Hold your horses.....

Hold your horses.... is the sugar cube seriously winning the race? 

The science question for this week that we posed to our excellent experimenters (new process skill introduced) was, "Can 2 forms of the same substance dissolve at different speeds?"  This experiment involved two solids which were sugar grains and sugar cubes.  The goal was to have the students recognize that they will dissolve at different speeds based on two factors (properties and stirring.) The question seemed so simple, or so we thought......

We were being assessed on the Technology/Engineering framework today and we definitely struggled with ways on how to incorporate this piece without disrupting the flow of the lesson.  Becky did an excellent job of incorporating technology/engineering into the lesson as she reviewed last week's lesson on filtration.  We had a sample of oil and water on hand in a container and she asked the students for real life instances where we might use filtration.   She then offered the gulf oil spill as an example of how scientists and engineers work to solve real life problems such as this and that they design machines/technology as a part of their jobs. The students were really engaged by this topic and I could see that they were very interested and were going to want more information.  Becky handled this really well as they began asking questions about the spill.  She suggested that we could talk more about this topic at the end if we had enough time because we had to get going with our experiment.  Great thinking partner!

 After Becky explained the record sheet and briefly summarized the steps of the experiment I stepped in with another connection to the T/E frameworks.  I discussed how in the past we have used some of the same materials and what might we use today to do our stirring.  They knew that we used a coffee stirrer.  I brought a small bag of examples for stirring and asked the students why I might not use some of the materials in the bag (i.e., paper, straw, yarn).  They told me that the coffee stirrer was better because it was hard and it would be stronger to stir.  This is the answer I was looking for so that I could revisit how it is the job of scientists and engineers to decide what tools are best to use (based on properties and design) when trying to accomplish a task.     

This week's lesson really challenged my partner and I as we were faced at the end of the lesson with the task of explaining to our science class that the sugar grains were "supposed" to win the dissolving race and not the good ole' sugar cube. Becky and I were really surprised when we walked around the classroom to observe students and we sall all of their cubes dissolving rapidly as they stirred and the grains seemed to fall to the bottom of the other cup.  Different partner groups began saying that their cubes won. 

We decided to be up front with the class and let them know that the results were surprising to us and that the sugar cube was supposed to win.  I then asked them why they thought the cube should have won.  One student answered correctly by stating that the cube was more compacted and the grains were smaller and separated.  They also divulged to Becky that if they broke up the cube it would dissolve faster as well.  She then asked the students what the answer to our science question from the beginning of class was.  We must have done a good job of explaining the different speeds, factors, and forms because they knew the answer was yes, that two forms of the same substance do dissolve at different speeds when they are stirred.

I could see that the students were getting itchy in their seats and so I suggested to my partner that we omit the journal writing for this week and maybe call them to the rug to hear a book that I had found at Barnes and Nobles on Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  It was a book that infused humor and colorful pictures and I think the students really enjoyed it.  I was pressed for time and had to read fast but hopefully they grasped the concepts.  I felt like it was another way to review everything that we had learned over the past 6 lessons.  My wonderful partner cleaned up and organized all of the materials as I read the book.  I am going to miss these students and Becky!  I really feel like we were a great team together this semester.  She is going to make a wonderful teacher some day!