Isabel Sherman: Elementary Science Methods 2024-2025

1.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I can apply the activity of different size dice and whether or not they float. By teaching and using the density of water, and teaching students to find the density of objects they can explore to see what would float and sink. When something is more dense than water it sinks, but when something is less dense it floats. Using M/V=density students can determine when something will sink or float. 2.  What are new or remaining questions?  What other labs can I use to show that particles are always in motion other than the M&Ms in water. I think a combination of that, and the dye simulation does a good job of showing that particles are always in motion. But, what other labs could I do? Or, if a student is confused how can I clarify that for them?  3. What did you learn this week? This week I gained a better understanding of the point of the M&M investigation. Initially I was confused as to w...

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned about the density of substances as well as the equation to find that. Density= mass/volume, and the density of water is 1 g/ml. We talked more about what an atom is and then did exploration on the properties of matter and discussed the properties.  2.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? Yes! I remember the density equation and using that to decide if an item would sink or float. It was cool getting to revisit that and working with those ideas and connecting them to how it would be used in a classroom  3.  What are new or remaining questions?  What age/grade band would this lab be appropriate for? I think third would be a good age to do a "mystery metal" lab. But, I am not 100% sure. 

  What did you learn this week? This week, we took part in 6 different labs. We observed cold soda, plungers, melting ice, coke floating, baking soda and vinegar, and M&Ms in water. We discussed each of these labs and explained what we observed, as well as what questions it raised for our group. As a whole class we talked about how we can support elementary students in learning about matter and it's interactions, and what we knew regarding that and what we wanted to know.  2.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? This week as students we had the opportunity to observe and ask many questions. Encouraging students to discover and explore can be applied to my future teaching.  3.  Which parts did you find clear and which were confusing? I found a lot of what we learned to be quite clear. I think the conversation we had regarding the labs cleared things up. I do wonder why the ice m elted quicker in the metal pan and not on the w...

 1.  What did you learn this week? This week we discussed evolution. We talked about the difference between natural selection, adaptive change, and gene drift. Natural selection being essentially the survival of the fittest, and genetic drift being random fluctuations in frequency of alleles within population due to chance events. 2.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I remember learning about Charles Darwin and natural selection. In high-school we talked about natural selection and mutation mostly relating to animals, which is what we did in lab this week.  3.  Which parts did you find clear and which were confusing? I thought the lab was meaningful but I don't understand why the beans in the "preying on beans" activity were different colors. I understand the difference of the popsicle stick, fork, and spoon to show what is the best "predator" to survive. But, I don't know why we recorded the different colors. My question is,...