With the new science standards on the rise, I've been working with my fifth graders on making the shift from "scientists" to "engineers." The basic idea being that it's the students questions, discoveries, and designs that guide our science lessons. Giving that kind of power to 25 11-year-olds is tough, but they certainly LOVE the adventure.
In our first experiment, we wanted to find and answer to our question: What makes objects float and sink? What made this experience more "theirs" than "mine"? My students worked in small groups to select their own objects to test. This led to great conversations and was a HUGE step in helping them to think like researchers. What's more, rather than me giving them a ready-to-use worksheet, they designed their own means for recording data. Here are a few of the final the results:
Last week, students were given the chance to design their own clay boats, applying what they discovered during our earlier trials. I gave them the following instructions:
Your goal:
Design a boat that floats and can support weight.
Step 1: Draw your design (include labels and descriptions)
Step 2: Build and revise! - Illustrate and record in your science notebook.
We folded a sheet of printer paper into fourths and drew each revised design in the next box. This was great for showing how engineers revise their thinking as they work through a problem. Not to mention, the kids had a blast testing and retesting their designs!
No comments:
Post a Comment