On your mark, get set.....MELT!!!!

Kathy and Becky - Lesson Plan 2: Freezing and Melting  10/25/10

On your mark, get set....MELT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought it would be appropriate with Halloween right around the corner that I begin my summary on the Changes lesson this week regarding melting by introducing a very memorable clip from an ole' classic. 

What can I say?  This 3rd grade class is a pleasure to teach.  They are smart, creative, and seem to be vested in this science unit.  Of course, there are those who need occasional reminders to pay attention but when that prompt is given they are very respectful. At the end of our last session the teacher introduced us to a tool she uses to gain back the attention by announcing the phrase "we are in the red zone" which she suggested might be helpful to use during instruction because it was familiar to them.   I used this once with success..

I will report that our class experience was a little different this week than last week.  The students were given the opportunity to leave their seats during the experiment where they would devise a method to melt an ice cube in the shortest time possible.   We did address safety; however, the excitement combined with the ability to explore different methods did become slightly chaotic.  I was very grateful for Becky especially during the actual hands on experiment because we were four eyes working together to keep forty-eight safe and on task.  The sink was a popular method and with all that water I am thankful that Becky kept a close eye on that station because the classroom could have been in serious danger of becoming submerged.  Good thing she had that scuba suit handy.... 

Becky provided a wonderful introduction to the unit by revisiting what we discussed last week and engaging the students in answering science questions such as "what did we observe last week and describe some of the changes" and "Can a solid change state?".  After Becky completed the introduction and we felt confident that they grasped the content from last week I began explaining the lesson for this week and relating that to how we want to always keep in mind that safety should always be our first priority.  We discussed the senses we could use in the experiment. However, I have to admit I was not prepared for the children that would elect to stomp on their bags or use desks to crush their materials.  I guess that is why teachers always need to expect the unexpected!  Becky and I worked extremely well together as we tackled the class management of this particular lesson. 

We were very prepared with materials and even brought in a cooler in the event that the ice cubes began melting during our discussion.  Luckily, they remained frozen and ready to go at the start of the lesson.  Becky even prepared a chart including the rules of this activity which I found to be very resourceful when trying to get certain students back on task and adhering to game rules.  We also provided word search puzzles for the students in the event that they finished melting their ice cube early which they really seemed to enjoy.  At the end of the lesson we distributed their journals and asked them to record, draw and write anything that they obseved, noticed or learned from today's experiment.  As we walked around the classroom I was pleased to see that many journals reflected the importance of today's lesson as it related to the frameworks.  They really seemed to absorb what Becky and I set out to teach....that matter is constantly changing and when heat is introduced to the solid (ice) it melts and changes matter to a liquid again.  They truly are amazing little sponges...