nd Making a Conclusion. In the “Dancing Raisin” experiment students get to experience all of these steps in a fun way. As in any experiment students first had to identify the materials needed. They included: a cup, some raisins and clear carbonated soda. In this case it was 7 Up. With a little prompting given by the question “what would happen if raisins were dropped in a cupful of soda” students had to then make a hypothesis prior to conducting the experiment itself. Some said the soda would turn brown, others said the raisins would dissolve. Still others said the raisins would float. Upon dropping the raisins in the cup and after waiting a little while students observed that some of the raisins, after initially sinking to the bottom, rose to the top and then sank back down again. Some raisins did this several times. Students filled in this information in their logs for the conclusion part of the method. Upon completion, the lucky students got to drink the soda as well as eat the raisins. Though this conclusion following the scientific method's conclusion certainly had a pleasing affect upon the students they actually did seem to be both involved in and excited by doing the experiment itself. Watching students' reactions as the raisins rose and sunk was something to observe on my part. Their pure joy at seeing something so simple happen hopefully will lead for some of them to want to engage in further scientific experimentation, as well as to remember the goals of this particular experiment, which were the steps in the Scientific Method. I think that finding out if their hypothesis turned out to be right or not was as much a part of the excitement as was getting to drink the soda in the end.
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Dancing Raisins
In Science we are teaching students the steps involved in the Scientific Method. These include: Observation, Asking a Question, Forming a Hypothesis, Conducting an Experiment, a
nd Making a Conclusion. In the “Dancing Raisin” experiment students get to experience all of these steps in a fun way. As in any experiment students first had to identify the materials needed. They included: a cup, some raisins and clear carbonated soda. In this case it was 7 Up. With a little prompting given by the question “what would happen if raisins were dropped in a cupful of soda” students had to then make a hypothesis prior to conducting the experiment itself. Some said the soda would turn brown, others said the raisins would dissolve. Still others said the raisins would float. Upon dropping the raisins in the cup and after waiting a little while students observed that some of the raisins, after initially sinking to the bottom, rose to the top and then sank back down again. Some raisins did this several times. Students filled in this information in their logs for the conclusion part of the method. Upon completion, the lucky students got to drink the soda as well as eat the raisins. Though this conclusion following the scientific method's conclusion certainly had a pleasing affect upon the students they actually did seem to be both involved in and excited by doing the experiment itself. Watching students' reactions as the raisins rose and sunk was something to observe on my part. Their pure joy at seeing something so simple happen hopefully will lead for some of them to want to engage in further scientific experimentation, as well as to remember the goals of this particular experiment, which were the steps in the Scientific Method. I think that finding out if their hypothesis turned out to be right or not was as much a part of the excitement as was getting to drink the soda in the end.
nd Making a Conclusion. In the “Dancing Raisin” experiment students get to experience all of these steps in a fun way. As in any experiment students first had to identify the materials needed. They included: a cup, some raisins and clear carbonated soda. In this case it was 7 Up. With a little prompting given by the question “what would happen if raisins were dropped in a cupful of soda” students had to then make a hypothesis prior to conducting the experiment itself. Some said the soda would turn brown, others said the raisins would dissolve. Still others said the raisins would float. Upon dropping the raisins in the cup and after waiting a little while students observed that some of the raisins, after initially sinking to the bottom, rose to the top and then sank back down again. Some raisins did this several times. Students filled in this information in their logs for the conclusion part of the method. Upon completion, the lucky students got to drink the soda as well as eat the raisins. Though this conclusion following the scientific method's conclusion certainly had a pleasing affect upon the students they actually did seem to be both involved in and excited by doing the experiment itself. Watching students' reactions as the raisins rose and sunk was something to observe on my part. Their pure joy at seeing something so simple happen hopefully will lead for some of them to want to engage in further scientific experimentation, as well as to remember the goals of this particular experiment, which were the steps in the Scientific Method. I think that finding out if their hypothesis turned out to be right or not was as much a part of the excitement as was getting to drink the soda in the end.
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