In today’s double, we did our second to the last experiment. Meaning that we are nearly ready to share our idea and create a presentation. We worked on putting the folder of each year levels experiments and organising to get ready to share with our target audience. However, we did not have the most productive lesson as we were switching between working on our assignment and soldering. I enjoyed trying to make a circuit and my group and i was successful in turning the LED light on.
Connect – This video connected to what I already knew from the other video. She used the same techniques and tools and created a circuit to turn on a small LED light. It also connected to what I already knew as I knew why she was doing it. I know that a circuit has to be complete and continuous to work, and this was what she was trying to do.
Extend – This extended my previous knowledge as I now know some more things soldering can be used for. For example, she used soldering to connect wires on a board. She used it so that the circuit wouldn’t be left open and so that the light would light up. Soldering was used in a different way in this video, showing me and extending my knowledge of soldering.
Challenge – There was nothing that challenged my thinking in this video and i understood most of the language and terms she was using. The video we watched before explained soldering well and in a lot of depth to the video was quite clear and made quite a lot of sense.
Connect – This video connected to what I already knew as I knew that metal between two electronic components connected them and allowed electrons to throw through. I knew that it was necessary in many circuits to make them complete and allow the circuit to be continuous. However, I didn’t know that soldering is what it is called and I also didn’t know that this was how it is done.
Extend – This video extended my previous knowledge, as now I know how soldering is done. Previously, I knew that metal was used to connect circuits, but now I know that a tool is used and heated up so that iron can be pressed up against it and melted, then put where required. I know that there are certain ways to handle the tool and to keep it safe. The video extended my knowledge to think about ways to make sure the tool is handled safely. It extended my thinking when she was using scientific words such as heat conductivity and I was required to think about what this might mean.
Challenge – I have a few questions after watching this video that includes:
- How come the electrons can flow through this metal, can it do the same with any other materials?
- How hot do you have to heat the tool?
- Where is soldering used in everyday life?
In this week double lesson, we focused on organising logistics. We, first of all, worked on which experiments we wanted to try out ourselves, and which we wanted to test with some girls from the junior school. Next, we came up with a big list of materials and worked out who needs to bring what and which lessons we could do what we needed. No issues have been encountered in this lesson (luckily) and we feel much more organised and prepared now, ready to start testing.
In the double lesson today we focused on formatting and planning of what we need to do and when. We were thinking about how we wanted to test the experiments. Who with? What year levels? Do we just test it? And then we finally came up with a plan. We are going to test 3 experiments with 3 different year levels. 1 per year level. There will be 5 girls per group and we will work out a date at a later time. We started to format the sheets of instructions and questions to give the girls. We were unsure of how we could do this but ended up finding a great template on Canva. We came up with a list of what we still have to do at the start of the lesson and then divided up tasks. Harriet started formatting and began the risk assessments, Emma came up with a long list of all of the materials that will be required and I put the experiments into the website, making them look nice and visually interesting. We still need to finish these jobs and then test the experiments ourselves to make sure they will work and be suitable for the desired year level. And then work out who and when we will test the experiments with some junior school girls. Today required a lot of decision making, and we all had to be very persistent and openminded to do so. I am happy with how we are going and am excited to test the experiments next term.
In Monday’s lesson, we did coding. We used code.org to teach us and use step-by-step guides to help us through. The main thing that we focused on in lesson 5 of the section we are doing was creating your own functions to make programming easier and clearer for both the computer and yourself. I worked in a small group so that we could help each other when stuck. We faced a few challenges, that were mainly based on not understanding what we were being asked to do. We overcame this by persisting and slowly reading through the information we are given. In one instance we were still confused so ended up doing a bit of trial and error until the answer was correct. Although trial and error can sometimes not be the best thing to do, as you may not understand what you are doing but for us, it was actually the opposite. By using trial and error we were able to discover what it was asking us to do and then use that as a future reference for the following questions. As a whole, the coding lesson went well and I was productive as next coding lesson I will be able to move onto lesson 6.
In Tuesday’s double lesson we spent the majority of the time putting all our information into a portfolio style word document. This was just to make sure we knew what we still need to do and what we can tick off on our checklist. We faced one challenge, that stumped us for a while, however, we overcame it together and came up with a good solution. The challenge was trying to find a fun and exciting experiment for the year 6-year level that still falls under the curriculum. We all came together and researched at the same time, but in the end, we just came up with our own experiment! I have one question that will need to be solved next lesson, however. This question is: are we going to test the experiments with kids and record their feelings towards science or just give the book to the teachers? I am happy with how we are going and think that we will come up with a great result.
In the double on Tuesday, we came up with some experiment ideas for each year level that we could do. We checked the curriculum for each year level and found out what things they focus on. From here we then researched experiments that relate to what they should be learning and found a method, list of instructions, thinking routine and questions that could be done with the experiment. We watched videos of people trying the experiment out to see if they would be suitable for the different ages. Emma, Harriet and I all found 3 experiments so currently, we have two experiments planned for each year level. Next lesson we plan to come up with a larger range of experiments to try and cover all 4 topics under each year levels curriculum plan. We only experienced one problem, this was finding experiments that we think would be entertaining for certain topics. We overcame this by asking around, we then discovered that Molly had done this sort of thing at her old school and gave us a list of possible experiments.
What is the Australian curriculum for each year level, what do each of the experiments need to be based on?
Year 2 – biological science – living things that grow and change, chemical science – different materials can be combined for particular purposes, earth and space science – earths resources, physical science – push and pull effects how an object moves or changes.
Year 3 – biological science – living things can be grouped on basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non living things, chemical science – changing of states between solid and liquid and how it can be caused by adding or removing heat. Earth and space sciences – earths rotations, day and night across the world, physical science – heat can be produced in many ways and move from one object to another
Year 4 – biological science – living things and life cycles and living things that depend on each other, chemical science – natural and processed materials and their properties, earth and space science – how earths surface changes over time as a result of natural processes and human activities, physical sciences – how forces can be exerted by one object on another through direct contact or from a distance.
year 5 – biological science – living things that have structual features and their adaptions, chemical science – Solids, liquids and gases have different observable properties and behave in different ways, earth and space science – The Earth is part of a system of planets orbiting around a star (the sun), physical science – Light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected and refracted
year 6 – biological science – The growth and survival of living things are affected by physical conditions of their environment, chemical science – Changes to materials can be reversible or irreversible, earth and space sciences – Sudden geological changes and extreme weather events can affect Earth’s surface, physical sciences – Electrical energy can be transferred and transformed in electrical circuits and can be generated from a range of sources
-what year levels are we doing?
We think that year 2-6 would suit our ideas
-What each age group be interested in?
We think that maybe for the younger years they would be more interested in the fun and exciting experiments but as the girls get older they would begin to do more thinking routines and work to follow up with what they are doing.
Like discovering things with chemicals and what they make e.g. elephant toothpaste
-What kind of questions/thinking routines would be good for each experiment
After completing a science experiment it would be helpful if the booklet included a set of questions that the students would answer to make show they know exactly what they have learnt. These may include drawing a labelled diagram, doing a thinking routine; See, Think, Wonder, CSI. We will go into more detail about what exactly will be asked to do after each PRAC but this is just for now.
The problem: Many kids aren’t engaging in science or enjoying the things that they are doing. To want to understand and to want to know about science, technology, engineering or maths you have to be having fun. By creating a book filled with fun experiments to give to junior school teachers and students, kids will. be able to have fun and learn at the same time. If they are enjoying what they are doing they will become curious and develop an interest in STEM.
Idea: We want to create an online booklet filled with fun experiments and the science behind them. There will be fun videos of us testing them out and easy step by step instructions.
Area : Health care
The issue : oily hair
Person : everyone with oily hair
Ideas: test if not washing hair for a long period of time will balance out your oils in your hair
Area : Healthcare
Issue : bacteria everywhere you don’t expect
Person : everyone that is getting sick
Ideas : test all of the areas that are used everyday and see where the most bacteria is
Area : Science
Issue : Kids not being engaged in the fun of science
Person : young kids and teachers
Ideas : make a book full of fun experiments for the junior school