Science Fair

In the middle of my Unit Plan planning, snowstorms and the general crisis mode of being in two Dr. Smirnova classes, I created a science fair project.

I can say in all faith and honesty that the science fair took its place on the back burner for me. I was focused on the anxiety of the Unit Plan, the added craziness of snow days and the absolute worst I had for the semester, which is that I would have to teach the two Unit Plans (one for Methods Social Studies and one for Methods Science) back to back.

It was the epic storm of craziness and it happened.

So, given all that was going on, I can't believe I even completed the science project, yet somehow I pulled one together.

I ended up exploring buoyancy, and I did that by placing an orange in a vase with the skin peeled off, and another orange with the skin still on.
I made a quick hypothesis, that the peeled orange would float, since it was smaller. But then I wondered if the orange would float or if the water would inch up through the orange itself through the slices. I had to go forward and let the oranges hold their own water, so to speak.

I had two large vases and filled the vases with the same amount of water, 1 1/2 cups.




The peeled orange sank immediately, for all of my 5 trials. The unpeeled orange did not sink, which was a surprise.

When I dug up some information as to why the oranges floated with their skin unpeeled.

The reason was due to buoyancy. The skin acts as a floatation device and evenly dispels the water around the orange. So while I had thought that the lack of skin would make the orange lighter and therefore would float, I had started the correct thinking that the water would creep through the crevices of the orange slices and weigh it down.




I enjoyed the experiment, although I do wish I had spent more time on the project too. I learned a surprising fact, forced myself to think creatively when I really wanted to panic instead and found a new project to incorporate into my classroom.

Earth's Twin

Venus, also known as Earth's twin, was the planet I was assigned last week to research during class. I knew only a handful of facts, mainly that Venus was the second planet. I also knew that Venus was named after the Roman god, Venus.

In my head I envisioned Venus as a blue planet with lots of water and for whatever reason, peaceful. As I did my research for class I realized just how wrong I really was. Very, very wrong, for those of us counting.

In my research I found a whole list of things I did not know:

• Venus is called Earth's twin because they are relatively the same size and mass.
• Venus is the brightest planet and can be seen plainly from the sky, even without a telescope. 
• Venus has many volcanoes, it is almost entirely made up of volcanoes. 
• There is no water on Venus! The atmosphere is so hot the water would come to a boil. 
• Venus rotates backwards, unlike any of the other planets.
• Venus' rotation is extremely slow, one Venus day takes an entire Earth year. 
• Since the rotation is backwards, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. 

It was clear that I did not know much about Venus. I found this clip about Venus and its atmosphere, which I found extremely educating!

I've always loved space and I love mythology.
Learning more about Venus just verified my love for learning about space and mythology!

Reading about Astronomy

Last week our class was tasked with researching articles about space to bring into class.
I decided to research through a few different sources: MSMC, the internet at large and NewsELA. I wanted a wide variety of articles to choose from to give my articles a mix of different views.


Here are my articles:

Articles about Astronomy
From the MSMC Library: 

An Elephant in the Lab - Barrington M. Salmon
This article talks about the small number of women pursuing science oriented careers.

Current Comment - America Press
This article is very, very sort and makes an appearance in Current Comment, kind of a current events. The article covers the work Einstein did and how it effected what we understand about the universe.

Kepler and the Universe - How one man revolutionized astronomy
A very short article about Kepler's work to introduce astronomy.

Articles from the Web:
A multi-colored Starscape: Using Mobile Astronomy Apps to explore the sky- Chris Vaughan
This article is about how we can use technology, specifically our phones, in order to better understand the sky above us. The apps available allow us to learn the names of the stars, plot out constellations and even see stars in color, a real treat to behold.

Astronomically Far Away: How to Measure the Universe - Paul Sutter
This article discusses how we could possibly be able to measure the universe. It sounds impossible to do while here on earth. But the author has you invested in a short experiment that uncovers how we use triangles to measure things. Essentially, if we can understand how to use triangles in measurement, we can understand how to measure the universe.

No, Planet Nine Won't Kill Us All - Mike Wall
Great title. This article is about two things: how the media likes to twists titles to catch our attention and how the alleged Planet 9 won't kill us aka it's debri won't knock us out of orbit or collide with us and send us to the moon, so to speak.




Climate Change Creates Wobble in Earth's Axis - Nasa's Jet Projection Press Release
This article is about how the alarming climate change is also effecting the earth's spin, which is scary enough to digest.

Articles from NewsELA:
Scientists Say Jupiter Muscled its way to Form Earth
This article is about how Jupiter's actions in space, or presence, helped form earth as we know it. Specifically how Jupiter's large size helped keep Earth from knocking into the smaller debri floating around, which is what happened to Mars and Venus. This also makes us wonder about the larger planets that might have existed before us.



Astronaut Twins to Test the Effect of Space Cognition
This article follows two astronauts who are being used by scientists to deepen their understanding of how our brains function in outer space. This will allow scientists, specifically NASA, to test how an astronaut will withstand certain experiences in space. The brothers are identical twins, which allows the researchers a greater in-depth understanding of the outcomes. The twins will take the tests 11 times while on their space mission, they have taken the tests numerous times while on earth in order for the researchers to review and reflect upon.



I would like to read Astronomy in Early Childhood Education: A Concept Based Approach

Atmosphere

Mike and I teamed up together to present Atmosphere. (Unlike anyone else, just US. BACK UP EVERYONE)

Dr. Smirnova asked us to use the website PowToon. Nifty, right?

But it had a very high learning curve. Or is it low? Either way it was difficult. D.I.F.F.I.C.U.L.T.

Mike really took hold of trying to wrangle it into submission. I checkout the minute there wasn't a real toolbox or a way for Mike to share the document/slide he had created with me. I'm a control freak, so having almost no ability to reach over and take over, like I do, was punishment. Although I feel that Mike had the bigger burden.

However, once Mike fought with PowToon and won, he was smitten. The slide becomes a movie, but a fancy and exciting movie. And even better yet, as Justin pointed out, most students already know how to use PowToon. Of course they do.

We used the tool for our Atmosphere presentation, in which we both learned a great deal about a subject area we had almost no knowledge in or desire to learn about. By the end of our research and work, I was coming up with ways to bring Atmosphere into the classroom everyday.

I liked the idea of integrating multiple subject areas. For this example, in my theoretical classroom, I could integrate a city we have been exploring in a non-fiction book (I'm looking at you Common Core) or hopefully a fiction one with a lesson about the atmosphere. I was thinking of using a foreign city, like Venus or Moscow, and checking the weather each morning as a class as part of our morning routine. Since google has google maps that allows people to visually stroll through the city ways/roads/tunnels it would be a great way to introduce geography, history, climate change and technology to my future students.

Let's Talk Scientific Method

Oh science. Oh slippery, tangible yet abstract, exciting and tedious, thing.  Enter; the Scientific Method.

At first glance, teaching students about the Scientific Method sounds about as fun as teaching students Latin. It sounds impossible, by far. But the reality of science, and teaching students to start donning lab coats in order to become scientists, boils down to the systematic steps of the Scientific Method. Without the method we are lost when it comes to discovery. Once students understand and master the concept of the Scientific Method, students are well on their way to discovery.

As Justin, Amanda and I began plotting out our Unit Plan and focusing out lessons on Life Science, we debated how to introduce the Scientific Method. Did we start off the lesson with jumping into the steps? Is Scientific Method a lesson on its own? We found ourselves at odds, looking at the same picture with different lenses. We decided to place the procedure of the Scientific Method during our Cooperative/Inquiry Lesson Plan.

Now looking back, I think that the Scientific Method should have been taught first, or should have been its own lesson, so that students had a firm grasp of it to begin with. By the end of our time with the Bishop Dunn students, Mike and Colleen presented their lesson entirely on the Scientific Method and the students responded to it eagerly, a surprise to us all. All groups felt some reward, we watched the students implement the facts, tools and procedures that we had spent weeks giving them.

I decided to go on a small hunt on youtube for a video about the Scientific Method. I found a lot of rap videos and awkward teachers making fumbled lyrics about the Scientific Method, all i the name of education. God bless teachers, really.
But I did find a really great video by none other than Cookie Monster. Of course Sesame Street would have a well thought out video about the Scientific Method. I should have known.

I recommend this video for any teachers working on the Scientific Method. I know that Cookie Monster, or Sesame Street in general, is geared towards younger students, but really, it's funny. That's why Sesame Street is brilliant, but I won't ramble on that.

The video covers all aspects of the Scientific Method; Ask a question, Do research, Form a hypothesis, test your hypothesis, analyze data and present your outcomes. And Cookie Monster and scientific guy do it well!

In conclusion, Scientific Method does not have to be a terrifying subject to teach, after all.