Science Lesson

1. Instructional Goals

1.1. To explore and increase understanding of water properties including surface tension, cohesion and adhesion, and density.

2. Technology

2.1. SMART board: Same t-chart as back of worksheet on SMART board. Essential question provided: Is the hot water more or less dense than the room temperature water? Is the cold water more or less dense than the room temperature water?

3. Other Resources

3.1. Group configuration of desks allowed students to collaborate more easily.

4. Description of Class

4.1. Teacher says no students have an IED or emotional support.

4.2. All students seem to speak American English fluently.

4.3. Some students of Indian/Pakistani descent (however, they all speak American English fluently and without accent).

4.4. Girl to boy ratio = 12:8 (or 3:2)

4.5. Some students have some hyperactivity/behavioral issues that stand out

5. Differentiation

5.1. Walks from group to group to provide individualized assisstance.

5.2. Students with attention/hyperactivity issues are given rocking/swivel chairs to sit and work in.

5.3. Directions and important information (such as definitions) are given both orally and in writing multiple times.

5.4. Students who work faster than others are given options for when they work, such as critical thinking questions (in this assignment-- "What mistakes could you have made that may have changed the outcome of your experiment?"

5.5. More "wait time" is provided (and question repeated) for students who take longer to raise hands.

5.6. Teacher gives verbal and and nonverbal cues for transitions (such as lights flickering or bell ringing)

6. Student Engagement

6.1. Many of the same students frequently raise their hands (and same students frequently don't raise hands as well). The students with known behavioral/attention problems typically are toward the latter half of raising their hands, if they do at all. Girls and boys both raise hands. Everyone participated in the experiment (perhaps because it was engaging/hands on, and because each student was given a particular job for the experiment that they were expected to fulfill).

7. Formative Assessment/Closure

7.1. Teacher waits until about 80-85% of students have hands raised to call on someone to answer the question (which she repeats in multiple ways during wait time). Makes a point to often call on students who were toward last to raise hands to assess their understanding.

7.2. Students drew pictures of their experiment/observations on the worksheet, showing what happened to the hot and cold water in vials as they were lowered into the room temperature water.

7.3. Students filled in the T chart displayed on the SMART board and drawn on the back of their worksheets. T chart sections included: Essential Question/answer, definition of density, the statements from the white board, and their hypotheses. At the end of the lesson, the class discussed their findings and filled in the answer to their essential question.

8. PA Standards

8.1. S3.C.11.S Describe how the properties of matter can be changed.

8.1.1. 3.2.3.A3 Demonstrate how heating and cooling may cause changes in the properties of materials including phase changes.

9. Content

9.1. Density: vials of hot and cold water were lowered into room temperature water to determine if there were differences in density

9.2. Temperature: Three different categories of temperature were used in the experiment- hot, cold, and room temperature.

9.3. Scientific process: students were asked to go through steps of the scientific method-- questioning, hypothesis, experimentation, observation, and conclusion.

10. Instructional Strategies

10.1. Scaffolding: Teacher built background knowledge before sending kids to do the experiment, She first gave a lesson in density, then showed students an example where they had to help her determine what something more or less dense would do (sink or float). Lastly, students were asked to perform an experiment mostly on their own (in groups), with some help from teachers and us walking around. Scaffolding is evident because she slowly took away support as the lesson developed.

10.2. Zone of Proximal Development: By having students work in groups, walking around and having us walk around and engage with the groups, and reviewing/discussing at the end, the teacher used Zone of Proximal Development to help students learned. The experiment was challenging enough that students needed a little help to point them in the right direction, but not so challenging that they could not comprehend the material without this bit of help.

10.3. Collaboration: Experiments were done in groups, allowing students to learn from one another.

10.4. Engagement: The largest chunk of time in this lesson was spent doing the actual hands-on experiment. This kept students actively engaged in the learning process.

11. Materials

11.1. Foss Kits: food dye, vials with Popsicle sticks rubber-banded on, 3 temperatures of water, lunch trays, plastic cups, paper towels, clothespins

11.2. White Board: "More dense water will sink," "Less dense water will float" written on it after discussion/students helping arrive at this conclusion.

11.3. Worksheet: Two blank cups on sheet where students are expected to draw their experiment/observations. On the back, students copied the t-chart from the SMART board with following sections: Essential Question/answer, definition of density, the statements from the white board, and their hypotheses.

12. Academic Language

12.1. Vocabulary included density, temperature, hypothesis, and observations.

13. Anticipatory Set

13.1. Essential Question: Is hot water more or less dense than room temperature water? Is cold water more or less dense than room temperature water?