Science Methods 1

  The big question addressed in the lab and a description of what you did. Driving Question: How do we power clocks and other devices? In the lab today, we began with a warm-up activity that made us think about what circuit "series" or "parallel" would be used to wire a house. Our group decided that we would use a parallel circuit because each lightbulb in a parallel circuit gets the full energy and voltage out of the lightbulb, and you can turn a light off without the other lights in the house being affected. We then tested these circuits using the STEM snap circuits in the lab, where we confirmed that we should use a parallel circuit because you can take out a lightbulb and the other lightbulb isn't affected, whereas in a series circuit, you take out a lightbulb and the other lightbulb turns off. Then we talked about circuit rules. We understood the differences between electric conductors and insulators, where in conductors, electrons move freely between atoms...

  1. The big questions addressed in the lab, and a description of what you did.     Big question: How does a battery power a light bulb? In the lab today, we began by presenting our anchoring activity lesson to our peers and listening to each other's examples. In table groups, we provided and received feedback to help give us suggestions on what is "warm" and "cool" about our lesson and the different things we should think about incorporating within our anchoring activity. This process helped me clarify any misunderstandings and gave me great ideas for different things that will help my lesson plan and benefit student learning outcomes. After finishing our presentations, the focus of the lab was shifted to build off our learning from the previous week's lab, which dealt with lighting bulbs on a circuit board while trying to create different structures, changing how bright or dim the light bulbs are. We talked with our table partners about last week's lab...