You can see the learning that is demonstrated in the students' work samples. In sample #1, two of their flowers bent over, and they realized that this impeded water consumption. They redid the experiment by cutting the stems but then added too many variables in the second experiment. The 2nd example shows a group of students who had a strong grasp on the scientific process. They were able to recognize the need for a constant and identified several questions that came up when performing their experiment. Given the nature of scientific inquiry and the goal of my class, this kind of thinking is exactly what I want from my students. The 3rd sample is one of my favorites! This group actually started their experiment with their carnations in the water upside down. They had not finished their conclusion statement in time for it to be included, but I was able to talk with them. They started with the flowers upside down because they thought that the green food coloring would be harder to see since the stem was green. Once I had them walk around the room and look at the other examples, they realized that green does show up. I also had them run their carnations under the faucet, and all of the green coloring washed off. When I asked them about this, they told me that the flowers do not absorb most of their water through the petals; it has to come up through the stem. Once they righted the flowers, their results were more along the lines of their hypothesis.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Colored Carnation Conundrum
I love teaching through inquiry, and my students seem to love learning even more. The lesson plan I created was a combination of structured and guided inquires that involved dyeing carnations. The first part of the lesson has students hypothesize as to how I was able to create a bi-color carnation. After we discuss their theories, each group gets to test their hypothesis. The groups will compare and contrast their results, and we will use this as a base for the second experiment of the lesson. Each group will be given 3 or 4 carnations. Using the provided supplies (food coloring, salt, sugar, baking soda), the students will set up an experiment to determine how a flower is affected by these additives. Afterwards, the students can slice open their flowers to examine the vascular system, and use this information to build an understanding of environmental pollutants' affect on plant life.
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