It was so nice to settle back in at school. On the agenda for my time at school: science experiments! Powerscourt submits a science portfolio for which they have won multiple awards in the past. I had expressed interest in helping out with science instruction during my time at the school, and so I was transferred down to the senior class of 4th, 5th, and 6th grades where I would have the opportunity to do more complex experiments.
I taught six science experiments and demonstrations to the class. The students had to each write up the experiments and results to present in the school science portfolio. The lessons I taught were directed at a wide variety of scientific concepts like pressure, force, density, measurement, and more.
One of these experiments dealt with the density of various liquids: water, oil, and honey. We started with a glass filled midway with water. The students then made their predictions about what would happen when I poured some oil into the glass; whether the oil would mix with the water, fall below the water, or stay above the water. Most of the students, already knowing the properties of oil and water, guessed correctly that the oil would remain separate and above the water. I then poured honey into the water. The students had predicted that it would remain separated from the other two liquids already in the jar and then fall down to the bottom.
The next part of the experiment involved placing a few drops of food coloring into the jar to see what would happen. There were all sorts of predictions as to what would happen. The drops fell through the oil, slowly, and then hit the water, turning it pink. The honey at the bottom did not appear to be impacted. This was a great learning experience about density in three liquids.
I decided to take the experiment a step further by adding three different objects to the jar to see where they would fall in the layers of liquids. The first object, a coin, fell directly to the bottom as predicted by the entire class. The second object, a raisin, also fell directly to the bottom. And the last object, blu-tack, fell directly to the bottom. As a class we were sure the blu-tack would stay afloat in the oil because it was light, but this was not the case. I will leave the other science experiments up to the imagination, so as not to ruin all my tricks. The students really seemed to enjoy the day filled with science activities.
Later in the week a lady by the name of Christine came to visit the school to conduct a science activity with each class of students. My task for the day was to follow her around, take pictures of the students at work, and enjoy the science lessons. We started in the junior and senior infant class working with weighing and creating a balance machine. They worked together in pairs with a ruler and a pencil to first create a seesaw. Afterwards, they were handed small tubs filled with barley and wax of varying amounts.
Their goal was to determine which tub was the heaviest and which was the lightest. With a little help, the groups started testing the tubs and were able to place them in order from lightest to heaviest. Their next task was to find a way to lift the heaviest tub with the lightest tub. Some students stacked two of the lighter tubs on one side and the heaviest on the other side. Then, one group determined that if you move the pencil underneath the ruler closer to the heaviest tub it could be lifted by the lightest tub.
The final part of the lesson was to apply this idea to a real life situation. On the floor, Christine placed a large stone and a plank of wood. She challenged them to find a way to lift her up using only themselves as individuals on the other end of the seesaw. Each student had to place the plank of wood on the stone and move the stone where they thought it should go. Christine stepped on one side and the child stepped up onto the other side. Every student took a turn to figure this out. It was great! The students got so excited about lifting an adult up off the ground. They giggled with joy and encouraged one another throughout the process. It was a fantastic lesson to start the day with.
In the senior class we learned about Robert Hooke and his experiments in measuring weight and strength of objects using hooks and a spring. The class was divided into small groups. Each group was given two hooks and spring to place within the hooks. They were also given rulers and a variety of objects to test. The students' task was to measure the pull on the spring of the different objects, record these measurements, and find the calculated weight of each object.
Two of the objects had unknown weights, and the students had to use their knowledge of the known weights and formulas to determine the weight of the two unknowns. The students first calculated their measurements and weights using a spring in between the two hooks. They also performed the same tests with an elastic band in between the two hooks. This gave them two sets of results to come up with the closest measurement of the two objects with unknown weights. This experiment was much more advanced and required mathematical calculations. However, it was entirely inquiry based.
The students designed the experiments themselves and tested everything themselves. It was very neat seeing the students get so competitive and involved in determining the weights of the two unknowns. You could tell they were enjoying themselves.
In the middle class, the students also conducted an experiment using Robert Hooke's hooks. Their goal was to determine the strength of a "sweet" or piece of candy. They set their experiments up similarly to the senior class, except they placed the round sweet in between the two hooks instead of a spring. They then took random objects they could find to hang on the end of the hook. They continued to add objects until the sweet finally broke. Many of the groups took their shoes off and added their tennis shoes to the end of the hook. They thought this was hysterical.
Once the sweets broke, Christine passed out scales for the students to measure the weight of each individual object they had tied to the end of the hook. One individual kept a tally of the weights and then the group added up all the weights to get a total. The best part of this lesson for the students was being rewarded with a sweet at the end! Again, this lesson was completely inquiry based, and the students thoroughly enjoyed learning through discovery.
The entire next week I worked one on one with individuals from the senior class to write up all the science experiments and activities they had done throughout the year. We collected pictures taken in each activity and put them together in a science portfolio to submit to a science organization for review. In the past, the school has won multiple awards for their superior work in science. Let's hope they win the award again this year for their hard work!
My time at Powerscourt National School has been extremely rewarding. I have learned a number of new science activities to take with me to my future classroom. I have seen some great inquiry based lessons where the students are in complete control of their own learning. I would say that their school is fairly similar to what we have in the United States. The students are required to meet a number of curriculum standards within each grade level and within each subject. The students are expected to push their own learning due to the structure of the classroom, so they are independent learners and investigators, guided by the teacher. It is quite amazing to observe students work so critically through their work.
I am sad to leave the school. I really enjoyed my time working with the students in each grade level. The staff was absolutely wonderful and extremely helpful and encouraging. I have enjoyed every second of student teaching, and can't wait to come home to share my experiences with my family, friends, students, and within my future classroom.