The End of Science Methods (Final Blog Entry)

Wow, we learned so much this semester in Science Methods! It's so weird that the semester ended so quickly-- I feel like we just begun!


Throughout the course of the semester, I read our textbook weekly. One of my favorite chapters was the chapter on the balloon experiment that we did in class. I loved that we implemented this chapter into the classroom through this activity, and it was such a fun one! I also liked learning about the constructivist view of education.


There were so many memorable activities that we did this semester, but the two that stood out to me the most were the science circus and the jigsaw activity. I liked the science circus because I enjoyed designing an experiment with my group, and participating in all the other group's activities. This class was so much fun, and I would definitely use this in my future classroom. The students would learn so much from this activity and have fun at the same time. Another activity that stood out to me was the Jigsaw activity. I gained so much from this activity, especially because I was able to teach others. Standing up in front of a whole class of my peers still intimidates me, so I really enjoyed doing this in smaller groups. I would definitely use this activity in my classroom in the future because I feel that students would gain so much knowledge from teaching each other.


I was able to grow professionally through so many aspects of this course, and I can't thank my professor enough for these opportunities. The main activities that enabled me to grow as a professional I believe were microteaching and fieldwork. I was able to teach an entire group of my peers a lesson about space sense, and it was great to get their positive feedback-- especially because of how nervous I was. I also grew professionally through fieldwork this semester. I love fieldwork because it allows me to get a feel for what grade I would like to teach in the future, and I get my first feel for how students learn. I really enjoyed working with the 5th grade class and I would love to teach 4th or 5th grade in the future, it's such a great age group. My favorite part of fieldwork was teaching the 5th grade class in its entirety, rather than just teaching my student alone. This was my first experience teaching an entire elementary school class, and it brought nothing but positive feedback. I was so nervous at first, but I loved working with the students and seeing them so excited about learning. It's so sad to see a student not interested in learning, so it's important to integrate fun experiments into the learning environment. 


I loved the school environment that we were placed in this semester. I love that Bishop Dunn is such a small school because it allows for the students to get to know their teachers and administration more personally, and vice versa. A school like Bishop Dunn is definitely my ideal placement for where I would like to teach in the future. 


I gained so much knowledge from observing and working with Mrs. Benfer's 5th graders this semester. When I was in elementary school, science was definitely not my strong point and it really intimidated me. I was very quiet in class, and did not like participating. My entire class acted pretty much the same way. But when I first stepped into Mrs. Benfer's classroom, I noticed right off the bat that her students were the exact opposite of how I was in 5th grade. They were all really outgoing, and the majority of the class participated when she would ask questions. It was great to see the students so excited about science.


When working with the 5th graders, my group created a chemical reaction lesson based on inquiry. Before beginning the lesson, we asked the students some basic questions on inquiry, and they didn't seem to have much knowledge on the topic. But once we mentioned the Scientific Method, they knew everything! I think it's important that I teach these topics hand-in-hand in the future, because they are somewhat similar.


Even though the E-folio was very time consuming, I would much rather complete an E-folio than take a long, comprehensive, cumulative final. The e-folio seemed a little overwhelming at first, but as long as you stay on task throughout the semester (like I did), they shouldn't be bad at all. I compiled all of my information together, and made changes to what my professor asked that I made changes to. It wasn't like I had to completely re-do an assignment. I believe we still gained the same knowledge that we would have from taking a final exam, but we were able to do so in a much more unique and modern format. I didn't particularly like any student's e-folio over another student's because I truly enjoyed everyones. There were so many cool ways that we could have formatted our e-folio, and everyone took up that opportunity. I learned that everyone is creative in their own unique way, and I enjoyed designing my e-folio, as well as seeing all of my peers' e-folios.

Oodles of Oobleck!

Some people may see the green stuff on my hand in this picture and think it's gross slime-- but it's not. What is it, you ask? Oobleck, of course! Oobleck is a material that I experimented with in my Language Arts Methods class. We used this in Language Arts Methods because it allowed for us to go from speaking to writing in the classroom. In an actual elementary classroom setting, the lesson would go as followed:

1. Perform an Experiment

2. Introduce Key Vocabulary

3. Teacher Guided Reporting

4. Journal Writing

In my journal, I wrote that the oobleck is a really cool, unique, viscous substance. It's messy and slimy, because at some times its a solid and sometimes it's a liquid. The oobleck is solid when you apply pressure and it is liquid when it is in motion. I like that we experimented with this substance in class because I never really knew that something could act as both a solid and a liquid at the same time.

We did this activity a few weeks ago in class, and I thought it would go perfect with a science lesson. In the handout that our teacher gave us, it said "'Oobleck', named for the mysterious green substance described in the Dr. Seuss classic Bartholomew and the Oobleck, is a non-newtonian fluid meaning it doesn't follow Newton's laws of motion. A non-newtonian fluid (like oobleck or silly putty) has a different viscosity depending on the force applied. By contrast, newtonian fluid (like water) have a constant viscosity at a given temperature. No matter how fast you stir them they never get thicker or thinner".

Oobleck is a mixture of cornstarch and water. Because it's a mixture of a solid and a liquid, it takes on the properties of both, and winds up behaving in unpredictable ways.  In liquids, the bonding between molecules is weak, which allows the molecules to easily flow past one another and rearrange, giving liquids their characteristic properties. In solids, the bonding between molecules is much stronger. The molecules cannot be easily rearranged, so the solid keeps its shape. 

In oobleck, the cornstarch molecules are very large, allowing for them to form long chains. The water molecules are much smaller, so they flow past each other and between the cornstarch molecules so that the chains slide and flow around each other. This explains why oobleck behaves like a liquid when it's not under pressure. When you squeeze or press on the oobleck, the water is temporarily forced out of the mixture and the starch molecules are pressing against each other, causing the mixture to behave like a solid.

I really enjoyed playing with Oobleck in class, and I think that I would definitely use it in my future science classroom. Even though it made a mess, it explains a great science theory that would be beneficial for the students to learn, and they would have fun at the same time. 

Here is a video that we watched in class. Even though the video isn't in English, it shows a really cool way of playing with Oobleck. Enjoy! :)