Tuesday, May 23, 2006
A Teacher View
This came recently from Mike Bennett of the University of South Carolina QuarkNet center:
During my time working at USC, I ran across the Rutherford simulation in which marbles are rolled under a raised board and the experimenters try to figure out a mystery shape based on the reflections or pass-throughs of the marbles. At home I got the lumber and a jigsaw and made eight of these things with a different shape under each one. I tried it a few times with my students, modified the instructions, and introduced it to another teacher who teaches workshops about lab activities to Phy. Sci. teachers through our State Dept. of Education. He liked it and has used it for three years in several workshops and classes he has helped with.
This is an example of how principles that were learned during research in the QuarkNet program have been used to help dozens of other teachers with inquiry labs. Since inquiry is supposed to be interwoven in our science curriculum in this state, it was a natural fit.
These are the kinds of things I have been looking for. I have used that activity with tremendous success in helping 9th graders begin to understand several important concepts:
- We can detect natural phenomena and discover characteristics about them even though we never actually "see" them.
- Particle physicists want/need higher energy accelerators to move even tinier particles so they can detect more of these characteristics (smaller marbles or BB's could detect smaller corners, crevices, or points on the mystery shapes).
- Planning and developing procedures for an experiment are important activities.
- Modifying procedures after data begins coming in is part of the scientific process.
- It is okay to have arguments about satisfactory explanations for observed phenomena (they just have to keep it "peaceable").
- The more data we get, the more sure we are of our results and our theories.
- It is useful to formulate hypotheses with negative connotations (i.e. if we roll the" marble a certain way and it does a certain thing, then *that* can't be the right shape!).
About 2/3 through the physics part of the course this semester, I introduced a lab activity to the students and asked them to talk about some possible hypotheses for how certain factors would turn out in the experiments. After hearing a few students voice their ideas and seeing me slowly nod my head or say, "Hmmm....", one of the students burst out with something like, "You *never* tell us what is supposed to happen and other stuff we don't think about usually messes up our hypotheses!"
Bingo.
Well said, Mike.
