Saturday, May 30, 2009

Middle School Science + Thinking Skills

We observed a class doing part of this lesson (Lesson Plan) with great results. On Thursday, students described rocks from four perspectives: color, luster, transparency, and streak.

By making the perspectives physical with ThinkBlocks, students were able to focus their observations. While they were curious about other properties of the rocks (hardness, density, etc), the 4 ThinkBlocks on the table focused students' observaations.

The circle of perspectives also helped students create charts to record data. The class uses Scientists' Notebooks, a book full of mostly-blank pages for them to record their ideas. In this lesson on describing rocks, the students created a chart to record their data. With 4 ThinkBlocks arranged on the table, they quickly recognized that their charts needed 4 columns.

Next week, the class will examine the same rocks from different perspectives - grain size, hardness, density - adding ThinkBlocks to their perspective circles as they go.

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