What an exciting week we have on the horizon in Foundations of Science!
MONDAY: CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CHEMISTRY SYMPOSIUM
On Monday, April 4th, my Foundations of Science students will be sharing their posters and taste testing cookies during our Chocolate Chip Cookie Chemistry Symposium. Their task was to alter one variable from our “control” recipe, then analyze how the properties of their new cookies change.
We have been studying Chemical Reactions since mid-March, and my hope is that students will find this to be a really vivid and practical example of how changing the reactants (ingredients or their amounts) impacts the products of a reaction.
In science class, teachers typically spell out very specific procedures for students to follow as they collect data and analyze their results. In doing so, we deprive students of any opportunity to think scientifically. We don't force them to reason, problem-solve, or apply scientific principles.
For this project, students may have to come up with some of their own methods for assessing and comparing their control batch and test batch cookies using the quantitative (numerical) properties of baking time, thickness, diameter, and mass as well as the qualitative (descriptive) properties of color, taste, brittleness, and absorptive nature in milk.
As students complete their final analyses this weekend, I have posted some resources on Schoology to assist them. One of those resources is an "Update" regarding qualitative and quantitative properties, which I hope will clarify some final questions they may have.
One of the things I am most looking forward to about Monday is seeing if students are able to connect the dots to make meaning out of this project.
- Do they understand how this project relates – or that it is related at all – to what we’ve been studying in class? I’ve found it helpful to be able to refer to their cookie recipes as examples during class . . . but has that been effective for them?
- Can they relate what we’ve been learning in class to their chocolate chip cookies? We have been writing and balancing chemical equations, identifying reaction types, calculating amounts of reactants and products, and analyzing endothermic and exothermic reactions. Do they see how those ideas apply?
- Did they research to figure out what factor(s) have the greatest impact on how the cookies turned out? I have been likening it to Chopped (one of my favorite shows!), on which competing chefs have to use random ingredients to make desserts from scratch, without a recipe. What do we need to have in there – in what ratios – and what doesn’t really make that big of a difference?
- Can they explain how the scientific method and scientific principles were applied here? Namely, do they understand why we all had to follow the same control recipe and why we all had to bake a control batch of cookies? Did they make their hypotheses specific and measurable? Did they create a fair procedure for evaluating the properties of their results?
And lest you (or your student) think that Monday's events will be a "party" that consists solely of gorging ourselves with chocolate chip cookies, think again! A friend of mine is the Manager of Product Development and Sensory Labs at Sam's Club headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and she has shared with me the survey questions and procedures that actual food scientists like her use to conduct chocolate chip cookie taste tests. What a cool job!
WEDNESDAY: STEM SUMMIT
Speaking of cool jobs, on Wednesday of this week, all freshmen at Ephrata High School will participate in a day-long STEM Summit, made possible by a partnership with Junior Achievement.
Approximately 30 local professionals from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields will lead groups of students through stations about everything from computer science to chemistry, agriculture to mathematics, and physics to engineering and skilled trades. Even cooler is the fact that many of the presenters are Ephrata High School alumni.
Our kids will get to participate for 8 straight hours in hands-on experiments, friendly competitions, and career conversations. It is going to be a great day! I really hope your child comes home from school Wednesday with TONS to tell you about what they saw, did, and learned at the STEM Summit.
4TH MARKING PERIOD: FINISH STRONG!
My husband coaches track and cross country, and so race analogies sometimes work best for me. It's time for every student to make a strong finish on freshman year!
Our Chemical Reactions unit is the most difficult one of the year. In the past two weeks, I have asked students to write and balance chemical equations, identify types of reactions and predict their products, and calculate amounts of products and reactants using grams and moles. This is tough stuff! I know! Students have displayed a tremendous amount of hard work and growth. I continue to be so impressed by their work ethic and proud of their willingness to accept any challenge.
Our Section 7.1 & 7.2 Quiz on Thursday was challenging. Every student improved, but some aren't quite where they need to be yet. Students got their quizzes back on Friday, and I encouraged them to come see me during Academic Coaching Time (ACT) in the coming week. We'll be wrapping up chemical reactions this week and next, then moving into Physics and Ecology, which are so much more "visible" than the atoms and molecules we've spent the majority of the year studying. I still have some tricks up my sleeve!
The most important thing students can do to finish this race is complete all classwork and homework. Those activities provide vital practice as we master new vocabulary terms and essential skills. Classwork and homework are our training tools; they make us work our muscles and help us grow stronger and more confident. Even if an item is listed as "NS" in the gradebook, I always honor late work.
We have our 4th marking period to complete, and we have a cumulative final exam. I know it's the busiest time and the toughest material of the year, but it's time to finish strong!
Thank you, as always, for your help and support! Please let me know if there is anything you need from me!