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Blog Post #15

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 1. This week we attempted to design an experiment to show that matter does not disappear during a chemical reaction and instead stays there. We tried to prove this through the use of vinegar and baking soda as our reaction. We tried multiple different experiments to prove this idea with all of them but one not working because of different difficulties in them. For example, we had things such as the experiment not being an air-tight seal so air escaped or not being able to weigh accurately to show the total weight stayed the same. In the end, we came up with the idea to balance a cap on the vinegar that had baking soda in it and once we had the seal on it we would shake the car and flip the lid into the vinegar to cause the reaction. We learned about buoyancy as a result of this experiment because it is what led to the idea of the air-tight seal not being there in the first experiment we did.  4. I can apply what I learned from this lab to my future teaching by learning to let...
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Blog Post #14

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 1. This week we talked more about matter and specifically we got into talking about particles and how they act in different situations. We talked about the idea of melting and different situations about melting. We decided that melting counts as a solid going to a liquid that can also be reversed back to its original state. We also did a couple of simulations to look at what happens to the particles when they melt and figure out that they separate from each other and when they're heated up they move faster and bounce around more. We also figured out why when plungers are pushed down what happens to the particles inside of the plunger and decided that the air particles are pushed out causing there to be fewer particles under the seal and as a result, the particles on the outside are pushing down on the lack of particles making it hard to pull the plunger up making it seem like its vacuumed down and stuck.  3. The simulations made this lesson very confusing for me and I struggl...
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Blog Post #13

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 1. This week we learned about the idea of atoms taking up space and looked at why some materials are more or less dense. We found that the more dense an object is then there are more atoms in the smaller space causing it to be denser. This leaves little room for the atoms to move and as a result, causes a couple of changes that would normally not happen. We showed this through the M&M activity we did. The one with only water caused the dye particles to spread quickly and over a larger area. But when you added something like sugar which took up more area and space then there became less room for the dye particles to be able to spread and because of this would spread not as far and a lot more slowly then compared to the plate that had just water.  4. I can apply what I learned today to create different activities to learn in my future teaching. For example, we mentioned it briefly in the lecture but the idea is that you could set up an area where students have to try and ge...
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Blog Post #12

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 1. This week we learned about the properties of matter. We first started off by talking about matter and what it is again and recapping what we talked about last week. Then we began to start talking about the different properties that matter has. We then went on to test different properties such as whether it sinks or floats, volume, mass, conducting electricity, and magnetism. We found that there were a lot of different materials that would decide what kind of properties that certain materials have. For example, not all kinds of metals would be a conductor of electricity, we had things like paper clips and pennies that would conduct the electricity but the aluminum foil would not conduct as well as a couple of others things that we tested. The same was found with magnetism with only certain kinds of metals being magnetic and potentially including other metals that may cause an item that was magnetic before to lose its magnetism.  2. I was able to relate the idea that I knew ...
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Blog Post #11

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 1. This week we learned about matter and what it is as well as did some stations that we jumped around to learn some more. We first started by having a conversation about what matter is and what counts as matter and what things are made of matter. We figured out that pretty much everything is made of matter and that we are made of the same matter that stars are made of. We then moved on to the stations part of the lab and had a bunch of different stations where we looked at different scientific phenomena. I did not know about the one that had the ice melt quicker in the pan than on the wood and I thought that was really interesting to learn about. We also looked at things like condensation, buoyancy, suction, and many more. I learned a lot this week about different phenomena and matter.  2. I was able to relate what I learned to what I already knew. I knew a little about matter but it was hard to remember exactly what I already knew about it but I did know that it makes up pr...
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Blog Post #10

 1. This week we talked about the different kinds of technology that we use in the classroom. We talked about things like computers we use and tablets but also things like the websites such as Kahoot and jam board to use for lessons to help improve learning. We then moved on to talking about simulations and their benefits of them like they are more cost-effective, accessible, easier to run, and safer. We then moved on to talking about AI programs that you can bring into the classroom and ones like chat GPT that write stuff for you and then talked about AI generators that generate images. Using that this week we wrote a story on evolution and used AI to generate images for it.  2. I was able to relate what I learned to what I already knew because I knew a little bit about AI generators. I knew about chat GPT and that software but I did not know about the AI generators that can generate images and I did not think about the idea of using these generators in the classroom and for ...
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Blog Post #9

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 1. This week we talked about natural selection. We talked about the idea that natural selection is where species that have favorable traits are the ones that are more likely to live and reproduce and therefore pass down these traits and keep those within the pool. We modeled this through an activity where we were given utensils that we had to try and "hunt" beans with and the one with the least amount of beans would "die". In its place, a new offspring of the ones that survived would replace it. We also did a simulation with bunnies that showed what can affect natural selection such as predators, weather, climate, and food.  4. I really liked the idea of the bean activity to represent what traits were favorable and hunted better and therefore were able to eat better and live. There were a couple parts of it that made it a little confusing so I would change that in my future classroom to make it easier but overall I want to include an activity similar to the one we ...
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