TPACK in science lesson

CONTENT

The content our lesson is based on is being able to follow scientific procedures including making predictions, observing and collecting data, and drawing conclusions. Depending on how you use the lesson it could include content on physical change or on characterisitics of rocks and minerals.

PEDAGOGY

We use hands-on activities as part of the learning process which helps to engage students and increases comprehension. Other practices would include tying the material into the students' everyday lives so that they are more likely to remember it. This could be done by having the students identify common foods they eat that contain visible salt or sugar, like pretzels, sour patch kids, etc and then comparing them to foods that contain salt or sugar that cannot be seen.

TECHNOLOGY

This lesson wouldn't be possible without the digitial microscope. It would be really difficult for everyone to be able to view salt and sugar being dissolved in water without being able to record it happening. It took a few tries to get it right because it happens so quickly. The digital microscope is a great technology for classrooms that may have limited supplies because it allows all the students to see what's going on.

Tech Savvy Teacher

The digital microscope is a great tool to use in the classroom. It allows the teacher to capture video or pictures of an object as it is being observed. A digital microscope is a great tool because it allows every student to have a front row seat to what's being viewed under the microscope without needing a microscope for every student! You can take pictures of every slide to provide examples of each stage of the experiment. This is an example of an experiment that was done using the digital microscope.

Comparing Sugar and Salt and How They Dissolve

This experiment is designed for a 4th grade science class that is learning about rocks and minerals. It could also be used as a demonstration of physical change.

1. We predicted what we thought the salt would look like under the microscope.

2. We predicted what the sugar would look like under the microscope.

3. We predicted whether the salt or the sugar would dissolve first when mixed with water.

4. We observed salt under the microscope.

5.We observed sugar under the microscope.

6. We noted the difference between the sugar and salt crystals

7. We added warm water to the salt and observed it dissolving.

8.We added warm water to the sugar and observed it dissolving.

9. We compared the difference in how fast the salt dissolved and how fast the sugar dissolved.

10. We looked at our predictions and compared it to our observations.






You wouldn't think that comparing salt and sugar would be a very exciting science lesson but with the aid of technology it becomes an engaging lesson that students will be sad to finish!