Science Journals

I wish light lasted longer durring they day!

2007-11-17T23:17:10Z

Week 11

Chapter 15

Light

The first thought that comes to my mind about light is the pendulum experiment. I find it amazing that light can change in so many colours. Light is colour. If there was not light, colour would not exist. We can see this at night, if there is no light and we are in complete darkness, other then the darkness appearing black there is no colour. I also though immediately about the importance that light plays in our lives. It is 5.30 as write this and if I look outside it is dark already. I would not be able to read the text book or cook dinner without the help of light. I think back to the blackout in 2003. It was summer; therefore we did not loose our natural light as soon as we do now, but did we really go without light. In my house we used flashlights and candles. This shows how important light is and even when we loose our main source, we find ways to accommodate for it. There are even natural substitutions, the moon and the starts brought a little light to the sky that night as well.

I like this chapter because there are a lot of interesting activities that children will really enjoy. What child does not like playing with a flashlight mirrors and shadows? The concept of night being earths shadow confuses me. If the sun shines on me the part of me that the light is hitting is creating a shadow but the part the light is not hitting on me is not a shadow in my opinion. Therefore I do not understand how it is earth’s shadow. The shadow of the earth can occasionally be seen on the moon, but night is not earth’s shadow.

I do not think that my memories of school and science are very strong, because I can not remember doing any activities but I am sure that I did learn about light. I remember a solar eclipse that occurred while I was at school and not being allowed to go outside during recess. I also think that light is something that is so common that we teachers can easily forget to teach it.

Word Count: 368

I know I'm late, sorry, I spent 12 hours on my computer doing another assignment yesterday!

2007-11-12T13:59:21Z

Week 11
Sound
Chapter 14

My first thoughts about sound are not scientific. I think of sound in a more artistic way. The first scientific thought that I get about sound is from a television show I used to watch as a child, The Magic School Bus. There was one episode where the students went to, I think, an old mansion. In this mansion they learned about how the speed of vibrations affects the pitch of the sound, how bats use sound to move in the dark. Although they probably learned about other things that is all I remember. They used picture to animate the vibrations. This is helpful because it allows children to see something that is invisible. Sound can be a really fun unit, and is often integrated with the arts curriculum. I do not remember learning to many scientific facts about sound in my own school experiences.

I really liked the idea in the text book about using vibrations that children can see first then using objects like sand to help see vibrations that are smaller. I also liked the activity, how can we tell that water carries sounds. I do not know the answer to the question of whether putting a tube in the water would make the sound of the scissors clicking in the water louder, but I am curious to find out. I like that the text does make a connection to musical instruments but I think that more can be done with them. A drum set would be an easy medium to see and feel vibrations. Putting your fingers on your throat as suggested in the text is also a good way to feel vibrations. In the activity where children are blowing in water bottles filled with water they suggest using rubbing alcohol after each child. I would suggest using glasses filled with water and taping them with a spoon instead.

I think it is important to talk to children about sound safety. Ears are very delicate and loud noises are very dangerous for everyone. Talking about ways to protect ears is good for children to know. There are occupations that require special equipment to block out dangerous sounds. The more children know about the importance of protecting their ears, the better we are preparing them for dealing with situations that could be dangerous. I was at a concert once, and our tickets were beside the speakers. A security guard came and gave my mother earplugs. My little sister ended up using them because the sound was too loud. We all should have had ear plugs, being that close to the speakers.

Word Count 434

Yawn, Simple machiens can be so much more fun!

2007-11-04T13:03:19Z

Week 10

Simple Machines

Chapter 13

Simple machines can be really neat, but as I was reading the chapter I was bored. The activities either seemed really boring and simple or really confusing. I do not understand what friction is, in a simple machine but since it is included I will suggest a much more fun way to learn about friction. This activity is limited to our climate and would not be possible in a climate that does not get snow. My idea is to collect a variety of material of different types that a child could sit on. The idea would be to explore the way that the materials travel down the hill with the child on. The child does not go down a hill as fast in her snow pants as she does on a magic carpet. The children will be able to explore many aspects to friction in this activity. The children will also observe that the child that goes down the magic carpet second will go farther then the first. Why? They will see what happens to the snow and how that affects friction. What is for fun then learning by tobogganing?

I believe that talking children on trip so see simple machines in action would help them understand them and develop and excitement about them. The science centre would be a great place to take children on a trip.

As a future teacher reading these activities I also have to be aware that even though they seem boring to me, if I present them like their interesting the children will probably find them interesting. Being aware of my feelings and bias’s is very important because they will directly affect the children I work with. I do not remember doing much with simple machines as a student but maybe the activities I did were boring and this is affecting my opinions now.

There was one activity that I found interesting in this text, but the description of how to do it was unclear. What child wouldn’t enjoy playing with and pulling boxes in the how do rollers move things activity. As I reread the activity it makes more sense, the rollers on are on a platform dolly or a board, they are not just being put directly on the box. This would be a fun activity to help children learn about how wheels help us move things.

Word Count 395

In invisable pulls of magnets and gravity

2007-10-27T18:47:36Z

Week 9

Chapter 11: Magnetism

The first sentence of this chapter really bother me, “Attractive people can draw us to them; others can repel us” (231). How does this relate to magnetism at all?

Magnets are one area of science that I remember doing quite thoroughly, I remember doing the activity what magnets will attract and how well can magnets pull though things that are not attracted. Magnets were interesting and fun to play with. I think that just giving children a magnet and letting them experiment around the classroom, or school will teach them about what magnets attract to. This would be enjoyable for the children as well. It is important to teach children about the dangers that magnets can cause on objects that use magnetic force to operate. I put a magnet up to my television when I was learning about magnets and it cause harm. One side of our television was off colour.

Chapter 12: Gravity

I do remember wondering how people at the bottom of the globe did not fall off. This chapter suggests that children should learn about magnetism before leaning about gravity. I do not agree. Children know about gravity from a young age: they know that they can jump up, but will come down, if they throw a ball up, it comes down.

This chapter confused my general knowledge of gravity, “Gravity pulls from inside earth” (245) I always though that gravity was caused by the spinning of the earth. As I am looking for answers on Google I am finding that no one is really sure where gravity comes from or how it works. I am confused now! How do teach something so complicated that it is confusing me, to children. The best answer I can think of is to teach what you know. Gravity is present, and it keeps us from floating in the air. I like that the chapter talks about balancing and gravity. This is something that I did not really thing of gravity affecting but does make sense. Gravity can be confusing in other ways too. We are not always pulled to the ground. Helium balloons, hot air balloons, and airplanes all seem to defy gravity. It is important to explain these deviances to children to help them gain a better understanding of gravity. It is also good for children to be confused and to ask questions because being curious, having and asking questions is one of the best ways to learn.

Word Count 414

I am scientific!

2007-10-20T17:57:44Z

Week 8

Chapter 10, Rocks and Minerals

I am starting to wonder about the originality and creativity of our text book. This chapter suggests holding a rock in our hand, saying something interesting about what is in your hand then showing it to the children. This introduction has been used several times in our chapter and is starting to seem very unoriginal. There are so many other ways to introduce children to rocks then this classic example from out text book.

As I was reading the text book the activity which rocks are hard? Which rocks are soft? made me stop and experiment. I have a collected several rocks for our extension activity. While I used the penny to scratch the rocks I noticed something that the text book didn’t explain. There was a mark left on all my rocks. It was either a scratch or a copper mark left behind. To some children this would be seen as a scratch. I think that if you could find something that would not leave a trace of itself behind like the penny the experiment would be better.

I am also discovering that many of the activities I did for my own enjoyment can be done with children in a classroom. Sometimes you will need to venture outdoors. I remember that I loved rocks when I was a child. I would collect the ones I liked. I would use large rocks to break a smaller rock in half. I also collected large rocks in a wagon and sold them at my trailer park for the adults to put in their gardens. I remember doing many of the activities in many of these chapters, but I do not remember doing them in the classroom. I experimented on my own. I never though of myself as scientific but clearly I was, I am. Not all children have the opportunity to play with rocks like I did and if they are not presented in the classroom then they are missing out on having fun with science. Even though I was doing science as a child I did not know and I could only learn as much as I discovered or asked about.

The activity, minerals form crystals reminded me of an activity that was done in my placement class. The teacher was doing an activity on dissolving materials in water, and evaporation. The children dissolved salt into their cups of water and then left them on the windowsill, when they came to school the next day they were all amazed to see the crystals that were left in the cup. The teacher did not talk to much about minerals turning in to crystals but observing what happened is likely to help the children understand minerals when they learn about them.

Word count: 458

Why do themometers need to be in the shade?

2007-10-14T23:19:19Z

Week 7

Air and Weather

My Reaction

While reading the chapter on air I was surprised by the activities that are possible to do with air. The chapter is correct in saying that one does not really think about air unless it is too cold or too hot. I found the activity that allows children to see that hot air moves up and cold air moves down to be very interesting.

I found the chapter on weather to be more interesting to me this week. I have always been fascinated by the weather. Thunderstorms scare me, I do not like the loud unexpected bang of the thunder but I am captivated by the lightning. The one activity in this chapter that I was concerned about was the activity that showed children how lightning works. This activity involved children making and managing a spark of static electricity. I have been shocked by static electricity and it can hurt. I really do not think this is a safe activity to do within a classroom especially with younger children.

On page 201 I really liked the Beufort Scale of Wind Velocity. It seems easy to use, children will be able to observe the things to look for and it gives them new vocabulary. I also found the activity, how is rain formed, to be very interesting. I like the way that it shows the rain cycle in a small plastic way. It brings concepts that are hard to see because of their enormity in to something small that children can easily observe.

A Question

As I was reading this chapter I noticed that it stated that thermometers needed to be kept in the shade and I wondered why. I googled it. I found out that it is recorded in the shade because the sun can warm a thermometer to read extremely incorrect readings. There is a picture of a man on the website I found in a winter jacket but the thermometer said it was 30 degrees Celsius. They want to record the temperature of the air not the temperature of something that was warmed by the sun.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2006-08-21-shade-temperature_x.htm

My Experiences

I remember learning about weather in school. The weather activities that I remember doing are rather boring. We had weather charts and as a class we would decide what the weather was like that day. We did worksheets that looked at the clothes that we wear in different weather and talked about activities that we did in certain weather. I do not remember learning much about air. I do remember making paper airplanes in class at one point in my elementary education but I do not remember weather we talked about air while doing this. I also have a vague memory of going to an airport with a class. I remember sitting on the plane and realizing how big the plane was because of how high it was above the ground without flying. I wish I remembered more about that trip, I wonder what we were learning and discussing as a class about this experience.

Word Count: 507

Learn about water in its natural environment

2007-10-05T18:39:52Z

Week 5, Chapter 8,
Water

As I was reading this chapter I found the activities to be boring or confusing to be learning in a classroom. The activities that I liked were the ones that used the natural environment and took the children outside. There were two activities that stood out as good activities to me. Learning about rain drops but taking the children outside to learn about them. The activities in the textbook are mainly indoors. How can children learn about the natural phenomenon’s that occur outside while being stuck inside? I would skip these activities and go strait outside. This may be hard to plan ahead of time because it depends on the weather. When it first starts to rain children can see how the rain is falling, they can look at the rain drops on their rain jackets. Children can compare the differences between the way the rain drop stays on the jackets but absorbs in to their pants. Children can also explore the way rain drops look on other surfaces and what happens when rain drops join together. All this learning that can be done outside was a variety of different experiences in the book. I also like the activity where children watch and mark how water is evaporating from a puddle outside. Once children see how water works in a natural environment it will be easier to bring the experiments inside and focus more specifically on one concept.

My other concern about the text was that it suggested telling children that weight is the reason why things float or not. If I thought this as a child I probably would not want to go on a boat that I could not even attempt to lift. If children are experimenting and propose that as the reason I would let them explore and challenge it. I would hope that one child would have experience being on a boat that floated and was not light. I would encourage them to explore and the activity that followed in the chapter could be done at the same time with children questioning why some things float.

Word Count: 350

I used to be fasinated by fingerprints

2007-10-01T00:45:47Z

Week 4, The Human Body: Care and Nourishment

The human body is really complex; I think that there could be a whole textbook written on activities that teach children about their body. As I was reading the textbook I was wondering how you can teach children about these concepts, some seemed to be really complicated and abstract. Can you feel your muscles move? I do not notice or feel my muscles moving unless they are hurting. There were some concepts that the textbook displayed really well. The activity that shows how sneezing spreads germs would help explain how germs travel though the air. I also found that activity where you could see the germs from your hands develop. I tend not to think about the germs on my hands until I get sick. To see this experiment would probably make me think about the germs more often.

A lot of the activities in the textbook seem to flow naturally in to everyday experiences. I think that it is important to use everyday experiences. At lunch children can talk about nutrition, and what is healthy for them. Before lunch the teacher can do an experiment and talk to children about how food is important for their bodies. Before snack children wash their hands, this is a perfect time to talk about how not to spread germs. Someone in the class broke their arm; the teacher can use this to introduce how bones support our bodies.

My Experience

I remember being very interested in finger print’s as child. I do not remember if this was something that was explained to us in school or if it was something I learned from other experiences. I used to colour an area with a pencil really hard so that there was lead dust. Then I would put my finger in the dust and place my finger on a clean piece of paper. I would have my finger print and I would study it. I remember learning about the different patterns found in finger prints and I would try to find them in my own. Sometimes I would do this just because I like the look of my fingerprint.

Word Count: 355

Bring Animals into the Classroom!

2007-09-21T20:09:37Z

Week 3

Chapter 5, Animals

I have always that that I was an animal lover, but I never considered insects to be animals before. I really am not a big fan of insects because they gross me out and sometimes scare me. It is funny to think that an animal so much smaller then me can bother and even scare me. It is easy to see why insects bother me, they bit or sting me and make me itchy, try to eat my food, and just end up in places I would rather them not be. I find the insects that scare me are the ones that I do not know about. This makes me wonder if were explained more about insects in school would I consider them animals and would I be as afraid. There were certain insects I liked growing up; I loved catching butterflies in the day and fireflies at night. I remember learning a lot about butterflies and their life cycle in school. I also remember learning about animals, going to the zoo and farms. I believe these hands on experiences are important. Though this chapter I learned new things about insects that I found quite fascinating. I did not know that ants and butterflies pollinated flowers, and that only male cricket’s chirp.

Many of the activities in the book I would have loved to do when I was a child. They are messy, gross, and a lot of fun. The activities include watching a meal worm’s metamorphosis, playing with earthworms, and having animals, insects and their habitats in the classroom. I do not even remember having fish in my classrooms, I wonder if my teachers were afraid of bringing living things into the classroom. I think things are changing from my experiences in placement. In my second year placement there was a classroom that had geckos and while I was there a baby gecko hatched from an egg that was laid. It was a small school and became a school event, they had a contest to name the baby and every class got to go visit the baby gecko. In my placement last year we had fish. The children were responsible for feeding the fish; a helper was chosen for the week. We had one fish who was sick and one morning we though he had died and the teacher and I were going to have a funeral for the kids and flush him down the toilet together. The fish was not dead but I really like that the teacher was not just going to replace the fish and pretend he never died
word count: 433

Learning the Foundations

2007-09-10T00:32:34Z

Week 1

Chapter 2 & 3

In the first class we discussed what we remembered about science in school. Knowing our own foundations will help us create a strong foundation for the children we teach. I do not remember doing much science other then our science fair at school. I think this is because the teacher did not let us know that activities we did were science. I liked science but maybe if I was more informed about the science based activities I may have like it more. A teacher has a strong influence on young children and their like or dislike of science. In chapter 2, the text discusses why teachers are afraid to teach science and provides ideas to help teachers gain confidence. I like the advice that encourages teachers to do the experiments on their own first. Teachers do not need to be afraid of science because they often know more then they give themselves credit for.

Chapter one explains about how children construct knowledge and what foundations need to be in place for them to learn. Children will learn if they are given the opportunity to explore their world. To do this they need to be in a classroom where they are accepted and feel comfortable to take risks. Parents and the community can also play an important role in introducing children to science and creating this foundation. The community offers many programs that introduce children to science. I loved visiting the science centre as a child, and still do. Parents can introduce children to science by using their environment and teaching their children what they know.

So how does one teach science to children to support their development and foster a positive attitude towards science? Chapter 2 suggests guided discovery science. “Children learn by imitating and interacting with others, as well as through their own exploration and problem solving. The teacher serves as the social facilitator of children’s problem-solving abilities” (Harlan & Rivkin, 31-32). Activities for guided discovery science should be hands on and come from children’s natural curiosity. There should be a question that does not have only one correct answer. Children should make predictions before they do the experiment.

Teachers must provide children feedback and evaluate them. In chapter 2 the difference between pointless praise and encouraging feedback is made clear. Pointless praise may sound nice but it has no real meaning. Encouraging feedback lets children know that the process is as important as the product. Evaluations are important in our society but if they are not done thoughtfully they can be harmful for children. The text suggests using a checklist and checking off criteria as the children are making their discoveries and asking them to represent what they know.

I found the information in this part of the textbook to be interesting and very thought proving. I hope that I will be able to use the information that I learn in this class to help me develop and deliver a science program that will give children positive experiences with science.

Word Count = 502