What do fishing nets, goalies, and "drainers" all have in common?

Another Monday went by and another science lesson down! We taught lesson #4 about mixtures and the kids were going to mix salt and gravel to see what happened. We started out with the kids on the rug and went over the properties of a solid, what we've covered in the last few lessons, and I was happy to hear the connections kids were making to what we've learned. We wrote down what the kids thought a mixture was and the properties of mixing two solids. I explained that we'll be following the steps on the instruction sheet as we go along in the lesson and we went over the safety in using our senses to observer solids. Jen made it clear that they weren't to use their sense of taste, and that includes licking the salt off their fingers! The time on the rug was kinda short; we may have been just as effective having them sit in their seats. Jen called kids back to their seats by the colors they were wearing which was effective and fun! 

Next we called them to to get the supplies from the side table. To make it easier on them we decided to have everything ready on their trays instead of them picking up one of each thing. This went very quickly and the kids were ready to get going! We went over the first few steps of putting samples of gravel and salt on their black paper to observe and the kids wrote down three words for their observations of each. Next we instructed them to mix the salt and gravel with a coffee stirrer to see what happens. I think most were a bit disappointed that nothing "special" happened when they were combined (having had the fun Alka-Seltzer experiment for the first lesson.) They drew and wrote their observations on the data sheet. Some kids were eager to continue and were starting on the next step having read their instruction sheet (such smart kids!) so we instructed them to cover their cups of the mixture with mesh and had them secure it with rubber bands. Only a few students had small issues with this but they were quickly resolved with the reapplication of the rubber bands. I tried to demonstrate how they would place the small cup within the larger cup and shake them both until something happened. What happened was the salt shook through the mesh and the gravel was left. This happened much quicker than I expected so we went right into talking to the kids, going around asking them in their pairs, What happened? Did the substances change? Why do you think they separated? and other open ended assessment questions. 

For classroom management, we did well with transitions: from seats to rug and back, getting supplies and going back to seats. Because they're so interested in what they're doing, if we needed their attention and we knew it wasn't appropriate to be louder than they are, we used the classroom method of saying Positive! (clap-clap) and hearing Leaders! (clap-clap.) This is a very effective way of letting them finish their task and then to get their attention for the next step. The process skills they used were communication, observation, and data collection. In the future, these skills will be more clearly communicated with the kids so they understand the skills they'll be using in each lesson. Once they observed and recorded what happened when the mesh was used, we asked them if they had ever used a sieve, or the mesh material, at home. Jen made an awesome connection to hockey, saying that a goalie is called a sieve because s/he lets the puck by her/him often like a sieve would. The kids weren't making the connections as readily so Jen suggested using a sieve or a colander while making pasta, and they all understood then! One child told us that he made his own fishing net using wire and then caught fish with it, which worked because the water went through but the fish stayed inside. We called them back to the rug for a lesson conclusion.

We asked the kids what they observed when they mixed two solids and we added their observations to our list of What We Know About Mixtures. They had previously made inferences based on mixing solids and liquids or just liquids and liquids (like mixing sodas.) They understood that although they were mixed, both substances retained their original properties. We added some great points and were able to cross off previous ones about solids changing or disappearing after being mixed with other solids. The kids listened well and were respectful of each other. I love to see that one student's comments inspire another student's comments or questions! We informed them that we would be examining mixing solids and liquids during the next lesson. Even if the mixture didn't pop or fizz like Alka-Seltzer, the kids were still jazzed about the lesson and asked if they could keep their data sheets in their science folders. 

For next lesson, a big focus of ours will be on actually stating the science question we are looking at during the lesson. We'll be sure to write it down, as well as write down the process skills we are going to be using. This will help the entire class stay on task as well as help the diverse learners know what to focus on during each section. We also need to work on explaining the instructions a bit better. They understood what to do, we just need to work on timing and having all their attention for multiple step instructions. It'll be fun! I'm excited for the next lesson!