Technology (Question #7)

Technology is incorporated in a variety of different ways in the classroom. Since students are studying power plants (and can't exactly play around with nuclear power or tides in the classroom), their one lab that I have observed has been to make a model of a coal plant by making their own steam, which used lab materials like scissors, a burner filled with fuel that would slowly combust (possibly kerosene), a torch to start fires with, metal gauze, a pencil, and a paper cut-out of blades that the students put together themselves. 

Other ways that technology is used is by having a lot of the course material, like assignments, posted and submitted on Google Drive. Each student is given their own laptop and is given time to work in class to research different kinds of power plants collaboratively and post their research online. Laptop use occurs mainly in class, since some students don't have the Internet at home and cooperation is always key in this class. Also, using the laptops is an equalizer; the teacher gets to look things up, and the students do, too. It's not like there is a sage on the stage if everyone is engaged in looking up material. 

The assignments work really well in her class, since the instructor doesn't need to lug around stacks of paper, grading is slightly reduce from what it might otherwise be (i.e., if more busywork were given), and the students actually don't know how to use computers or research material online yet--they are learning essential technological skills. The students are still slow at typing and learning the short-cut keys, but students with trouble writing (e.g., students who have an LD) may find an easier time doing work on their laptops, rather than hand-writing everything without spell check. 

Students are also still getting used to citing their sources and making sure they understand what they read before they use it. They are learning to paraphrase to both avoid plagiarism and to assure themselves that they understand the material. Also, there are a lot of really cool websites on power plants, some of which are interactive and show how the components work together in a particular type of plant to harness energy. Finally, the assignments provide instant feedback to the instructor, as fast as she can read through student responses. 

Students' take-home work is to highlight the notes that the teacher gives them, fill out worksheets (e.g., Venn diagrams comparing and contrasting two different types of power plants), to make flashcards in preparing for an assessment, and (this past weekend) to finish their board game (did I mention the board games were really fun? I never thought I'd play Twister again, let alone Hydroelectric Power Plant Twister). 

Otherwise, the instructor uses short YouTube video clips and has shown one full documentary that came from YouTube on the projector, which is always pulled down. The YouTube clips are good attention grabbers and are actually what I retain from week to week--when I had my butt kicked playing the kids' board games this week, the only way I ever got any answer right was if I could remember it from one of the instructor's video clips. I think with all of the components and machinery inherent in the power plant unit, it makes sense that visual aids and animations would be needed to understand the material. 

The teacher sometimes starts the class by handing out short slips of paper containing bell ringer type questions to get the students in a science mind-set (she seems to pass them out when she knows the students will come into class tired or distracted, like when they saw a play). She sometimes collects the science questions to make sure the students still do them (I'm assuming), but she cuts down on her grading by not always collecting the questions. She uses the overhead projector to discuss the answers with her students. 

TUESDAY:

I observed the earth science class today (which I have observed last year and absolutely love). The teacher posts everything on the class website, students work collaboratively on Google Drive, where students also post some of their work. The projector screen is always pulled up, so that the teacher can project schematic diagrams and PowerPoint presentations on top of the white board and then annotate the diagrams. Her students made an iMovie in groups last year that forced students to apply their knowledge in engaging, multi-faceted, collaborative and memorable ways. She will show YouTube clips or full movies from outside sources, too. One of her general science classes had Rube Goldberg devices due today, which were set up and taped all over the classroom--some of the machines and technology is created by the students. Her use of technology is effective in promoting a student-centered environment and in providing information in multiple ways.

Ways I Use Technology Now

I was also pleased that we started studying DNA today, as long as we are talking about technology in Methods, since the DNA unit is about as high-tech as I get (it's just a coincidence this semester!). I like showing the HHMI videos and doing a molo simulation on mutations, and we use technology in ways I am coming to see as normative: doing research online in groups, keeping up a class website, posting blogs, etc. I think I am understanding how to do these things a little bit better, semester by semester, especially with the classes I am able to observe. Some things that I do, since my students are older, is introduce them to the RCSB protein data bank and have them present on different proteins (I mentioned in an early blog that my students give group meetings, based on their Internet or inquiry research--this is one of the meeting topics). My students also use Accelrys (or similar program--Accelrys doesn't work well on Macs) to draw their molecules. Accelrys does not create standardized-looking molecules, but I think it allows them to appreciate (for free) what VSEPR theory really is and how molecules fit together and can be represented.

Ways I Should be Using Technology

One thing that I should do is bite the bullet and get ChemDraw, since the free drawing programs do not look nearly as nice as the ACS 1996 template does. I could even use the free trial, make all of my quizzes and exams, and then cancel my subscription (or is that dishonest?). I should also have done something with Jmol this semester, but that just slipped by me; I feel like I've been behind, vis-a-vis some other semesters, and I wonder if it's the snow days we had or if I am actually going at a pace more appropriate for the students. I should also have students present enzymes in their active, zymogen, or inhibited forms, as long as I want them gaining familiarity with the RCSB data bank... Since they do have group meetings, I should also teach them how to use the SMART technology at the beginning of the semester, since otherwise, they are set up for failure when they need to turn up the volume or change any settings at all for their presentation.

Next semester, I'll have a little more figured out.

To Expand...

What technology is used in the classroom. Remember, technology is more than a smartboard or an ipad. How is technology utilized by the students and teacher? Are there limitations to the usage? If so, what are they? Can students use their smartphones in the classroom? What is your cooperating teachers viewpoint on technology?

My focus last week (see above) was on the use of technology. Implicitly, I addressed the limitations, which is that students are still learning how to use their computers and do Internet research. Also, some students' Chrome books have technical difficulties from time-to-time, and then the students need to bring their laptops to their school's version of ITS for repairs; these students then get a loaner laptop while their original is being repaired. Pedagogically, a limitation of using technology is that the teacher has to watch the students pretty vigilantly to make sure that they are using the Internet to research their topic, and not going to sites they know are entertaining but not that educational. One of the teachers at my local high school calls this "silent disruptions." Still, having to look over students' shoulders and making sure that they are on-task is an issue that is not unique to technology.

In regards to smartphones, I have seen students listen to the music they have on their phones during group work time, but students do not use their smartphones to look up information or as part of their labwork. I know a lot of grown-ups who study better when they can listen to music, and that is the extent that I have seen students using their phones.

Actually, it's funny, because I am pretty against cell phones being used at the K-12 level, even for wet lab work, when laptops are available. Anything that a cell phone could be used for--timing a reaction, taking pictures of results, looking up information, etc.--could also be done with, say, a clock, an iPad, laptop, and/or textbook. I feel like it would not be worth my energy to monitor students' cell phone use in the lab, lecture, or a group discussion. I am not against students just listening to music (they don't look down at their screens, they have headphones on, their eye contact is elsewhere, etc.), especially since I know so many adults who function much better when they have music going on in the background. However, it is not worth my monitoring energy for students to have their cell phones out.

When students ask a question, my cooperating teacher responds, "How could you find that out?" I have seen exactly the same attitude that we have talked about in class--an assignment isn't worthwhile if you can just look up the answers, so a teacher might as well let her/his students go online to look up the details. My cooperating teacher also says, "They have access to the Internet," meaning that her students might as well look up information if it will help them to understand a concept. My strong impression is that she is in favor of students using whatever resources might help them to learn and that she is in favor of students learning how to use their resources. She works really hard to make sure her students begin to understand how to evaluate the quality of websites, how to check for their own understanding by paraphrasing what they read, looking up the same information at different reading levels (so that everyone can get it), and how to cite their resources. I think I've noticed her students getting a little more sophisticated and are more and more willing to say why they like or dislike a website. Students are also getting into text-heavier websites, rather than just going to Google images to understand a concept. I see really careful scaffolding designed to make sure that students understand how to use the resources that they already have at hand.

Exceptional Learners (Question #5)

I gather that the students created their own board games in groups to review for the upcoming test on power plants. Today, we played the games, and they were 99% creative and engaging (except for the games that were only half done...you're killing me, Smalls). A lot of the questions, which were based off of a review guide, were really difficult, although some of the True-or-False questions tested trivial knowledge that would not be on a well-made test (which I am assuming theirs will be). Also, the games tended to not have enough questions--we would be halfway through the board and run out of questions. 

One game that I am going to steal for sure for my students is one in which the players need to wear a hand band and put a component of a system in the band, so that everyone but the player can see their component. The game is then to ask questions until getting the term right; the next player goes after the first player makes a guess, and the players take turns until all have gotten their term right (which didn't happen with us). This game will work great once we get into metabolic cycles (gluconeogenesis, glycolysis, etc.). We have one exam left, since my students' final is an abbreviated, ACS style final presentation. I am starting to prepare for the classes I'm teaching this summer, and I'm sure I'll find more ideas to appropriate from the middle school students.

My partner and I also spoke with the ELP instructor, who teaches talented and gifted students (anyone who scores sky-high on standardized tests) K-8. She says her purpose is to help those students go further, so that they're not bored. I noticed that her students were analyzing Divergent the movie vs. Divergent the novel when I walked in, and I thought it was pretty neat that they seemed so passionate about reading. I also thought it was cool that a lot of students in her class are those I see a lot in science class, anyway. 

In regards to our questions, the ELP instructor said:

1. Instructional Considerations. Her instructional considerations are based on her students being at the high end. I had no idea what she meant by that at first (I thought she must have meant that her students with mild ID or students with Asperberger's, rather than autism). She has had students with IEPs in the past who needed accommodations in regards to their writing. 

2. Limitations. She says that every student is different and sometimes does not like to do this or that activity (e.g., writing). I gather that their limitations might be pushed at a farther ZPD than those of their peers. 

3. Goals and Objectives. The goals and objectives are also unique to each student. Everyone keeps a Lifelong Notebook, in which they explore their goals in different sections and how they might go about achieving those goals within a specific timeline. They use S.M.A.R.T. (Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound) goal-setting and then work to achieve their goals. For instance, she said that if a person's goal was to get a million dollars, they couldn't set their timeline for tomorrow, and they would have to have a plan for earning that money.

TUESDAY.

Mwahaha, I successfully stole some of the children's ideas. I have a lame mutation DND-style board game that got put to shame by the games I saw yesterday, so tonight I started my students out on making one that was more cool. They are working on making many, many questions with the answers--one thing that I saw yesterday at the middle school was that the students sometimes ran out of questions mid-board, ending the game. I also have a picture in my head of awesome board games that we can (will?) be making, that model helicase or ribosomes (maybe the the markers could be an amino acid, and if you make your way to the right anti-codon, you win the game...). The possibilities are endless, and we have the NSF "Origins of Life" debate coming up, so I am extremely excited to incorporate all of the ideas I'm observing. 

Overcoming Stereotypes

So K., one of my classmates, and her dad actually volunteered today at Chemists in the Library. K. gave a speech at the beginning, explaining her passion for education and science and introducing the labs. I thought it was great that the students got to see her as a scientist, since she is also a beauty pageant winner (she explained both of these interests to the kids). As we talked about at the beginning of the semester, a common stereotype kids have about scientists is that they are white, old, unsociable males with lab coats--she is clearly not the case, and she showed the kids today that they can occupy science and multiple other cultures, should they so choose. 

Another thing I learned (again) today is that science is for kids of all ages. That sounds self-evident, but even the barely-talking toddlers were able to do the investigations, on their own levels. I found that it is possible to differentiate explanations on the procedure, based on science exposure and age--the littlest kids needed more help doing things, but I could still hold them to completing most of the investigations (except for the last investigation, which required a lot of reading and writing). The smallest children wouldn't necessarily be able to write anything out, but everyone still built on their schema for each of the investigations. 

There were also a lot of ELLs, too, and they were also able to do everything just fine, especially since there was so much comprehensible input--I mimed, K. and I prepared examples for some of the investigations, and all of the material was right in front of the ELLs to play with. Some of the parents translated for the students, too, which I thought was extremely helpful. I am all in favor of bilingual education, when it's feasible.

Some of the kids were really good at playing around and trying different things (e.g., using different materials to try and achieve the same goals) and were eager to explain to me what they were trying and what their results were. I felt that one girl was trying to challenge me, and she made a big deal of "over-doing" each step in the procedure--what she doesn't realize is that science can't really be overdone. It didn't really phase me when she made what she thought was a really big mess (I've learned to throw tarps everywhere on the ground).

Otherwise, my students on Thursday were all at different steps in their enzyme food, enzyme pH inquiry, and enzyme Internet research assignments. Not coincidentally, everyone seemed engaged (they were up and around and doing things). We started off to a bumpy start, with some of the groups missing some of the materials they realized were needed (I forgot to bring the Jello, which set back one group). After D. went on a quick grocery trip, everyone went straight to work. I feel that doing inquiry well and time-efficiently is an ability that is gained over time and is something I will be working on for YEARS. 

Some of my students did ask me if it was cheating if they looked up information on the Internet while they were working. It would be really hard to complete their assignments without doing research, but I am not communicating that expectation well enough to them. I might also still be giving off a sage-on-the-stage vibe, despite my best efforts. 

Despite my deficiencies, some of my students' food enzyme results were just awesomely disgusting. What I understand about information processing is that those disgusting, smelly results will hopefully store enzyme information into students' long-term memories. That's why I use smells as much as possible with Chemists in the Library and when I work with the high school students--I hope the smells just trigger science and fun for the kids involved, long-term. The smelliest and most disgusting investigation was to watch the effect of complex probiotics (involving a soup of enzymes) on yogurt over time; the yogurt turned to a completely non-viscous, runny solution. 

I finally provided direct instruction at the end; despite my best efforts, my PowerPoints are still too long. I would like to get every chapter below 20 slides, because I feel that's the extent of a sane human attention span. Also, let's be honest: my students who have actually worked in nursing know biochemistry MUCH better than I do, and I feel silly lecturing at them about the material (unless I'm relating it back to chemistry--that, I can handle). It helps when the questions I ask are actual questions I have for them. 

In fact, some of the parents today at Chemists in the Library asked awesome questions that I couldn't answer (this happens EVERY time), so I am going to go off and see what I can find out. 

Doing More Reflection!

Reading!

I looked back and noticed I had avoided reflection in two of my blogs (on questions 2 and 4). To bolster those weaker blogs, let me offer one extra reflection today (and I will catch up the other one next week). One strategy for me to better understand the students and their prior knowledge and interests is to share my interest in literature. I love reading, including young adult fiction that involves dystopic societies or Gary Paulson. I noticed that my cooperating teacher makes comments about the books her students have out, and I make comments when I see that the high schoolers are reading books that I love. Now, the high schoolers sometimes draw me into what they're reading ("Sally, have you read The Book Thief? Have you read Divergent?"), and it's a way for me to relate to them and know what examples and interest-grabbers I can use (I couldn't call my students erudite 5 years ago!). Also, it makes me a better model as someone who is interested in science but has a life outside of school; it's okay to be a scientist and have other interests. 

Dry Ice Investigation

I taught Mr. M's physical science class today. They have been studying chemical and physical changes, the different phases of matter, and phase changes (basically, chapters 2-3 of Pearson's Physical Science book). This investigation I did with them developed through a couple iterations at Chemists in the Library, and the original idea came from the kids section of the ACS webpage (https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/scienceforkids/chemicalphysicalchange.html). 

Procedure

I had the students do an investigation with dry ice in which groups of students worked in groups to research dry ice online, make predictions about what would happen if they dropped dry ice in soapy or salty water, collect observations and measurements, and report and explain what they saw. They had to classify the phases and phase changes that they saw, as whether they were dealing with pure substances, homogeneous mixtures, or heterogeneous mixtures (my Minnesotan accent sounds really funny with all of these terms, but the students were polite). Besides making global observations and measurements, they also did dimensional analysis on individual bubbles. 

Results

They were also to explain the process of sublimation, although they didn't use the terminology. That is fine with me--they knew that they started out with a really cold solid that turned into a gas, and they knew the gas must be denser than air, because the vapors fell down to the benchtop. One misconception that I was glad came up was that there must be something in the bubbles, even if we can't see what it is--at first, some of the students asked if the bubbles were empty or if gas came in when the bubbles popped. They came up with all different temperatures for the water, which stumped them and was something I should have left time to discuss (now, I feel like I've sent them off with a new misconception). 

They got different volumes and surface areas (some students used the area equation) for the bubbles, which made sense to some of them and which they were able to explain. I also like that I didn't help them out too much when they asked me what equations to use; the hard part was not being able to look up "geometry" on Wikipedia but in figuring out how to make measurements on bubbles when they were quickly popping. 

Things I Could do Better on this Investigation

Of course, although I tried finding a two minute video this week on dry ice as an anticipatory set, once I finished my prelab talk and set the students off to do research, they found much better videos than I ever could. I knew the students would be more interesting and creative than myself, and I will use the videos they showed me the next time I teach physical changes. I could have also prepared a pre-assessment, so I would know exactly what they thought about whether or not bubbles are empty or having something inside, whether sudsy water is homogeneous or heterogeneous, what they know about dry ice, and what they know about finding the surface area or volume of a shape. 

Before letting them loose, I should start off teaching them how to read a thermometer, because it's silly that I assumed they all knew how to do so. I'd also like to spend more time on the dimensional analysis portion (find the surface area and volume of the whole pile of bubbles coming off of the dry ice) and to address the misconception I set up on different temperature readings. I'm used to doing the dry ice investigation with the small children through Chemists in the Library, so I feel my lesson was a little on the fluffy side. There was some dead time when I could have had the students doing more online research or more dimensional analysis. 

Another thing that I will do better next time is to get more dry ice; Hyvee only had one small block, but I had to add the same block to the soapy water and then to the salty water throughout the period. Getting more blocks means that I could set up different stations throughout the room, minimizing dead time. The substitute teacher said that it matters whether you add the dry ice to soap first and then to the salt or vice-versa, since the soap really promotes the opaque bubbles that are created in the soapy water. Interestingly, the thermometers only went down to -20 deg. C, which I thought was interesting in and of itself. If possible, I would use a variety of thermometers (some that went down past -78 deg. C, and maybe even some that stopped at zero) to see what discussion would arise from giving students more options on equipment to use. 

Lessons I Learned Today to Extend to Teaching in General

I decided today that one of my major classroom rules is going to be that students are not allowed to say things like, "You're the smart one, you do it" or "I'm bad at science/math." It makes me really angry when students make excuses like that to have their partners do their work (whether because they don't want to do work themselves or whether they already honestly believe that they are bad at science). It reminds me of my best friend's kid, who was okay at first making predictions but then became too nervous to make further predictions. 

The students possibly don't know that science is supposed to be difficult--it isn't just looking up pi*r^2 on the Internet (I am not setting them up with a good example, if I give them too easy of work to do!). Also, our culture allows for this kind of permissive attitude for not trying in science and for thinking that science is for special people. Neil de Grasse Tyson has been saying in Cosmos, our culture also promotes this kind of laissez-faire attitude towards science--the stereotype in American culture goes that only nerds do science and that it is okay to make excuses for not trying that we would never make in other subjects. 

I think I will just make up a poster with my four-letter words ("geek," "nerd," and "can't"). I used to tell my students that I'd cry a million tears if they did x, y, or z (e.g., forget to include units on appropriate data). I should revive that saying before I have my own classroom and can make that poster.... I will also give my students multiple chances for success, so that they know that they can do science. 

Science Education Article

According to NPR columnist Westervelt, the computer science offerings in U.S. for students K-12 has been dropping, even as the need to understand coding is rising in society (Feb. 17, 2014; A Push to boost computer science learning, even at a young age, Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/02/17/271151462/a-push-to-boost-computer-science-learning-even-at-an-early-age). The number of computer science jobs is increasing and the importance of coding in our everyday lives is steadily increasing; students need to take computer science classes as part of achieving scientific literacy. Even though studies may show that the number of STEM classes as a whole are increasing, the reverse trend is true in regards to computer science. 

Also, according to Westervelt (ibid), some administrators may not even know what computer science is--they may think that computer science is just learning how to use a computer and not coding. This impedes progress further, since the decision-makers in a district may not be aware of this lack in education. Lack of reliable broadband or up-to-date computers also limit the CS education that can be taught in poorer districts. 

I chose this article, since I had absolutely zero interest in ever learning coding as a high school student. I would have been one of the naysayers for much of my education. It was something my engineering friends did in high school (all white males). When we did summer research in undergrad, it was always the white males who had the programming projects. It was only until I got to grad school that I ran my own simulations, but I would never want to take a full class just on computer science (i.e., to learn the foundations properly, beyond what I need for immediate, practical use). 

The article mentioned that among the students who took the AP CS exam (which is how the study of computer science is measured on the national level), there were 11 states in which no black kids took the test, 8 in which no Hispanics took it, and 3 in which no girls took it. This means that there are SES considerations and/or cultural biases that limit full participation of girls and/or children of color from studying CS. I don't feel like my distaste from coding ever arose from being explicitly told that only my guy friends could do it, but there was something in the way I was raised that made computer science seem completely uninteresting until I saw a real, immediate need for it. 

Westervelt also attributes a lack of interest in CS (with 10% of high schools offering the subject) due to its absence in the Common Core, which could also be addressed. I also imagine that there are not as many instructors comfortable with teaching the material as there are instructors interested in teaching other subjects. Overall, the article suggests that there is a need to address the digital divide, promote professional development to ensure more faculty members feel comfortable teaching computer science, hire new staff, and raise awareness so that administrations, parents and the children can understand the need to not only take STEM classes but to be well-rounded in all areas of STEM. 

Focusing on One Student (Question #4)

            Thanks to our conversation today in class, I reflected on my reflecting and realize I need to go back and see how many posts I left incomplete--without proper reflection! What I noticed this week is that even sixth graders can be exhausted. Coming off of spring break, there were a lot of really TIRED looking students. I definitely remember tired Kindergartners from Korea, and it's kind of reassuring to know that exhaustion is universal. It's also important to note that I will need to go easy on the students around Christmas, spring break, prom, and ACT/SAT time (I know that prom is overlapped with the ACT exam at the high school).
            
            Another point that my cooperating teacher and I talked about was the differing reactions to the Fukushima video between the boys and girls--the boys were really into it, and the girls were not (this is one of the reasons why I wrote about computer science for my science education article--gender differences in science education have been on my mind). It seems that by ages 11 and 12, there are stereotypical reactions based on gender to different science topics. It's not anything any of the teachers are controlling--it's culturally embedded socialization of boys and girls and something to be aware of.

            Last but not least, another thing that stuck out in my mind--which I only am making note of now because of our conversation today in class--is that different teachers allow differing amounts of autonomy in the classroom, in regards to seating arrangements, raising hands, and grouping for collaborative work. I group my students sometimes but mostly let them choose their partners once everyone knows everyone else's name.

            It's been my policy since I started grad school to pick partners the first few weeks, until people demonstrate that they know each other's names. The policy stems from my desire to create a classroom community. At the high school, the teachers sometimes pick partners and seating arrangements, in order to promote effective learning environments (I think). I've noticed that the same teachers will exert more or less control in this area during different terms, so the amount of teacher control also depends on the students--a more exuberant class body might lead the teacher to control grouping more than the same teacher would with a calmer student body. Finally, my cooperating teacher says that she does not control seating or grouping; she lets the students decide where to sit, and it works just fine in her classroom. I think that her policy would probably work with me when I teach high school. I am very informal, and I don't think my attitude in class (e.g., silly ferrous-wheel jokes and "Happy Tuesday" announcements) would be consistent with my trying to maintain an authoritarian demeanor.

Here is the original question: Focus on one student in the class.  (You may want to pick more than one or a pair of students.)  Try to see how much of the class period that student is actively engaged.  How did you measure this?  Describe directions or activities that engaged the student. Describe what was happening when that student was not actively engaged in the lesson. Explain how you will keep your students actively engaged during your lessons as a science teacher.

I observed the middle schoolers and my students once and observed the high schoolers twice. I see the middle schoolers once a week and the other students twice a week. I selected a boy and girl for each school, as the middle schoolers especially seem to be differentiated in their interests by gender. 

I made a table and checked off every ten minutes when a pre-selected student in periods 3 and 4 at the middle school paid attention during one class period. I checked off every ten minutes when two pre-selected students in physical science at GHS were paying attention in two class periods and when two of my students seemed attentive every ten minutes in one class period. The middle school's class period is 40 minutes long, and I checked at the very beginning through the end of class. The high school's period is one hour long, and I started ten minutes in through the end. My classes are 2:30 hours long, and I just started ten minutes in and went for an hour. 

My sampling bias was geared towards challenging myself to observe the momst poker-faced or the seemingly least attentive students in the classrooms. I selected students in the high school whom I thought would not be attentive--the girl is extremely shy, seems uncomfortable, and has an IEP. The boy is extremely outgoing and seems to be engaged in his own conversation much of the time. I selected students from my class based on their inscrutability; I know it must be possible to gauge their expressions if I look hard enough for tell-tale signs, but I picked the students with the best poker faces to challenge myself. Sadly, since I only see the sixth graders once a week, I don't feel like I know them and just picked a girl and a boy at random.

I gauged their attentiveness based on making eye contact appropriately (on the screen, if a movie was going; at the instructor, if s/he was talking, etc.), raising hands to volunteer answers, taking notes, making relevant conversation with group members, and lack of distracted behavior like doodling. However, I do know a lot of visual learners (mostly boys) who are very attentive and don't take notes; they JUST doodle to give themselves something to do while they learn/listen, and they experience a great deal of academic success.

I found that the boy in the middle school paid attention 3/5 times I checked and the girl 2/5 times. Neither of them demonstrated attentiveness at the beginning or ending of the class period. They were engaged with appropriate class activities when doing computer research, working with a group, or watching a movie that interested them. This information is just a rehash of what I've posted before, since we had a movie today, and it was too difficult in the dark to gauge how engaged the children were.

At GHS, I found the girl to have a good poker face herself. It is difficult to what extent she is uncomfortable versus disengaged with the class. She was attentive 1 or 2 times out of 5 the first day and at least 4/5 times the second day. The chatty boy was attentive 1/5 the first day and 2/5 times the second day. Both students were more attentive when doing group, inquiry-based work and neither seemed engaged (the boy was actively involved in his own side conversation) at the beginning of the period or when homework was being corrected. 

In my classroom, I found even my adult students disengaged at the start of the period (which I would not have predicted, given that we intellectually KNOW at the college age to pay attention). I noticed that the woman I observed just seemed exhausted the first thirty minutes and maybe was actively engaged 2/5 times. She does work full-time, but I also was explaining their take-home test that day and was doing a lot of lecturing. 

I think I failed to read my poker faced male student. He always does an excellent job on his work but is really hard to read, and he never asks a question in front of the class. I am not sure if his home culture is similar to my classroom's, but I have the feeling that his cultural norms prevent him from what he would see as being loud and challenging in class. I recorded that his eyes were on me 4/5 times I checked, but he could just know to where to make eye contact to minimize interactions with the instructor. 

In sum, there are a few challenges to reading students when lecturing:

* when they have a poker face

* when they are exhausted (which, actually, happened in the middle school today, with students recovering from spring break--exhaustion is not unique to grown-ups!)

* when there may be a cultural difference that makes interpreting their nonverbal and verbal forms of communication

* when exceptional students may have unique needs to meet in maintaining their engagement

Students do seem disengaged when:

* it is the beginning of the period; they need to warm up

* the teacher goes over the homework

* the instructor feeds the class information on test policies or other bureaucratic hoops

* the students are not working in groups and actively researching a topic

To sum up, lecture as little as possible. Run a student-centered classroom with plenty of room for collaboration.

Spring Break and Small ELLs

I am having the opportunity to watch my best friend's wee ELLs, who are 3 and 6 and native speakers of Russian, learn both English and science. They both speak with an accent and have made clear progress in English since we hung out over Christmas. 

The elder, A., likes doing POE investigations and the little one, B., likes sharing his misconceptions. For instance, this time he kept insisting that plants are not alive, which is why he's allowed to touch my sister's plant's leaves. This is a common misconception, according to McGraw Hill (http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/9780335235889.pdf), and our conversation went something like this:

Me: Remember you're not supposed to touch the plant leaves.

B.: They're not alive!

Me: Yes, they are. They need the leaves to get energy from the sun. 

B.: No! Not alive!

Since moving to the U.S. 9 months ago, B. actually has had a quantum leap with his English skills; he realized that language is a thing and that he needs to code-switch, depending on which adult he's talking to. He also self-corrects when he catches himself making a mistake, which means that he has some idea that there are rules and regulations governing English. 

He is comprehensible 50% of the time (versus 0% of the time 9 months ago), and half of what he says that I can understand is parroted from something my sister or I just said. He doesn't seem interested in any cartoon in English with which he is not already familiar, which may indicate that he doesn't understand TV in English (or that he is just 3 years old and prefers jumping up and down to watching a new show). He is learning his letters in English and is already familiar with Cyrillic, and he is very proud of his growing book collection. He says he doesn't like science, and I don't want him to get burned out at age 3, so we hung up Christmas lights and played catch indoors. 

The elder is in an elementary school that focuses on STEM education, and he says he loves science. He now is understandable 100% of the time (instead of sort of 50-50, with long pauses) and, instead of drawing his predictions, observations and explanations when we did a POE investigation (as he did over Christmas), he was able to write one-word responses, with help on the spelling. His hand-writing is more pain-staking than the Korean children's I used to teach, but American students generally have worse handwriting in English than Koreans do. He did ask why we had different languages in different countries (basically, he was trying to get out of learning English. "Why do I have to learn English? Why don't Americans speak Russian?"), which indicates that he knows language is a thing and is thinking critically about the differences of language use in different cultures.

The elder son's POE investigations this time were invisible ink (he added his own ingredients, using his own quantities, to see if it worked better or worse, and he had to tell me when something was dissolved or whatever else he was observing) and the Pringles-rocket demo (he had to predict which fuel would launch the ball the farthest and tell me when the fuel was evaporated--when it was time to launch). 

A. was willing to make one prediction (he got it right, that the acetone would be a better fuel than the lidocaine) but was uncomfortable with making predictions after that. One thing that I liked about our investigation is that it came about because I ran out of isopropyl alcohol; I didn't actually have experience with using the other fuel sources and didn't know the right answer, either. A. made what I thought were thorough observations on looks, smell, and sound. His explanations are obviously not based on an understanding of the particulate nature of matter, and I was unwilling to press him to hazard an explanation for what he saw, which will be a summer project for us.

Another thing that I thought was awesome about both boys was that they were watching a dinosaur cartoon that had bad science in it. Although B. says he doesn't like science, he loves dinosaurs, so maybe there's hope for him yet. Also, A. caught that the stegosaurus in the cartoon didn't really look like a real stegosaurus--the head was too big and the body was not long enough. He said, "It's like a stegosaurus, but not really." Again, I should have pressed him to elaborate further, but I was impressed as it was that he was willing to challenge something a grown-up put together (even if it was a cartoon). 

It is interesting blogging about them, since I've never reflected so much on their progress and where they still need to be pushed. 

Curriculum Decisions (Question #3)

The curriculum is decided by the Iowa Common Core. There is one science teacher for each grade at the middle school level, so the science teachers negotiated which standards would be covered in which grades (they divided them up), allowing for the standards that would be covered in the fifth grade (which is still at the elementary school) and in high school. Once the standards were divided up among the teachers, my cooperating teacher worked backwards from the Common Core to form her lesson plans. There are textbooks that align with the Common Core, to help her plan lessons and units that meet the standards. 

It is tricky business to get all of the standards in, and some of the topics she used to cover no longer fit in the curriculum. Depending on the level of the students and the number of students with special needs, she may be able to get through more or less material. For instance, she will have a unit where students build a solar car, if she has the time this year. Currently, she covers: the scientific method, chemistry/physical science, genetics, the human body, and energy. 

Former lesson plans have been changed due to other means beyond her control, and change is not necessarily a negative. She is now incorporating the one-to-one computer access her students have into her lesson planning, so that they are learning to research and posting their findings on Google Drive. Unfortunately, visitors are no longer allowed to visit the coal plant after 9/11, but she used to be able to take her students there instead of just describing it to them. 

She prefers to teach most of her material through lab work, and her lesson plans generally follow the format: Activity --> Direct Instruction --> Group work. I have noticed that she has found a lot of attention-grabbing, two minute videos off of YouTube, and she has not provided more than a 15 or 20 minute lecturette the three times I've observed her teach thus far. I have also seen a lot of positive examples of her students helping each other out (e.g., finding websites), and I think it makes sense that her students (who may be completely learning some of the material for the very first time) would need a lot of active engagement with these concepts in order to learn them. 

There is a question of how far in depth she needs to go in order for her students to have achieved mastery level of a standard. She does not just want to check standards off of a list but to spend the whole year covering 6 - 8 topics in depth; introducing her students to a concept is a great start but does not mean that they will have learned it. 

It sounds as though, like everything in education, the issue of curriculum is not cut-and-dried. Experienced teachers continue to undergo professional development to inform their lesson planning, and a tried-and-true curriculum could be significantly altered, depending on a variety of developments in our society. 

Focusing on One Student (Question #4)

Focus on one student in the class.  (You may want to pick more than one or a pair of students.)  Try to see how much of the class period that student is actively engaged.  How did you measure this?  Describe directions or activities that engaged the student. Describe what was happening when that student was not actively engaged in the lesson. Explain how you will keep your students actively engaged during your lessons as a science teacher.

I thought it would be informative for me to stretch out Question 4 into more of an inquiry process, since I have a couple of weeks to answer it. I'll be editing it, as I keep my eye on student engagement. I think it will be interesting to try to track students at the three levels to which I have the opportunity to interact: sixth grade, ninth grade, and adult (I don't mind being critical of myself; I'm sure I'll find that I have problems keeping my students captivated the whole time, but the important thing is that I learn how to notice these problems so that I can address them!!). I think it will be interesting to track a student at each level who seems typical,  in terms of engagement, and who is even less engaged than his or her peers. It does not make much sense for me to just look at the students whom I already know are captivated by science, with or without a teacher's help.

My prediction to this little investigation is that students of all ages are actively engaged when the classroom is more student-centered (when the students are building a model, doing a lab, working together on collaborative research projects or problems, etc.) but that students are "turned off" when the instructor is doing the requisite administrative stuff or straight lecturing of factual knowledge (if that ever occurs!). Another prediction I have is that the younger the student, the more transitions and different events need to be incorporated into the lesson plan (i.e., the attention spans are shorter, the younger the student). As we talked about in class, I will certainly find that students remain engaged when the pacing is appropriate and they always have something interesting to do.

I have my eye on a couple of students already who seem to have an average engagement level or are even less engaged than their peers. I will focus on the positive (the amount of time a student seems to be engaged with the topic at hand). I will use eye contact (the student's eyes should be on whoever is talking about or doing lab work or model-building for the lesson) and the amount of time a student is doing this type of model-building/lab work/etc. him or herself.

Throughout the next week or two, I will try to take care to be critical of myself, when keeping an eye on my students; I don't just want to say that my students are awesome and always engaged, because I know I just say confusing things to them sometimes that just wastes our time (it makes sense in my head!). I will have a lot to learn from observing the experienced educators differentiate instruction, keep up a good pace, and promote a high level of active engagement for all students!!

Overall, whatever I learn from these students will go towards answering the question, How will I keep my students actively engaged as a science teacher?

March 10 Update: My cooperating teacher uses a couple of strategies that I think are particularly effective to promote student attentiveness. She calls on students randomly by drawing their names out of a coffee container (so that they never know when they will have to provide an answer)  and spends most of the class period on group work, so that students are always busy with work that they are motivated to complete (there is social pressure to perform well, they want to get their in-class assignments done so that they can get to their homework, they probably find a lot of the material interesting, etc.). 

All of the students seemed to be working hard in the middle of the class period, but both students I observed seemed "turned off" at the beginning of the class. The third period students were coming from a play, however, which is not their normal routine--I always need to talk about a play or movie afterwards, and I've seen a lot of movies and plays by this point (I don't want to seem hypocritical by picking on these kids, who showed me a lot of neat research they were doing today on biomass power plants)! 

I also observed some behavior that may give clues to when students are engaged with the material. Students demonstrate their engagement when they:

• make appropriate eye contact (e.g., on the teacher when she is talking)
• raise their hand to volunteer an answer
• make relevant comments in conversation with their group members

Students are not actively demonstrating their engagement when they:

• work on a Google Drive document when the teacher is providing direct instruction
• play with their hair or nails
• doodle or pick at their notebooks (I forgot how endlessly distracting that was to do when I was little...)

I will make more observations, on older students, tomorrow and Thursday, and I will continue to look for positive signs of engagement the week following spring break.

First-Day Observations!! And Curriculum Decisions

Looking at lesson planning on the most macroscopic scale, the Iowa Common Core dictates what classes students have to take. Eight years ago, sweeping changes were made (e.g., earth science was pushed to the high school from the middle school). The local administration dictates what "flavors" instruction should have. For instance, at GHS, inquiry and authentic activities are stressed--learning targets should focus on how students can apply the knowledge to their own lives. Also, teachers need to plan using learning targets.

Madeleine Hunter has come up a couple of times (and is present in the lesson planning) of the lessons I've been observing this past year, from multiple teachers. It seems like all of the science teachers post on their board: an L.T. (either in statement or question form), 2-4 activities for the day (the classes are an hour-long), homework, and upcoming quizzes or exams.

It is at this nitty-gritty level that teachers have more control; although instructors may be required to stress science as inquiry and to have their students do labs or build models, teachers control the labs and models used in class. Teachers also have control over the numbers of labs, activities, etc.--it's not like there is a school-wide rule of "Do One Lab a Week for Ten Weeks." The students obviously gain a lot of control in the content that is covered, since it should be relevant to their own lives and interests.

So, today, I observed the first period of physical science for the trimester. The students are mostly freshmen and asked questions like, "What's chemistry?" "What's physical science?" I thought it was interesting that they didn't have a schema for the different sciences, since that means they don't have the previous misconceptions we all do about silo'd education (since they haven't been taught this bias yet!). A couple of other interesting things that I was made to think about (for the first time in a long time!) are: teachers have to distribute textbooks and other material at the high school level, and they have to have a way planned out ahead of time on how they will do this effectively; teachers have to explicitly teach what to do in a case of tornado or fire drills. Freshmen won't know to just leave the building, and I'll still have to monitor them when drills occur (unlike at the college level, where I'd just expect everyone to take care of themselves in a drill).

Practicum Week 2: Interview of Students and Developing a Lesson Plan (Question #2)

Blog Question 1, cont'd.

This week, we had the opportunity to interview two middle school students who were at the level dictated by the assignment. The first student said that she learned best by doing lab work, and the second student said that she listens to what the instructor tells her to do and then just "goes with it." Interestingly, both girls said that they need a quiet environment in which to learn, which seems to be the opposite from the lab environment that the first student just brought up and indicates that the girls view learning as a passive process, in which they gain knowledge from the expert. The second student also said that she would go to her partners for help (which means that they do work in a collaborative environment from time to time), but that she would trust the teacher for guidance first if she were learning something new. The first girl also said that she learns by implementing the strategies (mnemonic devices) her teacher tells her to use. 

This type of environment is also counter to what the high school students I interviewed last week discussed; those interview subjects viewed learning as an active process, in which they tried example problems and conducted lab work. The boys said that they needed the teacher to be able to explain the concepts to them; however, they also had gained the necessary skills and had reflected already on their on learning styles to the extent that they expressed a sense of responsibility themselves to do practice problems on their own and to be aware of when they finally understood a concept. That is, the boys use their teacher as a resource but do not rely on her expert authority to learn. 

I believe the age difference between the middle and high school students whom I interviewed may contribute to their different perspectives on learning. It was interesting that the high school students demonstrated metacognitive processes at work, while the middle school students viewed their sole source of learning as being the teacher. It is very scary to think about students being that young and of the responsibility of the teachers to bring them from where they're at during middle school to where they need to be; clearly, it is the work of dozens of responsible adults in these students' lives who allow them to prepare to succeed at the high school level.

Blog Question 3. (Work in Progress, especially if I get a chance to talk to teachers at GHS tomorrow!)

Process for deciding what is taught in the science classes: 

From my understanding, teachers need to comply with standards set by the Iowa Common Core, the local district, and the school; however, teachers also need to use their own creativity to best differentiate the material for their individual learners and appeal to students' prior knowledge/interests. For instance, today's lesson was based on building a model of a coal power plant, which corresponds to the Iowa Common Core requirement that students demonstrate a knowledge of science as inquiry and "Use evidence to develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models" (Iowa Department of Education, 2012, "Science Grades 6-8," Retrieved from: https://www.educateiowa.gov/pk-12/iowa-core/science/science-%C2%BB-grades-6-8). The concept of of converting the energy in fossil fuels to electricity also corresponds to the standard: "Understand and apply knowledge of forms of energy and energy transfer" (ibid).  

However, although these standards are established by the state, the teacher found the activity and used examples throughout the lessons from students' own lives. For instance, she mentioned the coal plant in Cedar Rapids and asked students who had seen it. She referred to a research activity they had done last Friday online, to active her particular students' prior knowledge. I observed two periods of the same lesson, and she differentiated instruction by going more into depth with the relationship between science and society with the second lesson, getting into the Industrial Revolution in detail as an example of the disadvantages of using coal power plants. 

Analyze a lesson from my cooperating teacher:

Her anticipatory set was a simple but sufficient diagram of a coal power plant. She referred to the research project they had conducted last Friday to activate their prior knowledge. Her students worked collaboratively in groups to build a model power plant, and then they discussed how their model matched the diagram: first in groups, and then as a class, to catch any misconceptions students still had. They watched a video on fossil fuels while their models cooled down, which I felt was an excellent way for her to incorporate multiple modalities and appeal to different learning styles. Her closure was to discuss as a class the pros and cons of using this type of technology. 

So, yes, her lesson plan did include all of the elements that we have been talking about. I will have to ask her when I get a chance where the lesson plan came from, but it looks like she has enough freedom to select which activities in particular to use (even though the Department of Education says that, at some point, students need to be building models). According to the teachers at GHS, lesson plans need to be submitted a week ahead of time but are pretty brief: learning targets, anticipatory set, a few activities, and homework. I will have to double-check to see to what extent that is the same or different at this school.

Anything else I noticed from Week 2:

Oh, my gosh. My jaw just about hit the floor when they were discussing climate change (which grew out from their conversation on the Industrial Revolution) during the second class I observed. The teacher drew a diagram of the sun and earth and showed heat hitting the earth and bouncing off (before she drew carbon dioxide on the board). One of the students asked if this is what happens during the winter time. His misconception is: it's cold right now, because the heat is hitting and bouncing off the earth. In contrast, the heat will not "bounce off" during the summer, so the heat will get absorbed and stay on earth during the summer. 

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I keep forgetting how young these children are, and they must really all full of these alternate conceptions. As a teacher, I will have to establish a safe environment for them and be approachable enough so that they are willing to talk and share these conceptions during class discussion. It will also be prudent for me to interview them and give them pre-tests before starting new units, to catch some of these conceptions. As we have been discussing in Methods class, I will also have to keep a poker face and have the children actively engaged (through model building, lab work, Internet research, etc.) so that they can be made dissatisfied with their current conceptions. 

Wow...what an idea of how summer and winter works. It never would have occurred to me (maybe it has, years and years ago, but I forgot what it's like), but what creative children. 

Trapeze Inquiry

SWING/TRAPEZE INQUIRY ACTIVITY

End-of-Class Question. What affects Ted’s daughter’s experience going on the swing?

The ends of the ropes were uneven. The longer rope will swing more slowly, and so she’ll pivot slightly. The stretchiness of the rope may cause her to bob up and down, according to Hooke’s law, more than if it were made out of linked chain (and this may just be the model).

1.What questions do you have? Complete the list of your personal questions from doing the pendulums activity. (I couldn’t resist looking up material while I formed my question. I don’t think too many of my students will also feel bad about cheating by studying behind my back, but it was a really interesting thing to feel bad about.)

A.    What variables affect frequency, if not mass?

B.     Why was it important to achieve an angle of 22.5^o? Is that angle significant, other than it is simpler to fold paper than use a protractor?

C.     What accounts for the standing wave pattern we saw in the video? Could I repeat it?

D.    How do these properties of waves relate to sound waves?

E.     What would happen if we tried to vary the motion of the pendulum in different dimensions (not just along the x axis but, say, somehow got it to vary in along the x and y axes of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate)?

F.      Could I figure out a way to quantify the work or energy generated by the pendulum swing?

G.    What other variables would be important to take into account for a very pendulum (i.e., what are all of the variables that explain the behavior of a Foucault’s Pendulum? How does the rotational spin of the earth affect the swing of a Foucault’s Pendulum)?

H.    Would we get more consistent results if we reduced the friction of the string against the table? I wouldn’t think that it would matter too much with just a 10 s run-time.

I.       What behavior would the pendulum show if I added additional forces, like a fan going on a low setting at different angles around the pendulum? Would the different forces add constructively and deconstructively like hybrid orbitals?

J.       What if the pendulum were also a spring, so Hooke’s law was also acting on the string’s behavior? Both gravity and the force of the spring would be acting on the spring, and the length of the string would be inconstant.

K.    What would I see if the mass changed midflight (e.g., if Alka-Seltzer were first dipped in water and then clamped to the spring)? Would the frequency still be constant? That is, is frequency is unaffected by mass, or is frequency just unaffected by constant mass?

2.Analyze your questions – Look at your list of question

  a. Which of these questions can be investigate using the activity materials you’ve been using?

Questions A, B, E, could be investigated by brainstorming other possible variables that might affect frequency and incrementally varying them, recording my results.

I’m not sure about C.

  b. Which questions require additional materials? What are they?

I’m not sure about C or F.

Question D requires the SoundMeter app or another method of measuring pitch, although it wouldn’t be interesting unless I could find something to measure with harmonics. Question G requires a Foucault’s pendulum. Question H requires a lubricant, question I requires a fan, question J requires springs, and question K requires Alka seltzer and water. 

  c. Which questions are beyond the scope of this activity to find answers? How would you find those answers?

Questions C, D, and F would require for me to just look up the material. Question G would require for me to go to a museum.

  d. Identify three questions you personally are most interested in investigating.  Why are these questions interesting or important to you?

Question D would be interesting, because I was a music and chemistry major and always wanted to take a class on the physics of sound.

Question F sounds like an interesting challenge.

Question I sounds like it would be engaging to set up and lead to interesting results. The “other forces” component of my question could come in a variety of forms, which would allow me flexibility if one thing I tried didn’t work. I did Science Olympiad a little bit in junior high school, and this question sounds like something we may have built.

3.   Relate this to the NGSS.  Look up and find a specific location standard and copy that to your blog.

The standard HS-PS4-1, Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation, involves using “mathematical relationships” to describe waves (i.e., graphing using variables that affect the behavior of waves). These questions would seek to provide students with the opportunity to explore the relationship among ; the pendulum could be a model for the earthquake or electromagnetic waves described in the standard. The standard states:

Students who demonstrate understanding can: Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.

Clarification Statement. Examples of data could include electromagnetic radiation traveling in a vacuum and glass, sound waves traveling through air and water, and seismic waves traveling through the Earth.

Assessment boundary. Assessment is limited to algebraic relationships and describing those relationships qualitatively.

My Inquiry

The question I ended up using was related to adding another force in conjunction with the force of gravity acting on the ball AND if the any other properties (energy or work) could be quantified as a pendulum swung. I chose to vary string length for the relative ease of changing this variable, as I had found the relationship: T = 2π(l/g)^0.5.

Specifically, my question was: what relationship, if any, exists between the length of the pendulum and the force it exerts on another object? My prediction was that since a longer pendulum moves more slowly, it will also exert less of a collision force on another object.

Materials: Shoelace string, Android device with the iSeismometer app installed, Kleenex box (to prop up the phone), a small rubber ball to act as a weight, a drawer from which to hang my pendulum, and a piece of paper folded to act as a protractor.

The iSeismometer app shows force applied to the phone in three dimensions. When the phone is upright, +Y is the top of the phone, -Y is the bottom of the phone, -X is the left-hand side of the phone, +X is the right-hand side of the phone, +Z is going towards the user, and –Z is going back behind the phone. On the seisometer screen, the x axis measures cycles (Hz) and the y axis measures in increments of g (-9.8 m/s^2). 

Procedure: A ball was tied at the end of a shoelace folded in half, which was tied to the top of a drawer so that it was able to swing (admittedly, with constant but existent friction). The iSeismometer app on an Android device was propped up so that the end of the pendulum would collide with the phone. The ball was pulled back at a 45^o angle at lengths of 16 cm, 32 cm, or 50 cm and released. Several practice trails were conducted until it seemed like I was getting distinct but relatively consistent data at different string lengths. 

Results and Discussion:

The Supplementary Material has been submitted to the Dropbox in the NGSS category on ICON.

The data were collected with the pendulum at its shortest (S) length, the intermediate length (I), and then the longest (L) length; the clusters of data on the graphs were collected in the order of the pendulum at lengths S, I, and L.

Interestingly, the tentative results showed that the pendulum exerted about twice the acceleration (which should be proportional to force) at the intermediate length (I), while the pendulum exerted a force of about +1 in the Z direction at its shortest (S) and longest length (L).

At length S, the pendulum may have been swinging at a frequency so that it was still gaining in momentum but that the pendulum was swinging at a frequency at length I so that it had gathered more momentum and was able to hit the phone at full swing. At length L, the pendulum was starting to swing in the opposite direction when it hit the phone, and thus its force was weaker. These tentative results indicate that the force exerted by a pendulum is affected by its length in a sinusoidal manner.

Logically, if I were using a consistent procedure, the pendulum would swing and collide with an object in the same position, and it would make sense for the force to come from +Z direction; however, the force experienced in all directions at a length of 50 cm indicates that the Kleenex was also exerting a force on the phone. After an initial collision, the phone hit the Kleenex box, which hit the phone in return.

If I were to do this lab differently, I might take a ring stand from lab to reduce friction. Having three unanchored objects, rather than just two, was a design flaw in my experiment by introducing new variables; if the phone were held in place on a ring stand, it would reduce this variability. Since the NGSS stresses real-world applications of waves and uses such examples as earthquakes, this activity could be a jumping off activity in which students practice analyzing data, thinking about earthquakes as forces in multiple directions, and practice using Excel.

This would be a good physics lab for applying and expanding students' knowledge of g, and I could see further investigations expanding on the use of this type of instrumentation to explore concepts of g. For instance, students could use a sandbox full of different types of material (sand, dirt, concrete, pebbles) and manipulate their iSeisometer to collect data in three dimensions on the acceleration applied when the media in the sandbox is systematically manipulated.

Now that I look online more carefully, there is an engineering ed paper that describes this app much better and provides a much more controlled experimental to be used in an educational setting: http://library.queensu.ca/ojs/index.php/PCEEA/article/viewFile/3623/3637 
Based on the results of Hubbard, et. al., the iSeisometer can be used to get quantitative results, provided one makes approximations on the time cycles.

Based on the SparkNotes physics site (http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/sat2/physics/chapter8section5.rhtml), the forces on a pendulum are: force of tension (the rope), the restoring force (swinging back to equilibrium), and gravity. The pendulum should collide with the app with the most force when its restoring force is highest, which = mg*sin(theta). With a mass of ~0.002 kg for the ball, graphing restoring force vs. angle gives the highest restoring force at 5 degrees and 30 degrees.

This means that if the relationship between pendulum length and restoring force would be studied, the restoring force would be dependent upon the length of the string (since where the pendulum was along the mg*sin(theta) curve is determined by its frequency). THIS means that optimizing string length means having the frequency of the pendulum's oscillation correspond the best with the sinusoidal curve of restoring force, which can go towards explaining the results gathered in this open inquiry.