Scientific Art

"After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved, science and art tend to coalesce in esthetics, plasticity, and form.  The greatest scientists are always artists as well." 

----Albert Einstein

Quotes lead the way to education extensions (hidden message for...Click on the quote to see a great website!)

Walking into class 30 minutes late, after sitting in traffic for an hour and a half tends to cultivate a feeling of stress as opposed to a sense of wonder, relaxation, and curiosity.  However, I walked into my science class drawing replicas of their chosen flowers they brought into class using oil pastels and my mood acclimated to that of my classmates quickly.  Being able to integrate art and science allows students to connect, explore, and express themselves in multiple avenues.  After we drew our flowers, we were given time to dissect them and utilize the labels that were listed on the board to investigate the components of the flowers.  What an engaging and effective teaching/learning strategy!

WARNING!!! CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION in progress

Since Criminal Minds and Law Order compose about 70% of my DVR recording list, you can imagine my excitement when I heard that we were going to have a guest Lieutenant speak to us about Crime Scene Investigation and Forensic Sciences in regards to Fingerprinting.  The Lieutenant taught us how fingerprints are the oldest accurate form of identification and different characteristics and types of fingerprints:

Types of Fingerprints

Patent- readily visible (liquid)

Plastic- to mold or to form (putty, clay, wax, soap)

Latent- hidden or concealed (must be developed or enhanced)

Fingerprint Patterns

Circular

Loop

Arch

Characteristics

Enclosure, Dot, Ridge Ending, Bifarcation

We also learned about DNA (simple DNA kit includes distilled water and cotton swabs!) and the CODIS system (COmbined DNA Index System).  I am very excited to incorporate some type of Crime Scene Investigation theme into my classroom with this new information!  Block 3 even gave a great presentation that modeled one creative way to incorporate CSI and civic responsibility into the classroom with a pollution investigation.

After the presentation, we split up into our Blocks again and were able to participate in different experiments ranging from honing in on our investigation skills with clay to utilizing ProScope technology to investigate our clothing and hair particles.  We had a great time investigating and experimenting with salt, sugar, baking powder, and iodine while surrounded by our RainForest Mural we created, along with multiple other blocks. My contribution to the mural was a leaf cutter ant.

THE RAINFOREST

My Leaf Cutter Ant and My Friend Celeste's Cheetah!

Racing Cars and the History/Chemistry of Chocolate

I learned about the benefits of building race cars in the classroom as a way to teach mathematics and science.  It is particularly beneficial and relevant to the 3rd grade standards.  It was a great way to incorporate the Scientific Method, as well.

1. Ask a question.
2. Do Background Research
3. Construct a Hypothesis
4. Test your Hypothesis by doing an experiment
5. Analyze your data and draw a conclusion
6. Communicate your results

I also learned about the www.nbclearn.com website.  It has such a plethora of resources about relating everyday items to chemistry concepts.  My group developed a glogster about the History and Chemistry of Chocolate. Yuuuummm, 

Chemical Reactions Experiment

We were able to perform an interesting experiment today with baking soda, phenol red, and calcium chloride (Ca Cl).  It was such an exciting and engaging way to investigate chemical reactions.  We were able to investigate temperature change (the mixture's temperature rose to 144 degrees!), color change (white and red materials turned into a vibrant yellow), and gas creation (the ziplog bag expanded).  By changing the variables and trying different combinations, we were able to understand why these changes occurred.  The chemical reactions book we read prior to the experiment was also interesting and a nice text to aid us in our investigation.

Science Stories 01/27/11: Tree Discovery

Utilizing technology and concrete experiences was a fun way to learn about the trees located on the California State University: Fullerton campus.  Picking a tree to focus on was a great way to allow freedom of choice into the assignment while also focusing the learning intention for the students (us).  After taking pictures of the tree at different magnification levels, we also took a needle from the conifer that my group chose and magnified it using the ProScope.  The ProScope is an amazing tool to incorporate technology easily into science! It plugs in directly to the computer and after flipping the bulb switch on magnifies the objects.

After taking pictures and examining the separate components of the tree, we created an interview through a podcast and I-Movie in which we personified the tree and allowed "Conner the Conifer" to voice his opinion on why he should not be cut down.  Since he is a droopy tree, he possessed a droopy attitude through the interview.  It is a great way to get facts across in an interesting manner.

Science Stories 01/26/11

Reading about scenarios where teachers engage students in science lessons makes me excited about trying out some of the methods.  I was particularly intrigued while reading about how science has been taught with hands-on activities for a long time but has not necessarily been taught properly.  Making sure to have students think about and express the process they are encountering when performing science activities is a crucial part of learning the actual concepts and ideas.

 Looking back on my own experiences, I see plenty of times that I was involved in science experiments but I do not necessarily recall what my teacher was trying to convey through these experiments.  Other times, I remember being required to explain what was happening and asked what I thought during the process and those experiments were more effective.  Rather than merely having students walk through the steps of an experiment, it is vital to have them understand what is happening during the process and even allowing some freedom to conduct their own variations and test their own hypotheses of the subject matter.

Another interesting point made in the readings was regarding the idea that boys are more likely to be interested in science and the process of scientific thought.  I would really like to try implementing the strategy that was used by the teacher in the text to buffer this situation.  The example given in the text was a teacher who gave the girls in his class a time to freely explore the computer and encouraged them to not shy away from mistakes.  I hope to use strategies similar to this to encourage any students who feel trapped by rules and alternate conceptions to break free and discover new ideas.

In Chapter 2 , a scientist answered a teacher's interview question about people's feelings towards science in a way that really stuck with me:
      "There's a good way and a bad way to teach people science.  The bad way is to present science as a set of known things, of facts and relationships that they have to know.  Then it becomes a burden.  The proper way to teach science is to get the students to understand that science is a way of explaining how the world around them works, and engaging their curiosity. Anyone who has curiosity can't help but find science interesting, if it's presented properly."