Enquiring Minds want to know what this science experiment is all about?

Welcome to our 3rd grade class of scientists studying Changes.   Becky and I are very fortunate to be working with such a great group of  students. We began on Monday by setting up 15 minutes prior to the start of our lesson .  This proved to be an effective strategy because we were well prepared and neatly organized when we began to engage the class in a brainstorming session involving their own ideas about solids and liquids.  This session was an important part of our lesson because it was an opportunity for us to explore and understand what their prior knowledge was regarding matter.  As Becky did the talking I would write the data on our chart paper and vice versa.  We were a good tag team and seemed to compliment each other's teaching styles and personalities well.  The student's were very receptive to us being there and respectful.  We did have a couple of students who lost focus but both Becky and I were able to use cues to get them back on task with no problem.  Our class was very much in control and a pleasure to teach.  

As we moved from the class discussion to the actual experiment we knew we were beginning to be pressed for time and so Becky and I decided that we would disseminate the materials ourselves to the students.  This definitely bought us some time but I realized after that having the students get up to retrieve their own materials would have given them that stretch they needed (especially at the 3rd grade level.)  After discussing the lesson experience with the other groups I thought about incorporating some of their ideas (such as moving to the carpet for class discussion instead of having them sit at their desks for the entire lesson.) 

I realized the importance of addressing safety when a few of our students asked if they could drink the liquid after we had discussed safety.  I noticed that in Jen's blog her students thought the liquid resembled soda and we found that our students made that connection as well.  I reminded them of how we want to stay safe when conducting experiments and that in this experiment there would be no sense of taste involved.  Saftey is one of those topics that should be addressed during each and every experiment within a classroom, no matter what the age.

The reaction of the each group after the "big reveal" - dropping the tablet in the water was memorable.  There was a lot of interest during this phase of the experiment and as I approached different groups and asked questions I felt like I could see their minds working overtime to figure out where that tablet went.  There were some students who knew right away and others that needed additional time to digest what happened. 

After the experiment we discussed as a class what we learned from the lesson about changes and I applaud the way Becky addressed some of the ideas listed on our brainstorming chart from the beginning of class in an effort to identify any misconceptions.  For example, one idea a student had at the beginning of class was that a solid could never change shape and we were able to clarify that misconception after conducting the experiment. 

We set the stage for next week's lesson by having them watch us pour water into the ice cube trays.  This was a good lead in to our announcement that we would be coming back next Monday to do more science!  Next week's lesson appears to be even more exciting as the students use their own creativity in designing ways to melt the ice cube in the shortest amount of time possible.  I am looking forward to observing what this smart team of scientists will come up with!