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Fall 2009: Day 7
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Fall 2009-Day 6
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Day 7 Topics
Lesson Plans for the Elementary School Visit
Refraction Diagnostic Question
Refraction: Cup and Dot Experiment
Reflections
Peer Instructor Reflection
Fall 2009: Day 7
Written by: Katie Kizer
The midterm was scheduled for today, but it did not end up happening. Emily felt that the students needed more time to prepare for the visit at Wilson Elementary School. In groups of three, the students devised lesson plans according to times and activities. Here is an example of what one group will tentatively be doing.
| Introductions: | Have everyone say their name and one fun fact about the moon. |
| Part One: Journals (Nicole) | We will sit down in a circle with our journals. What did the first moon that you saw look like? Over the next couple of days what did the moon look like? Was it different? Which side was lit, the right or the left side? Was it bigger or smaller? Was it waxing or waning? Did you observe the moon and the sun at the same time? (If yes… does anyone have any drawings of this?) |
| Part Two: Patterns (Erika) | Did you notice any patterns in the shape of the moon? Then we will write down any patterns that they noticed on the chart paper. If there are any questions as we go along we will also put these on chart paper. |
| Part Three: Model (Chelsey) | First before we start we go over some guidelines of using the Styrofoam balls. To do this we will demonstrate things that are obviously wrong and ask if they are right. (Do we poke out friends with the balls? No.) Next we will explain how the ball is the moon, the light source is the sun and our head is the earth. Then we will begin passing out the toothpicks and the balls. Can you figure out where to hold the ball so that the whole thing is lit up? To match the pattern, which way, the left or right should we move the moon? What happens when we keep going in a full circle? Do you think this is really how the moon works? Why or why not. |
| Part Four: The moon dance (Everyone) | NOTE: Rotating= to spin Revolving= to go around something Three volunteers, one is the sun, moon and earth. Have the moon rotate around the earth Talk about the different phases, and terms Talk about how the earth rotates, once a day- 7 times in quarter- 4 quarters in a month. |
The next activity the students got to do today was the exploration of refraction. I think they all really enjoyed this activity because they got to see and do the experiment themselves. Each group was given an empty cup that had a dot inside of it. The dot was above the halfway mark on the cup, but not too close to the top. One person got down at eye level with the cup. They were told to find the dot inside the cup and then lower their eyes just slightly to where they could not see the dot anymore. Their partner then filled the cup with water. The water line ended up being above the dot by a little bit. The partner who had been at eye level with the cup was amazed at what they saw. Once the water had been poured into the cup, the dot was then visible to them! They wondered how this was happening. They took turns observing this phenomena, which they later learned was called “refraction.” On their white boards, students tried to draw and explain what was happening. It took them a while to figure out, but they realized that the light ray was bending when it hit the medium of water.
As always, at the end of class, the students were given time to reflect and write down what they enjoyed and what they learned in class. Then, we went around the room and each person said what they learned and what they were still curious about. A couple of students were still curious about what would happen if you had a different clear liquid medium, such as a carbonated beverage or corn syrup. Would the light rays refract at the same angles? Maybe in the future we will be able to explore this topic a bit more. Most of the students are looking forward to our visit to Wilson. I am too!
