S16: Blog 4: A Little Mess, A Lot of Learning

Today I taught my first ever science lesson. My students are finishing up a unit on rocks and soil and today we did an inquiry having to do with different types of soil. Our science block is split into two parts because of when our lunchtime is. During the first half of our time I did a read-aloud of part of their science book. This was to ensure that my students would be familiar with the different types of soil that we would be experimenting with later on. We learned about sandy soil, clay soil, and humus. We were specifically focusing on the different properties of these types of soil, such as their color and texture. We also learned about how the different kinds of soil can be used to make different things. My students were fascinated to learn that concrete actually has sand in it and loved sharing stories about times they had used clay during art to make things like jars.

After lunch it was time to experiment! We were trying to find out which type of soil would hold the most water. First, I had the students write down a prediction of what the answer to this question would be. Next, I passed around the bags of soil and let the students reach in a feel it. I didn’t tell my students what type of soil was in each bag at the start. I hoped they would be able to figure it out based on what they had just read about. And they did! They were able to identify the clay soil because of its reddish-brown color and the sandy soil because of how it felt- like sand. The humus looked and felt just like “regular dirt.” My favorite part of this time was seeing the absolute delight on my students’ faces when they realized that their hands were dirty and covered in soil. Our classroom rug is probably a little worse for the wear, but I knew that I had my students’ full attention for the next part of the experiment.

I had prepped a little for this part during lunch. I had a cup set up with a funnel inside of it. The funnel then had a paper towel on top of it. My CT and I picked students who had been engaged and diligently working during the lesson to be our “scientists.” These students got to be the ones to put spoonfuls of one type of soil (we did the clay first) on top of the paper towel. Another of these students was the one to measure out the water we needed and pour it onto the soil. The class watched with baited breath while some of the water was absorbed into the soil while the rest of the water leaked through the paper and travelled through the funnel to begin to fill the plastic cup. When we had determined that water no longer seemed to be dripping out of the funnel, I moved the paper towel of wet clay out of the way. A third student poured the water back into the measuring cup to see how much water we had left. We started with 100 mL for both the clay soil and humus and ended up with 90 mL left with the clay and 80 mL with the humus. This led us to the conclusion that the humus held more water than the clay!

Overall, I feel that my lesson went well. My students certainly seemed to be engaged with and interested in what was going on. I also feel that they were able to get a good grasp on the different properties of the different soils. This is something I would like to more formally assess next week when we wrap up the unit.

However, I know there were some aspects of the lesson that I could have managed better. One was the general level of chaos in the classroom. My students were so excited, which I love, but at times it was hard to get them to focus, which led to us not having time to fully complete the experiment. We did not have time to see how much water the sand would hold. I think I spent too much time allowing them to ask “questions” which actually turned out to be stories they wanted to share about an experience they had had with some kind of soil. One suggestion I found in one of my literacy textbooks to help with this was giving students sticky notes on which they can write down connections they are making to what they are learning (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007). It’s so important that students are making connections but I think this would have been a much better way to handle it. My students could have written down something to remind them of what they wanted to share on their sticky notes. They would then have had the opportunity to share at the end of the experiment, which would likely have been completed because of the time that would have been saved.

I’m glad that I have finally jumped into another subject. I found science to be so much fun and can’t wait to try another lesson again soon!

Addresses FEAPS 1 b and 3 a

References

Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement (2nd ed.). Portland, Maine: Stenhouse.

#EDE4942 #FEAPS1B #strategiesthatwork #science #harvey #goudvis #FEAPS3A