|
Electrostatics Exhibits; The Exploratorium, "Open Pathways"
 Lesson
at a Glance:
Curriculum: The Exploratorium, “Open Pathways”
Grade: Fifth
Topic: Electrostatics Exhibits
In this lesson, Linda Block’s fifth graders explore
the electrostatic properties of materials through classroom activities
and a field trip to the Exploratorium in San Francicso. Adapted from the
Exploratorium’s “Open
Pathways” materials
for teachers, the intent of this lesson is for the students to rub a clear
plastic tube with different kinds of cloth in order to see if there are
differences in the number of Styrofoam chips that can either be picked
up or moved around inside of the tube. Linda identified the challenge for
fifth graders in this way: “The idea that there is a charge in there
or that there are electrons moving from something that seems like it's
solid, is one that doesn't come naturally to students. So I think the more
they are able to work with materials that allow them to actually feel forces,
and to notice that certain things really are attracted to others, the more
it helps them make the connection to what they learned in 4th grade about
forces in magnets. So these are important first steps.”
Another important
component of the lesson is the process skills that Linda developed while
at the Institute for Inquiry at the Exploratorium. She
explains, “In terms of inquiry, this would be the beginning, where
they were just exploring with materials to kind of see what they do and
to help them generate questions. And that was what I saw happening. There
were a few little starting points or paths that some of the kids were
going down, particularly around having the pieces of fabric in front
of them
and then wondering if they all would have the same result. I was impressed
that some of them were being pretty systematic about trying them out.”
When
students got to the Exploratorium, they were able to recognize, compare,
and build on their experiences in the classroom. With the help
of an “explainer,” they
explored a variety of exhibits in which friction between different materials
results in either “attractive” or “repulsive” behavior.
According to Linda, “One of the things that's nice about taking
the students on a field trip is that often times something doesn't necessarily
make sense the first time you do it in a particular way. So while somebody
might be puzzling over a particular question that we've been exploring
in class, going to the museum and being able to play around with that
idea
at a number of different exhibits helps students learn. They might not
get it the first time but hopefully, after they’ve worked with
three or four or five different exhibits that all have to do with the
same content
area, one of them will provide an open door for someone to understand
something in a new way that they didn't understand before.”
|
prev:
teacher and school
