Science Lesson and Reflection

Science Methodology P/J

05-80-317-02
Taylor Masse
Dr. Shujah
103318220
Jan. 9th, 2017
 The lesson that I have chosen for this assignment is a lesson that I

taught in March of last year. During that placement, I was in a split 3/4 class.

The teacher made sure to teach each grade their own respective units

according to the Ministry Expectations. The lesson I am reflecting upon is one

that I taught with the third grader pertaining to the unit on structures. In this

lesson, the students were given a chart with a list of possible building

materials for their own structure (more specifically bridges). They were to

make predictions on which materials were weakest to strongest using a

number system (1-13). As a class, we tested the materials using the weight

of a bucket filled with rocks and recorded the findings in the chart. After all of

the materials were tested, the students had to fill out the last part of the

chart in which they had to decide whether or not the material was good for

building. We then met to discuss the findings and decisions made.

I believe that this lesson was appropriate for the primary grade level in

which it was taught. This lesson was originally in one of the teacher resource

manuals that the school used, but I made some adjustments based on the

class. For example, I changed the materials based on the socioeconomic

status of the school and what materials we had access to. I think that this

helped make the lesson more successful because the students were able to

recognize the materials and make the real-world connections to science like

we have discussed numerous times in Science Methodology. There were

many other areas of this lesson that were successful. I was very fortunate to

have an associate who was not strict with time restraints. This helped make
the lesson successful because the students were enjoying the experiment

and really taking their time to think about the questions I was asking such as

why material x stronger than material y before answering. During our first

lecture, we discussed doing science which involves engaging in science in

order to develop scientific expertise and inquiry. This lesson demonstrates

that idea. The lesson was very hands on, which was beneficial in many ways.

For example, the lesson caught and held the attention of the students. This

meant that the students were likely to absorb and remember the

information. It also meant that there was very little misbehaviour, and also

no stopping for distractions. Another way that this lesson was beneficial was

because all of the components of the lesson were adaptable to Howard

Gardners Multiple Intelligence theory. This lesson had a little something for

everyone, which would provide students with their best learning opportunity.

Now that we have Science Methodology, I can look back and see the

weaknesses of this lesson and how I could improve. For example, the chart I

used had predetermined categories that the students were expected to fill

out; therefore, it may have been assumed that there was a right and wrong

answer. There was one student who would erase his answers because he

didnt want to be wrong. As we discussed during lecture four, this did not

really allow the students to come to their own conclusions. This may have

also prevented some students from fully grasping the concept because they

may believe they view the activity/concept is wrong. I think that this could be

improved if I had used a different chart such as the POE strategy that we
learned about in lecture five. The POE strategy is a chart where the students

write their predictions (P), they can provide an explanation for the

predictions as well. Then, they do the experiment and record their

observations (O). Finally, have the students explain (E) what actually

happened during the experiment. Even though my chart had similar ideas, it

was a bit too structured. This format allows for more student ownership and

inquiry. Overall, this lesson was very strong and with a few improvements it

could be even more successful.