Final:Lesson Plan

TOWER OF TERROR: How effective is your fall?

Haley Cobb

ACCRS:

1. Plan and carry out an experiment to determine the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object using one variable at a time, including number, size, direction, speed, position, friction, or air resistance (e.g., balanced forces pushing from both sides on an object, such as a box, producing no motion; unbalanced force on one side of an object, such as a ball, producing motion), and communicate these findings graphically. (Science 2015, Grade 3)

TECHNOLOGY STANDARD:

2. Use various technology applications, including word processing and multimedia software.

•  Using navigational features commonly found in technology applications

•  Identifying digital file types (TE 2009, Grade 3-5)

8. Collect information from a variety of digital sources.

Examples: online libraries, multimedia dictionaries

•  Using technology tools to organize information

•  Demonstrating efficient Internet search strategies

Example: keyword search

•  Evaluating electronic resources for reliability based on publication date, bias, accuracy, and source credibility (TE 2009, 3-5)

OBJECTIVES:

1.)   Students will use the Scientific Method to conduct an experiment using specific materials provided to them, to measure the speed of their falling tower.

2.)   Students will record their outcomes and discussion of their tower falling on their Google Drive and Google Classroom for other groups to compare and contrast.

3.)   Students will use the Slow Motion Camera App to capture their tower falling in slow motion. This will allow the group to see if a mistake was made, where and why.

ESTIMATED TIME:       45 minutes

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Each group will have…

·       50 tooth picks

·       7 rubber bands

·       10 large marsh mellows

·       Elmer’s Glue and Scotch Tape

·       Each student will have their own iPad

·       5 pipe cleaners

·       1 paper plate

·       3 plastic spoons

·       Scissors

PREREQUISITE SKILLS:

Students will need prior knowledge of the Scientific Method.

Students will need basic team working skills

Students will need to be able to work under a time limit deadline.

LESSON PROCEDURES:

Motivator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydEQj7YYi4M

Show video of Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Tower of Terror. Ask students if any of them have ever been to Disney World and rode the tower of terror. If any have been and rode, how fast did you feel like you were going?

Introduce the project of building their own tower of terror. Discuss with the class on how we will use the Scientific Method: asking a question, do background research, construct a hypothesis, test your hypotheses by building your own tower of terror, analyze your data and draw a conclusion, and finally, communicate with your group and the other classmates your ending result.

How fast can your tower fall? Or, the class can answer, “Was your tower built strong enough to not fall?”

Break the class into groups of 4-5 at each workstation.

Allow the groups to have 15-20 minutes of collaborating ideas and assembling their tower.

Once each tower is assembled, let each group drop their tower from the stand they built it on.

A person from each team should use their iPad and monitor the drop with their slow motion camera to track the fall.

At the end of the lesson, the teacher will ask each student to get out a sheet of paper and pencil and write down this question… “If you can pick ONE more item to make your tower fall faster, what would you pick?”

Have each student bring in their one item for the next day to re-test their falling tower and re-group their results.

“If you used this material versus this material, would your tower fall faster?”

Some towers may fall side ways and get caught in their base. Let the students re-examine their structure and decide if they need to use on of their other materials for a more effective fall.

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION:

·       Ipad

·       App- Slow Motion Camera

·       Google Drive/Classroom

In Google Drive/Classroom, the students will be able to share their tower experience with other classmates and compare/contrast their building.

ASSESSMENT:

Formative: Students will be evaluated on how well they work with their groups. Each student must participate in evaluating their tower on their iPad in Google Drive/Classroom.

Summative: Each student will receive a 10/10 on their writing portion, which includes the question and answer of the one material they would pick to make their tower fall more effectively.

Lesson Extensions/Differentiations: This lesson is to not only help the students to learn more on how the Scientific Method works, but also to understand the importance of team work. Collaboration with everyone’s idea is a key factor in a group setting.

Module 3: Quality Questioning Part 3

Technology Tools for Quality Questioning:


Decide Now! is an app that can be used for teachers in the classroom during class discussion. I know sometimes it is hard to receive answers from students because they do not want to participate or just do not know the answer. Some students may be afraid to talk aloud in class. This tool will help generate student's names as the teacher asks question so that there is fairness in the classroom when students are being called on. Students may get overlooked that would love to answer a question, but never is called on, or some students who never participates will have a shot at answering the question as well.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/decide-now!/id383718755?mt=8



Verso Learning is a great website that has a lot of information as to formulate deeper thinking. It gives teachers suggestions like have their students comment on each other's responses. I want my classroom to always be an open discussion and not just a lectured class time with no interaction. Another point in this website that is made is ask for more than one response from the student. This will require deeper thinking to build answers up in their brains and to not just mimic another student's answer or idea.

http://versoapp.com/teaching-resources/sample-activities/

Module 3: Quality Questioning Part 2

https://realtimeboard.com/app/board/o9J_k0jaB7k=/

I had a lot of fun using Realtime Board. It was very easy to use. I honestly think I like it better than taking notes on Evernote. I am a more visual learning, and being able to put a visual aid together as I read the chapters helped me better understand what I was reading; the information clicked better than just typing notes under a certain title. I think Realtime Board would be a great tool to use in the classroom as well, since there are many options to choose from when making boards customizable to different projects.

Module 3: Quality Questioning Part 1

As a future teacher, I am hoping for a quality-questioning classroom. I want my classroom to be open for all students when learning about new concepts; as in, I want my students to be willing to open their minds and explore new ways to understand something they are not sure about. I want to always keep my students engaged; I think every teacher has this goal. Allowing students to listen to what you are saying and asking, giving them the appropriate amount of time to think and then respond, I believe I as a teacher, will receive a more positive answer than just a blank stare. Students need to be able to learn facts, understand them and then apply the facts learned to their lessons and homework, instead of just memorizing information. I hope to always be a thorough teacher when preparing my students to learn new concepts. I also want my students to be able to learn with different techniques that I learn personally as a teacher in that I will be able to relate to each student’s own way of learning.

After reviewing the rubric for formulating and assessing quality questions, I think it will help me as a future teacher to build up to ask an effective question to students when I am teaching a lesson. The rubric is well organized based on the type of question a teacher may or may not be asking now, and offering other tactics to build up to an excelling quality question. I want my students to be able to answer my questions successfully but that will require me to ask questions based on their learning ability.

I am not teaching yet, so I do not specifically have a teaching style. After looking over the chart for response strategies and instructional purposes, I think they all look to be successful. In my first year of teaching, I think I will use more than one or two of these strategies, just to see which will work better in my specific classroom with the students I have at the time. I think these strategies will change from year to year as I have new students who will learn differently from prior students.

The posters for student and teacher activity in relation to quality questioning are great visuals to hang in the classroom so that students and the teacher can always be aware of how to ask questions, how to answer them, what is expected, what is wanted from teacher or student, etc. I remember sitting in classrooms afraid to answer because I may or may not have had the right answer. I do not want to have my students afraid to be vocal in my classroom. Therefore, these posters will be a helpful tool to always ask questions on learning ability, they will remind me to be quiet so students can think, and also to not always be the one talking.

“Redirects question to another student.” I think this response will be challenging. I say that because this statement really can go multiple ways. I feel like some teachers do not get a decent response from someone and just moves to the next student without explaining why the first response may have not been all the way correct. Also, I feel like teachers may ask a student and receive the correct answer but also ask a student the same question over, if their mind seems to be wondering. So, this statement can be used for multiple meanings.

Module 2 - 21st Century Tools

Prezi

Prezi.com is a website that can be very beneficial for students needing to present a project to their classmates. Press is a lot like Power Point but uses a more unique style to swipe through each slide.

Students can use this tool by locating the search bar and typing in the URL. The website will direct the user to proceed through the steps of how to make an account to use Prezi. Guidance will also be provided to create the first Prezi presentation.

I think Prezi can be a very engaging tool for students to stay alert and interest through a presentation on a specific topic. This technology tool can present how the student compared their prior knowledge on a topic to the new information they learned through active learning strategies.

Google Slides

I am new to Google tools this year. The school I work in swapped over to all Google with email, calendars, working on presentations, etc. I have never personally used Google slides but I have navigated through the program. It seems to have the same concept as Microsoft Power Point in presenting a lesson or topic.

There are step-by-step instructions at the top of the program and multiple ways to make the project "your own" ...it seems to have more options on how to design each presentation. Typing Google slides in the search engine will be a leader through how to create a slide presentation.

Using this tool for my concept model, I feel that it would be a very beneficial tool in that students can use their imagination even more to come up with different strategies on how to present their findings. They would have already used their known knowledge on a topic and compared to new knowledge; now they can take this and develop an effective and engaging learning presentation.

Module 2-Instructional Model Presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/KDBuxXLoRD6OmE

Chapter 7 The Concept Development Model

How Does Instructional Design Impact P-12 Student Learning?

I personally have not taught any lessons yet but I have been given the opportunities to observe different grade group teachers on various subject topics. I have noticed that a lot of the teachers use verb tense statements for their students. "I can...", "I will..."...these statements set a foundation in the student's mind of what their research and brainstorming needs to build upon. The students can see what their expectation outcomes should be.

Observing other teachers, I have noticed that having the students engaged in a high impact learning activity centered on a common outcome, helps with engagement. Rather than given a worksheet to be assessed on with their knowledge of a lesson, the teacher provides a hands on learning activity that can be related to a life skill for the student to apply to their daily life. I would try to have different centers of activities for learning about the lesson in different formats because there will always be some students who draw in information differently than his or her partner.

I believe with a well planned out and smooth design lesson plan, a unit can be taught and successfully learned in an effective and efficient way. A good instructional design unit is mapped out to meet all learning needs, for all students in the classroom. I think this type of design has a positive approach on each different type of student if the teacher takes enough time to map out an effective lesson plan based on goals the teacher has for his or her instruction. Having a classroom full of engaged minds is a teacher's dream for each of their units. With instructional design, a teacher can step back and tweak what needs to be tweaked or eliminate and replace what needs to be out of the lesson based on the learning outcomes of the students and how they processed and successfully or non-successfully reached the goals for that specific lesson.