The next goal that I had for my students was they would be able to make real life connections while doing activities. The first article I read was called Making Waves by Barbara Adams, which talked about how to make waves in the classroom to show students how waves work. It talked about how you do not need to live near a lake to understand how they work, you can make your own wave machine. I thought that this was a really good activity for students to make real life connections with for those who have been in the water and have seen waves, it get students talking about their trips and they will get excited to see how waves actually form. The second article I found that fit my goal of real life connections was What Happened to Our Volcano? by Elaine Silva Mangiante, talks about how students study the area around them to see how the land formed. I found this article to encourage students to learn and understand where they live and how it was formed. This article I felt helped students to make connections of landmarks and events that they have witnessed, such as seeing a volcano, being in an earthquake etc.
The next goal I had for my students were for them to be able to problem solve and use critical thinking during activities. I found this one article called Is it Possible to Turn Coal into Diamonds? by Bill Robertson that talks about the problem of if coal turns into a diamond if enough pressure is put on it. I felt that this article really went well with my goal because students will have to problem solve and use critical thinking to come up with the answer about coal turning into a diamond. Another article that I found was Inquiring Minds do Want to know by Kaitlyn Hood and Jack A. Gerlovich that talks about how students had to come up with how to build a tornado when they already know the conditions for a tornado to be formed. I felt that this article would be a great way for students to use their problem solving skills and also their critical thinking to come up with a way to form a tornado.
The next goal I had for my students was that I wanted them to be safe and respect others and the materials they would be using during experiments. The first article I found was Simple Machines Science Centers by Debby Chessin that talks about using simple machines in centers for science. I felt that this article really can help students understand and respect the machines that they would be using and I can use these centers to show each student how to properly use the materials. Another article I found was called Making Models by Craig R. Leager that talked about using models to use in the classroom. I felt that this article would be really good to show respect for others projects in the classroom. Students would build models of something related to science and than you can talk to students about what to do when you are looking at your fellow students models.
The last goal that I had for my student was I wanted them to enjoy and be engaged when doing science. The first article I found was called Breaking the Sound Barrier by Tom Brown and Kim Boehringer that talked about a fun activity where you show students how to break the sound barrier. I felt that this article would really engage students and it would be something fun to do and do with them. Another article I found was called What Causes the Seasons? by Bill Robertson that talks about using hand on activities that show the changes of the seasons. I thought that this would be a interesting activity because student are in school during all of the seasons and they can analyze and study each of the seasons as they happen.
When reading these articles I noticed that all these articles related some way or another to each of the goals that I have set for my science classroom. I feel that each of these goals will help students understand the topic presented but also allow for them to explore and use their senses. I feel that it is important for students to be engaged in science activities and participate in the activities.
