Vegetative Organs and Plant Tissues - Day 2

Today group 2 introduced their inquiry lesson on Vegetative Organs and Plant Tissues. They began with a review from their previous lesson. Students were presented a word wall and asked if they remember any of the terms. Reviewing helps students to retain the information that is taught in previous lessons. The teachers than introduced a video of a horse speaking who is relaying a message from farmer Dave. Farmer Dave is curious to know what the students plant discovery was like, so he ask the students to help him with a problem on the farm. The students really enjoyed the video and they thought it was so funny. Students were put into groups and each group was given a riddle to solve about a plant tissue. I liked how the teachers modeled how to solve the riddle by making a hypothesis and using the research they found to solve it. It's important for teachers to model the inquiry process so that students know what is expected of them. Riddles are so much fun to incorporate into a lesson, and I can't wait to include them into my future lessons. Overall I think that the teachers did a fantastic job. They were all very involved with all of the students, and did a great job at helping the students who were struggling.

Vegetative Organs & Plant Tissues - Day 1

Today group 2 began their direct instruction lesson on Vegetative Organs and Plant Tissues. Before introducing the topic the teachers began with stating the classroom rules. It's important for teachers to set rules in a classroom and constantly reminded children that they must be well behaved and respectful to their classmates and the teachers. I thought that the students were very well behaved during the introduction. Students were given a note packet for them to follow along and write notes in. I really liked that the teachers brought in a plant for each student to have at their desk. I thought that this was a great idea because it made it more tangible for the students. I also think that it was a great way to capture students attention and made them want to learn more about plants. It was a great way to engage the students and it made it a hands on experience for them. I liked how the teachers allowed the students to turn and talk to a partner when reviewing what they just learned. Not only do students learn from their teachers but from their peers as well, so I think that it is so important for students to collaborate with each other. Overall the lesson was very interesting, and I think that all the teachers did a great job speaking clearly and being involved with all of the students.

Teaching Inquiry to Fourth Graders

Today was my second day of teaching with my group but this time we taught an inquiry lesson. We started off the lesson with a review on the plant organelles. We began by asking the students if they could remember any of the organelles and it's functions. I was very surprised by the students responses. Their responses really showed us how much they learned from our lesson. After the review we explained that they will have to write a letter to an alien about what life is like on earth using all the information they just learned about Botany and the organelles. In our lesson we provided the students with construction paper and we cut out all the different organelles for the students so that they could make their very own plant cell. Each table had a different riddle for the students so that they could guess what the organelle was. For example "I'm full of holes, flexible and thin, I control what gets out, as well as what comes in." "Who am I?" My group and I rotated around each table and worked together very well during this lesson. It was fun to see the students try and guess the riddle. This is definitely an activity that I would like to implement into my future classroom. After the students worked on the riddles they then had to write a story to an alien to show him how life on earth works using the 9 organelles that they just learned about. This was such a great experience, and I can't wait to learn more about teaching science!

First Day of Teaching Fourth Grade

Today my group was the very first group to teach direct instruction to 4th graders about Botany and the plants organelles. I was so nervous because this was my first time ever teaching a class. We began the lesson by introducing ourselves and stating the classroom rules, which I think is so important for students to know. My part of the lesson was to teach the students three organelles (Mitochondria, Golgi body, and Ribosomes). Before I began explaining the functions of each organelle to the students I stated the word first, and then I had them repeat it after me. Repetition is very important when teaching children especially when words are difficult to pronounce. It teaches children to retain all the information that they are being taught. After I had the students repeat the word once or twice I then explained the definition and made sure that they knew where each organelle is located in a plant cell. After I explained all three of these organelles I had some students come up to board to show me where each organelle was located in the plant cell as a review of what I just taught. This review allowed the students to learn about each part and what it does and where each organelle is located in a plant cell. My favorite part of this lesson was the closure where we played a rap song about the plant organelles and the children absolutely loved it! The rap song was about all 9 of the organelles that we taught the students and what their functions are. Although I feel that I still have so much to learn about teaching this was a great experience. It allowed me to learn about myself as a future teacher and what I need to work on to become the best teacher that I can be.

Getting to Know You Activity

My group created an activity where we put questions for the students to answer all around a ball. Some of the questions were "What is your favorite subject?" "What do you like about Science?" "What don't you like about Science?" "Do you have any pets?" and other question that the students loved was "If you had a billon dollars how would you spend it?" Most of the students said that they would buy a mansion with all that money, and I thought that was funny. Here is an example of the activity just in case you would like to use this as a Getting to Know You Activity with your future students. It is a very easy activity to make which is why I love it and it really allows you to get to know your students on a personal level from their likes to their dislikes. It also allows them to be active when they are throwing the ball around to their peers and we all know that children absolutely love that. 

Flipgrid Presentations

Today in class we were asked to present our class slide and flipgrid. It was a little nerve-racking at first because it was so unexpected, but I now see why Dr. Smirnova had us present. As each student presented their slide the rest of the class was asked to give feedback. My classmates feedback on my presentation allowed me to learn about what I need to work on, which I found to be extremely helpful. It was fun to see my classmates flipgrid because it gave me chance to learn about them and their special talents. It was also fun to learn about what superpowers they wish they had. I wished that if I could have any superpower in the world it would be to teleport and a lot of my classmates wished for the same. I loved how in the beginning of our presentations we had to share our experiences with Science. It was nice to hear that some of my classmates shared a similiar experience as to what I experienced in school. I thought that everyone did an awesome job, and I can't wait to see what else we will be doing this semester.

Click here to view my flipgrid!
My Flipgrid 

The Reality of Climate Change

Today in Science and Technology Methods Dr. Smirnova brought in her husband Michael Edelstein to talk about climate change and the Climate Reality Project. Dr. Edelstein has been teaching science for the last forty four years at Ramapo College in New Jersey. The Climate Reality Project created by Al Gore is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. All the information that Dr. Edelstein shared about climate change and the Climate Reality Project was very informative. I was able to gather a lot of new information that I found beneficial for when I teach Science to my future students. Michael helped me learn so many new things about the climate that I thought was interesting and never knew about up until today. I learned that because we are passed 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere we can’t go back. As of 2017 we are now at the amount of 405 parts per million. One interesting fact that I read on the internet is that the carbon dioxide levels today are higher than at any point in at least the past 800,000 years. Something else new I learned was the scientific term for Water Cycle is Hydrological Cycle. Water can sometimes change form from solid to liquid to gases. Water shapes the land and runs off everywhere at the lowest point. I learned that all the water we’ve ever had is here on earth. I was also able to learn about systems and how the earth is a closed system with regard to matter and how the earth is an open system with regard to energy. Matter is defined as anything that has mass and takes up space. Energy is in everything. It is a property of matter and space. As a future science teacher it is extremely important to know about systems because of how many systems there are in Science such as climate systems, ecosystem, solar system and so on and so forth. As a future science teacher it is important that I am aware of these systems and how they run. If it weren’t for Dr. Edelstein I don’t think I would have learned about how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere or about open and closed systems and whether or not the earth is closed or open. I am so thankful to have learned more and new information about climate change. I was also happy to learn about the Climate Reality Project because it was a project that I was unaware of so it was something new for me to learn about. Overall class today was very interesting and informative, and I really enjoyed it.