Alyssa B's- Blog on Science Methods

What did you learn this week?  Today we learned what happens when you increase pressure in a syringe. We got to feel the pressure get tighter when you would keep your finger on the top and push the syringe in. It was harder to push when we had our fingers at the top of the syringe and pulled. We then got to put in a marshmallow and see how the pressure affected the marshmallow. When you pushed the air to make a smaller area with more pressure the marshmallow shrunk and if you opened the space up the marshmallow expanded.  Which parts did you find clear and which were confusing? I found it clear as to why the marshmallow shrunk when we added pressure because the pressure pushed on the marshmallow and took the air out of it. I also found it clear as to why the marshmallow expanded. (The opposite reaction and reasoning as to why it shrunk). Something I found confusing is why the marshmallow came out sort of shrunk and wrinkled instead of how it was because everything we did to it...

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned more about items that sink and float. However, we figured it out without water! Density is equal to mass divided by volume. We learned that the item would float if the answer came out to under 1. If it was larger than 1 then the item sunk.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? Yes, I learned about this in my classes before but it was a nice refresher. I can also relate it directly back to what we have already learned in this class earlier in the semester. We also made a flip book which I have done in another class before. I find this to be a great way to integrate two subjects.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? We also learned about an activity that took place in an elementary classroom. It was a challenge for the students on a budget! This sounds like something I could do in my classroom. It was testing chewing gum and while I might not use that experime...

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned about density and why some objects have more density than others. We also talked about science models and what a science model may consist of or what it may look like. We discussed that models display a hypothesis.  Which parts did you find clear and which were confusing? One part I found confusing was the reason behind one color of M&M's mixing with the water faster. I hypothesized that the yellow would mix with the water the fastest and I was right but I do not necessarily know why. This was similar to my hypothesis of warm water going faster than cold, which I was also right about but not 100% sure why.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I can use this lab in the classroom in the future. I really liked the idea of an independent study of the students figuring out how they are going to reach their answers. This makes them more involved in their work since they are determining wh...

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned about mass, volume, conductors, and insulators. We used water in a cylinder beaker to determine the volume of an item. There were differences between the items and differences between the sizes of items which makes for different volumes. I also learned that to accurately determine the volume you have to completely submerge the object you are testing.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I could see myself using these activities in my future classroom. I especially liked the sink-or-float aspect of the lesson. This was enjoyable and fun. I think students would stay engaged if they did an activity like this.  What are new or remaining questions?  A remaining question I have is how long this activity would take for kids? My group only partially finished our activities and in total it took around 40 minutes for us to do. That's why I was curious about the time frame it would take for o...

  What did you learn this week?  This week we learned about observation and explanation. We got to observe a few different science experiments. We also made a few predictions. After we made observations and talked about the different kinds of observation (quantitative and qualitative), we tried to explain why what we observed happened which is the explanation.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I can apply science stations to my classroom in the future. I really liked the idea of doing each experiment and just doing quick little things that are different from each other but are also teaching the same concept.  What are new or remaining questions?  I have a few remaining questions that all have to do with the science stations we went through. Would Coke Zero sink or float in a big can? Were any new chemicals formed when we added baking soda to the vinegar? 

  What did you learn this week? Today we learned about natural selection. One of the main ideas was that natural selection leads to the predominance of particular traits in a given population. This means that some traits are suppressed as well. Natural selection is a sub-category of the NGSS Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I can relate what we learned to what I already knew. I have learned about natural selection a few different times throughout my life. In class, we talked about Charles Darwin very briefly. We used to talk about him in my classes prior to this. I remember "survival of the fittest," which was Charles Darwin's idea on natural selection.   How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I can apply what I learned to my future classroom. In the lab, we did an activity where there were different colored beans on the table and each group member had a differ...

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned about codons. Codons are a DNA or RNA sequence of three nucleotides that encode a particular amino acid. Genetic codes are made up of the letters U, A, G, and C.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I could relate genotype and phenotype to what I have already known. We reviewed it last week but discussed it a lot more this week. We learned that phenotype is an observable trait. I always thought of it as a physical trait which is the same thing. We also learned that genotype is the genetic constitution of an individual or the makeup of alleles to create a trait.  What are new or remaining questions?  I don't have any remaining questions I did however want to comment on the fact that this week was our last week for checking our fast plants. Our plant had seeds on it but they were green instead of brown. They looked like peas.