (3-PS2-1)

Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution. (3-PS2-2)

Don't take anything personally..

I am a teacher. I am not a "science" teacher, or an "art" teacher, or a "reading" teacher, or a "Math" teacher, or a "history" teacher, or a "writing" teacher or a "PE" teacher. 

I am ALL of these.

I am taking a Teachers that want to teach Science course through Fresno State, mainly to better myself, learn more, add credits to my growing list of post graduate credits for a raise, and of course in return improve my teaching practices.

 I am learning quite a bit. 

My first year teaching I had the opportunity to attend the ACSI conference in Sacramento. 

It was amazing. We had 3 days of workshops, classes, worship time, fellowship and even some really neat entertainment in the evening one night. We also got to walk around Old Town Sacramento, visit the capital and I was with some great friends/teachers, it was like a family vacation. The hardest part was leaving my husband and  5 month old baby girl and having the complications of being a distant breastfeeding mother. If you have ever breastfed and left your children you know what I mean. Thank GOD for my breast pump and a freezer in the hotel room.  
EVEN greater of a memory than all of that uncomfortableness was in one workshop the speaker said 

"You must teach with InTENtionality." 

I'm reading some really good books this summer. This one is great: 

There are so many qualities that a Master Teacher posses, but the top seven in this book (and I will quote directly) are: 

"1. Master teachers start where their students are.

2. Master teachers know where their students are going.

3. Master teachers expect to her their students to their goal.

4. Master teachers support their students along the way.

5. Master teachers use feedback to help them and their students get better.

6. Master teachers focus on quality rather than quantity.

7. Master teachers never work harder than their students." (Jackson, 4)

Some of these I think I am gifted in, others I am not. using feedback to help myself get better is a challenge. I tend to take things personally, which according to the Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz (a great reading!) one should never take things personally. 

This is hard to do with my personality, my insecurities and my background. I work hard for praise, I am a wonderful student because school was the only place I excelled, felt valued and felt love. This is why I am a teacher today. I want to give back. 

I was busy observing and interacting with the Earth and real life Science... so, I haven't done my homework

I had a lot of fun this last weekend relaxing, reading, starting fires (in a forest, but I was safe!), fishing, sitting by the lake, playing games and dolls with Claire, taking 2 long hikes, exploring this glorious Earth and viewing the stars all made by the one and only God above. 
I've never seen the water this low!

Claire caught a trout... Seeing the joy on her face,... that was the best part of the weekend!
She shared her fish, but I think that's the most fish I've ever seen her eat at one time.

My partner and I haven't had a lot of time (NONE) to discuss what we will be doing for our inquiry activity...
We are going to have our students most likely measure the power of a magnet. I think a fun idea would be to place a 3 magnets 2 cm's from one magnet to see if it would pull the other towards it. Then lead students in a way of questioning that perhaps they want to know if they put 2 magnets 2 cm's away would it pull the other towards it? Would keeping the distance of the magnets, but adding more (or taking less magnets away) and then measuring the number of magnets that may be attracted be fun? Or keeping the number of magnets the same, but changing the distance change how many magnets they could attract?

Let's jump off the swings!

There was a time my 4th grade teacher bribed my class with "recess". His name was Mr Reiss, he really liked Reece's, the candy, as did I. The problem here was very clear to me. When he said we would get a free "recess" I naturally assumed we would be enjoying a delicious candy. My mind was already so focused on chocolate, that I ignored the clear diction differences.

You can imagine my disappointment when he let us all go out to play with no candy on hand.
Be careful that your children and/or students are clear on the expectations you have; rewards and discipline that may be given.
This was not his mistake at all, but a tragic tale from my childhood that reminds me, as an adult, teacher, human, partner, mom, (and whatever else I am) to be clear, and make sure to clear up any misconceptions that may or may not be anticipated.

One of the best ways to do this is to model exactly what is hoped for. Like me dreaming of Reese's. I would have been awoke to reality had someone asked if we were free to jump from the swings, wait, what does that have to do with chocolate!? Oh he means "recess!"  Of course. Playing time without the evil yard duty yelling at us to stay out of puddles even though we weren't going that way, duh.

Some of my students love jumping off of the swings. One problem with this is that I actually also love this pass time, but I am  not allowed to model to them the safe ways to land, instead they get a bad note from the office and they continue to jump in an unsafe way.

Wouldn't it be awesome if I "structured" my lesson in a way that I modeled what might happen to a swing when it is jumped from? 

Next, let's have the students talk about a few things that might change our jumping and landing. This would be "guided". Let's talk about if Jim, a 120 pound 3rd grader jumps off, how is this different from 60 pound Cassy? What if they jumped when the swing was 10 feet from the ground? Give me more ideas, students. What other independent variables can we change to see what happens to our body as it lands?  How far can we go? Oh we can land in some  water the deep end of a pool? A field? A bowl of Jello?? Great ideas. 

Now let your kids go outside, jump off swings at different heights, measure their landing distance. Let the students initiate their own inquiry. Give them time for procedures, determining independent variables, dependent and constants. One group breaks an arm of leg!? Awesome! How far did they land? Record that on a data chart.  It may be necessary to have an EMT available, or just a good ol' school nurse, or some kind of first responder. 

My husband is trained as a first responder.

So tomorrow if Claire is in a cast it could be for the love of science. She'll be ok. Bones heal. 


This was way more interesting than measuring how many times a boring old pendulum swings back and forth for 30 seconds, when additional weight is added, instead let's jump off of swings.

Do I want to be looking at this?

Inquiry investigations... pretty much a research/science project with a fancy name.
What do we need and how should it be graded... here's my take on this.

1. What is the question? What are the scientists measuring or trying to figure out? Is the question clear? Yes or no?

2. Are the independent, dependent and constants are clearly labeled? Yes or no... easy.

3. Background information on the topic. Give us some key concepts and terms. Do the researchers give some information so that regular people will know what is being researched. Yes  or No  credit or no credit

4. Are there some props and data and graphs and some other fun things? Is there effective communication? Make it clear.   Do I want to be looking at this? Yes or No?

It should probably look about this good... this is what I want to be looking at.

5. What are the procedures these people followed? Were you safe? Written out, yes or no?

6. What happened? Was it was you predicted? Interpret the findings, do this and you get credit, or else nothing.

7. Refer to the real scientists, what do they say about this same topic. Do this and you can get a yes : )
8. How can they make their experiment better? Give us a few ideas about how you messed up and you won't next time. Credit/no credit.

Total of 8/8 I am sure is what we will all get, because we've been working hard.



I think I definitely am working hard... As I type up my presentation at the dentist office, juggle a 4 year old, VBS volunteering, homework, swim lessons, daily chores, driving, eating.. you know, life..... Wish me luck...

The RISE of the EGG

There is this teaching method in science called the 5E learning cycle... pretty much 5 words that all start with... you guessed it...the Letter E! I feel like I am back on Sesame street, today's letter is the letter E!

The first stage of the 5E is 'Engagement': we watched a video of people floating in a salty lake and a bowling ball that also was floating. That was engaging.

The second stage of the 5E is Exploration. We discussed what we would need to do to make an egg float in water. My partner and I wrote out procedures and filled in a table with information. We were questioned by our professor throughout our writing of procedures and while we were working on throwing an egg in some regular water.. then salty water, then some really salty water. ('Evaluation')
 400 Milliliters of water and 3 Tablespoons of salt later, we had a floating egg.  I kept randomly shouting "THE RISE of the EGG!" because I thought it was funny, my partner laughed (perhaps sympathetically), but she's a good sport. 

Next, we were to 'Explain' what we thought the density of an egg is. We have no idea what the density of the egg is, however we had an idea of the density of our water 400 grams of water 51 grams of salt, divided by 400 milliliters of water and we were at around 1.125 or something about that. So we know the egg must be less dense than the water. This is the part where the professor narrowed in his questioning to get us to focus, it wasn't how many T's of salt or how many Mils of water, but what was the density of the egg.. and unknown... He put a table up on the smart board and we filled in the table, that was another way he was 'Evaluating' our understandings and he was able to clarify misunderstandings. 

The E 'Evaluating' goes throughout the lesson, evaluating is fluid and never ends...

The final E is 'extending or elaboration'.We discussed as a whole group about how we could make our experiment better, ways we could test more accurately. I won't be doing this, it is not homework and I am too busy...

This week is crazy busy, sometimes I wonder why I do these things to myself. I think for the challenge of it all...

Ivory soap and Ice float

When I was a kid my grandma, Vava, told me a corny joke. It went something like this:

-Guests are scared out of the room by a ghost that says "it floats!" Finally, one woman asks "WHAT floats?" to which the ghost replies "Ivory soap floats!"

I knew that soap floated, because I had taken several baths (typically once a day) and I had seen the evidence of the floating soap. I didn't exactly know why it floated, but I knew it did.
Last night in class we were modeling the functions of water as heat is applied or removed. It was interesting, memorable and fun. Once we were done dancing around, holding hands and linking arms we went back to our desks. We put some blue colored ice in a cup of red dyed hot water. The ice floated, then melted and we could see the blue colored water rippling to the bottom of the clear plastic cup. Our professor took the temperature of the water at the top of the plastic cup (which we learned was not a good tool as some cups were being deformed by the hot water, next time we will try glass  beakers.) The water at the top was about 10 degrees warmer than the water at the bottom. Interesting. 

There are 7 Crosscutting concepts, tools that will help learners of science understand the concepts that are being investigated. During our two water activities we applied these concepts. Here they are...

What is the relationship between water in its hot liquid form and water in its icy cold solid form? Water likes to spread its wings and fly when it is solid. It floats. But apply some hot water to that icy cold floatation device and it is very clear that the two are becoming one, slowly neutralizing one another. Now we no longer have extremes; hot and cold, but instead some lukewarm heated pool type water. Ever notice when you jump into a swimming pool and dive to the bottom the water feels cooler? These are the #1. patterns, that's how water likes to behave. If it is hot it wants to hang out at the top and be admired by dipped toes, whereas that cool water likes to lurk below the surface. Funny part is that water has the chance of getting so super cold it turns into a solid. This solid wants to hang out at the top.. it floats. 
Why do things happen the way they do? Why does ice float? Why when melted does it run for its life to the bottom of the cup? These can be determined by (#2. cause and effect)...Like a firing pin strikes a primer on a bullet, causes the primer to explode which sparks the gunpowder, the effect is that it projects the bullet out of the gun. You could hurt yourself in science. Be careful.

Or a speeding car causes a wreck, the effect is people get hurt. Stop speeding. Like I alluded to earlier, science is dangerous, take the proper precautions. 

We used some super hot water with some super cold ice. Different measures of water's temperature causes water to behave differently. The experiment would have been pretty boring with some red room temperature water mixed with some blue room temperature water. We wouldn't have observed water travel at its finest  (#3. scale, proportion and quantity) without the extremes. 

We didn't have to go to Alaska to observe icebergs  giant huge floating pieces of solid cold water to understand that ice floats. Instead we made a much smaller model of water with a clear plastic cup, filled with hot water and an ice cube floating on top. Clear as day, ice floated. But why? Well instead of observing some tiny little molecules we took a walk to the Atrium, a few steps outside our classroom, and acted like water molecules we were heated up by a flashlight, we moved around linked together arm in arm, spread out hand in hand. Being water is hard work, bouncing around and moving in straight lines, hooking up with other water and then being linked hand in hand with people all around and then taking a step backward, that part was hard, my arms weren't quite long enough... Anyway that's how we used #4. systems and system models. 
Our heat source was the flashlight.  The light shined on us, we moved around. (#5. energy and matter).

The make up of objects is related to their function. Why does ice float, but cold water typically lies below hot water? That is the  #6. structure and function of water. Which is such a wonderful phenomenon. 
So how did the solid state of water (ice) and the hot water react. They forced each other into a state of equilibrium, eventually the two would average out and turn purple. That's #7. stability and change. 

Some things change so slowly it is hard to see the change until I look back on pictures. 

<-----2014... What a difference 4 years makes...

I

l

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v

                                        2010... now that's an observable difference..

How fast can a Volkswagen go... if it only weighs 31.9 grams? What about 39.1g's?

Today was an exciting day. I always look forward to the first day of class. 
I look forward to the first day of school being a student almost as much as I look forward to the first day of school being the teacher. 
New faces, new names, new routines... changes...it can be scary, but I always find it magical. 
I am forever a student. I think great students are the greatest teachers, so I continue to strive to be a great student, so that I may also become a better teacher. I never want to remove myself so completely from learning that I no longer can empathize with my students' struggle to learn new things.

 Strugglers that are so incredibly audible there is no way that you couldn't at least be aware of them ...You know those kids? The students that say... "but I don't geeeeettt it!"before they even try...  or even worse... the terrible words.. "I can't.." I hate those two words the most...The best part is when they DO get it. I love that part.  Even better is when they are so excited because they realize they actually CAN! 

I digress... This evening in the (teacher that wants to teach) Science course, where I am a current learner, we had the opportunity to share some information about our lives, listen to some Journey, observe, ask questions, and get completely engrossed in a puzzle with no box, drop some  Hot Wheels down a ramp, and then talk about a project we would be presenting pretty soon, next Thursday to be exact. 
Most likely if you are reading this you know how I feel about presentations. I get an adrenaline rush, I love it and I am an actress at heart. Now wonder I was Drama Student of the Year, 1999, in Junior high, right?? Also if you're reading this you are either my husband, one of my closest friends, my mom, my current Professor (because we are supposed to blog for this class) or the Professor that changed the way I would think about myself, my writing, my strengths, life and learning forever, Dr. Reid, thank you.. you are amazing. I thank you all for reading my writing, rambling and thoughts, even if you are forced to. 
Onto the task at hand....

So we dropped some hot wheels down a ramp. Before my partner and I dropped the wheels the class discussed what we were curious about with these Wheels and the Ramp. What were we wondering? My partner and I wanted to know if the weight of the car would increase the speed. More exactly I wanted to know how far this little car would travel and if I could make a loop like a roller coaster, but there was no time for all of that... Well this  happened to be the Science and Engineering practice numero uno, asking questions. Could we conduct an experiment and find some answers, or at least some evidence that would lead us to believe something or other? Yes, in fact we could.  So then we made a plan. I typed up a plan on my iPad.. it went something like this.. build a ramp, weigh the tiny black Volkswagen (like the one below, expect WAY smaller), drop it from the ramp, measure the distance, measure the time. Add some weights. Do it again. So we did it. This plan and the action accompanying it go with the Science and Engineering practice numero tres, planning and carrying out investigations.

Next my partner and I talked about what we discovered. Pretty much nothing, because our tiny black VW was not being cooperative when we added a silver round thing to it, a washer(?) sure didn't look like it would wash anything, looked a little more like this

 but if you say so! 
We analyzed  and decided to try something lighter.  So we added a paperclip and it still didn't want to do what we wanted it to. Our tiny Volkswagen decided to slam into the nearest wall veering to the left, right off course.
*FRUSTRATING*, but like I said, this is how I can empathize with my students. Things don't always go the way we want them to. I think overall we decided that based on the evidence our car was going so fast it just lost control, that is my interpretation  (SEP cuatro).
We did some measurement and division. I count that as using Science and Engineering Practice numero cinco, using mathematics and computational thinking. Finally we communicated our findings with our classmates. This goes with Science and Engineering Practice numero ocho, obtaining, evaluating and communicating information. 

Science and Engineering Practices:

1. Asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (science) and designing solutions (engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
   
   
   As is clear by the blue highlighted points above we didn't necessarily hit every single SEP (Science and Engineering Practice) but 5/8 isn't so bad. I guess we could have started an argument from our evidence, or lack thereof, but there was really no time for all of that.
   
   
   Next we get to read two appendixes.. one is 5 pages, the other is 33. I have a field trip to the Imagine U museum with my little, swim lessons and of course some of this, leg day.
   
   
   
   
   
   But the very best part of tomorrow is that I get to finally see this guy.
   
   
   
   I've missed him.