Density of Liquids Lesson Plan (7th Grade Science)
Established Goal(s): Students will be able to qualitatively compare the density of different liquids. Students will explore how the relationship between volume and mass determines density.
Students will understand that…
Density of Liquids Handout |
Misconceptions addressed in this lesson
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For the future: Post Teaching Reflections
What to do again as a designer and teacher, and what not to do again.
In terms of design, the lesson went well. The opening minutes of surprise and dissidence worked well (coke can demonstration). Though there was not enough time to explore this to the extent that would have been ideal, the demonstration will serve as a longer term concept.
This group of students had a variety of knowledge and experience with the material. Some had already seen a density of liquids demonstration in previous classes, and a few had retained this information. For others, this was quite new.
Overall there were a few successes, as well as areas for improvement in the design. Opening minutes were certainly a success, as was the fact that students were engaged with materials less than 5 minutes after being in the classroom. Though not as many connections were made during class-time, I think the experiences the students had during this lesson will serve to reinforce other activities and lessons related to it.
An area for improvement would have been within the element of "playfulness" and inquiry. In a class period of 30 minutes total, in order to facilitate time for activity, students were given more information and guidance than would be ideal. I'm not sure this could have changed very much, still allowing for the activity to be accomplished in half an hour.
For the future, I think that the simpler the design, the better. For a middle school classroom with limited time, fewer goals would have been helpful. In the future, I would not incorporate the idea of scientific method AND density of liquids in such a short amount of time. In the future, I might also add some element of gaming to heighten the motivation in a lesson like this…for instance making Italian soda!
In terms of design, the lesson went well. The opening minutes of surprise and dissidence worked well (coke can demonstration). Though there was not enough time to explore this to the extent that would have been ideal, the demonstration will serve as a longer term concept.
This group of students had a variety of knowledge and experience with the material. Some had already seen a density of liquids demonstration in previous classes, and a few had retained this information. For others, this was quite new.
Overall there were a few successes, as well as areas for improvement in the design. Opening minutes were certainly a success, as was the fact that students were engaged with materials less than 5 minutes after being in the classroom. Though not as many connections were made during class-time, I think the experiences the students had during this lesson will serve to reinforce other activities and lessons related to it.
An area for improvement would have been within the element of "playfulness" and inquiry. In a class period of 30 minutes total, in order to facilitate time for activity, students were given more information and guidance than would be ideal. I'm not sure this could have changed very much, still allowing for the activity to be accomplished in half an hour.
For the future, I think that the simpler the design, the better. For a middle school classroom with limited time, fewer goals would have been helpful. In the future, I would not incorporate the idea of scientific method AND density of liquids in such a short amount of time. In the future, I might also add some element of gaming to heighten the motivation in a lesson like this…for instance making Italian soda!