Genetically Modified Food

One content area I think is extremely important in science and to gain interest in students is the food we eat.  It is something we all relate to, but not many know how it is being produced.  I would want to awaken student’s interest and motivation in science with the food they eat.

Showing a film like Food Inc. is one way to scare a bunch of kids to turn to vegetarians, but it is not only the meat industry that is creating poor quality food.  Students need to weigh the idea of genetically modified seeds and their impact on food.  Is it good that we all have huge seedless watermelons for cheap? Or bad that we are not getting the simple bacteria needed to help build our immune system. 

Since I work with 5^th graders I would only show part of the film that deals with the seeds farmers use. I would want them to discuss the benefits and repercussions. I also think its important to see how it works.  For an activity I would have students grow plants in the class, but half of them use some kind of Miracle Grow to see the advantages.  Do the plants taste the same? Even if they do is this something you want in all foods?  

Teaching students to be ready for the 21st century is teaching them to think about the world around them.  Farming and food consumption is looking to be a huge topic for the next generation.  There is no common ground or fair regulations and needs to be heavily reformed, monitored, and improved. 

Below are some resources one could use to help stimulate classroom activity.

Resources:

http://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/lessonplan3.php

http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.gen.lp_bioengfood/

http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotechnology/sakko.html

Insulation

This week I conducted an experiment on how well items insulate heat.  As we know hot molecules are in constant search for colder ones until an equilibrium is reached at what we call room temperature (Keenan Fellows, 2013).  The hot air rises out from the water and cold air storms in, this is called convection.  One can feel this first hand when touching something metal in the room.  Because metal is such a good conductor of heat the heat from ones fingertips is drawn out and into the chair.  The release of heat in ones hand makes the object appear to feel cold, even though it is the same temperature as every other object in the room (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008,). 
 Knowing that metal is a good conductor, I knew it would be a very poor insulator.  I tried to use more materials that resembled a houses insulation like fiberglass.  Something that had small pores but did not feel cold to the touch, like a shirt.  However, I stretched the shirt out and with too big of holes it was not a good insulator.  I would like to try to put a shirt loosely over the mug of hot water just as the shirt hangs loosely over us, keeping us warm.

I would also like to try other items out in the mug instead of water.  It would be interesting to see if a denser subject would lose its heat slower than water.  thick syrup or thin watery spaghetti sauce would be interesting to test.  This would make the project more engaging for students as I would want to apply it to their lunches.  How can we keep moms chicken noodle soup warm until lunch?  I would want students to create a lunch box that will be able to keep something warm for up to two hours.

I would want students to not only explore but to engineer a design using the concepts gathered.  I would want them to be able to tell me why a material is a good conductor or a good insulator.   I learned that a good conducer is often a poor insulator.

Pendulum in Motion

Dealing with a 4/5-combo class this year directly correlated me with a pendulum in motion.  I felt one with the experiment as I constantly feel like a pendulum myself.  To test the theory that momentum = mass x velocity, I used string, 3 weights of different masses, and a hook in my ceiling.  Since I did not have a ruler on me, I measured the string from elbow to middle finger, and the dropping point was a Elbow to fist from the ceiling.  I had to be creative.  Luckily in school I found that taping the string to the edge of a desk works perfectly while using a yard stick to keep an accurate dropping point would suffice.

My results are listed below and were on par with what I expected.  I knew that a heavier mass would create more momentum.  What I would want to know and test with the students is to find graph the curve to be able to predict what the resting point would be from multiple weights or string lengths.

The experiment went well but it was a lot of waiting time.  I may predict boredom will set in with my type of students.  Not only that but the accuracy of knowing when does is the object finally at rest.  Towards the end the weight tends to circle around in motion for a few minutes allowing students to grow impatient.

To bring technology in I would want groups to test multiple scenarios, then as a class graph it on Excel and see if we could predict what would happen if we changed the variable.  To make the experiment more exciting I would want to keep the kids busy while waiting for the pendulum to come to a rest, or possibly give them shorter string than what I used.

For students I would want them to learn how to graph data, interpret data to infer predictable outcomes, that gravity is the friction in play, and understand Newtons law that an object in motion will stay in motion unless a force is applied.

Before testing this experiment with my class, I would love to hear from you what to watch out for, and how to better this experiment to keep them busy while watching the pendulum.  in which ways could I make this more exciting?  possibly using action figures as the mass?

Getting Teachers on board with Inquiry Science

            At our school, not many teachers have experience teaching science.  To become a team leader, I, with the help of another teacher, have created an upper grade, 3-5, science team in which we will be conducting inquiry based lessons every Friday.  We used to have interest groups (cooking, PE, art, etc..) occurring the last 45 minutes of the week.  This year we are switching to STEM focused interest groupsTo get teachers on board, we have made it as simple as possible for them.  Each teacher will have a specific content that they will teach all year compiled of 3-5 lessons.  The students will rotate between teachers every two months.  This way each teacher has time to practice teaching the same skills, and conducting the same lessons throughout the year.  The preparation will be minimal and PLC meetings will focus on reflection of our lessons.  By practicing the same few lessons all year, teachers will become comfortable implementing inquiry based lessons. 

Goodnight Glacier

Most would believe when an iceberg melts in the ocean the water will raise a slight amount, so slight that it would not make a difference.  But what happens when all the icebergs melt? will we have global flooding?  The truth is that when an iceberg is sitting in the water it is already displacing a volume of water equal to its weight that is needed for it to float.  When it melts, surprisingly enough the water will not rise.

Does that mean global warming is a hoax and there is no way for world wide flooding?  Absolutely not.  Sure, the icebergs already in the ocean melting will not effect our ocean levels, but what about all the ice above the water?  What happens when all the landmasses fall into the ocean?  That is when panic sets in. The Environmental Protection Agency claims the sea level has risen 7 inches in the past 100 years.  While that might not sound like much, think about how much pollutants we bring to the planet that were not around 100 years ago.  To what power will that number be multiplied in the next 100 years?

What I would want to know, and maybe others out there could help me, is to figure out how much ice is  currently on landmasses like Greenland that is in risk of melting.  Not only am I curious about how much ice is out there, but also how much water will it displace when it melts into our ocean.

Innovation through Exploration

Recently I created a lesson plan for my 4th and 5th grade combo class which incorporated STEM strategies to make the lesson more engaging. I am writing this because their will be a 20% increase in science jobs in the next 10 years (I think more), and only 15% of our students are graduating in science and technology. Lets compare that number to I don't know, lets say China, where 50% students of their students are graduating in those specialties (Taurig & Feller, 2009). It is my belief while they may be generating more scientists, using STEM strategies, we will be able to produce more innovation through ingenuity than China. I am hoping other science teachers can provide their input to make my lesson better, and possibly learn a thing or two to improve their teachings as well.

Firstly, a good science lesson should incorporate some historical perspective. When students know the origins of experiments, they understand that most often these experiments happened on accident while searching for something else, these famous scientists were not perfect and failed on numerous accounts, and they learn a story about past scientists. Students love to hear stories. No longer are these Newton, Galileo, Eratosthenes just names on paper, but once told in a story they become real. For students to appreciate what is in front of them, they need to understand the history and development of how we got here.

That story brings engagement into the lesson. Next comes exploration. Students should be given time to explore the materials that are given and see what they may want to design with them. When the experiment is over, it is important to have students ask questions and listen to alternate ideas and inquiries for what to test next. While the teacher may have the materials and lessons in mind, it is important for the students to test their own theories. Give students time to discuss and explore what they want to know and let them create their own experiments when all is said and done.

 Yet, it is important for them to understand the concepts. These concepts must be related to something they do often or know culturally. For my experiment I tied it into how a piñata works. My students are predominantly Hispanic, and using that to bridge the concepts of a pendulum swinging will make the content relatable and rememberable.

 This experiment provided by Steve Spangler was the essence of my lesson. What I found so inciting is that it incorporates science, engineering, and math. Once students find the ratio of weight distribution needed, they can apply this to other relatable scenarios and test out to see if it works. Students experiment with the distribution until they have it then they must find heavier objects and locate the equivalent ratio to make sure the experiment still works.

Science should not be learned from a text book, science should be learned through trial and error.  Students need to create things with their hands, learn how things are put together, not read about it.  Students need practice applying their skills so that they are confident when tougher challenges occur.  Most importantly, students inquisitive nature needs to be freed to let them experiment with what they want to find out.  Experiments should evolve at the students will, not the teachers.

3... 2... 1... Blast Off

Intwined in the web and looking for bugs. Looking forward to collaborating and encouraging science throughout our schools.