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Teacher | Virginia Trekker | Instructional Technologist

Category: Research and Information Fluency (Page 1 of 4)

Creating Polymers

March 1, 2012 /

Creating polymers was simple and extremely entertaining.  I practiced the recipe (below) with my own kids before working with the 3rd graders in Brittney Royal’s class.  The reason for completing this recipe in class was to have the kids learn the importance of the procedure in the Scientific Method.  We put out the materials, posted the procedure on the web, and the groups were in charge of completing the experiment on their own.

Once the polymers were created a couple of questions were asked of the class:

  • Is your “Flubber” a solid? Why?
  • Is your “Flubber” a liquid?  Why?

These questions caused silence to fall over the class.  Because we created a polymer the students could see answers for both.  The looks on their faces (as they were moving their “Flubber” in their hands) were priceless.  Real critical thinking was taking place.  After class, the students were asked to research and define polymers and give two characteristics of their “Flubber” that led them to the conclusion that they had created a polymer.  They had to enter their answers onto our blog for this project.

Below are pictures from the project as well as the recipe we used.  The recipe produced enough for 5 students to go home with a handful of polymer.
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Materials

  • Elmer’s Glue® (4 oz bottle of Elmer’s Glue-All)
  • Borax (a powdered soap found in the grocery store)
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Plastic cup (8 oz size works well)
  • Spoon
  • Measuring cup
  • Food coloring
  • Water
  • Clean up materials (paper towels, wet wipes, etc.)
  • Zipper-lock bag to store final product

Experiment 3- Procedure

 

1. This recipe is based on using a brand new 4 ounce bottle of Elmer’s Glue. Empty the entire bottle of glue into a plastic cup. Fill the empty bottle with warm water and shake (put the lid on first and then shake). Pour the glue-water mixture from the glue bottle into the cup and use the spoon to mix well.
2. Go ahead… add a drop or two of food coloring.
3. Measure 1/2 cup of warm water into the plastic bowl and add a teaspoon of Borax powder to the water. Stir the solution – don’t worry if all of the powder dissolves.
4. Carefully pour your glue and water solution into the plastic bowl. Be sure to watch the bowl as you are doing this. Once your entire cup has been emptied into the bowl, put your hands in the bowl and take some of the material out.  Be sure to leave enough for each of your group members.
5. Store the final product in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.  Do not leave the material on tables, floors, or clothing.  The food coloring that was used may leave a stain. Be sure to WASH YOUR HANDS!

Method27- Week 2

February 14, 2012 /

This is what learning is supposed to look like!

The third graders completed their first experiment during my time in Brittney Royal’s class last week.  The students completed a simple experiment that used the old school combination of vinegar and baking soda.  We followed the basic recipe found at eHow.com. However, we increased the amount of each ingredient to cause a larger and more dramatic reaction.

To make this simple experiment more “21st Century” we did the following:

  • The students worked with their teammates to record their hypothesis and conclusions using a GoogleDoc.
  • After the experiments were conducted the students had to use internet resources to research the reaction that they just witnessed.  The students had to enter their individual answers on to the Method27 blog.
  • The students were also challenged with an additional question.  The question would lead them to discover the teams endothermic and exothermic reactions.  Both of which are not covered in the current 3rd Grade curriculum.

 

The Scientific Method

February 1, 2012 /

Today was the beginning of a great extended project, Method27.  The entire project will be focused around matter.  At the conclusion of the project, it is our goal for the students to design experiments that will help others determine if they are dealing with solids, liquids, or gases.  I am working with Brittney Royal, 3rd Grade at Carver Elementary, over the next few weeks on building and modeling 21st Century Skills.  Throughout the lessons the students will be learning how to research, conduct experiments, design experiments, analyze data, and work collaboratively.

Review of Day 1 Activities:

  • Before visiting the classroom I built a website and a series of Google Docs that the students will use to enter the information they find during the research process.  While the groups were determined by the teacher, each group has a leader and the group determined the roles of each member.
  • The students met as a group to come up with a team name and record the members of the group on the GoogleDoc.
  • The students used their group’s GoogleDoc and a set of links [1. Links were given to them to help expedited the initial research period.] to compose the definitions of solids, liquids, and gases.  GoogleDocs allow multiple users to enter information on the same document at the same time.  Google Docs are great for online communication and collaboration.

Next week’s goals:

We will complete our first experiment next week.  We are going to work on making hypotheses and conclusions.  After the experiment is complete, the students will be researching the science behind what took place during the experiment.

Jamestown

January 9, 2012 /

This lesson was done in Cheryl Ives’s 4th grade class at Glen Allen Elementary.  The lesson has been submitted to Henrico 21 for the 2011-2012 school year.  In my opinion, this project is a great example on how to integrate multiple subjects and technology into a lesson.

Summary from Cheryl Ives’s Henrico 21 Lesson Plan:

After completing our studies of Jamestown (VS3a-g), the students were challenged with creating video segments that would cover the topics that were studied in our unit.  The segments covered topics that included John Smith, Christopher Newport’s fleet, and Tobacco.  The students created scripts, that were written in first-person, based on the study materials provided to them and facts that they have discovered while doing their own research.  The students had to find and create props and costumes that will help the audience recognize the topic they were speaking about.  The filming and editing of the final video product was organized and completed by the students in the classroom.  This project allowed the kids be creative and show their personalities in their work while expanding their knowledge of Jamestown.

Click here to download the full lesson plan and the scoring rubric.

Final Video Product:

 

 

Weathering and Erosion

November 3, 2011 /

I had my first weathering and erosion questions this week.  I decided to combine 3 technologies/applications that I love to use to give my teachers the resources they needed.

Keynote

I created a Keynote slideshow for the kids to use when reviewing the terms weathering and erosion.  It is a simple slideshow that only requires the kids to fill in the blanks with the appropriate terms.  When the students have completed their slides, they can hit “play” and watch the slideshow turn into a self-playing movie with animations.

Click here to download the Keynote template.

Google Earth

Using Google Earth as a tool for teaching weathering and erosion is new for me.  Google Earth is a great tool for teaching Social Studies, but the more I use it, the more I find it useful in other content areas as well.  I searched  the globe for unique land features that have been caused by weathering and erosion.  The pushpins only lead the students to locations, it is the pictures that make the pushpins worth the trip around the world.  You can download the pushpins I created using the link below.  When you click on the downloaded icon (after you unzip the file), it will automatically launch Google Earth, and load the pushpins into your “Places” window.

[nggallery id=6]

 Click here to download the Google Earth pushpins.

Internet Links

I have to admit that collecting the websites below took more time than it should have, I blame this on my ADD.  I started reading all of the information on the sites and I hope your students will enjoy them as well.  There are also a couple of challenging jigsaw puzzles that might get your kids thinking.

Grand Canyon National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Mount Everest

Oceanside Cliffs Puzzle

Rock Bridge Puzzle

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