Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
6660 Melting Icebergs Experiment
Pieces of ice that break of glaciers are called icebergs; “in order to float, the iceberg displaces a volume of water that has a weight equal to that of the iceberg,” which is exactly what took place during our experiment (Brian, 2000). According to the National Geographic, thermal expansion has already raised the oceans 4 to 8 inches by 2004 (Lovgren, 2004). It has been reported by the EPA that Antarctica is where ninety percent of world’s ice is located; if it melts sea levels would rise by 200 feet. Furthermore, if this happens in United States alone 10,000 square miles would be submerged in water (Milbourn, 2010). As the temperature the rises animals need to migrate even farther north because of the temperature difference. If this continues some animals may become extinct if they are not able to adapt. In addition, the weather patterns will change for instance which will cause hurricanes to become more intense. Moreover, plant hardiness zones have already changed between 1990 and 2006 (Milbourn 2010). As a result, “decreasing the agricultural stability and food security” (Milbourn, 2010).
During this Science Inquiry Experience I had several questions that I will further investigate:
*What would happen if I placed the glass on a hotplate? How much faster would the ice melt? Therefore, are there any scientists looking into possible heat coming from inside the earth?
*Would the ice melt faster if placed under direct light? A 75 watt lamp would be used to represent the sun.
* It took an hour for the ice to melt completely, how much faster would it melt with the above stated scenarios?
*What changes would I observe if the temperature that was being poured into the glass changed (hot or cold) with the ice already in the glass?
* According to the EPA, in the last 3,000 years there were five periods of temperature increase, is there evidence that supports the idea that global warming is taking place because it is one of the patterns again? It is possible that greenhouse effect and all the other human factors are just changing the rule to the pattern?
References:
Banchi,H. & Bell, R. (2008). The many levels of inquiry. Science and Children, 46(2), 2629.
Brain, M. (2000). "If the polar ice caps melted, how much would the oceans rise?" HowStuffWorks.com. Archive retrieved from
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question473.htmon May 20, 2010.
Lovgren, S. (2004). Warming to Cause Catastrophic Rise in Sea Level? National Geographic News. Retrieved on May 20, 2010 from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0420_040420_earthday.html
Milbourn, C. (2010). EPA Issues Report on U.S. Climate Change Indicators. Retrieved on May 20, 2010 from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/indicators.html
Saturday, May 15, 2010
6661 Pendulum Experiment- Guided Inquiry
Which pendulum will come to rest more quickly—a lighter pendulum or heavier pendulum?
I began by gathering my materials: steel, washers, nylon string, tape, measuring tape, and stopwatch. I affixed the string to the 1 ½” steel washer, then from the knot on the washer I measured 12” of string and I placed a piece of tape to mark the measurement. Next, I placed another piece of tape on top of the first piece and attached it to the edge of the table. (see Figure 1)
Figure 1.
Finally, I was ready to being my experiment. I knew I had to hold the pendulum with one hand at ninety degrees and start the stopwatch with the other hand. I pulled the pendulum up next to the edge of the table with the string stretched out firmly; I released and started the stopwatch. But was it exactly at the same time? This is when my human error was going to haunt me forever. In addition, I realized the starting point of the pendulum was marked, but how could I ensure that the string had the same tension in every trial? I never realized that the 1 ½” pendulum would take an average of 18 minutes and 36 seconds for it to stop. Whereas the ½” pendulum took an average of 6 minutes and 54 seconds. (See table 1 and 2) I was frustrated when all the trials took a different amount of time. None of the six trials for each washer were consistent. I knew that the bigger washer would take more time because of the air resistance the smaller washer took the least. I had the answer to my question, but that was not enough. When I experimented using an interactive pendulum the results was exact (Dubson & Loeblein, 2009). Every action did have an equal and opposite reaction; every swing to the left equaled every swing to the right (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008). I was able to control all the variables to the decimal including the angle and the tension on the string. The stopwatch function was helpful because in the simulation I was able to pause as if I have an extra set of hands.
When I set up this experiment in my classroom I will first allow them to explore the interactive pendulum before they make their own, that way they would know all the factors that may change their results. I would ask them to research clocks and how a pendulum plays an important part in them. In addition, I would also introduce my students to Newton’s Cradle.
Overall, I would like my students to learn that there are many forces that effect momentum, and that it is not the mass of the washer that stops the smaller washer. As Galileo noted in his theory of falling object, it is the air resistance that slows down the smaller object(Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008). In addition, I would like my students remember that we used STEM and the 5E's to solve the problem.
References:
Dubson, M. & Loeblein, T. (2009). Interactive Simulations: Pendulum Lab. Retrieved
May 12, 2010 from http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Pendulum_Lab
Tillery, B. W., Enger, E. D., & Ross, F. C. (2008). Integrated science (4th ed.). New
York: McGraw-Hill.
Table 1
1 ½” STEEL WASHER PENDULUM
Trial Amount of time
to stop
1st trial 16 min. 50 sec.
2nd trial 20 min. 5 sec.
3rd trial 18 min. 53 sec.
Average 18 min. 36 sec.
Table 2
½” STEEL WASHER PENDULUM
Trial Amount of time to stop
1st trial 7min. 15 sec.
2nd trial 6min. 20 sec.
3rd trial 6 min. 24 sec.
Average 6min. 54 sec.
6660 STEM Lesson- Heredity (Traits)
This week I prepared a lesson plan on the topic of Heredity. My 5th grade science class began by reading an article to get familiar with the vocabulary for this lesson. Next, I drew three circles on the board creating a triple Venn diagram. I wrote one of the following words next to each circle: “curl,” “wink,” and “wiggle.” All of the sudden all the students were watching to see what was going to happen next. Then I asked my students if they had any talents. Not many raised their hand. Finally, I said “get ready to discover some of your talents today!” We surveyed our class to see how many students could curl their tongue, wiggle their ears (without touching them), and wink their eyes (left and right- one at a time). My students were very excited and enjoyed this activity immensely.
Next, I explained to them that these talents are inherited form their father, mother or even another generation back. For homework they were asked to survey their family and make their own triple Venn diagram. Then we discussed learned traits, therefore, we named what are talents they could learn or have learned. We briefly talked how the inherited traits were encoded in their DNA as well as DNA replication. If I were to implement this lesson I need to take into consideration those students that do not live with their biological family or relatives. I would speak to those students before the lesson to see what their take is and if I needed to make any adjustments.
The lesson template we were provided made creating a lesson plan much easier because it prompted me what I needed to include for the lesson to be complete (Walden University, 2010). Most of my lesson plans are two pages and did not address as much criteria. In addition, the 5E’s Lesson Plan Format “guides effective teaching” (Hammerman, 2006). These last few weeks I realized how important it is to include engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation in my lessons to ensure my students are getting the skills and content in a way their can understand it. Each student learns differently therefore it is important to address all the learning styles. Furthermore, I was able to include STEM in my lesson.
Science- vocabulary and content
Technology- Powerpoint showing talents
Engineering- students used items around the room to create a large Venn diagram
so that students themselves could step into it for their survey.
Mathematics- Students took a survey of trait such as hair color, eye color, height.
They tallied up the votes and analyzing the diagram.
“STEM education offers students one of the best opportunities to make sense of the world” (Lantz, 2009).
References:
Hammerman, E. L. (2006). Becoming a better science teacher: 8 steps to high quality instruction and student achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Lantz, H. B., Jr. (2009). STEM education: What form? What function? SEEN Magazine. Retrieved on September 3, 2009 from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/46324/CRS-CW-4119145/artifacts/STEM_Education.pdf
Walden University (2010). New Science Instruction Plan. Retrieved on May 13, 2010 from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/46324/CRS-CW-4119145/artifacts/New_Science_Instructional_Plan.docx
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