Presentations

Today in class we finished doing our group presentations. Our group went today and our experiment was seeing which cup would be the best insulator. We had a can, Styrofoam cup and a plastic cup. We put a small amount of dry ice in each one and let them set for a couple of minutes. We passed the cups around and had the class look at them. We found that Styrofoam cup was the best insulator. It had no frost around the cup while the other two had a lot. The can had the most. Our lesson plan was for a fourth grade class. Another group had a good experiment for younger grades that had food coloring and frosting. With this they had the students learning about the scientific method especially the hypothesis. They would ask the kids to predict what colors the food coloring would make the frosting when the two were mixed. They used the primary colors for this experiment. Their safety concerns were no eating, no poking the people with lab objects. Another group did their lesson plan on simple machine parts. They would have the students take a part a clock to see how many simple machines they could find in a clock. For safety they would have the students wear safety goggles because sometimes the springs and other objects pop out. They also stressed not putting anything in your mouth. This group also had a worksheet to go with their lab. Overall, there are many lesson plans and activities that I would use in my classroom. There was a variety of grade levels. I would be able to find a lesson plan for almost any grade I am going to teach.

Mid Term Projects

Today in class four groups in our class presented their mid term projects. Our project was to create a hands on lesson plan that had to do with physical science. We also had to present the safety procedures that go along with the lesson. The first group did an amazing job. Their project was working with magnets and if they repel, attract or do not attract. Each group was given different objects and a magnet to test them. A worksheet was given to fill out. They also made a poster of the safety concerns for their lab and for all labs. They went more in depth on the ones that had to do with their lab. I found that a washer, nail and paper clip all attract while chalk, bottle cap and a key do not. Another magnet repelled with the first magnet. The next group that went did the strength of an egg. It was a good experiment but they did not tell the class how it went with science or what standard it belonged into. They did not give any background on what the students were doing this experiment for. The third group gave their experiment on crushing a can using heat and then placing it in a cold ice bath. There experiment was for the 8th grade. I thought it was a cool experiment but I could not see it happening from where I was sitting so I did not get to see the whole experiment. They did cover the safety procedures such as do not touch the hot plate and wear goggles. The last group to go was doing solid and liquids for second grade. I think that it was age appropriate but they should have had more to their experiment. Children in second grade should know what a solid and a liquid is. It would have been neat to change things from a solid to a liquid. Overall, today I learned some neat lesson plans that will be fun to incorporate into my classroom at different grade levels.

Density and Pressure

Today in classed we continued to discuss pressure and density. We discussed that liquid and gases are both considered liquid. We discussed that density equals mass divided by volume. You cannot have different density of two objects that are the same. You can have different masses and volume but their density will be the same because mass and volume is proportional. Pressure is Fw divided by A. We did an activity to see how you can get the most pressure by standing on a sheet of paper. My group decided to use the tip toes because the smaller the area the more pressure. Our answer came out to be 16.129 of pressure per inches squared. We were one of the groups with the highest answer. We discovered that the smaller the area the more pressure and the bigger the area the less pressure. We were then asked to think of a real life problem that works this way. Our group said that in massaging you use your thumb for more pressure and to work deeper in the muscles and your whole hand to use less pressure. Another group used the example of getting your foot stepped on by a high heel. The smaller the heel the more it would hurt because of the higher amount of pressure in the small heel. The activity we did today would be a great idea to incorporate into a classroom. Along with science it also used math. It was a hands on activity and students love those types of activities. It also could be considered a critical thinking activity as well. It really makes the students think and apply important concepts from science.

Buonancy and Air Pressure

Today in class we watched two simulations and also did a lab. Both of the stimulations had to deal with Archimedes and the Buoyancy effect. In the first one we made a prediction. My prediction was that the scale on top would get smaller as the weight hanging from it was submerged and the scale on the bottom would get bigger as the weight became submerged. My prediction was right. The scale read 9.0 as the weight was in the water but not touching the bottom. When the weight touched the bottom the scale was at 0. The bottom scale started at 200 and by the time the weight touched the bottom it had increased to 210. The second simulation was a beaker of water and you could put cubes in a container in the water to see how many cubes were be put in there until they would sink. It showed the water displacement on the side. You could also play with the width and depth of the container in which the cubes floated. We learned that the water that was displaced was the same amount of water that the cubes moved aside as they fell into the water. When we did the experiment we found there to be 100 cc weight of water buoyancy. When the width of the container is widened it could hold more cubes and this is how heavy iron boats can float. Their bases are wide but as you go up they get smaller. The experiment today was blowing a ping bong ball from one cup to another. This taught us about air pressure. We learned that air pressure is what moves the ball from one cup to another. This experiment also showed us that flowing air creates force which equals pressure. This lab showed us that the softer you blow on the ball the lighter the force and the harder you blow the more force. These activities would all be great ways to show students. The first two were great ways to demonstrate buoyancy. A lot of kids need a demonstration and they were quick but helpful ones. The lab was a great way to learn about air pressure. It was quick and easy but easy for the kids to understand.

Lesson Plan

Today in class we began working on our group lesson plans. My group decided to do a lesson on insulators and conductors. Our lesson plan was found on the internet but we are tweaking it to fit our class. The lesson calls for regular ice to be put in three different cups: plastic, metal and Styrofoam. But we are doing our lesson with dry ice since it will melt sooner. Our simulation has to be short so our professor came up with the great idea of using dry ice. Since we need a safety precaution we decided to use wearing gloves and using tongs while putting the dry ice in a cup. We decided to use this because you can not handle dry ice with out gloves. In our group of three we put together our outline and put together our procedure.

Study Guide

Today in class we went through our module two study guides again today. We started on number twelve. We discussed that if you put energy in and get work out. We also learned that Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy equal the same in the beginning, middle and end. As something is thrown up the Kinetic Energy is at its highest and Potential Energy is at its highest when the ball is about ready to fall. We also discussed what simple machines do to help. We discussed that force has an advantage of distance. There are two types of simple machines are lever and incline plane. All simple machines are one of these two things. We also discussed what force fields are. We learned that they are any mass in the field space that experiences a force. It affects you and objects. We learned that even two markers have some type of magnetic attraction. As they get closer the attraction becomes stronger and as they move away it becomes weaker. We also talked about tides on earth that are caused mainly from the moon but the sun also has a small effect. They are the strongest when closest to the moon and weakest when far away from the moon. We also just need to know the definitions of Kepler’s Laws.

Kepler's Law

Today we did not have class. We had an online assignment where we had a simulation of Kepler’s Laws which we began talking about last class. This simulation was a neat way to show people who are visual learners what the laws mean. It also helps people connect the law and the visual together. It shows what the law does instead of just want it means. It helps a person understand better. But it is a little hard to understand even when you have the text book with you and directions up above the simulation. This is a hard concept to grasp and hopefully we will go over more of it in class.
Kepler’s second law states that, The line from the sun to any planet sweeps out equal areas of space in the equal time intervals. The simulation demonstrates this. When you put the a=3 you could see how that the line from the sun to the two planets took the same amount of time and space every time it swept. It also shows in red where the planet swept. This is the same distance every time and it picks back up At the same time every time. The smaller planet has the same number of sweeps as the big planet but it goes around its orbit more times then the bigger planet and goes through the sweeps more times than the bigger planet.

MidTerm Project and Study Guide

In class today we began talking about our midterm project. Our midterm project is a lesson plan. Our lesson plan needs to do with a physical science such as astronomy or earth science. We are able to work in partners or groups of three. In our lesson plan which needs to be a hands on activity. In our lesson plan we need to include: the standards, safety concerns, ethical issues, at least two references and provide a five question self/class evaluation. Our groups will have to present to the class.
The next activity we did in class was discuss our study guides. We went over questions one through eleven. We learned that energy is the most important concept of science no matter what part of science you are talking about. But we also learned that it is the most misunderstood concept of science as well. We defined energy as not being able to be created or destroyed and that it takes on many different forms. We also discussed that potential energy and kinetic energy are needed for work.

Motion

Today in class we discussed motion and in particular Projectile Motion. First, we started off reviewing Newton's second law of motion which is F=ma. We also reviewed that mass is constant and weight depends on where you are. In the end we came up with the Inverse Square law which is: 1/r^2 and learned that the closer together two items are the more force. Then we moved on to Projectile Motion in which we watched a simulation with a cannon. First, the cannon was shot at 90 degrees and the cannon ball went up and came back down. Next, the cannon was shot at 70 degrees which created a parabola effect. Then the professor asked what degree would send the cannon ball the farthest ? One student suggested 45 degrees and she was correct. We checked other numbers and realized this was the degree that would have the ball go the farthest. This simulation was with no air resistance.
In class today we went over some difficult information as a class. The simulation did help to get the Projectile Motion across. It was a neat way to see what we were learning.