Blog Activity 8: Final Post

1)     For my activity I chose to use the States of Matter (atomic bonding) PhET simulation. If I used this simulation for a lesson I would use the tab "solid, liquid, gas." First I would show the simulation to the class on the projector. I will point out the molecule key and have them identify what the water molecule looks like. Next I would put the water in the solid state  in the simulation and have the students describe the solid water all the while I would be writing the describing words on the board. Next I would ask them to describe the liquid and lastly the gas. After describing the states of matter I would ask the students to get up out of their chairs, join hands with the people next to them or be touching shoulder to shoulder. Then I would ask the students to act like the solid water where each of them are a water molecule. We would follow this up by then acting as liquid water and finally the students would act like gaseous water.

The follow up questions would be:

           1: What type of water moves the fastest?:

           2: What type of water stays in place the most?
         
           3: What type of water took the most energy to act out?

           4: What type of water took the least type of energy to act out?

           5: What two types of water were always touching each other?

           6: What moves faster a gas or a liquid?

           7: What moves slower a liquid or a solid?

Next Generation Science Standards (2nd Grade):

2-PS1-1: Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer a question.

2-PS1-3: Objects may break into smaller pieces and be put together into larger pieces, or change shapes.

2-PS1-1: Different kinds of matter exist and many of them can be either solid or liquid, depending on temperature. Matter can be described and classified by its observable properties. 

2)     My understanding of science in general has broadened and this course has given me a wide basis of chemistry knowledge to draw from. This course has opened up my eyes to the concepts of chemistry and has helped me further my understanding of science in all areas. For example, I know understanding the chemistry concepts covered in this course can give me a better understanding of physics and biology concepts. Not only do I feel as though the course has helped me with my own learning, but I know it will serve me well as teacher.  This class has provided me with subject matter that I can pass down to students and begin to cultivate scientific learning within them.

      3)     The most challenging concept covered in this course was one of the last chapters, properties of gases. I found these concepts the hardest to understand because there were plenty of laws that we had to remember and understand how they impacted gas, if something impacted it directly or inversely. Another reason I think this might have been more difficult to grasp was because solid and liquids are tangible and something we observe on a daily basis, but gas is not.

      4)     In order to help students understand science I think that visual and hands on experiences are needed. In order to make sure students really get an experience that requires the use of most of their senses lesson plans need to be developed around doing activities such as some very basic PHET simulations or just  basic experiments in combination of answering questions to help convey the scientific concepts targeted, similarly to how we learned in this class.

   
      5)     When I think about my future education and my future in general I think that I have a better grasp on the scientific process. When implementing a new lesson plan or some sort of learning objective I think if I use a scientific approach to implementing it I can better understand what does and what doesn’t work and why. Another thing that this course has taught me is that I need to be more self-disciplined. Getting through this course was difficult for me because I am so accustom to attending lecture and learning in that manner.  To take an online summer course has put out of my element and really made me realize that I need to tighten up my studying habits. Lastly, the major information that I learned was a broad basis of science knowledge that I am more familiar with and at the same time I feel more comfortable with teaching the material in the future. I won’t teach as advanced material obviously, but I do feel better about how to convey scientific material.