2 down, 2 to go
We wrapped up our second unit of the year this week and started in with the next one! Not too bad, I would say--only about one week off of the semester mark...
As I discussed last week, the students were going to be tracking changes in the amounts of water in different cities across the US using satellite data. Overall, the students did a fantastic job of reading the satellite maps and plotting the data points on their graphs. I divided each class into 10 groups, and each group was in charge of 1 year's worth of data. Once the individual graphs were done, we lined them all up and glued them together. This is the end result:
The top graph shows the changes in St. Louis, the middle graph is Atlanta, and the bottom is Portland. The parts of the line that are in blue are showing where there was an increase in the amount of water, while the red shows decreases. Once we had them all together, it was time for some data analysis. The students needed to analyze data from each year, and then we went on to track seasonal data and overall trends. We used this information to discuss what may happen in each of these cities in the future as well as how the cities may need to respond to the changes they go through. All in all, I felt like this was a successful group of lessons and the students were able to tie everything together nicely. I did have a couple of students in each class that struggled with some of the data analysis, but some additional reteaching and practice time with them cleaned that up!
Our next big unit of the year moves us from Earth systems to Space systems, and we are starting the unit by learning about gravity. We are beginning our learning with some inquiry investigations, and the students are completing a few investigations to build their understanding of how gravity moves objects with different masses. One thing I really like about these investigations is that it is going to help the students as they move into the older grades and need to complete lab projects. Once the investigations are done, we are going to briefly discuss controlled variables and independent variables, just to plant that seed for them :-) The students seem to really enjoy the investigations...what kid wouldn't like to drop grapes and oranges on the floor to see which one hits first or build a zipline? I think we will have a pretty good unit!
Mindfulness thought for the week: If plan "A" doesn't work, just remember--the alphabet has 25 other letters.
As I discussed last week, the students were going to be tracking changes in the amounts of water in different cities across the US using satellite data. Overall, the students did a fantastic job of reading the satellite maps and plotting the data points on their graphs. I divided each class into 10 groups, and each group was in charge of 1 year's worth of data. Once the individual graphs were done, we lined them all up and glued them together. This is the end result:
The top graph shows the changes in St. Louis, the middle graph is Atlanta, and the bottom is Portland. The parts of the line that are in blue are showing where there was an increase in the amount of water, while the red shows decreases. Once we had them all together, it was time for some data analysis. The students needed to analyze data from each year, and then we went on to track seasonal data and overall trends. We used this information to discuss what may happen in each of these cities in the future as well as how the cities may need to respond to the changes they go through. All in all, I felt like this was a successful group of lessons and the students were able to tie everything together nicely. I did have a couple of students in each class that struggled with some of the data analysis, but some additional reteaching and practice time with them cleaned that up!
Our next big unit of the year moves us from Earth systems to Space systems, and we are starting the unit by learning about gravity. We are beginning our learning with some inquiry investigations, and the students are completing a few investigations to build their understanding of how gravity moves objects with different masses. One thing I really like about these investigations is that it is going to help the students as they move into the older grades and need to complete lab projects. Once the investigations are done, we are going to briefly discuss controlled variables and independent variables, just to plant that seed for them :-) The students seem to really enjoy the investigations...what kid wouldn't like to drop grapes and oranges on the floor to see which one hits first or build a zipline? I think we will have a pretty good unit!
Mindfulness thought for the week: If plan "A" doesn't work, just remember--the alphabet has 25 other letters.
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