Predicting In Middle School

I have always been interested in science, but the hands on experiments have helped me understand and grasp concepts much easier. I recall my first experiment in first grade when the class was given the lima bean sprout experiment, which required students to plant a bean in a paper cup. The purpose of this experiment was to teach us about photosynthesis and practice our observation skills. I recall how others were fascinated about why their sprout grew. I, on the other hand, was more captivated by why the other sprouts did not grow and the factors, which contributed to that outcome. This basic experiment taught me to look at things through different lenses and not always to the most obvious path.

Middle school is known as a time to mature for high school. For me, there were many changes I underwent after coming to the middle school.

Before I started my experiment, I thought about what I expected would happen and how people

There are five clues that help indicate if a chemical change occurs. The clues to a chemical change include a change of colour, the forming of a precipitate, the forming of gas bubbles, the production of heat or light, and if the change is difficult to reverse. In the chemical reactions lab, several chemical changes will occur. Participants must use this knowledge to decipher what change has occurred after the chemical

In conclusion, I chose this Citizens Science Project for my future classroom because of the benefits it will give my students. I believe that each student will be a scientist and will prepare them for observing higher education labs, without the intimidation that can happen to many students. This project will help scientists make predictions about natural disasters and weather patterns, while simultaneously helping boost my students’ confidence and interest in science and the world going on around

Tell students to think of one time they have seen a chemical change in their

During the preparation of the, “Turning Pennies Green”, lab, students were asked to perform an experiment at home. The lab demonstrates what the effects of chemical and physical changes are. Students were asked go home, put two pennies in separate bowls, and label one bowl cup A, water and cup B, vinegar. Then, they were asked to place paper towels in the bowl. For cup A, water was to be poured in, but just enough to wet the paper towel inside, so the penny was not submerged.

The Chemical Baggies Lab demonstrated to students how certain chemicals cause diverse chemical or physical changes depending on what substances were mixed together in a designed controlled experiment. During the process of this experiment, almost identical observations were made about different combinations of chemicals that had at least one substance in common. For example, the frequent observation that was made throughout the experiment was that heat was felt. Even though there were distinct chemical combinations, there was one substance that generated a certain observation or characteristic, such as a mixture has to comprise of the phenol red for there to be a color change, which was learned from this lab. Also, calcium chloride

We had to add a chunk of Sodium to a water bucket outside. We gently dropped it in, got away from it and observed the reaction. 3. We had to add 5 ml of Hydrochloric acid to a small beaker and swirl it. Then we added sodium hydroxide and had to check for heat and color change.

to mix matter by mixing cornstarch and water. They will be observing and documenting any changes that occur over the first couple minutes of mixing the two substances. (Synthesis: Students were hypothesizing what they thought would happen when water and cornstarch were mixed together; following their hypotheses up with immediate observations and again after two minutes. Can you predict the outcome if cornstarch and water were mixed?)

When I was in science class, hardly anything ever happened. My teacher, Mr. Lago, told stories of his childhood and occasionally showed us images from his trip to Africa on the old-timey projector. When he wasn’t gloating about his children or explaining things from his past, he also occasionally taught us a little bit of actual science. You see, I was never fond of Mr. Lago. He had that old person smell about him, and definitely had favorite students in his classes. I was never one of the favorite students, which is a shame because I tell myself if that class had any sort of actual science behind the grading, I would be closer to the number one student than the 11th (out of 12).

The reading by William McComas covered the ten most popular myths in the world of science. Widespread believed myths such as a hypothesis being nothing more than just an educated guess and the idea that science can answer all questions were mentioned in the text. The author not only lists the ten myths but also debunks them with explanations and states that students such as myself believe most of these myths. He attributes the belief of these myths by students to a lack of science philosophy content in teacher education programs and the misguided teaching of the nature of science in high school textbooks.

Knowledge can be produced using a variety of different methods. However, in the natural sciences sense perception through observation is used primarily. This can be seen through the work of researchers who often observe the results of experiments and trends in order to analyze different phenomena and perspectives. While there are many scientific methods based on scientific thinking using logic and predictability, the idea that

I did, and I wasn't a scientist. Some people even quietly questioned why soft science was called science. Yale mathematician Serge Lange was very vocal in his criticism of Harvard soft scientist Samuel Huntington (Diamond, 1987, p. 34). It's not science unless you could see it, weigh it, photograph it, burn it, boil it in acid, shake it, smash it, and count the electrons in it. Of course, we expect science to be very, very orderly and predictable. Then I found out about an experiment. A university class put 100 rain gauges on a hillside and recorded the readings. After one storm the highest reading was twice that of the lowest! How much did it rain? Ask a statistician. The illusion that hard scientists were better than soft scientists because they always had nice, orderly data was beginning to break

and methods that are used to solidify the results of their discoveries. People like Albert Einstein,