Structured
Inquiry Lesson
The purpose of this fourth grade
science lesson was to have students learn about acids and bases.
They needed to use a litmus paper test in order to determine if a liquid
was an acid or a base. Students used
their previous understanding of physical properties to recognize the similarity
between white vinegar, water, and bleach.
The three liquids are all clear and appear to have the same density. Through this lesson, students obtained an understanding
of the need to be cautious with unknown substances amd discussed the dangers of
tasting or inhaling substances. The
students were highly engaged in the investigation part of the lesson.
This interdisciplinary lesson connected to the students’ health curriculum
related to promoting safe living. Students
were required to write to inform about the importance of safety regarding
acids, bases, and neutrals, and to warn others about tasting and inhaling
unknown substances. I feel that as we
move forward with science education it is very important for content areas to
be more integrated. This lesson took
required more time than usual, however, it covered three standards. My students learned the sciene content,
obtained more practice with identifying important details from non-fiction
texts, and learned the health curriculum regarding safety with household
materials.
I have
three examples of student work to share.
·
Student A is a gifted and talented student. She chose to create a VoiceThread (http://voicethread.com/share/5449679/) to inform
about acids, bases, and neutrals. She
demonstrates a good understanding of the material. She was very comfortable with the technology
and was able to add more visuals to her presentation.
·
Student B created a PowerPoint presentation. I saved each slide as a PDF file and
transferred them to the VoiceThread (https://voicethread.com/share/5449989/) to share with you. This students benefited from being paired
with a buddy during the research section and needed a graphic organizer to organize
his thoughts. He also self-differntiated by choosing to respond
to a scenario regarding mystery liquids.
