Chapter 8 Questions



 Schools that demand an exact adherence to a specified curriculum run the risk of losing important moments for learning and teaching because there is no flexibility.  Like I stated in the previous chapters’ teachers have to teach to a test and can’t allow room for creativity and exploration.  Moments that allow students and teachers to go off task to discuss or discover something new are the moments teachers live for.  But it seems like that has all disappeared and everything is mechanic now.


 I would define the sinking floating lessons as inquiry lessons. It allows the students to ask questions and make discovers off their questions. For the Dead Sea lesson I would think the students would ask how deep the water is, how big the water is, and if there is anything living in it.  I would also expect a question asking where the Dead Sea is located.  I would structure my lesson around the floating and sinking of the hard boiled egg.  I would ask the students to give me their reasoning to why the egg sank in regular water but floated in salt water.  I would then move onto the Dead Sea and ask the students if they know what it is.  After they given me their answers I will go into how the Dead Sea is saltier than the ocean.  I will ask the students to tell me what they know about the ocean and then have them research some information on the sea.  After everything is completed I will ask them to compare and contrast an ocean to the Dead Sea.  My ultimate goal is to have the students understand that when there is a high salt content things float.  They will be able to see that the ocean isn’t that salty if they can swim in the ocean.  If they were to go into the Dead Sea all they would be able to do is float and not swim.


  Thinking back to my science experience in school I remember studying plants vs. animals in almost every grade.  We went through the systems that are found within the organisms, later on in school years we would draw pictures of the cells, do projects on them, and then eventually in the higher grades look at the cells under microscopes. The spiraling curriculum has helped me because each year I learn something new to add onto my stack of knowledge.