Fun Experiments

My cooperating teacher was out today, so I subbed for her, and we had lots of fun in the science lab. The website where my cooperating teacher got these experiment ideas is http://www.sciencecafe.org/content/ All the chemistry is explained there too. This first one is titled "Turn Water into Wine" on that website. You have two whitish liquids, pour them back and forth for a minute or so, and all of a sudden, it turns black...



This one is called "Kid Safe Elephant's Toothpaste" on that website...we just did it inside a Jack-o-Lantern because it was Halloween. You mix high percentage H2O2 with dish detergent and a bit of yeast. Pictured below is what it looks like just before you dump the yeast in.



Here, I'm showing the students it is an exothermic reaction because the bubbles are hot.



And this is what it looks like when the reaction is over...

This next one is called, "Color Changing Potions." Using cabbage as an indicator, we saw the differences in pH. Check out the Halloween lights my cooperating teacher put up. This is just water heating up, but in a really cool flask :)

Add some chopped cabbage. Then strain the cabbage out to get the cabbage water.

Check out the beakers, from left to right, it's cabbage water with...lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda, and antacid tablets.

And of course, who could resist the urge to add vinegar to the baking soda beaker :)

Then the kids made Oobleck. It's basically like goo made from cornstarch & water.

The kids loved the Oobleck!

Yay for science :)

Reflection 2 Response

Hey Amanda Edwards!!

I read your reflection on the school community context about Blacksburg Middle School. I tell you almost everytime I see you that I'm way jealous of your school. I think it is great that you can see inquiry learning in action and be in such a new facility. I'm really excited for your experience there. Also, reading again about how diverse the school population is at the middle school is really interesting. Coming to this area for school, coming from Northern Virginia- I would not think that there would be as much diversity as I would probably see at home. I am excited to come see your school one day, and experience 8th graders. I can only entice you to come to my school with the thought of really sweet 6th graders and cold walks to the trailers!

Reflection 2 response

Erin-

It sounds like you definitely have the most interesting learning environment out of all of us. It is encouraging to hear that the students and your teacher make the best of what they have, but it has to be hard on everyone. I can’t imagine the kids walking around from trailer to trailer once it gets really cold outside. That’s great that the Riner area is expanding and bringing more people to the area, but I wonder if they will consider adding a portion on the existing middle school for the 6th grade?
The group of only 80 students staying with one teacher sounds nice because you get to meet all of the students. This is very different than my experience at Cburg Middle with the three 7th grade teams, but it also sounds like you have more grade level collaboration than is possible in a larger school like Cburg Middle. I am curious to come and visit you and your kids to see the different learning environment and see what aspects of the classroom are similar/dissimilar in this change.

Reflection 1 response

Cherise-
I found your reflection 1 to be very interesting because I am at Cburg Middle, and teach the students that are sent up your way to Cburg High. That’s great to hear that you feel like you fit in at your high school and that it reminds you of your own at home. It sounds like it reminds me a little of mine too, if you take away about 700 students and the racial confederate flag problem (So I guess the classic Southern part is the same). I also think it is interesting how the SES of the Cburg area (middle to lower) is much lower than the Bburg area (middle to upper). Cburg and Bburg are very close in location to each other, but the SES is greatly varied and just goes to show how much of a “melting pot” as Erica called it, this area is. It sounds like you are really excited about your placement though and I hope you have a great time!

Sinking Creek/ photosynthesis video

Photosynthesis in water plants

Reflection 2

Emily,

You mentioned in your second reflection about how your teacher prefers that the students remain calm, under control, and quiet. That is also what I had expected my teacher to want for her classroom as well. However, that is certainly not the case. In between classes, students are allowed to draw on her white board and sit at her computer chair. I have never heard her deny a student’s request to leave the room, and sometimes students just grab the pass and leave to go to the bathroom. Upon first glance, this may seem irresponsible, or that she gives her students too much freedom. However, she is building a mutual respect among her & her students. She gives them a bit of freedom and in return they give her respect. We frequently rearrange the classroom, sometimes even between classes to try to maximize student interaction and collaboration. If students in the morning classes aren’t collaborating enough, she’ll reword her instructions to facilitate more interaction. As we learned in Ed Psych, student interaction and collaboration is one way that students can have meaningful learning, and I certainly believe a lot of meaningful learning is occurring in my cooperating teacher’s classroom. I think this is something that I will work towards having more of in my future classroom, but I think it will take some time getting use to it. Through trial and error, I’ll find that fine line between encouraging collaboration and losing all control of my classroom.

Reflection 1

Amy,

You brought up an interesting point in your School Community Reflection #1. First, you mentioned how kids were apt to tell stories and get off track by doing so in the classroom. I’m experiencing the same issue in the 8th grade classroom. The teachers I’m surrounded by often bring up how certain kids have to be telling a story about themselves at all times, or asking a questions just to get attention. It is one of the most common topics of conversation among 8th grade teachers. I like the way you handle the situation by saying things like, “Ask me that question after class is over” or “That’s a great question, but unfortunately a little off topic so write that down and ask me later.” However, in 8th grade, I’ve heard teachers much more often something like, “Seriously?! Are you really asking that question just to get attention, again?!” or “I don’t want to hear another story that’s all about YOU today.” There’s certainly never a dull moment in the classroom. This is an issue that will definitely have to be dealt with in the middle school classroom and likely in the high school classroom as well.

Reflection Two

Amy,
I really enjoyed reading your reflection two after we talked about our experiences last Wednesday in class. I think we are in a similar boat in our classrooms. My teacher likes to take charge of the classroom and the children end up mostly doing worksheets. Also, he teaches a math class just like your teacher does during the school day. My cooperating teacher and I were talking about the math class and he said at a lot of high need schools a lot of teachers end up teaching things they may not be actually certified to teach. I hope I don't end up teaching math somewhere! All I can say is just hang in there and take what you can from your experience. It sounds like you are keeping a very positive outlook and keeping an open mind which is the best thing you can do.

Reflection One

Alyson,
I was reading your first reflection tonight and was particularly interested in your discussion about full inclusion at your school. I know that we were all worried about that issue at the beginning of the school year and talked a lot about how we would handle the issues that arose from full inclusion. I agree very much with what you said in your reflection paper. Some teachers seem to have a very difficult time having students with varying capabilities in their classrooms while others do not. I know you have talked in class about having a lot of students with different learning needs. In my school we have students that have varying emotional and cognitive needs and this does require some extra preparation and assistance during the day. However, as I get more comfortable in the classroom I realize that having kids with varying needs is a challenge but one that I think all of us can work with.