I heard Oxygen and Magnesium are dating... I was like OMG

I scream! You scream! We all scream for Science and ice cream! Today is why I can not wait to teach Science. Watching Ms. F engage and excite her students was as much of a treat as the delicious ice cream we made using Science. If the instructor is passionate and knowledgeable, Science can gain interest and excitement from it's students. Ms. F displays both these qualities in her classroom. She eagerly answers the children's questions, or fixes their incorrect statements. In addition, her classroom is full of tools and equipment to guide her students learning. Today we had the pleasure of watching how to make ice cream using only a pot, spoon, milk, sugar, and liquid Nitrogen. Since liquid Nitrogen is -320 degrees F, safety comes first. Googles and gloves are a must when working with any chemical. Liquid Nitrogen is a fun tool for freezing foods and objects, but if not used properly it can be very dangerous. Never let it touch your skin! if contact occurs, it can cause serious injury. It is best to let an individual who has experience with liquid Nitrogen, use it. Liquid Nitrogen can be used to cool or freeze foods, such as the milk and sugar, quickly preserving their nutrients. this allows us to make tasty ice cream fast. The steam that fills the room as the liquid nitrogen is poured, excites the students. It causes kids to be less interested in their cell phone or doodles at the time, and more focused on Science. After the experiment is over, the children get a yummy frozen treat. But beware of brain freeze!

Don't take a Geologist for Granite

Today in field work, group three taught the class a lesson in Earth Science. The lesson was dedicated to the study of three types of rocks. Those rocks were; sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. I thought the instruction about the types of rocks was excellent. The downfall of the lesson was after the direct instruction. Unfortunately, the rest of the class was based off of information that was not given to the children in the direct instruction. The slide show taught the class only about the three types of rocks and their distinguishable characteristics. Following the slide show was an interactive game. This game could have been a great resource had the teachers discussed the terms and knowledge behind it. Students were asked to test permeability, durability, and buoyancy. None of these terms were taught or discussed previously. If the children are not exposed to the information, they have no idea what they are doing or why they are doing it. In addition, they students were not taught about any of the tests that they were told to complete in their lab. I heard multiple children ask "what is luster?", or "what is grain size?". You can't expect your students to know information you don't supply to them. In continuation, having been a science student for years, I believe safety comes first. The instructors did not explain to the students what was in front of them on the lab table and how to use the tools properly. Luckily, a teacher sat at each lab table to help the students. Otherwise, a child could have gotten very hurt.  Aside from the frustration some kids expressed, I think they did enjoy learning about rocks and being hands on with them.

What's Poppin'? Bubble gum experiment results

Bubble Data

Student A

Gum Brand:	Bubble 1:	Bubble 2:	Bubble 3:
Trident	.5in	1in	.5in
Juicy Fruit	3in	1.5in	2in
5 Gum	.5in	.1in	.5in
Dubble Bubble	.5in	.5in	.5in
Extra	.5in	.5in	.5in

Trident average: 0.6in

Juicy Fruit average: 2.2in

5 Gum average: 0.3in

Dubble Bubble average: 0.5in

Extra average: 0.5in

Student B

Gum Brand:	Bubble 1:	Bubble 2:	Bubble 3:
Trident	.5in	.5in	.5in
Juicy Fruit	1in	1.5in	3.5in
5 Gum	.5in	.5in	.5in
Dubble Bubble	.5in	1in	1.5in
Extra	.5in	.5in	.5in

Trident average: 0.5in

Juicy Fruit average: 2in

5 Gum average: 0.5in

Dubble Bubble average: 1in

Extra average: 0.5in

Student C

Gum Brand:	Bubble 1:	Bubble 2:	Bubble 3:
Trident	.5in	1in	1.5in
Juicy Fruit	1in	1in	3in
5 Gum	.5in	.5in	.5in
Dubble Bubble	1in	1.5in	1in
Extra	.5in	.5in	.5in

Trident average: 1in

Juicy Fruit average: 1.7in

5 Gum average: 0.5in

Dubble Bubble average: 0.5in

Extra average: 0.5

Student D

Gum Brand:	Bubble 1:	Bubble 2:	Bubble 3:
Trident	.5in	.5in	1in
Juicy Fruit	4in	2in	3in
5 Gum	1in	.5in	.5in
Dubble Bubble	.5in	2in	1in
Extra	.5in	.5in	.5in

Trident average: 0.7in

Juicy Fruit average: 3in

5 Gum average: 0.7in

Dubble Bubble average: 1.2in

Extra average: 0.5in

Student E

Gum Brand:	Bubble 1:	Bubble 2:	Bubble 3:
Trident	.5in	.5in	.5in
Juicy Fruit	1in	2in	1.5in
5 Gum	.5in	1in	.5in
Dubble Bubble	1in	1.5in	.5in
Extra	.5in	.5in	.5in

Trident average: 0.5in

Juicy Fruit average: 1.5in

5 Gum average: 0.7in

Dubble Bubble average: 1in

Extra average: 0.5in

 

Student F

Gum Brand:	Bubble 1:	Bubble 2:	Bubble 3:
Trident	.5in	.5in	.5in
Juicy Fruit	1.5in	2in	1.5in
5 Gum	.5in	1in	1in
Dubble Bubble	2in	1.5in	1in
Extra	.5in	.5in	.5in

Trident average: .5in

Juicy Fruit average: 1.7in

5 Gum average: 0.8in

Dubble Bubble average: 1.5in

Extra average: 0.5in

Total Scores

Trident: 0.6in

Juicy Fruit: 2in

5 Gum: 0.6in

Dubble Bubble: 1in

Extra: 0.5in

Conclusion:

After conducting the bubble gum experiment and analyzing the data, my hypothesis has been dis-proven. My hypothesis stated, “I think Dubble Bubble will blow the biggest bubble”, when in fact, Juicy Fruit blew the biggest bubble. According to the data, the average bubble size blown with Juicy Fruit was 2 inches. The average bubble size blown with Dubble Bubble was only 1 inch. This means, on average, Juicy Fruit allowed the testing group to blow bubbles 1 inch larger than Dubble Bubble allowed for. The other gum brand's bubbles were relatively close in size and popped at a much smaller size in comparison to Juicy Fruit and Dubble Bubble. The average maximum size of Trident was 0.6 inches, 5 gum was also 0.6 inches, and Extra was 0.5 inches. Although this experiment was not designed to test why these gum brands allow for different sized bubbles, my testing group eagerly expressed their thoughts. They felt as though the texture, size of the piece of gum, and elasticity affected the bubble size. If I were to further my experiment, I would test out these hypothesis. 

Reflection: 

The kids loved participating in the "What's Poppin'? Bubble Gum Experiment".  They continue to ask me every day if we can do it again. I loved doing this experiment because the children had so much fun learning. They learned how to measure properly. As you can see in one of the photographs they were not making sure to use the ruler correctly at first. After a few tries, they were working together, holding the ruler straight, carefully placing it up to the mouth, and holding it in the right direction. In addition, the kid's were collecting data for the experiment. They understood that the data was very important and had be collecting as authentically as possible. "No cheating", they would say, because then "we wont know the truth. It made me even more excited to listen to the children create their own theories as to why some gum did not blow as big bubbles as others. They were creating their own problems and hypothesis which is exactly what any science teacher wants to see. Normally, an experiment does not end after one round. An experiment leads into further questions. Those questions lead into further experimentation. The kids were displaying this as they began to state "the size of the pieces of gum are different", "the texture of the gum brands are different", or "some are too chewy". All of these statements can become hypothesis for a new problem; "why do some brands of gum allow us to blow a bigger bubble than other?"