After planning the lesson on my own using a Science Resource Lesson Guide, I brought it to my CT for feedback. She pointed out to me that it might be a possible issue that the students do not learn to calculate the volume of objects or containers until the end of the 5th grade year. At this point we discussed that we may need to have a mini math lesson within our science lesson to teach them the mathematical portion of volume, so that they could correctly calculate the volume of their provided objects (boxes) and compare the volumes to the masses. It turns out, that when learning about volume in Math, later in the year, a similar goal is present. "The goal here is for students to realize that volume does not dictate surface area" (Van de Walle, 2013). Since this is something that they will revisit in the future, we felt that it was a good choice to invest the time in teaching them how to properly calculate volume for these comparisons.
So, with everything we considered together in planning, I also wanted to appeal to student's differing modalities by making this a lesson that involved a total physical response. I created stations, 1 box at each station, and had the students calculate mass and volume of that box at their station. After collecting their data in a data table in their science notebooks, they would rotate to the next station and repeat. Also, for my ESE and ELL students, I created a graphic organizer for them to record their data so that they would not spend so much time creating the table, but really be able to spend time in the investigation.
When I arrived at school in the morning, I was an hour early so that I could gather balance scales, and do the investigation myself. I always like to perform the investigations before my students, hoping to identify any problems or possible misconceptions in advance. This turned out to be a wise choice since when I performed the investigation, I discovered that we only had 2 working scales, but I planned for 4 stations in my lesson. When my CT arrived I notified her of the problem, and we decided to place the scales at an alternate location and have the groups switch their measurements. So while group 1 and 2 were finding the mass, group 3 and 4 would be calculating volume, then switching roles. In theory it sounds reasonable, but in reality it created way to much traffic. There was too much distraction in walking back and forth from the scale to the workstations, and then walking to a new workstations. When the timer went off, some members of the groups were rotating without the rest of their groups, and others were rotating in the wrong direction. Although I thought my directions were very explicit, I was immediately proven wrong. In addition to the traffic problem, we came back to the issue that the students still, after my modeling of filling a container with unit cubes, and discovering a formula for finding volume, were still unclear on how to find the volume of their containers. This confusion kept myself and my CT tied up at some of the workstations and distracted us from assisting other groups. After a long, hectic first period, we broke for lunch and reflected on this disastrous experience.
During lunch we talked about what modifications we could make to help our afternoon group's investigation go more smoothly. My afternoon class has the majority of my ELL's and ESE students. This usually means that we spend alot more time modeling and have to be very explicit in stating our procedures. My CT recommended for this group that I have one of the students repeat the directions back to me in front of the class before we start the investigation. Since this was a focus for our second group, and I had the pleasure of having my PRT come to observe me, I asked her to collect some data about our classroom discourse that would show whether or not I adequately explained instructions and had the students repeat them back. We also decided, to avoid traffic issues, that we would still have stations, but that the students would not rotate. We decided to let them find the mass and volume for their container, and then we would have them share out, and record the data on an anchor chart so that we could discuss the comparisons as a whole group.
The time came that the students arrived, and I felt much better prepared, but to my disappointment, the lesson still did not go as planned. The traffic issue was solved, and the students behaviors were much better with the limited distractions. The students also followed procedures better after having to repeat them back to me. However, we still had a lot of trouble calculating the volume of the containers, even with thorough modeling.
What I concluded from this lesson is that the students were just not ready and able to learn about calculating volume this early in the year, and in such a short period of time. If anything, the math lesson on volume should've been done as a full lesson in advance, and not crammed within a science lesson. They never really got a full grasp of the concept, and ultimately this affected their ability to make the comparisons between mass and volume, which was the goal, because we had too much trouble just calculating the volumes. If I had to teach this lesson again, I would still model for them what volume is and how we find it, but I would not leave them to calculate volume independently. I would provide them with the volumes of the containers, and have them find the mass as part of the investigation. They have used balance scales in previous years, and have also had a few prior lessons on mass and how to find the mass of an object. I believe that asking them to find the mass would be a reasonable request, but calculating volume would not be. I ultimately wanted them to be able to compare mass and volume, and they can very easily compare the two if the volumes are provided for them. By trying to cram too much content into 1 sixty minute lesson, I defeated the whole purpose of the lesson which was for them to make comparisons. Lesson learned!
Below you will find links to the notes from my observation, as well as her feedback, the graphic organizer I provided for my ESE and ELL students, and my written lesson plan.
PRT Notes
PRT Feedback
Lesson Plan Side 1
Lesson Plan Side 2
Graphic Organizer
This reflective post shows evidence of my achievement towards the following FEAP(s) goals:
(a).1.b: Sequences lessons and concepts to endure coherence and required prior knowledge
(a).3.c: Identify gaps in student knowledge
(a).3.d: Modify instruction to respond to preconceptions or misconceptions