My 8th graders come from diverse backgrounds. In each of my six classrooms, I have students who are English Learners, from different economic backgrounds, social, emotional, and special needs, gifted, and dissimilar levels of academic knowledge. The one common factor that helps our classroom succeed is their love of science and knowing that our classroom is a lab where they can experience science hands on. Being innovative is an important trait my students strive to attain.
I teach at a large middle school in Idaho, where almost 35 percent are on free and reduced lunches.
In our district we have over 50 different languages spoken at home, nineteen are spoken in our school. I have an array of those languages in my classroom. The diversity enhances how students see science contributing to the world around them. I encourage students to be free thinkers and become advocates for their learning.
When students enter the classroom and see a hands-on lab set up, their eyes light up. Students’ barriers come down, inquisitive minds begin to emerge, and our class become young scientists in the making. Being able to bring more labs at their fingertips is a goal I strive to achieve.
My Project
Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that lay the foundation for conventional mechanics. The laws represent relationships between a body and the forces acting upon it, and how the body responses to those forces. The concepts for many of my students are ambiguous, so I try to come up with projects that allow students to see, feel, and hear what the laws look like in a classroom labs. Over 300 students will come through and partake in labs, be allowed to gain insights by actively participating with hands-on demonstrations and contributing by helping fellow young scientist become confident with experiments in an active learning environment.
Students experience the effects of inertia every day but seeing visually the First Law of Inertia through demonstration kits, allow the concept to solidify.
Stem designed laboratory kits challenges students to explore Forces and Motion, solidifying the foundations of critical Physical Science concepts. Newtonian Demonstrator is an excellent device for demonstrating Newton’s Third Law of Motion and the principle of Conservation of Momentum. Cars and tracks will be hands on and every group would be able to demonstrate their knowledge of Newton's Laws. Inertia will be observed with a marble in motion around a circular track, students can then predict what path it will follow when a section of the track is removed. Having these items and enough for the entire class to participate is key to successful learning.
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