Another Work Day 12/4

Well, I cannot believe this is my last blog post! This semester sure did fly by! Today Kristin was unable to be in class so we added ideas to our project through email. Having conflicting schedules with partners is definitely one problem I have encountered this semester. As nice as it is to work with a group member(s) sometimes it is so hard to get together or agree on ideas. I do think this is a good lesson to take with me in life though, especially as a future teacher as I will be collaborating with other educators and principals all the time. There was not much work to be done to our powerpoint just a few creative touches and finishing up the word scramble. I think our ideas are great and our powerpoint looks well! Hopefully our grade reflects our work! Being my last blog, I just wanted to say thanks Dr. E for a good class and you and your husband are in my thoughts!

Work Day 12/2

Today Kristin and I began working on our final "Bell Ringer" assignment. We decided to do our project on how materials interact with water. We chose to aim our project for children in the first grade. We both brought our computers and began to design a powerpoint. For the actual "Bell Ringer" we decided to do a word scramble using the words, solubable, non-soluble, sink, and float. We thought this would be a good way to capture the student's attention and help them to become interested in the topic. We had a very productive work day. We nearly finished our powerpoint. We are hoping to finish the project completely next class, which will be a great relief to have it finished with all the upcoming projects and tests we both have!

Class 11/25

Again, today we started the class by reviewing the expectations for our final "Bell Ringer" assignment. Now that we are a little more familiar with the project's expectations I started to get some ideas of what my partner and I might do. I think we have an idea for some sort of word scrambler. I guess we will have to see! After this, we began a lab called "The Tuning Fork." My group had a lot of fun with this lab! We experimented by tapping the tuning fork on a wooden block and then dipping the fork into the water. This showed the vibrations in the water which was an awesome visual! We continued experimenting by touching the tuning fork to our faces and feeling the vibrations. We also used a tube like object and took turns listening to the vibrations. Perhaps the most fun we had was touching the tuning fork to a ping pong ball or listening to the fork through water with a telescope. We were surprised to hear how loud the sound was even through water! I thought this lab was great because we were able to use nearly all of our senses to understand vibrations. This lab would be great for any age, but especially younger children to understand sound and vibrations.

Class 11/20

Today Dr. E went over the specifics of our final "Bell Ringer" project. At first I was confused about this assignment so I was happy when Dr. E clarified a few things for me. I am pretty excited about having a final project versus a final written test. I am much more of a hands-on person, so having a final project will definitely be to my advantage! Plus, I feel that doing a project demonstrates our overall knowledge of the class rather than memorizing specific answers for a written test. After discussing our "Bell Ringer" project we began to review our study guide. I was glad that we discussed some of the questions on the study guide because I was having difficulty grasping the concept of electricity. After we were finished discussing the reading guide we began a lab called "Electroscope." This lab consisted of using plastic tape to hang from straws and test the gain or loss of electrons. This was demonstrated by ripping the plastic tape from a surface. When the tape was suspended on the straws and balloon we could see which pieces of tape were positive or negatively charged. Due to the small amount of class time we were unable to complete this lab during this class period. From what we did complete I thought the lab was fun and the concept of positive and negatively charged ions was easy to understand.

Class 11/18

There was no class today, instead we were assigned an online simulation about electric currents. This simulation was titled "Balloons and Static Electricity." Part of this simulation allowed me to experiment with rubbing a balloon against a sweater. While rubbing the balloon on this sweater I discovered that all of the electrons, both positive and negative, attached to the balloon. After all of the negative ions were attached to the balloon I stuck the balloon on the wall. I discovered that the balloon stuck to the wall. All of the negative ions on the wall were pushed aside because of the negative ions on the balloon. I enjoyed this simulation because it gave me a good visual of how ions repel or attract. I can definitely see myself implementing simulations such as this into my lessons.

Class 11/13

Due to a holiday, Veteran's Day, we did not have class on Tuesday the 11th. In the beginning of class we were introduced to our final project. I was unable to be at this class because I had to take my PPST exam in Sioux Falls, but I did get notes from my group. The project was introduced as the "Bell Ringer" meaning, an attention grabber. It is, what I understood, a way that we will excite our students and make them interested in a topic. After we briefly talked about the final project, we continued the "Good Sock" lab. We continued from where we were last time with two glass bottles filled with hot water, one having a wool sock over it. The data we collected on our lab quest was similar to those around us. This let us know we were in the right direction. I am excited to learn more about our final project. I love the hands on projects we have in this class. I am definitely a more hands on person and would much rather do a presentation or project as my final rather than a final test or paper.

Class 11/6

In today's class we mainly just reviewed the study guides to prepare for our upcoming quiz. I felt it was very difficult to hear the answers people were giving in class because of their quiet voices. Because of this, I had a hard time answering some of my questions. I also felt that the discussion was a little rushed. I spent majority of my time trying to keep up or find my place or trying to hear other people's answers. After our discussion about the study guide we began an experiment called "A Good Sock." This experiment involved two glass bottles filled with hot water. We placed a wool sock over one of the bottles and used a thermometer attached to a data collector to find the temperature. We compared this temperature to that of the other bottle of water. We didn't have all the right material and were running out of time so Dr. E said we would continue this experiment in the next class.