Weathering & Erosion HyperDoc

Learning about Weathering & Erosion

• Rocks can be broken down into smaller pieces
• Weathering can take place in 3 ways
• Physical weathering
• Chemical weathering
• Biological weathering
• Erosion is the wearing away of exposed surfaces by agents such as wind, moving water and ice. These agents usually contain weathered rock debris. Rock fall under gravity is also erosion.
• Transport begins as erosion and is the movement of rocks under gravity, or by moving water, by wind or by ice (in glaciers, for example)

Teaching about Weathering & Erosion

• Begin with a discussion about how rocks can be broken down into smaller pieces
• Following the discussion is a series of activities that demonstrate different types of erosion done by weathering and wind.
• The activities in this simulation can be arranged and organized however I see fit for my classroom.
• Each student needs materials from a given list
• Safety, organization, and cooperation are enforced

I found this HyperDoc to be extremely useful. The lesson is well planned and thought out. Using a lesson that involves activities will enforce facts and information in students' minds. I never completed a science activity like this when I was a student, so I would love to provide an experience like this to my future students. From this HyperDoc I learned the importance of discussion leading up to instruction, the importance of explicit direction, and the importance of providing hands on activities to students to promote memorization and learning. 

Here is a link to the Teacher's Notes for this lesson:

 http://www.rsc.org/education/teachers/resources/jesei/weather/home.htm

Mystery Bag

Mystery Bag Activity

When this activity began, Dr. Smirnova held up a mystery bag in front of the class. She asked us what came to mind when we saw the mystery bag.
We took turns sharing what the bag reminded us of. Next, we shared what we thought was in the bag. Then, we each passed the bag around, held it for 5 seconds, and had to guess what we thought was in it.
After holding and feeling the bag, I believed that there were several small toys in it, such as a stuffed animal and a rattle. This was my informed guess.
As a class, we categorized our guesses.
Some people thought there was a dog toy, a rattle, a baby toy, or a combination of all of these things inside of the bag. These were statements about what we thought was in the bag.
Then, we discussed how this was similar to a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a tentative explanation for the problem/question based on some type of observation. We used our senses to observe.
Next, we had to devise a method to obtain information about what is in the bag to determine if our hypothesis was correct. Each test will have two potential results: either the hypothesis is correct or it is wrong. We have to test our hypothesis more than once before determining if it is right or wrong. The more test results that match your prediction = the greater support for your hypothesis.
After this activity and instruction, we reviewed what we discussed.

Why should we use this activity?
Principle concept: Science is about exploring. Science is not concrete; it always changes. Scientific knowledge is fundamentally uncertain. Science is uncertain because it is a human activity.
It is important to teach inquiry and using inquiry to develop students' critical thinking and reasoning skills. They need to be able to find answers and justify them based on evidence.

My Fieldwork Experience at BDMS

In the fall of 2018, I had the pleasure of completing fieldwork hours at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. My time here taught me a lot about different ways to implement direct instruction and inquiry lessons. Watching my peers implement their lessons, implementing my own lessons, and giving and receiving professional feedback was an excellent learning experience. My time at BDMS this semester has added to my understanding of student learning in several ways. Most importantly, I learned the significance of implementing whole-class direct instruction and inquiry lessons. For students to complete an inquiry lesson, it is necessary for them to first complete a direct instruction lesson. Direct instruction lessons are easier to implement than inquiry lessons, in my opinion. However, inquiry lessons are more enjoyable for students. Students often have a hard time following a direct instruction lesson because they are not really allowed to do anything besides pay close attention to the teacher. Kids love moving, talking, and being active, so this makes a long direct instruction lesson challenging for kids to follow. Students enjoy inquiry lessons because the lessons usually involve an activity that is fun for them. Students like to work with their classmates to figure something out. This being said, fourth graders like to learn by being active and involved. It was obvious that the students were the most engaged and motivated when they were working together to do something. This was also evident when we cleaned up the Sensory Garden. The students in this class had so much energy. This experience added to my understanding of teaching science because it taught me that science has no exact answer. Science is about discovery. Teaching science involves giving students enough knowledge and facts so that they can use these to inquire on their own.
Through this experience, I made several discoveries about teaching and discoveries about myself. I learned that teaching an entire class and having them maintain focus and stamina is much more challenging than I expected. Students need to be given a good motive to help them stay on track. I also felt that it was hard to teach in a group because the students were overwhelmed and not sure who they should be paying attention to. I think it might have been easier to conduct a lesson individually because the students would only have to focus on one person. I learned that I have a good speaking voice. I learned that I also need to work on creating lessons that better fit the criteria of direct instruction and inquiry. I also learned that managing time is so hard. When planning a lesson, I need to take in account for the time that might be lost when students go to the bathroom when they get distracted and lose stamina, and the time it takes to hand out materials and get students set up and ready. This experience will impact my teaching science in my own classroom because it taught me what kids enjoy, what teaching methods are effective, and different technological tools to use when teaching. This fieldwork experience provided me with knowledge that I will carry with me when teaching science in my own classroom, and I am thankful for it.