Week in the Field

This week in the field, I worked with the third graders as they began to work on science projects. While some of the students are doing individual science projects, in the classroom they are doing group science projects in groups of 4 or 5. I was able to work with one group extensively on creating a full circuit with a batter, wires, and a light bulb. Their object was to make the light bulb light up, and to see if the brightness depended on the length of the wire involved (we used a short wire and a long wire). We had some trouble making it work the correct way as we had to make some corrections and changes to make it work better. There was also a small little motor in the science kit that they were using, and the students had a lot of fun using that with the battery to power it. Working with the students, I tried to make them see that the longer wire produced a dimmer light than when using the short wire. They had to use the scientific method for this project as well, so I helped them record their results, as well as to figure out what they were observing. They were able to do much of the work on their own, mainly because they had a list of steps to follow as their procedure. Their final product involved putting their different steps of the procedure on a tri-fold poster board. They had to type these up on the computer and glue them on. They did not finish this process completely because they ran out of time, but I began helping them figure out where on the board the different sets of information should go (mainly putting it on the board in order of the scientific method, making it easier to understand when reading it). I think that this type of activity in the classroom is very helpful because it shows the students how to conduct an experiment the proper way. I remember when I was doing these projects in elementary school I had to do them at home with the help of my parents. Doing them in the classroom allows the teacher to help them to ensure that they are doing it the correct way, and that they understand the steps as they go.