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...
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.
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:
Asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering)
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics and computational thinking
Constructing explanations (science) and designing solutions (engineering)
Engaging in argument from evidence
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.
On the 3rd of July, my husband took me to Six Flags, Magic Mountain. We recently read an article explaining that my favorite roller coaster, Colossus, would be torn down come mid-August. So, of course, I had to ride this old thing one more time. When it was built it was the fastest, tallest and greatest thing to ever come around. That was 1978. Unfortunately, we live in 2014 and being the tallest, fastest and greatest 36 years ago just doesn't cut it. I find this unfortunate. I appreciated that roller coaster, it goes on forever, has exciting drops, and the line is never too long. July 3rd was the last time I will ever see or ride this roller coaster. Sad saying goodbye....
So the summer of 2007 there were 2 songs that really stuck with me. It seems that every summer there is music that sticks with me, takes me on a journey to a moment in time and pulls me back.
First of all: Rihanna and her Umbrella.... let's just say it was a little annoying, but reminds me of my brother and that makes me happy.
Next: Sean Kingston and his trouble with Beautiful girls:
When I hear them I remember being a carefree 20 something, living in an apartment, spending my days at the pool and typing calls for the deaf community at night. That was a good summer.
The very first day of my Summer Vacation was not even the very first day, it was actually the eve of my Summer Vacation. I purposefully scheduled a concert in my summer itinerary for the last day of school.
I can tell you right now this was the best decision ever. I didn't have to wish away any of my summer days to see my favorite band, but I did have to be patient during our morning awards assembly on the last day of school.
I was able to get through the morning teaching without many tears, because I was just so excited about the concert. I say without MANY tears, because of course I always shed a couple of tears at the end of the year, as my students are so special to me. I gave them a 2 minute speech before the left for the end of the school year about how it was such an honor and privilege for me to be their teacher. I cleaned my classroom of any items I needed to bring home for the summer, turned in my keys, dropped off some games and (necessary items that I won't mention), chatted for 2 minutes and drove home.
The concert was about 4 hours away and by the time I got home it was close to 2PM. My husband was home already packed up with our bags and tickets and hotel information. We met my mom at Claire's school, handed off bags of clothes, carseat, hugs and kisses and we were off!
We drove listening to "The Fault in Our Stars" on Audible, talking about Summer adventures and the concert venue. We went to the Shoreline Amphitheater, and neither of us had been there before, so this was quite an adventure for us both. We checked into our hotel, which was quite pretty, but had a ton of older ladies standing out front in glitter jumpsuits. I wondered if they were going to see OneRepublic also, but it just didn't seem right.
We hopped back on the freeway, turned on the GPS, 3 miles away, but it said 25 minutes, which I thought was strange. ... Until we came to the offramp we needed and we were at a complete stop, inched forward, stop, go, stop, go... suddenly the GPS changed its mind and said 40 minutes, then a little while later it said 12, I decided not to trust the GPS and its minute trickery.
We made it to Shoreline with plenty of time to spare.
American Authors were on stage singing about the best day of their lives.
I had to admit this had to be one of mine.
Claire LOVES that song, so I told Chase, "Claire would have loved this!" He agreed, but later we decided bringing small children to this event would have been a terrible idea. First of all there were so many people she may have been trampled. Secondly we didn't arrive back to our hotel until WAY past her bedtime. So it was a good thing she stayed the night with my Mom.
The Script was amazing. They asked the audience if they had any terrible ex boyfriends and several were cheering and waving their hands around. They ended up taking a girl's cell phone, calling her ex boyfriend, whom had a very unfortunate name (I can't remember the name but it was something unfortunate). The lead singer sang into the phone and at the end told the girl she must have really not liked that guy, to which she agreed. However, I was thinking, if The Script called and sang to me, no matter the song I wouldn't be offended one bit!
The sun had set and the giant amphitheater went completely dark. The stage lit up, but OneRepublic was behind a curtain, we could only see shadows. Of course they sang "Light it up," due to the darkness and flames and all.
It was awesome. Some concerts I've been to the singers sing and I think, THAT is not how they should sound, but this concert was not like that. They sounded EVEN better than on the radio.
I can't even pick a favorite song, because I love all of their songs. So here's just a very good one, but I would highly suggest just listening to all of their music.
The next morning we drove home and on the way we stopped at Casa De Fruta, one of my most favorite places.
Funny, because it is just a rest stop area, but I feel at peace when we go there, everything seems how it should be and there are so many fun things to do, like a train to ride, carousel and wine to taste (the best part obviously!).... We came home, my mom brought Claire by, we washed some laundry and started to pack for the next adventure which was to come a mere 36 hours later.... DISNEYLAND with a four year old and two extremely excited parents that are pretty fond of seeing their girl's eyes light up. I will write about Disneyland next..
Some of my most favorite outlets are running, listening to music, writing in my journal, and writing poetry.
I enjoy sharing this passion of poetry writing with my students. First with my junior high kids. I could share some really deep words. Since I was teaching at a Christian Private school we spent quite a bit of our Bible time studying Proverbs (a lot of really good advice there!) and Psalms. With my 3rd grade students I spent much more time helping them comprehend the figurative language and meanings in poetry, as well as making poems into songs for memorization, but my favorite part was sharing my passion for writing poetry with my students and reading their words. Let me just say if they continue writing with that much passion we will truly be entertained and intellectually inspired. Some of the poems I read at the hand of 8 year old students were so intense I had to re read them a few times and take a few breathes.
These kids have feelings, emotions and sensitivity that many times we overlook as adults, myself included.
A favorite poem of ours to write was the concrete, in which we would write about an object in the shape of the object. Here's my example I'm trying my best with spacing and shape.
Swing sets are so exciting my heart races
As. The. Swing. Goes
Up. Then. Down. Flying
High. Over. Every. Thing
Look. Ing. Past And
Above All Fences trees and Fields.
