Project #4 C4T Summary 3

C4T #3 Comment #1 Post #1

Teachers Blog Post:

Melting Rates by Darren Fix



This is a good discrepit event to start a conversation on heat energy. Ice cubes are placed on blocks made of different materials (although students aren't aware of that). One ice cube melts at a much faster rate than the other. The block that melted the ice cube faster feels colder than the other. Students are quick to predict/assume that the warmer block would have melted the ice cube faster. This leads to a critical thinking discussion of how heat energy flows and the ability of materials to conduct heat better or worse than others.

My comment:

Good afternoon! My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently enrolled in EDM 310 which is a project based learning class. I thought your video on melting rates was very interesting. The whole time I was wondering what each of the blocks were made out of. This would be a great introductory project based lesson for middle school science students. It grabs your attention and makes you start asking questions. It is important to start a lesson with a motivator, especially in middle school. Although this is middle school science lesson I could still use it in my elementary classroom. It is safe, interesting, and you’re never too young to learn!

Callie Barton

C4T #3 Comment #2

Teachers's Blog Post:

Scientific Method Box by Darren Fix



The way I ease my students to this somewhat complex concept is to expose them to the scientific method concept box. Students first make observations with their eyes about the box. After they share what they actually see (colors, words, numbers, and most importantly one side is covered up), they should come up with a question that they are wondering about. The question is “what does the covered side look like?” Students then generate hypotheses about the numbers, colors and words that make up that covered side. They then make more observations and see if there are any patterns in the data. They adjust their hypotheses as they continue to make observations. They finally get to uncover the side in question and compare the results to their hypotheses. For some students the results are expected and match their hypotheses. For others the results do not match their hypotheses. It’s a really good lead to a discussion that what is important in science is data that can lead to a conclusion regardless if the hypothesis is supported or not. In fact it is the unexpected results that lead to new scientific questions and discoveries that weren’t thought possible before. 

My comment:


Good afternoon!

My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I watched your blog on Melting Rates and found it very interesting as well as this video on the Scientific Method Box. I think this project is a great motivator for students to get their brain working and learning how to study and make hypotheses according to the data. I feel like students would respond well to this project because they are involved and it's like a puzzle that they have to figure out. This would also be a great project for them to work on collaboratively within small groups. Science is a subject that is all up to the teacher on how their students respond to it. You can make science fun and interesting or it can be difficult and boring. I guess that is with every other subject also but I feel like you can do more with science. I really enjoy your teaching methods and if I ever get the chance to teach science I will use these methods.


Callie Barton