My science lesson involved predicting and observing the densities among three different liquids: water, oil, and vinegar. Students were expected to come up with a reasonable hypothesis that depicted the layers of densities. They were then expected to follow the instructions of the experiment and arrive at the outcome that I had previously created.
I feel that my engagement went well with the class, where they were interested in hearing what I was presenting about. I felt I could have asked a better question in order to introduce density. For example, I asked “what is density?” when I could have asked a question where the answer in density, such as “what helps a ship stay afloat?” I believe I thoroughly explained what density is and in addition, how liquids, gases, and solids all contain density.
I knew that my experiment required a great amount of materials, so I prepared ahead of time and brought in a bag of premade liquids for the class. I felt this was essential to staying organized, and making sure there were enough of all the materials. When I assigned the class to create a small chart showing their two predictions and two results, I expected to lay out all the materials for each table. However, it took more time than expected to designate five cups of different liquids to each table, and the class became a little rowdy. I noticed that if there is too much downtime, minds begin to wander and the task at hand is not focused on as much.
The class became whole group again when we began the experiment. I had not planned on it, but I was glad that I decided to also mock the experiment from the front of the room for the students to use as a reference. Once the groups of students began working on their own experiments at their table, they seemed to be really intrigued by the color mixtures and basis of the lesson. The noise level continued to remain high during a majority of the lesson, and I felt I did a pretty good job at maintaining focus throughout the classroom. I could have maybe established my expectations with behavior a little better, which would probably be easier in an actual grade classroom rather than with my own classmates.
The results of each group also threw the class off a little bit, so for future reference I would remember to choose a lesson where all results are identical so the point is proven easier and more clearly. From the feedback that I received, I was praised that I asked a fine amount of quality questions referring to what the students would predict would be the order of liquids based on densities. I also believe that I asked a good amount of questions that sparked the students’ ideas a little bit to make them question the possibilities of there being a difference in results if the order of liquids poured was changed, and similar questions such as that.
Overall I believe my lesson ran smoothly, just a few minor things that need to be worked on and basic steps to strive for. I need to keep order of the classroom at all times and make sure everyone if fully attentive so all instructions are heard and understood. I also spent a lot of time on my lesson when I was given about a ten minute time frame to work with, so I need to be more conscious of the time so I can work quickly but efficiently with the class. I feel that my presentation was pretty clear and I do believe that I also summed up my lesson nicely at the end to create a nice strong conclusion for the class (that liquids have different densities and the higher the density the lower it sinks when in contact with lower density liquids.) One last thing to strive for is to not only mention what my extension is but actually pursue the extension I had assigned for the class. I know I had certain time constraints but I believe a lesson is best taught when it is taught to its fullest degree. I’ve learned that it is important to practice and plan these lessons because we want to make sure as teachers that the students are being presented the information in a lesson to the best of the teacher’s ability. Time is a very precious thing in a classroom and should not be wasted.
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