Save the Penguins!

Hello, Readers!

I'm sorry it has been so long. Things have been crazy here on both a personal/family as well as a  professional level.  I decided to take a few weeks away from blogging since blogging became more of a chore 'have to' instead of a craving 'want to' thing.

Still, that didn't mean great things weren't happening.  I've gotten to teach a number of amazing lessons and have had so much success in the classroom.   Here was one of my absolutely favorite take aways from the past month.

In science, we had been studying Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer.  As a final project, students were challenged to create a "Penguin Vacation Paradise."  For this, students would build a structure to protect an ice cubed penguin from the natural paradise environment.

This is based on this fantastic lesson located here: Save The Penguins, Auburn University.

Students were given supplies and a budget.  We did some preliminary labs and demonstrations to make observations of different types of insulators and conductors.  From there they created their first structure.

Material cost list.  Definitely something I reflected on after the activity.

Students weighed their penguins and then placed them in paradise for 20 minutes.  After returning from paradise, the penguins were re-weighed.  Students then calculated the total mass lost and the percent of loss based on the original value.  Students calculated the total cost of the structure based on given values, and then added 20% for the retail cost.  They then had to create a argumentative paragraph explaining why their structure was the best option.

Here are some pictures of the activities:

 Paradise gets heated up 

Comparison of the two temperatures - inside and outside paradise. 

The first prototypes go in.

As my science partner and I were developing this, we realized it would be a perfect showcase for parents to come in and observe.  We invited family members to the classes and had a great turn out.  Students presented their results, explained their math, and talked about the different types of energy interactions they learned about.

A student's display of work - data, charts, calculating total cost, and a persuasive paragraph!

They were amazing with their use of vocabulary and explanation of procedures.  I would say how proud I was of all of them, but they were truly proud of themselves... and really isn't that my purpose in all of this?

Gaining Perspective on a Geological Scale

Earth has been around a long time. I mean a really long time.  Some people think landing on the Moon or the invention of the digital watch was a long time ago, but Earth hasn't even blinked a metaphorical eye in that time.

So the question is always how to explain to students what 4.6 billion years of history actually looks like.  Worksheets, articles, and videos all do a decent job, but this year I went a different route.  We started with students investigating various types of geological time words: Eon, era, period, epoch, ages.  We compared those to years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds.  Each word connects to a longer period of time and it is possible to say we're living in 2015 as well as saying it is September, or it 5:00 pm.

From there they investigated 4.6 billion years of history in one of three ways: an article, a brainpop video, or the geological timeline.  The goal wasn't to master any of the vocabulary or concepts, but just to get some familiarity with the material.

4.6 billion years of history in an itty bitty space

I ended the lesson by saying to get familiar with one of those three materials because our next session we're doing a lab... and I'm bringing in a time machine.

The next two days they did nothing but ask me about what I meant.  All I told them is "don't be absent otherwise you'll have to build your own time machine and go back in time to see mine!"

Amazingly, I had perfect attendance for my next class.

But first I had to build it.

When students arrived we did a quick entrance ticket on half life and then they got into their guilds to discuss what item they studied and what facts they remember.  Students started discussing many of the vocab words, concepts, and I had to make some clarifications, but overall there was a great supply of knowledge shared.

From there I said we would be going back in time 4.6 billion years.  Each group was given four flags with major events from the geological timeline: fish first appear, dinosaurs first appear, dinosaurs go extinct, humans first appear.   Their task was going to be to place the flag on the correct spot of the timeline.

My time machine was definitely a step down from a Delorean

The students went to the playground field and were told we would walk back in time.  As we did we'd see lots of historical events, but their job was to find the four they've been given.  I explained that there were many colors of rope, and that there was an orange piece of tape in the middle of each rope color.  I also gave them a paper with a scale on it: one foot = 12,000,000 years, color changes = 600,000,000 years, end of rope to tape = 300,000,000 years, and tape to tape = 600,000,000 years.

We walked the timeline back and ended 400 feet from the present day, reviewing the scale for the first few tape marks and color changes.  From there I gave them 15 minutes to debate and decide where their flag should go.  Each person was in charge of their own flag, so if there was a disagreement the owner of the flag had the final say.

Then I just let them go.  The debates and discussion was amazing.  Students cited evidence from their reading or video, used visual references from the time line they may have studied, and recalled their previous information to help build their hypothesis.  They were outside with nothing but their flag and their brains - no notes, no computer, just recall - but they were all actively engaged and using evidence. They also were working on disagreeing respectfully - a skill that we practiced the first few days while we were building our classroom culture.

Me standing in present day, my co-teacher about 1 billion years in the past, and dots of children at the birth of Earth.

After 15 minutes we had many different places of the flags.  We talked about which was easier: deciding the order or deciding the placements.  The students made the connections to relative and absolute age from previous lessons and were able to experience how much easier one is than the other.  When I asked how many flags their group put in the right place, all of them predicted zero. 

     Lots of debate on flag placement

 Different color flags represented different groups.

And it led to some fantastic debate

When time was up, students came back to the birth of Earth. I grabbed my meter wheel (top left photo) and we started walking the timeline together.  We examined sixteen major events, with the four they placed among 12 other key items.  

There were so many OMG moments and WHOA I DIDN'T REALIZE comments during the return to present time.  "Before we can have life, the Earth needed a crust... and that took... {walk walk walk} 15 meters, or about 600,000,000 years.  As we passed flags students picked them up to see how accurate they actually were.  

Below is the table I used as we walked the geological timeline.  

We did some processing in the field.  The biggest take away was how long it took for fish to appear.  When we returned to the classroom students completed a 3-2-1 exit ticket involving things they learned, whoa moments, and lingering questions.  Here are some of their responses:

"WHOA" moments:

I never realized how short of a time humans have been around! Dinosaurs were around for like 150 million years but humans have only be around for 2 million!

I knew that humans were the newest flag, but I didn't realize fish have been around for so long!

Life really just started on this planet compared to how old it is!

It took longer for the crust to form than when fish first formed to today!

When life started forming it happened fast! like we did almost the whole timeline before we hit fish but then it was like every meter we stopped!

and my favorite:

At one point algae was the highest form of life on this planet. 

What do you want for dinner? SUNLIGHT? MY FAVORITE!

Meet My New Baby, Neon!

I have a new baby!  I adopted one of the elements last night!

Confused? Want to know more?  So did so many of my students - and that is the beauty of using hooks when you teach.  Students want more information - they crave it.  It's torture to NOT give them knowledge.

Here is how a typical science lesson can go:

Teacher - "OK, we've been studying about elements.  We know how to arrange the electrons in the first twenty elements pretty well, and I'm pretty sure you know how to calculate the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons, so now you will all become an expert on one element.  You'll have to pick an element and do research on it.  You need to find out the key components of that element - the ones we have been talking about: melting and boiling points, period, group, as well as some interesting facts about the element.  Be sure to also include a Bohr's model.  You'll put everything on a poster and present it on Monday. I'll give you some class time today to get started."

The teacher is giving the information, telling the students what they know, and letting them know what the expectations are.  Picture what the students are doing while this information is being disseminated.  Are they focused? Are they interested? Are they engaged?  Are they looking interesting  facts up before you even tell them to do so?

Would you want to be in this classroom?

Most students in this classroom tuned out by the word "research."  Nobody is engaged, unless they have a strong internal desire to learn about the properties of elements.  The teacher is assuming knowledge that may or may not be there.  And the poor elements are literally all around them - in the air, the paper, the drool on the desk from the student that fell asleep -  thinking, "Is this what we've become? How drab!"

(Drab is elemental for "boring and non-pirate-esque")

In the book Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess, you get dozens of great hook ideas, ways to transform lessons, and a chance to reflect on your pedagogy within the classroom.  I always felt I was a pirate-type teacher, but his presentation at The Association for Middle Level Educators really tied it together for me.

Here is how my science lesson looked:

First, as the students came into the classroom they saw me in the back of the room around a small doll bed.  I look down at the bed, smile, say I've gotta go teach now, cover up something in the bed, and head to the front of the room.

Props - one of the keys to teaching like a pirate!

I load up Kahoot and we review concepts presented in the past  couple of weeks.  I get some great formative feedback, including the fact that my students need more practice calculating the number of neutrons in an element, but I'm really happy with how well students have internalized the learning objectives.

A girl named Lauren was the winner, pulling ahead on the final question, and got to do her victory lap dance around the classroom as we applauded.

This was the final question that gave her the win. There were massive protests.

The students - now fully engaged in the class - are told a bit about my evening.  I got approval to adopt a new baby.  His name is Neon and he's gorgeous - a beautiful orange red baby!  I show them the adoption papers and explain that the adoption agency allowed me to let students also adopt elements that weigh between 3 and 20 AMUs.  

Students are directed to their notebooks.  They look at what elements this might include.  They connect that these are the first 20 elements except for Hydrogen and Helium.  My class is only 16 students, so I tell them that each baby element can only be adopted once.  I also told them I'm not giving up my baby, so Neon is also out!

We then use instant classroom to hold a 'draft' as to which element they get to adopt.  After a student makes a selection, I give them their new 'baby' - with artwork designed by Kacie D.  

From there I shared both my example adoption paper as well as a template for them to create their own paper.  Students already had links to resources to complete the assignment.  I explained that adoption papers were due by Monday.  It didn't matter - many of the students wanted to get started right then.  

Now, this lesson wasn't without issues.  Upon reflection, I didn't do as well as I could have during the 'draft' portion.  Students were choosing elements that they knew other students wanted, and at times were laughing at how some of the elements looked.  I did address this the next day, but  I could have done a much better job of community building by addressing these issues immediately. 

However, this lesson got every student EXCITED to have a deeper understanding of one specific element.   Students were asking if there was a limit to how many fun facts they could research - can they do their own art work - could you make a bigger poster?   Teaching like a pirate changes student engagement WITHOUT changing content.  In fact the content tends to go deeper and becomes more intrinsic because of the thrill that comes with the learning.

Teaching like a pirate transforms your classroom - what pirate stories do you have?  How do you hook your students?