|
NORTHEASTERN
Carol Stough's school was architecturally
different than most other schools—C.R. Orendorf was
round! Walking through the corridors offered only a
limited view of each hallway segment (reminiscent of
Star Trek's Enterprise). Interestingly enough,
designing a round building with only partial views of
hallways and classrooms also allowed for some
privacy, noise reduction, and an illusion
of a small-school feeling. Carol's class was not rectangular; it
had a slight fan shape. This gave an opportunity for
a unique classroom arrangement. Carol's blackboard
and the outside window were in the narrowest part of
the room. The desks were lined-up in horizontal
rather than vertical rows that faced the blackboard
at the front of the room. Work centers filled the
wider section in the back of the classroom, and
preparation counters with storage below lined one
wall. The room was filled with materials and busy
students. Carol was already engaged in teaching her
third grade class with the STC kit Chemical Tests
when we arrived.
The students were just beginning their kit work. Many
were removing unknown powders from small containers
and placing them in piles on a plastic sheet. Each
child was deeply engaged in their own work and barely
noticed us as we slipped around the room. Teams of
one or two students prepared their experimental
stations with the chemicals to be tested.
|
Carol roamed the room evaluating each group's
progress. When she spotted a potential pitfall, she
walked purposefully to the front of the room and drew
the attention of all the students while she delivered
some tips or explanation about that particular point.
Carol emphasized the need to perform exact
measurements and recognized it as important
preparation for chemistry. When necessary, Carol
would demonstrate techniques. She gave her students
pointers on many things, such as how to extract and
then remove the excess powder when measuring a level
spoonful for the experiment. |
Students were continually encouraged to keep their
test area in order. Each team had a very limited
workspace and an array of materials to implement.
Contamination was always a danger, and replacement
chemicals were an unnecessary expense. Carol stressed
the need to organize the tools so that the used
spoons would stay next to, or on top of, the
corresponding bottles of test powder.
|
Each student was required to add drops of liquid to
the mystery powders. After watching the delivery
system used by some of her students, Carol warned
them of potential contamination. She advised that
they add the liquid to the powder carefully because
the drops needed to stay within the area designated
for that particular chemical. Carol told them that
the dropper should be near enough to prevent a splash
but far enough away to avoid touching the powder and
contaminating the other tests.
|
Each of the unknown powders was placed on a plastic
sheet with six circles. Through experience, Carol
found it best to have each student place a piece of
wax paper on the test sheet before applying the
powders. Carol told us that this decreased the
potential contamination from past inefficient washing
of the sheet. In addition, it simplified clean up
because the student only needed to throw the wax
paper away. This fast and economical process was a
clever adjustment and a good tip. After the liquid
was applied, the students stirred the powder with a
toothpick and made further observations.
|
As Carol circulated about the room she made a visual
sweep to be certain that everyone had finished mixing
the powders. In order to facilitate the students'
observational analysis, Carol sketched out a rough
table on the blackboard. She collected and wrote the
observations the students offered. Sometimes Carol
would repeat or reword the idea to correctly portray
or understand their thought. The students benefited
from hearing and discussing the opinions of their
classmates because the ability to communicate
experimental findings is an important skill. Carol
expertly guided them into organizing their thoughts
and refining their theories. Additionally, it was an
opportunity for Carol to assess the students and to
identify any misconceptions.
|
As Carol's class worked on their observations and
data analysis, she gave them more helpful hints. She
recommended that journals be folded in half in order
to save space. Students were encouraged to discuss
ideas with their partners before recording the data.
Carol advised them to use magnifying lenses to enrich
the observations. She reminded her students to look
back at their projections recorded before beginning
the experiments. Many of the groups were still very
confident about their predictions. New information
was added and theories were noted in the journals.
|
Carol Stough designed an excellent inquiry session
using Chemical Tests and experimenting with mystery
powders. We were able to meet with Carol after the
class for a few minutes to discuss the kit. Carol
identified a few areas of concern about the
implementation of Chemical Tests. The preparation
of all the bottles of mystery powders and water
bottles was a problem because it required a great
deal of time. Chemicals were delivered in bulk so
each team needed to have its own portion. Carol was
interested in hearing ideas from anyone about this
issue. Even though Carol often stresses avoidance of
contamination to her students, there are still
problems. Students do not always measure correctly so
there is some waste. Carol would be interested to
hear from any teacher who has previously worked with
this kit. Of most interest would be teachers'
management techniques for material maintenance.
We very much enjoyed our trip to C.R. Orendorf
Elementary School and would like to express our
sincere thanks to Carol Stough for her willingness to
share her classroom practice, her great tips, and her
kit concerns with the Keystone Science Network.
|
|
