Expected, Inspected, & Respected.
"Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice." Anton Chekhov
Today's lesson was outstanding from start to finish. I had their rapt attention and they really learned something! If you're interested in seeing my lesson plan, it's here. If you just want the highlights, read on. We started out by taking notes... in colour! Ok, nothing mind-blowing about that, but it was important to have some knowledge for the fun stuff that was on its way. They helped me fill in the labels as I drew this diagram on the whiteboard. They already knew most of these terms, but had never seen them in an organized, interconnected system. One student asked if it was possible for a solid to skip the liquid stage and turn straight into a gas. I was ready for the question and framed it as a secret forbidden knowledge that most Grade 5s don't get taught. That always makes them sit up and pay close attention! I drew a long red line with an arrow between the solid and the gas and labelled it sublimation. Immediately, another student remarked how the diagram looked like a face now, with the sublimation line looking like a big grin. I told him that neuroscientists have a fancy name for that called pareidolia - the phenomenon of seeing faces in inanimate objects. More bonus content! Next, I showed the students the following slideshow, explaining that each individual LEGO stormtrooper or person represented a molecule and how it required adding or removing heat to shift them from one state to another. Having seen the pictures, they were now ready for the drama portion of the class. I had them demonstrate solids, liquids, and gases for me as a class, immobile and bunched together in their solid phase, becoming faster and more spread apart as I turned up the heat, returning eventually to solid again as I cooled them down. The kinesthetic learners (i.e., everyone) loved being able to embody the concept and I could tell from their faces that it was a joyful learning experience. When I felt they understood the concept and had knocked over enough chairs as the speedy gases, I had them sit back down and handed out a sheet with four fill in the blank questions, just to check that they understood all the vocabulary. Finally, we played a review game where I would say something like, "liquid to a solid", wait for 5 seconds, and toss a ball to a student. That student would then (hopefully) say, "freezing or solidification by removing heat". I had a whole roomful of kids looking at me like: It was a great end to a great lesson.
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David Wiebe
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