First Labs 1/11/13

One of my goals when I teach is to have the kids do hands on activities.  So, every Thursday and Fridays I try to do lab stations.  Students work on different activities in groups of five or six at four or five different lab stations.  So, my first week, I had four lab stations.

I thought stations would take about fifteen, maybe twenty minutes each.  They ended up taking about forty minutes for each station.  Some students didn't understand how to read the tape measure.  Some of the delay is that since there isn't access to a printer or copier, students have to copy down the  directions or questions at each station.  (I had to hand write the instructions for each station.)  Sometimes, one person will make a chart to write down measurements, while the others will just watch instead of doing something like start to measure.

I don't think the kids have ever done labs, or anything like labs before.  It's a completely new experience for them.  During morning break, some kids came back in the room.  They measured each other's height, weighed other items on the balance, and asked me questions.  For Station 4, I added food coloring to the water in the beakers.  Most or all of them had never seen food coloring, and I had to explain to them it was just water. 

I'm trying to encourage critical thinking, getting students to connect the dots, and getting them to come to their own conclusions.  I have to admit, when a group of boys finished early and tried to dye my chalk different colors, I laughed instead of giving them demerits. 

Stations 1: Measure the length of different items in cm, and with two other rulers.  Measure the inside and outside of items with calipers.

Station 2: Use test tubes and a bucket of water to show that air takes up space, and is matter instead of energy.

Station 3: Measure people to find ancient measurements from the Bible like fathom and cubit.

Station 4: Use a balance and find the mass of different objects.  Figure out how to find the mass of the water in a beaker, without including the mass of the beaker.