Working on a Need to Know basis....A

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     A couple of observations....we did the IMF lab.  Students found data for the change in temperature for five chemicals.  I then asked, "What information do you need to predict how the last untested chemical will evaporate?"  It actually worked well.  The majority of the students did a great job with a tri fold and accurately predicted how pentane would evaporate.

   So I thought I would try it again.  We are going to "melt ice" with hot water and take data.  So the question will be, "How much energy does it take to melt ice?"  What do you need to know to figure this out with the data?  Once they do that I am going to pose a problem....If I have a set amount of water at a certain temperature, a mass of ice, what will be the final temperature when the ice completely melts?

     I think I finally have a research project.  I am sifting through 2.5 years of blog entries to look at different types of changes and place the entries into different categories.  Should be interesting...

Even when life is crazy...keep moving forward...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     I remember once running a marathon.  Up to the time of the marathon, it was the best training of my life.  I was feeling great and did a 27 mile training run 3 weeks before.  I was primed.  The day of the race it was 70 and humid with no shade.  All the training in the world did not prepare me for crappy weather.  I did finish but need three bags of I.V.'s after the race.  I remember telling myself at one point that as long as I put one foot in front of the other...I have to logically get to the end...Well...this is the time of the school year we are getting to.  Testing and schedules are crazy and kids really do not want to do chemistry.  I just got to keep on going.  So here is what I tried....

     Tried two ideas that have worked in the past.  First, the TIMU activity "Change you can believe in".  It is a great intro into physical chemical change and reactions.  It has a great series of graphics with the particulate world.  Students first draw solids liquids and gases.  Instead, I had them build the models with legos before they drew the models.  It started some good discussions.  They nailed the solid and gas but just made the liquid a version of a gas.  Nice sneaky formative assessment.

     Second, I am becoming a big fan of card sorts.  I am thinking of starting a topic called "No Lecture Notes".  Essentially, have the notes and topics on cards, have kids sort them, let them make mistakes and discuss corrections, then have them get down the concepts.  A great inspiration for this Barb Hall.  Thanks Barb...it is a winner.

     Finally, thanks to Dr. Ellen Yzeirski, I picked up the book by Michael Fullan, "The Meaning of Educational Change".  So far, it is impressive.  The guy has a great handle of what it is like in the trenches and is very realistic.  I will keep you posted....

Spiking the Intellectual Punch....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Had an interesting week....First, Mike Geyer tossed me a J. Chem. Ed. article.  A guy made a colorimeter out of legos, LED lights a resistor, some wire and a couple of AA batteries.  Mike showed me the article.  I couldn't resist.  A few bucks later I had about 100 LED lights, 50 resistors and I raided my son's lego bucket.  A former AP student of Geyer's was bored and put it together in a day.  A funny think happened...he got awesome results.  Ironically, his dad is a scientist who happens to have an extremely expensive colorimeter at work.  This kid got results similar to his dad's.  Did I mention the lego colorimeter costs about $3?
     So, what is it about one kid that you give them a problem and they thrive and others just turn up their nose?  Not sure I have the answer.  I do think I am going to come up with the "Teaching 10 Commandments".  Here might be a few...Create a "need to know" basis.  Also, come up with some type of assessment that is not just "pen and paper"....like building a colorimeter.  Next, make sure the kids can wrap their heads around the large scale first.  Another one, take time to learn vocabulary.  I was a bit shocked to go back and look at the infamous, "Johnstone Triangle" article.  Ironically, he states that for years, there is much chemistry that can be done without knowing anything about the particulate level.  He states that vocabulary is a great place to start because it is less confusing.  Bottom line...and I think research shows this...you want to provide something for students to challenge them but not so much that they shut down.
     So here is an idea I have tried before.  Do an experiment, get the data and then tell students they have to predict or figure something out based on it (the need to know part).  Then I am going to introduce the vocabulary and symbolic.  Finally, tell students their prediction must include some type of modeling.  I think I might try this with the evaporation lab....I will keep you posted.