Let's Take a Trip to Mars (Soil Investigation)

We started this project this past week, and the kids are loving it!  The Friday before we started it, I introduced the "hook".  A "hook" (in PBL) is something that gets the students really excited about what they are going to learn about. It could be a field trip, a Skype or GH (Google Hangout) session, or even guest speakers.  I decided to go with an edible experiment about the layers of soil. Who doesn't like yummy experiments!?  

This activity is included in Kristen Vibas' "Soil" file that can be found on TpT. The students loved learning about the different layers of soil with some of their favorite snacks!  

The following week, the students were placed in cooperative learning groups, and they were introduced to their task.  They were also assigned a job within their groups.  The jobs are project manager, communications manager, time and materials manager, workshop manager, and technology manager.  

Months ago, I reached out to Kevin Honeycutt and Ginger Lewman via Twitter to get some ideas about our upcoming unit in science, soil.  Kevin Honeycutt came up with the picture seen above, and I knew that I had to give this experience to my students!  We spent the first day working on "What Do We Know...What Do We Need To Know".  I expressed to them that their "needs to know" would help to drive any future workshops that we have with this project.  This is the first time that I have used workshops during a PBL project, and I am regretting that I have never used them before.  One of the "needs to know" that I knew I wanted to address was their interest in martian soil.  

At a recent conference, TCEA, I attended a session led by Jaime Donally, and she introduced me to Nearpod VR experiences.  I reached out to my Instructional Technology Director, and she got me a district account with Nearpod. I could not wait to develop a lesson!  The first workshop that I conducted with my workshop managers was a Nearpod lesson with VR experiences.  The students were going to get to experience Mars!!

And what an experience it was!!! The conversations that evolved from this experience were incredible.  You could see the excitement and authentic interest in the topic of Mars and soil.  With some of these conversations came questions that I did not have the answers for.  So what did we do?  We found the experts by using Twitter!  We reached out to Scott Kelly and Kevin Honeycutt!  Scott Kelly is currently on the International Space Station, and we are still hoping for a Twitter connection.  Mr. Honeycutt got us in touch with Cosmosphere, a Smithsonian-inspired museum dedicated to inspiring innovation through science education and honoring the history of space exploration.  This wonderful museum responded to our questions all day, and we are now working on getting a Skype or GH session with them!  We love the power of Twitter!!

The students are working hard on learning more about what they need to create a self-sustaining garden for their 5-year stay on Mars.  This will do more for them than any worksheet about soil will ever do!  Stay tuned in!!

Divide and Conquer!

We have spent MANY days working on division strategies and problem solving. We then took a 2 week break, and it almost felt like we were starting back over! I was up for the challenge, and I wanted to make a difference!

@FamousinFirst

This year, I have been challenging myself to "gamify" more of my lessons.  My students, and I'm sure many other students, truly respond to lessons when they are turned into a game.  On Monday afternoon I began to research ways to make problem solving more engaging and meaningful, and I came across a blog post from Karla Baldonado (Life and Pancakes).  In this post titled, "Make Math Fun: Word Problem Scavenger Hunt", she spoke of using a collaborative game to motivate and excite them!  I love collaboration, and use it as often as possible.  As she says in her post, "If you're a teacher, whether in a regular classroom or if you homeschool, there is true value in interaction." Although I loved her lesson, I changed it a bit to better serve my students.  I also included some Duck Dynasty Questions!  You heard me right-Duck Dynasty!  Most of my kids are huge fans of the show, and when I found these task cards on TpT, I knew I had to have them!

I gave each table group a set of 6 cards, but realized pretty quick that my students could've handled a couple more.  They were asked to work as a table to solve each problem, one at a time.  For every correct answer, they received a letter.  I LOVED hearing the students talk through the problems as a table.  I really LOVED watching them work together to solve the problem.  I really, really LOVED witnessing students teach their friends how to use a division strategy. Music to my ears!  

There were 24 letters to pass out; 6 letters per table.  At the end of the game, we added all 24 letters to our SMART Board. The students had to unscramble the letters to form a sentence, or in this case, a question!  I drew out some blanks (like Hangman), and the students started to work as an entire class to solve the mystery phrase.  This part was a ton of fun!!  I wish I would have taken a video of them!  The mystery phrase was:

WHO WANTS ICE CREAM THIS WEEK?

Today was a fun one!!  We will be working with interpreting remainders tomorrow...and brownies!!

Let There Be Light!!

I love being a science teacher!  There are two topics that I love to talk to my students about-Electricity, Conductors, and Insulators and Animals!  Animals is a subject that is taught closer to the end of the year, but we are studying electricity right now.  Last week, I decided to speak very little, and I placed bags of circuit pieces on every table group.  I then challenged them to build a circuit!  One of my favorite parts of this activity was hearing the students talk through the process with each other!  They were so proud when their light(s) came on!  This is what it is all about! 

The very next day, they were asked to build the circuit again.  On this day, they were tasked to test out various objects to determine whether or not they were conductors or insulators.  I used a FREE product from TpT for this activity.  Click the image below to be taken to this download!

Another activity that I really wanted the students to experience in relation to this topic was a cyberhunt (webquest).  I created a cyberhunt titled "Let's Get Plugged In".  For each question or questions, there are QR codes that relate to them.  I also added those direct links to our class website for access as well. The students loved it!  Cyberhunts/webquests are always a hit with my kids! Click the image below to be taken to my TpT store!

         

We just started working on parallel and series circuits!  I will keep you posted...or should I say "plugged in"! :)

PBL Day 1-DIY Energy Robot

How can you create a robot that uses at least 3 forms of energy?  That is the question that is driving this project!  This is the first project of the year, and the kids are ready to get started!  I found this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers, and I am adapting it for my kids (Click the image below to be taken to this FREE product).  In the end, the students will be expected to create a commercial to get the viewers to purchase their robot!  We are planning on using DoInk (green screen app) for this!

We will spend the first 2 days researching the five different forms of energy.  Today, the students were placed in their groups, and they worked together on a group Padlet.  Padlet is a virtual wall that allows students to digitally collaborate.  They are able to add text, photos, and links!  

I created the Padlets for each group, and then added it to our class website so the students could access it easily.  I also added some quick links for the students to use (if they chose too) during their research.  Their goal today was to find information and images on all five forms of energy.  They will continue their research tomorrow.  One of the things that I said today was that "You are in charge of your own learning.  How cool is that!"  I can't wait to see how far they go!!  Stay tuned!