Reflection

One structured inquiry lesson I implemented this year was called the Sugar Race.  This lab focused on the concept of rate of reactions.  To start off my lesson I told students that they were eating at a restaurant and wanted sweetened tea but the restaurant only carried unsweetened tea.  I asked them how would they sweeten their tea and what methods might work the best.  This introduction really grabbed the attention of my students because about 90% of them had been in this type of situation.  I then had my students design an experiment to see what factors would affect how long it took for the sugar to dissolve.  My students used the scientific method to help them during this process.  Students were testing to see if the amount of water, temperature of the water, size of the sugar cube, and type of water affected the rate at which the sugar dissolved. The results from their experiments were that high temperatures increased the rate the sugar dissolved better than any other method.  The other factors that affected the way the sugar dissolved were crushing  and stirring the sugar cube.
Overall, I believe this lesson was successful.  My students met the objective and were focused throughout the entire experiment.  I observed students asking questions and curious about their results and observations.  I witnessed team work during this activity where students took responsibility for their role in the group. I also enjoyed the meaningful discussion at the end of the lesson which confirmed students reached the goals for this assignment. Additionally, I identified areas that needed improvement .  I would like to improve on the time it takes to complete this assignment by giving students options to choose from instead of them creating new ideas.  With this in place the activity would be completed in two days rather than almost four.  I would also have students evaluate each other during this activity to ensure every student is on task and actively learning.

Global Warming?

The main issue concerning global warming is if it is truly happening or not.  Many people believe that global warming is a myth and that at certain periods the world goes through these types of changes.  Other people believe that the polar ice caps are melting and this occurrence will eventually flood different areas around the world.  In week 3 of my class, we were asked to melt ice cubes in water using a cup to see what happened to the volume of water.  Not thinking about the principle of displacement, I immediately thought that it would spill out of the cup.  This of course did not happen. From what I could see the water volume stayed the same.  This again was because of water displacement. Unfortunately, I cannot use this experiment to conclude about the affects of global warming because I think there are other factors to consider.