I have an extreme fascination with the periodic table! And, so does my colleague, Mike. Let me tell you some ways we are celebrating the International Year of the Periodic Table.
It can be difficult to engage students in reviewing for semester exams by using worksheets or practicing problems on the whiteboard. If you are looking to change up your review plans, you might consider using a lab activity that provides opportunity to revisit many of the topics that need to be covered.
It is always helpful to have a lab that can be adapted to meet the needs of students. The "Magnesium Lab" is one of these experiments.
One aspect of Argument Driven Inquiry that has not been discussed here is the peer editing piece. I have succesfully tried it out with my own students.
Observe both an exothermic and an endothermic reaction/process as I use a modified propane torch in the video demonstration.
Several teachers I know have had circumstances present themselves in which they may not always be able to provide lab experiences in a traditional lab setting. They still want to provide students with rigorous problem solving situations that require students to use the scientific method. Could rigorous take home labs possibly be the answer?
I teach in a school that was originally designed to be an “open air” school. The school was built with support walls all on the outside of the building. The building, built in the 1970’s, was built with “classrooms without walls”.
Students broke up into teams with the question, "Do bowling balls sink or float in water?".
