Below are my response to the last question of the activity. Overall I like this activity a lot and i didn't think that I was going to. Upon first reading, I thought this was going to be a mess and could not understand why we would do something so impractical. Upon further review, I came to realize that this activity would be something that addressed many misconceptions with students and forces them to think beyond their current understandings. I think that this might be something that i try with my students as we are starting the earth science unit. I liked that it pulled in a current controversial topic as well as forced me to think about a problem in more then one way. I would love to hear what you thought of the experience as well as how you think the students would respond!
9. Extended Questions
a. What happens if the global ice caps melt?
Based on what I know if the global ice caps melt then there is going to be a large increase in the amount of water that is part of the oceans. I think that the probability of the global ice caps melting completely is low. I believe that the earth cycles through temperature and weather phenomena’s and that we are more aware now because of the increase in technology and the ability to track weather systems and global climate changes. I do think that if the polar ice caps were to melt completely then many steps would need to be in place to prevent catastrophe and also to harness the valuable amount of fresh water that would come available.
b. What other questions do you have about this science inquiry experiment?
Do the students have enough knowledge to take a task like this and investigate it in order to lead to confirmation inquiry?
Would the students have the ability to reason out what they are seeing to make sense of it?
How do you get the students to ask the questions that lead to changes in hypothesizes and then an understanding of the observations?
Could this be done in a class period in order to provide the students with the ability to make the observation necessary, and then to apply those observations to change thinking?
I brought in an "iceberg" today to my 3rd grade class. Unfortunately, when I was explaining my homework to the students, I realized that my iceberg had already melted! I am going to freeze a giant one tonight and pose the question again to my 3rd graders and ask them to write comments and questions and put in a box. I will read their submissions when I get home and see what 3rd graders think of this questions!
ReplyDeleteI'll keep you posted.