Addy's Science Blog (Elem Science Methods I)

   Addy Junge Week 9: Earthquakes and Volcanoes 1. What did you do in lab today?​ At the start of our lab, we filled out our formative assessment about volcanoes. After that, we individually jotted down what we already knew about earthquakes and volcanoes on whiteboards. We then continued to watch a video of an earthquake and a video of a volcanic eruption. Our class started talking about questions or comments we had on the videos. Switching gears to our activity, my group and I made predictions about where we think earthquakes and volcanoes are. Once we were done with our predictions, we started to discover where they actually were based on a website. We talked about it as a class and whether our predictions were right. Finally, we ended our lab by talking about the earthquake waves, discussing different types of volcanoes, and creating a poster for our future classroom.  2. What was the big question? I would say the big question during our lab would be "How are earthqua...

  Addy Junge Week 8: Geology That Kids See 1. What did you do in lab today?​ During lab, we started off by discussing the Sweater article with our peers in our table groups. After that, we jumped right into our sand investigation, where we used a microscope to observe different types of sand from all around the world. We would jot down the specific characteristics that we saw in each of the sands, such as size, shape, and color. After our sand investigation, we did another hands-on activity, but this time with fossils. This was a really entertaining activity because all the fossils we found were straight from Iowa. Once we determined a fossil, we started to categorize it based on a sheet we received at the beginning of our lab. Towards the end of class, we got the opportunity to go to the MacBride museum and observe different types of rocks, Earth's timeline, how Iowa was covered in water, and more! 2. What was the big question?​ I would say the big question during our lab would be...

Addy Junge Week 7: Rocks and the Rock Cycle 1. What did you do in lab today?​ During lab, we started off with our formative assessment, posing the question "Is it a rock?" After that, we got the chance to look at assessment probes that provide science teachers with questions to get students thinking. This also helps us figure out what our students already know. We also reviewed our exam grade/curve while discussing grade inflation and our Activitymania assignment. During our lab activity, we discovered a little more about the rock cycle and how different rocks are made. We did this by using Starburst and melting them in different ways (using different colors, different melting strategies, mixing the Starburst, etc.).  2. What was the big question?​ I would say the big question during our lab would be "How do different types of rock form?" 3. What did you learn in Thursday’s discussion?​ Here are my notes from our lecture: 4. Read the online textbook, chapter 1: What...

  Addy Junge Week 6: Geologic Time 1. What did you do in lab today?​ During lab, we first covered and reviewed topics that were going to be on the exam. We took this time to ask questions and talk about any confusion we had. We also took our class formative assessment regarding the course itself. Switching gears to our new unit, geological time, our class discussed how a presidential election was influenced by a 100-million-year-old coastline. I thought this was really interesting, considering I have never heard about something like that before! For our activity, we predicted moments on a timeline for when we think they happened. After that, we sat down as a class, discussed our answers, and started discovering if our predictions were right. My peers and I explored the website EarthViewer and wrote down significant moments in history to add to our timeline.  2. What was the big question?​ I would say the big question during our lab would be "How does Earth's geological history...

  Addy Junge Week 5: Galaxies to Black Holes 1. What did you do in lab today?​  During lab, we had our presentations on certain space topics, such as Stars, Meteors, Meteorites, Craters & Comets, Galexies, and Black Holes. We all took notes of the different presentations. Some things I learned about stars are that the larger the mass = the shorter its life cycle. When learning about  Meteors, Meteorites, Craters & Comets, the group covered the differences between the four, along with our current understanding of what they are. Something else we talked about was Ann Hodges and how she was the only person to be struck by a meteorite and survive. Next, we talked about galaxies and the preconception that they are made up of stars only. And then our group covered black holes, covering misconceptions, cool facts, female contributions, and more! 2. What was the big question?​ I would say the big question during our lab would be "What big ideas do you want your peers to t...

  Addy Junge Week 4: Our Solar System 1. What did you do in lab today?​ At the start of our lab, we took our formative assessment and then discussed a prompt about a full moon during the middle of the day (impossible). We then shifted our discussion to our previous assignment, Missconceptions Die Hard , connecting it back to our Week 1 assignment, Private Universe . We briefly talked about the standards in 1st, 5th, and middle school grades. We then switched gears to our investigation of the size of our solar system. We used Play-Doh to replicate the size and distance (to scale) of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Here are some of the images I took:      2. What was the big question?​ During the lab experiment, I would say the big question was "How big is our solar system when comparing the planets to the sun?" 3. What did you learn in Thursday’s discussion?​ Here are my notes from the lecture:     4. Read the online textbook, chapter 1: ...

Addy Junge Week 3: Space: The Moon 1. What did you do in lab today?​ At the beginning of our lab, we discussed our previous assignments from Week 1, the NDSL Strandmap, and the Private Universe. We then discussed ways we can address common misconceptions in our classroom and replace them with factual information. After that, we switched gears to the moon. We learned a little bit more about the moon phases, the rotation of the moon, and the revolution of the moon. The main topic we talked about during the lab, however, was the near side and far side of the moon. We talked in groups about what differences we noticed between the two pictures. Then we started our lab, where we would conduct experiments we thought would affect the moon's shape (craters, discoloration, etc.). 2. What was the big question?​ During the lab experiment, I would say the big question would be "Why does the near side of the moon (the side we see) have more and larger craters than the far side (the side we ...