This week we talked a lot about different strategies for solving multiplication and division problems. Please see my math blog if you need any help with this!
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The kids were given a comic strip and were asked to make observations about the comic and then some inferences. They then had to present their group's thoughts to the class. Here are some videos of the activity: This week we did an activity that involved using our sense of sight to observe a picture, one frame at a time, and our schema (our prior knowledge and experiences) to come up with an inference about what was going on. The kids really enjoyed the activity and are starting to see the difference between these two actions, which is key to reading AND science. Here is a picture of the image they were shown, 1/3 at a time. We had a lot of great discussions about our observations and inferences about the picture. Some noticed that the red prints were smaller and not spread out. They said that it didn't seem that the red printed animal noticed the green one because it didn't appear to start running. The kids inferred that the green footprints seemed to all of a sudden take off running as they observed the footprints got further apart. Here are the reactions the kids had to the third frame as it was revealed that after the footprints mixed together, only one set of footprints "walked" away from the second frame. Here are the reactions the kids had to the third frame as it was revealed that after the footprints mixed together, only one set of footprints "walked" away from the second frame. So, what did we learn about science in this lesson?
Students learned:
We also talked again about the difference between qualitative observations and quantitative observations: Qualitative= Qualities are described using words, such as brown, blonde, etc.
In Science this week, students got into groups and became paleontologists on a fossil dig! Okay, it wasn't REALLY a fossil dig, but a simulation that helped us to learn several important aspects of the nature of science. First, students were given an envelope that contained fossils for an unknown animal (cut-out pictures of bones). I then took them on an imaginary adventure, reading them a story in which they were characters. We trekked through marshes and mud and encountered hordes of mosquitoes and even an alligator, when we finally chose a location to set up camp and dig for fossils. Each day brought new discoveries- the first day students discovered 4 fossils (they were allowed to take out four fossil cut-outs from their envelope WITHOUT LOOKING and then tried to make sense of them as a group). After trying to piece the four fossils together to make an animal, kids were asked to guess which animal they had found. WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT SCIENCE? We discovered that without a lot of EVIDENCE, it was very difficult to come up with a solid theory. On our second day, we discovered 4 more fossils. The kids followed the same process of taking fossil pieces from the envelope and tried to piece them together with their original four. The kids then, once again, tried to figure out what kind of animal they had discovered. WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT SCIENCE? We discovered that science is UNCERTAIN- as new evidence is revealed, ideas may change! The last day of our dig, the paleontologists found 3 more fossils, bringing their grand total to 10 fossils. The kids pieced them together and made inferences about what the animal was. Back at the "lab," the paleontologists got together with other researchers and discovered that many of them had found similar fossils at their dig sites. They then compared notes, looked at how the other groups arranged their fossils, and listened to what the other groups of scientists thought their animals were. Some of the kids' ideas about their fossils began to change based on this new information and insight. WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT SCIENCE? We learned scientists working together can be more effective! We also learned that scientists pose, test, and revise hypotheses based on research outcomes. After consulting with other scientists, the students did research and were given a skeletal reference manual so they could compare their bones to those of animals from modern times. After seeing the skeletal resource manual, several students revised their hypotheses and determined that the fossils may have belonged to a cat of some sort. This reinforced the point that scientists revise hypotheses based on research outcomes AND that when more data is gathered, we can more accurately make inferences. After this activity, many of the students were really insistent that they learn what exactly the animal was that they had found. I explained that in the real world of science, scientists don't always find out a definitive answer- they come up with theories that may change over time. We talked about how people used to think the world was flat and they'd fall off the side if they went too far into the horizon and how that theory changed over time as more evidence was collected/research was done. But...being the nice teacher that I am ;), I decided to end the suspense and show them the animal that they had "dug up" on their journey... the Xenosmilus- a large, saber-toothed cat that lived in Florida between 1.7 and 1.0 million years ago. Image credit: https://prehistoric-fauna.com/Xenosmilus-hodsonae
On Wednesday, the kids came to school and were greeted by their teacher offering them toilet paper. Some took one sheet, some took 56 ;) After announcements (and a lot of confused, weird looks from students), I told them what the toilet paper was for: |
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