“How long does it take to eat a Freezie?” -- A Math Inquiry: Blog #42

 Since being pumped up from the Science Teachers Association of Ontario’s (STAO) conference last week, where I was awarded the Secondary Schools Science Teacher of the Year 2011 by Youth Science Canada, I decided to do an inquiry based lesson with my math class today.

Some people may have hesitated before trying inquiry based learning with my math class for any number of reasons:

• Class room dynamics are unpredictable

• Each learner is on their own individualized learning plan (IEP)

• A wide range of mathematical ability
•  50% of the students are English Language Learners (ELL)
•  I’ve been out of the classroom for the past 3 teaching days
• This is a split level math class with KNN9A, MAT1L  and MAT2L students present

No worries! I am confident this will work! The inquiry we conducted was: “How long does it take to eat a Freezie?” For those of you unfamiliar with freezies they are basically frozen sugar water sealed inside a flexible plastic cylinder. Kids cut the top off the plastic, push up the frozen treat and enjoy them – especially in hot weather.

Together we brainstormed all the possible variables that needed to be taken into consideration prior to conducting our test. Here is the list that the students generated:

• Temperature -- Frozen or liquid

• How hungry are you?

• Eating techniques

• What size is the Freezie?

• Colour – it was determined via discussion that the students eat their favourite colour faster than others

• How many do you have? Class discussion revealed that if there was only one freezie a person would be more apt to take their time and enjoy it whereas they would gobble it up quickly if there were lots more available to them

• Would you be just eating, or eating while talking?

Since I was the holder of the freezies I was able to inform the students that the freezies were currently: 

•  Frozen

• Large

• Various colours

• They would each get one

• They would just eat and not talk

Next the students each thought about long it takes them to eat a Freezie and recorded their estimate.

Students were then instructed to pull out whatever technology they had in their pocket and find the timer or stop-watch feature on it. This integration of 21^st century technology lead to several teachable moments while the students were amazed that they even  had this capacity on their gadgets, downloaded appropriate apps from the internet and helped each other with this task. Those who had no technology moved to sit with those who did without me guiding them whatsoever.  The collaboration between the students was natural and free flowing! 

Students cut the tops off their freezies, started their timers and sat back to enjoy their investigation. As each student completed their eating task they recorded their time.

By the time all the data was collected and tabulated today’s class was over. Tomorrow we shall move on to analysis. The type of information the students will be expected to extract from the data will depend on what level they are working at. The types of questions that shall be posed range from: “Who ate their Freezie the fastest” to “calculate the mode of the time it took for the freezies to be eaten in our class.”

Because the students are working with data they generated themselves they have ownership of it. This makes the learning task engaging and authentic to them. Learning is fun!

Comparing Compostable (Starch based) Plastic to Tradition (Petroleum Based) Plastic: An Inquiry – Blog #41

Petroleum-based plastic (top) and Starch-based plastic (bottom) reaction with 5 drips of acid, for 5 minutes.

This week my grade nine applied science designed and performed an inquiry into the difference between compostable and petroleum-based plastic. This idea came to me while shopping at our local “dollar store” where I espied some packages of “compostable plastic bags”. These bags are specifically banned from our municipal composting program and I started to wonder if they really do break down and if so under what conditions. We are currently studying ecology in class so I bought a package of the compostable bags and took them into school. 

Strength test

When I showed the package to the students I had to take a step back because most of them did not know the word or the concept of composting.  So we spent an entire period learning about “compostable” and “ biogradable”. Those who did have prior knowledge shared what they knew, then YouTube and I filled in the blanks.

Now that the students understood that bags that are labeled as “compostable” are expected to break down in nature, I passed out a small piece (about 5 cm x 5 cm) of the two types of plastic to each of them. I encouraged them to feel the plastics and discuss with a partner various properties that could be compared between the two plastics. The students came up with an amazing list of nine properties! The properties they thought could be compared were:

1.      Colour

2.      Texture

3.      Odour

4.      Density

5.      Strength

6.      Stretchability (plasticity)

7.      Reaction in acid

8.      Reaction in water

9.      Flammability

This list of nine properties was the independent variables that we would study during our investigation.

Checking odour by wafting.

Prior to getting into the details of how to test for these properties the class brainstormed what variables would have to be controlled in order for the tests to be fair. They decided the controlled variables should be:

1.      Size of plastic sample

2.      Volume of water (where applicable)

3.      Volume of acid (where applicable)

4.      Temperature of the liquids used

5.      Time (where applicable)

Students were then instructed to work with a partner. Each pair of students was given one of the independent variables to consider. Together the pair of students designed a simple method for testing for their assigned property. They jotted down their design plans and submitted them to me. These pieces of paper became the procedure for the comparison tests. I told the students I would consolidate the procedures that they had designed for each of the nine properties into one list for them to use when performing the inquiry.

Prior to class the next day, I did prepare a table wherein the procedure for each test was listed together with space for the students to record their observations. I also assembled all the apparatus and materials the students could possibly require to complete the lab and placed them in a central location.

The students’ findings to date are that there was very little difference between these two types of plastics, when tested as described above. There remain two steps of my challenge to them:

1.      Tomorrow I will give them the opportunity to design and implement any further tests they wish to use to compare the plastics, ie. boil in acid, boil in water, subject to freezing, etc. It will be up to the students to come up with any test ideas and implement them.

The expression on this studnt's face is typical during a student designed inquiry!

2.      The next day they will have a choice of two activities; either write a letter to one of the plastic manufacturers describing their tests and the results or perform internet research to determine what other tests could have been performed that would have produced significantly different results for the two types of plastics. (ie. microbial activity, extended time, high temperatures)

Due to the high number of English Second Language (ESL) students in my class I am going to give the students the option of working either alone or to pair up in partners of English speakers with ESL students. This written product will be the final evaluation piece for this inquiry.

I would love to hear your ideas for other tests we could do on these two types of plastics, considering the restraints of a typical high school science lab. Please leave your comments and suggestions in the box below.

Hands-On Minds-On Math! -- Blog #40

Today in my locally developed math class (grade 9 and 10) we had our first monthly auction and it was AWESOME!

Our entire course is based on the life skill of money. Every day the students both earn and spend money, keep tabs of their money and journal about it. Counting money, calculating change and estimating costs have been three skills we have honed this month. We have our own little micro-economy going on!

At the end of each month we have an auction. Most of my items are donated by my twitter follower and for this I sincerely thank a wonderful PLN community.

The money we use is fake but looks like actual Canadian currency and coins. I felt that using monopoly money would not have had the same impact on the learner’s experience. Students earn money by getting to class on time, helping each other, remembering to put up their hands, and during math games we play on the smart board. They also lose money if they are late, misbehave, etc.

Today I had 5 Xbox games sell for prices between $42.00 - $350.00. A student spent $262.00 on a cup of noodles! Students were especially interested in buying items they could give to their mothers or items that would help with their learning, ie. Packages of pencils, ruler with calculator built in, loose leaf!

Even my silent ESL students who I didn’t even know could talk were swept up in the bidding! The Pinoy twins who I thought were mutes got so caught up in the action they started to YELL! The “bad boy” who is on the brink of expulsion spent all of his money on a set of candles to take home to his mom!

One million thanks to our amazing Educational Assistant who makes my life, and that of our students, easier in this class!

Next month I am going to have a videographer in my room to record our auction! Even describing it while I write this blog makes my heart beat faster! This is one of the richest, most authentic learning tasks I have ever shared with my students. I was doubled over with laughter during some of the bidding, it was so intense. I am filled with love and pride at the accomplishments of this class. Just four weeks ago we were working on “How many nickels in a dime!”

If you have any items you wish to donate to future auctions I am happy to receive them.