Siddharth Sharma's Blog

 1. What did I learn this week? Today in lab, we learned about and developed a particle model of the plunger. When the plunger is pushed down on a smooth surface, it sticks. When the plunger gets pushed down, the air is forced out and cannot come back in because a vacuum is created inside. There is no space for the air to go inside, making it stick to the surface. We also learned about why ice melts faster on metal than on wood. We concluded that metal has less gaps/holes in their particle makeup. When the ice hits the ice, there are more collisions happening which heats up the ice and causes it to melt. The wood's particle makeup has more air pockets causing less collisions. 2. Which parts did I find confusing? The most confusing part of the lab was explaining why ice melts faster on metal. This process took forever for me to figure out. Once we understood the particle makeup of the materials, it helped me to understand particle collision better. 3. How can I apply this to teachin...

 1. What did I learn this week? This week in lab we revisited the M&M's dissolving in water but conducted multiple experiments. There was a control group that dissolved M&M's in cold water. The other groups were hot water, sugar water, and salt water. We observed the colors dissolved fastest in hot water because there was more room for the molecules to disperse. The salt, sugar, and cold water took longer for the colors to dissolve because there was less room for the colors to disperse. 2. How can I apply what I learned to future teaching? I believe it is important to conduct meaningful experiments and have students create a model for what they observed. Creating a visual representation to digest the information is very important. 3. Questions? What are other experiments that I can use in my classroom that is related to molecules dispersing?

 1. What did I learn this week? This week in lab we learned about how different materials have different properties of matter. We tested different types of matter. The first test was whether the object sinks or floats in water. The second test was measuring its mass and volume. The last two tests were seeing if the object conducts electricity and if it is magnetic. We also tested if the results differ if we cut the object into a smaller piece. 2. What parts were confusing? I was intrigued but also confused about the aluminum in water. I knew it would float in water, but when it took a different shape it sunk. Why did this happen? 3. How can I apply what I learned to future teaching? The lab made me realize that teachers need to make their students curious. I can ask them about what they're observing and why they think a certain process is happening.

 What did I learn this week? Today in lab we learned about how matter interacts with other matter in a series of experiments. There were six stations: Baking soda and vinegar, m&m's w/ water, cold soda, plunger, ice melt, and floating coke. Baking soda and vinegar: Some observations my group made was that the bag got cold, gas was released, and the bag expanded. One question we had was why did the bag get cold? M&M's in water: Observations: Colors are washing off and they are not mixing. Why did the colors not mix? Cold Soda: Observations: There was no condensation forming even when the soda was cold. Does consistent change in the temperature of the environment affect condensation? Plunger:   The plunger stuck to the table but not the cardboard. Is there a difference in air pressure when it was trying to stick on the cardboard? Ice melt: The pot melted the ice faster while the wood struggled. Maybe the wood doesn't absorb water as well as the pot. Floating coke: Obs...

 1. This week, we learned about evolution. We made evolution children's books, shared them, and read our peers' books as well. My group's specific lesson was a chicken and how it evolved from a t-rex. 2. I can applied what we did in lab to my future classroom by incorporating storytelling of evolution into my lesson planning. I think kids can learn a lot by being creating something that lets them get a better understanding of the material. 3. One question is how can I balance project-based learning and standard testing? Should I balance these in science education?

 1. In lab, we learned about natural selection. Natural selection is the process by which organisms adapt to their environment and develop traits to survive. We played a bunny game to simulate the process of natural selection. We played a game with beads that showed how the organisms with the best traits will survive. 2. I was able to relate what I learned to what I knew. I knew that the organisms best fitted to their environment will survive. 3. I can apply what I learned to my teaching career. I really liked the online bunny simulation to show the process of natural selection. I will definitely use more online simulations in my lessons.