The Importance of Careful Measurements

The Grade 3 the students start the year learning how to make a range of careful measurements .  They measure solids and liquids using a range of tools to measure properties from linear to volume and temperature.  These kinds of practices are the foundation to building a real data set from which the class can begin to trace the actual patterns of the world.  They are also fun.

 It is fun to measure the temperature is on a foggy day.

And it is a chance to get to use new and interesting tools such as graduated cylinders.

All this attention to careful and accurate measuring has made me think about a couple of recent stories about some remarkable and very precise measurements that have been in the news recently.  The annual announcements about the Nobel prizes have just come out.   This year the Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two scientists who developed new ways to study individual quantum particles without damaging them.

Did you know that one of the two scientists, the American scientist Dr. David Wineland, works at the National Institute of Standards and Technology?  I didn't even know we had a national center for standards! - but of course, it makes sense. We need one.  When I read the article in the New York Times  - I knew that I had to share this announcement with the Grade 3 students.  Recently we have been discussing why it might be important to have a standard unit of measure.

Here is what the New York Times had to say about Dr. Wineland's research "Dr. Wineland said that much of the motivation for his work over the years came from the need for better and better clocks. 'Historically,' he said in an interview with the Nobel committee, 'when we have better clocks, we have better navigation.' "

"Dr. Wineland’s work has focused on the material side of where matter meets light. His prize is the fourth Nobel awarded to a scientist associated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology over the past 15 years for work involving the trapping and measuring of atoms. Dr. Wineland and his colleagues trap charged beryllium atoms, or ions, in an electric field and cool them with specially tuned lasers so that they are barely moving, which is another way of saying they are very, very cold.

NIST physicist and Nobel Prize-winner David Wineland adjusts an ultraviolet laser beam used to manipulate ions in a high-vacuum apparatus containing an "ion trap." These devices have been used to demonstrate the basic operations required for a quantum computer.

 The photo above is from a great blog post from NPR

"Some of the measurements may be a bit hard to wrap your head around, but for even the most seemingly useless measurement, there's a practical use.

That's where the really precise clock comes into play. Ever wonder how GPS works?

'The fact that they have highly accurate and synchronized clocks on board [the satellites] is the crux of how GPS works,' says Andrew Novick, an electrical engineer at NIST.

'If they were off by hundreds of nanoseconds from each other then the whole thing would fall apart,' he says.

If you are wondering about the elementary science curriculum we are using -   many of the lesson plans are based on the FOSS Measurement curriculum module -(which is also a great resource for math lessons for Grades 3 and 4 as well) - of course our measurements not only take place in the science room but we do lots of measuring outdoors as well.

As we are learning more about the types and names of plants in our observation area it is also important to include scale on our notebook drawings.

Most recently students are learning how to measure liquids using metric units for volume and capacity.

Accurate measurements is a team effort because it is important to check and double check each measurement before the recorder writes it down on the data sheet.

It is important to get down level with the liquid to make sure the reading is correct.

In addition, first thing every morning the Meteorologists in Grade 3 are also outside taking careful and accurate weather data including the temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius - but more about that in an upcoming post.....

An Unusual Author Visit and a Well-Deserved Award

Jacqueline Barber - Associate Director of the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley

We are very fortunate at the American School in London–  every year we have several wonderful children’s book authors come for a visit.   (One of my favorites was Kate DiCamillo – author of the wonderful book Because of Winn-Dixie).

But recently, we had a rather unusual author visiting in the Lower School.  For one thing this person was the author of non-fiction books.   Jacqueline Barber has written include a number of science books which are part of the reading for the 2^nd grade science unit called Designing Mixtures   One of these books is called Jess Makes Hair Gel and it is often one of the students' favorites.  (You can read a description of the book in the early post titled Building Smart Students).

As a result, many of the Grade 3 students were familiar with her books when Jacquey Barber came to ASL for a visit a few weeks ago.  She was able to spend time with both  John O’Toole and Jenna Laslocky’s classes.  She spent some of the time discussing her books and answering questions from the students and then she helped them as they continued making their observations and measurements of the weather and the plants and insects in the Lower School courtyard. 

But, writing cool children's science books is only a very small part of her job.  Most of the time she is busy managing a large curriculum research and development group because she is the Associate Director of the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley and Director of its Curriculum Center.  So, having her visit for a day was a very unique opportunity.  This rare chance to spend time with her was only possible because Jacquey was on her way back to San Francisco traveling back from the conference of the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE) which was held this fall in Holland.

At the conference she was awarded an “Eddie”!  So we were able to celebrate a very well deserved award with her.

"The International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE) recently announced the winner of the organization’s fifth annual design awards, known as “the Eddies,” to recognize excellence in design of educational products and materials in science or mathematics. The 2012 award winner and recipient of a $10,000 prize is Jacqueline Barber, Associate Director of the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, for  leadership of the design of Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading. Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading is a curriculum developed through a rigorous process to produce innovative materials with great demonstrated impact on students, teachers, and educational designers around the world."

You can read the whole announcement here.

Shape of Life in Art and Science

Recently, one of the Grade 4 science classes had a wonderful opportunity to go up to the high school and visit with one of Jenny Thomas'  art classes.   

It all started with an email message that I received from Jenny Thomas in the high school art department.  She wrote "Jodi Warren was showing some prospective parents through the art studios today and noticed I had dozens of jars of preserved animals from the science department in the classroom for students to draw. In fact we are doing huge, A1 size wax and ink drawings. She told me about the spider drawings you were doing with your grade 4 class and I got quite excited that just by chance we might try to do some kind of sharing activity or even just an observation with our high school and lower school children."

We are at a very exciting time at the moment, with students adding coloured inks to the wax crayon and watching the wax repel the liquid whilst making the huge drawings come alive."

I wrote her back immediately and said that I would love to bring my students up to visit her class. "We are focused on invertebrates at the moment - both molluscs and arthropods (insects/spiders vs. snails) - so they would be very interested in learning about how you and your students are using symmetry in your work - as well as the techniques that you are using in your wax/ink drawings."

So, the next morning we went up to visit and see what was happening in HS art.   We discovered that Ms. Thomas' students were closely observing several of the same animals that we had been studying in the last month.   We had a wonderful time and we are hoping that we can have some more visits in the coming months.  We would love to have the HS art students come down to our lower school science room and help us observe and draw some of the animals we have been studying.   The lower school science room has most of live critters in the school so we have a great resource to share with the art students as well. 

Learning to be Naturalists

In Grade 3 students have been working on taking notes based on careful observations and measurements.   During the month of September the students are practicing making accurate measurements of length using the metric units of centimeters and meters.  That includes measuring the height of each child in the class and measuring other interesting objects and animals around the science room. 

 But, careful observations are also central to scientific understanding.  As part of our science lessons we have been making weather and nature observations in the courtyard area adjacent to the Grade 3 classrooms.  After making the first set of observations we read a book about the observations that one child might make in visiting one location in the neighborhood over the course of several months.  

My Nature Notebook

My Nature Notebook shows how a small spot on the forest floor, where things grow, die, and decompose, changes over several months, and what a child's notebook recording those changes looks like. This book demonstrates the importance of careful and repeated observations, and of measurements, drawings, and detailed notes, in making good inferences about the nature and cause of changes. My Nature Notebook models careful observation and note taking, and also provides students with experience reading tables, and making inferences.

Through out the year, Grade 3 students will be heading outside to make observations through the changing seasons.   Recording observations is the foundation for learning about the natural world and all the students have chosen a small spot in the Lower School courtyard area to observe.  After just two visits they are already noticing many changes and noticing things that they had never realized were just outside their door before.

More on Molluscs

In Grade 4 science the students have started the year observing some common animals and thinking about what it means to talk about relatedness.  So, they have spent some time looking closely at two kinds of land snails we have in the science room.  We have both the large African snails and some common English garden snails. 

During one of our recent classes the fire alarm sounded and we were out of the classroom for 15 minutes or so.   When we got back we found that the snails had ventured out to explore around the notebooks and down the table legs.  So, some of the students had to be very inventive to be able to finish writing their observations while the snails chewed away at the paper in the notebooks.   

Here are some recent observations from Gr 4 student notebooks -

Starting school - at a snail's pace

It is the beginning of a new school year - that second moment during the calendar year for new beginnings and fresh horizons. 

But, this year I am trying to constantly remind myself to go slow - to take our time in developing our routines and patterns so that they are clear and easy for everyone to follow.  

It is so tempting to rush into getting started with all the great new lessons, curriculum and notebooks.  But, the extra time at the beginning of the year spent making sure that everyone knows each other and knows the class routines makes everything else go so much better in the following months.

Last week as I was setting up the room one of the African Snails pushed off the lid to their container and went for a wander.  The first time it was out roaming around over night and it left this trail….

So, it was easy to find in the morning.   The second time it got out was during the day and I turned around and saw this……

Which I thought was a great "Getting ready for school" picture to share with the students.    But, watching the snail make its leisurely pace around the table and over the pencils reminded me of a wonderful book.    

Sound of a Wild Snail Eating – by Elisabeth Bailey

Here is the blurb about the book

"While an illness keeps her bedridden, Elisabeth Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence in a terrarium alongside her bed. She enters the rhythm of life of this mysterious creature, and comes to a greater understanding of her own confined place in the world. In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, she shares the inspiring and intimate story of her close encounter with Neohelix albolabris a common woodland snail. Intrigued by the snail's world from its strange anatomy to its mysterious courtship activities she becomes a fascinated and amused observer of the snail's curious life. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is an affirmation of the healing power of nature, revealing how much of the world we miss in our busy daily lives, and how truly magical it is. A remarkable journey of survival and resilience, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating shows how a small part of the natural world can illuminate our own human existence and deepen our appreciation of what it means to be fully alive.

Elisabeth Tova Bailey's essays and short stories have been published in the Missouri Review, Northwest Review, and the Sycamore Review. Her work has received several Pushcart Prize nominations, and the essay on which this book is based received a notable essay listing in Best American Essays. She lives in Maine in the United States."

If you go to her website 

you will find a video - watch it when you need to take a break, pause for a moment and remember to breath.  Or if you just want to hear what it sounds like when a wild snail is eating.  

Pebbles, Sand & Silt

As I mentioned in my very first post on this blog - in the youngest grade (K1)  we will start the year with explorations of plants and gardening….but with the kindergarten students who are in K2 we will begin the year studying earth materials…pebbles, rock, sand, and clay.  

Who doesn't love earth materials?  …all those wonderful things to hold, squeeze, explore and observe.  

Some of our lessons are based on a  FOSS module for Grades 1-2 called Pebbles, Sand, and Silt This Module consists of four sequential investigations, each designed to introduce concepts in earth science. The investigations provide experiences that heighten students' awareness of rocks as earth materials and natural resources. They will come to know rocks by many names and in a variety of sizes. Pebbles and sand are the same material—just different sizes.

We have modified some of the lessons from this FOSS module on pebbles, sand and silt for younger students and we have added in lots of creative arts time with explorations and creations made of clay, sand and gravel and there are some wonderful field trips to learn about and explore soil and it is just a wonderful way to start the fall with observing, describing and exploring. 

If you are person who loves rocks - loves to hold pebbles in your hand - I have a book to recommend to you - 

The Planet in a Pebble: A journey into Earth's deep history by Jan Zalasiewicz

"This is the story of a single pebble. It is just a normal pebble, as you might pick up on holiday - on a beach in Wales, say. Its history, though, carries us into abyssal depths of time, and across the farthest reaches of space. This is a narrative of the Earth's long and dramatic history, as gleaned from a single pebble. It begins as the pebble-particles form amid unimaginable violence in distal realms of the Universe, in the Big Bang and in supernova explosions and continues amid the construction of the Solar System. Jan Zalasiewicz shows the almost incredible complexity present in such a small and apparently mundane object. Many events in the Earth's ancient past can be deciphered from a pebble: volcanic eruptions; the lives and deaths of extinct animals and plants; the alien nature of long-vanished oceans; and transformations deep underground, including the creations of fool's gold and of oil. Zalasiewicz demonstrates how geologists reach deep into the Earth's past by forensic analysis of even the tiniest amounts of mineral matter. Many stories are crammed into each and every pebble around us. It may be small, and ordinary, this pebble - but it is also an eloquent part of our Earth's extraordinary, never-ending story."

A couple of quotes may give you a sense of the story….

"With some of these minerals, one can build quite specific histories.  Zircon is unusually eloquent in this respect.  It is zirconium silicate- that is, a mineral combination of the elements zirconium, silicon and the near-ubiquitious oxygen. But, it also shelters other elements, elements that otherwise find it hard to find a mineral home……But, this fragment of history is, to some extent, a sideshow, Zircon's main contribution is to allow students of the Earth - or of a pebble - to navigate, with incomparable precision, through the fourth dimension, through the deep time of Earth history.  It does this courtesy of a transmutation, a find of natural alchemy that the medieval scholars never dreamed of - even as it was continually happening under their noses (albeit in the realm of the very small), while those ancestors of today's scientists made ever more frantic and fruitless attempts to conjure its action to make alchemical gold.  The key here is zircon's hospitality to uranium."

I have to pause to say  - I LOVE this line -  "The key here is zircon's hospitality to uranium."

And this --- " Before any great expedition, there is a gathering of the forces - of the clans, the troops, the mercenaries - from near and far, by various routes.  Once met, they will then travel en masse, their fortunes from then to be bound together for good or ill……Sediment particles of the future pebble were gathering, around the shores of Avalonia, in the Silurian Period, for a journey that would take them to a resting place,  one where they would not see the light of day for something over 400 million years."    

I can't tell you what happens next - that is only as far as I have gotten in the book so far - but don't you want to know the rest of the story?