Science:

Science in the elementary classroom is often over looked and underappreciated. I find this a shame as I am very passionate about science. I find that students are not given an opportunity to discover that their lives are filled with science and they are natural scientists. This is a subject that easily lends itself to being incorporated into other subject areas.

In this course, I have learned the impact and the importance of bringing positive role models into the classroom and making connections with the community.  I have also learned that having an engaging hook is essential to a lesson. By piquing the classes attention the lesson becomes concrete and helps the students make stronger connections to the material.

For my practicum in this course I worked with second graders on magnetic forces.  

I created a three part science center on magnets titled “The Force Be with You” that the students had access to for two weeks. The students explored, predicted and discovered the force of various magnets through solids, liquids and gases. The students were very engaged in learning about the characteristics, properties, and force of magnets. I gave a magnet to every student at the end of their discoveries to continue their learning outside of the classroom.

 

Following is the detailed explanation and reflection of the science center I created:

I set the center on a table with all the objects accessible as well as their science book opened to the page on magnets at the very far corner. I wanted to model that they have access to this information in their classroom. The center consists of three sections, experimentation station #1, experimentation station #2 and an observation station. The first station asks the students to look at the various magnets available and the different objects. They were to predict which objects the magnets would be attracted to. The second station furthered their inquiry of magnets by asking if the magnets would still work through a solid and a liquid. The observation station was a few questions they were to answer and think about how magnets work. I did not put any kind of “right” or “wrong” verbiage on the center for their predictions. One trait of being an effective scientist is being willing to make predictions without worrying about being correct and the students needed that experience.

            My purpose for this center was to engage the students and spark their interest in science. I am aware that this classroom has not had very much science this year and they have been yearning for it. The first set of partners spent thirty minutes playing with the magnets. They could read all the directions and were eager to answer my questions. From my position across the room, I was able to observe the students fully engaged and learning as well as helping each other. They were excited to come tell me and their teacher what they had learned and then returned to the center.

            My mistake was that I had not placed a time limit on the center, so they stayed at the center for half an hour. My other rule of only two students at a time did not allow the other students an opportunity to use the center for a long period of time. The rest of the class watched those students and the center in anticipation for their turn to use the learning center and enjoy the science activities. In the future I will keep note of this and make sure the students are given an equal chance to experiment.

            I interviewed several pairs of students after they had a turn at the center and every one of them enjoyed the activities. Some made wonderful connections of concepts and vocabulary and with all the students I explained concepts, cleared any misconceptions and received lots of feedback. Attached you will find a sample of their comments.  I asked the students if they had read the directions and after assuring them they weren’t going to get into trouble, I only wanted honesty to make it better for next time they came clean. Only half of the students read the directions, and surprisingly, it was one student from each group.

            I was concerned my directions were too much, and I was right. None of the students said that, but I believe the reason they didn’t pay attention to it is due to it being too intimidating. There are a lot of words. I will need to simplify directions for future students. They explained to me that they most wanted to play with the magnets. Many of the students did write down observations however, so they must have read that on the board.

            Over all I am very pleased with the success and failures of the learning center. I have noted the changes that I need to make and the students are excited to have another science center in the classroom. They were kind enough to give me ideas for the next one, and I am already looking into exchanging a center with a fellow classmate as she has done one of the topics suggested.

 

 

Ideas for the next center:

Dinosaur Bones       Africa              the Ocean     Insects

A Magnifying Center to look at things up close hyenas, foxes, wolves, dogs

 Floating Eggs                      Cars                Horses                       Blocks with words

Weather                     The world and Gravity         Germs

 

A sample of the students comments about what they learned in the center and how they liked it. The following are their exact words.

Group #1 Comments:

* “I like it! I love it!”

* “I like how you can put one magnet under the table and one on top and it moves”

* “I liked the writing station, it made me think.”

* “The two big magnets making the cool sound when you throw them in the air!”

Group #2 Comments:

* “It was sweet and cool!”

* “We were having fun with the magnets.”

* “If you put a little magnet in the cup of water and the big magnet under the table it moved the cup around! That was my favorite!”

*”I like the magnets because it works through the table.”

Group #3 Comments:

* “It was pretty cool- I learned how metal could connect!”

* “I liked all the different kinds of magnets and you could make them connect through the table and my hand.”

* “I thought the coins would connect to the magnet but they don’t!”

 

 

Group #4 Comments:

*”Now I know you can magnetize a chain of paperclips!”

*”I made two magnets in the water some out and connected to the magnet I was holding!”

* “I made one little magnet float between the two big ones in the air!”

* “It was awesome to play at the science center!”

* I grabbed a hair deal, a paper clip, and a magnet and the paper clip moved to the top…FAST!”

* ‘I could feel the energy of the magnets through my hand when I had one on each side!”