Katelyn Tipton Science Methods Blog

What did you learn this week? This week, I learned that plungers suction to things because of the force of air molecules pushing out from inside the plunger and in from outside the plunger. The force going both ways, but not letting any molecules actually go in or out causes the suction. I learned that a pot of water will boil faster with a lid on it. The lid traps the heated water molecules in so they continue to spread the heat to the other water molecules. If you take the lid off, the hottest and fastest water molecules will escape, taking heat and energy with them.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I already knew that boiling water without a lid would let water molecules escape, but I didn't know that those were the hottest molecules that were escaping. But, it makes sense because they are leaving in the form of steam. I also already knew the basic concept behind condensation forming on cold drinks, but I didn't really know how to articulate...

 What did you learn? This week, I learned that when you add sugar to water, the water gets denser, so dissolving other substances into the water will take longer because there are more and bigger molecules in the water. I also learned that different colors of M&M coating take different amounts of time to dissolve in water. Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already know? Yes! I already knew that when things heat up the molecules move faster, which we saw in the M&M activity with water of different temperatures. When the water was hotter, the molecules were moving faster, so the coating dissolved into the water faster. I also already knew that the sugar water would slow the dissolving of the coating, but I wasn't entirely sure why it would, so this experiment helped to explain it. How can you apply what you've learned to your future teaching? The M&M activity is one that is very easy to do and requires few materials to complete, so it's great for...

  What did you learn this week? This week, I learned that when things are broken into smaller pieces, the mass and volume decreases, but most other properties will stay the same. I also learned that chalk floats for a little bit, but eventually sinks. Pennies, paper clips, and aluminum foil conduct electricity, but wax, erasers, and wood do not.  Are you able to apply what you learned to what you already know? I already knew many of the properties of matter and that they vary from object to object. I didn't know that pennies weren't magnetic, which was pretty interesting because it's made of metal. I thought all metals would be magnetic. I also already knew that pumice floats, but I didn't know why it floats, which was pretty interesting to hear about.  What are your new or remaining questions? Not necessarily a question, but I'm curious about what other properties we could test that would show interesting results, like what things float that you wouldn't expect...

 What did you learn? In lab this week, I learned the importance of teaching science in elementary schools. We did lots of experiments that we could do with students. Most of these experiments were things I've never done before, like the melting ice experiment. I thought it was really interesting that the pan melted the ice faster than the wood. I also learned that when you mix baking soda and vinegar, the final product is colder than either of the original ingredients.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already know? Yes, for the coke float experiment, I already knew that Diet Coke floats, but I didn't think either of the regular Cokes would float so that was pretty cool to see. I already knew that drinks only "sweat" when they are in warmer rooms and our room was cooler, so the experiment didn't really work. I'm not sure how warm the room would have to be for the experiment to work, so that would be interesting to test out. I have also previ...

 What did you learn this week? This week, I learned that about the various performance expectations related to evolution in the NGSS. We discussed how some of these performance expectations were broken down into the 3 dimensions of the NGSS. I also learned about migration and how it can lead to more genetic variation and diversity within populations.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already know? Yes, I already knew about migration, but I had never considered how this can impact a population's diversity, which I think is very interesting. This week, we also reviewed what we already learned about the 5 big ideas about natural selection, the causes of natural selection, and the drivers of evolution. We learned about genetic drift, which I have previously learned about, but learning about it again was very helpful, as I only vaguely knew what it was, but I have a much better understanding now. How can you apply what you've learned to your future teaching? I th...

 This week I was sick, so I did not attend lab. In place of my lab photos, here's one of my puppy, Jay. In lecture this week, I learned about the causes of natural selection - mutation, adaptation, competition, chance events, and other environmental factors. We also got to play around with simulators with different mutated genes that led to different traits being present in populations of frogs and moths.  I already knew most of what we learned about natural selection, but it was a nice refresher. I knew what natural selection is and how it works, but seeing the causes divided into 5 groups was helpful for me to remember them. Doing the simulations was also helpful in visualizing what natural selection actually looks like and how predators and environment can impact how a species looks.  I would definitely use the simulations in my future classroom. I think they're both great hands-on activities for students to do that don't require you to spend money on supplies or do mu...