Weather & Erosion HyperDoc Project

Click here to view the Weather & Erosion HyperDoc Project

Here are some notes that I took on Weathering & Erosion. Check out my KWHL chart for more! 

- Weathering is the process that takes place as rocks and other parts of the geosphere are broken down into smaller pieces.

- Weather can be caused by water, air, chemicals, plants and animals

- Two types of weather: Mechanical weathering and chemical weathering

- Mechanical weathering is the process of breaking big rocks into little ones (frost, ice, sunheat, plants roots and running water)

- Chemical weathering involves changes that some substances can cause in the surface of the rock that make it change shape or color (carbon dioxide, oxygen and acids)

- Erosion is the movement of weathered rocks by natural forces (wind, water or ice)

- Weathering breaks down the rocks and erosion is the process that carries rocks away

- Weathering helps make a mess and erosion helps clean it up

- Moving water is,a major cause of erosion and there’s a lot of moving water in the Atlantic Ocean

- Natural forces like major storms and rising sea levels move or erode these smaller pieces

- Natural forces have the power to change our landscape by weathering, erosion and deposition

- Geologists are known as earth detectives

My Reflection 

The HyperDoc project is one way students can learn the 5 steps of inquiry: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. I really enjoyed this project and I think that students would absolutely love it because it provides them with a fun and engaging technical experience. This project provided multiple resources for students to use such as videos, interactive sites, graphic organizers, KWHL chart, and lab experiments. These resources allow students to learn through a more visual approach, which I believe increases the participation of students. I myself am a visual learner and as a student myself I learn best when I am provided with visuals, so I think it is important as a future teacher to provide plenty of visual activities to students. I think that the HyperDoc is great way for students to learn. I liked how it's set up in a way where students aren't just given the answers. They have to research on their own to find the answers that they need to complete the project. Overall I loved this project, and I would definitely use it in my future classroom. 

Click the following links to look at my KWHL chart, graphic organizers, t-chart planner, and lab experiment report!

KWHL Chart 

Mechanical vs. Chemical Weathering Graphic Organizer 

Weathering vs. Erosion Graphic Organizer

Weathering & Erosion T-Chart Planner

Weathering & Erosion Lab

                                                          

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!

What's Bugging You? - Research Article Review

The research article that I chose was called, "What's Bugging You?" by Sherri Brown. I thought that this would be an interesting topic to read about because I haven’t learned much about bugs. This article is based on the 5 E's in the inquiry process: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. In this article, the author describes how she created an authentic and engaging approach for students to learn about bugs. Before introducing the inquiry process she created a pre-assessment to identify what students know about insects. After the pre-assessment the inquiry process was then introduced. Through the inquiry students were able to observe bugs and construct their knowledge from their drawings and classification sheet.

The author felt it was important to conduct this study so that students could observe and begin to differentiate the common word bug from the specific characteristics of an insect. Another reason she felt it was important was so that she could change the misconceptions that students have on bugs. To conduct this study the teacher allowed the students to go outside and collect bugs using a leaf-litter sifter. The students recorded all their data on a classification sheet where they were able to make connections between different organisms and their habitats. After they finished collecting their data students were then asked to draw pictures of their bugs. At the end of the inquiry students made models of their insects using their drawings and data. They also had to write an explanation as to why their insects use its designated features.

The main purpose of this study was to teach students how to observe and classify and to encourage students to believe that insects are harmless. The author states that her preservice students scream whenever they see a bug or say things such as “Ooh those things give me the willies, and I am not going near them.” This shows the common misconceptions that students have on bugs because they believe that all insects are bad and could harm them. The key question the author is addressing is “What is an insect?” Students were able to answer this question by going outside and observing real life insects. This made the experiment a real life experience for students which is very important.

The most important information in this article is that this experiment has been proven to help students learn the concept of classification and continues to help them. “This activity has continuously provided successful measurable content outcomes in which students move toward a greater knowledge of scientific classification, specifically the classification characteristics for the phylum Arthropoda and class Insectae” (Brown, 2006). This quote expresses how effective this experiment has been when teaching students how to classify the characteristics of insects.

This article concludes two things one of them I stated before about how it increases students knowledge of scientific classification. The second thing is that this experience has helped students grow out of their fear of bugs and learn how to appreciate living things. “Students have shown an appreciation of bugs as they observe, draw, and classify these animals; some have stated that this experience has lessened their fear of bugs” (Brown, 2006). If people take the information in this article seriously, students will no longer struggle with the ability to classify and they will also learn how to appreciate all things in life both living and nonliving. This inquiry lesson on bugs is a fantastic way to teach students how to classify and appreciate things such as bugs, animals and plants.

Although I am not a fan of bugs I really enjoyed this article. Not only was I was able to learn about bugs, but I was also able to get a better understanding of how to conduct an inquiry lesson using the 5 E’s. This article also helped me learn how to teach classification which is extremely important in teaching science. Through this inquiry process I was also able to learn how to help students overcome any misconceptions that they might have prior to the lesson. It is crucial for teachers to acknowledge students misconceptions because if they are ignored it is possible that they will never go away. This article was very informative and was a great inquiry lesson that I would consider including in my future classroom.

Reference

Brown, S. (2006). Books & Resources. Retrieved from https://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=51814


                                              

Questioning Techniques

 

There are many different questioning techniques that teachers can use to keep students engaged in a classroom. Asking questions in a classroom is what keeps the topic alive. It is important to ask students good questions that are open-ended where the students are able to answer with more than a yes or no. Open-ended questions elicits more thought and more than one word response. Open ended questions are good for developing a conversation, finding out more detail and finding out the other person's opinions. There are many other effective questioning techniques that teachers can use in a classroom aside from asking open-ended questions. Six effective questioning techniques that I researched are: pair and share, teacher selection, hot seat, sequencing, mini socratic seminars, and white boards. Questions are used in many different ways in classroom. They can be used to engage students, check for understanding, seek opinions, review material and so on and so forth. It is important that teachers understand how to pose questions where students will want to answer and participate rather than sit there in silence. I will share the link of the article that I read about the six questioning techniques. I hope that it is helpful when thinking about ways to question your future students.

Click here:
Top Six Questioning Techniques in the Classroom

Misconceptions Presentations

Today in class we learned why is it important to identify students misconceptions and ways to help them deepen their understanding of the scientific concepts. Many students gain their misconceptions through movies, tv shows, cartoons and much more because they can't differentiate between fiction and reality. Our task in class was to create a powerpoint presentation where we had to compare our conceptions as a kid to NYS student misconceptions on topics such as space travel, rocks and minerals, dessert, green plants, mammals and so on and so forth. It was interesting to research the NYS student misconceptions because a lot of what was on the website I used to believe when I was in elementary school. It made me realize as a future teacher how important it is to help students get rid of any misconceptions that they might have prior to the lesson. After we finished with the misconceptions we then had to come up with learning objectives for the inquiry lesson. Through this activity we learned a lot about how to create objectives which I found extremely helpful because I realized that I have been writing objectives wrong this entire time. Overall I found this activity to be extremely informative! Everyone did a great job on their presentations! Below I will post a link to the misconception presentations that our class created.

Click here:
Misconception slides 

Video Reflection

This video reflects on how to help students optimize their learning. It focuses on ways to help children's working memory. Working memory works exactly like short term memory. A working memory helps children hold on to information long enough for them to use it. This video states that students use their ears to pick up words and eyes to pick up images. I agree with the video that it is best use to images and verbal explanations when teaching children rather than reading off text from the board. The board should include more images than text because if it includes a lot of written words it may overwhelm the students. The video does a great job at explaining that it is important to not include so much text when teaching students. The video also states that students learn easier when given personal examples or examples from their world, which I also agree with. I really liked how the video explained that is important to not read all the words from the board because it doesn't help with the students working memory. This video expresses how important it is to use explanations in your own words with supporting and decorative images. I found this video very informative. It shared a lot of great information that I can take with me as a future teacher.

What's in the mystery bag?

Today in class Dr. Smirnova showed us a mystery bag filled with a bunch of stuff. She had us pass it around the class and we all had 5 seconds to touch and shake the bag to figure out what was in it. When I felt the bag I automatically thought that there was dog toy and a rattle because when I felt it, it made a squeaking noisy, and when I shook it, it rattled. I think that mystery bag activity is a great and fun way for students to create a hypothesis about what they think is in the bag. Students can use several different methods to figure out what is in the bag such as shaking the bag, feeling the bag, squeezing the bag or even smelling the bag. Aside from a dog toy and a rattle there were many other items that students could have guessed such as rocks, children's toys, balls, and so on and so forth. This activity was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to include it into my future classroom. 

Celebration of Learning Science & The Sensory Garden

Today was the last day of fieldwork with Mrs. Hoag's fourth grade class. It was a very sad day for us all and the students didn't want us to leave. It touched my heart when a few students spoke out and expressed how much they loved having us here with them. When the students walked into the classroom we began with a short assessment that allowed us to see what they learned about plants and the students did a fantastic job. The assessment showed us as future teachers how we are on the right path to becoming the best teachers that we can be. After the assessment we handed the students gifts and gave them certificates with their names on them to show what a great job they did and how proud we are of them. The rest of the time was spent outside of Bishop Dunn in their sensory garden. We all had such a great time interacting with the students and picking things from the garden such as flowers, peppers, tomatoes, mint, parsley and basil. The students were able to take home anything that they wanted from the garden. I found it cute because some students were picking the vegetables to take home to their mom. I liked how hands on the students were when pulling out any plants that were dead and trimming the outgrown plants. I think that was a great way to spend our last day with the fourth graders, and I could tell that they all had so much fun. It was really sad saying goodbye. This class has truly helped me grow as a future teacher, and I am so grateful to have spent these past five weeks with them.