Science Journal

This week I had to write an instructional lesson plan which focused on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). It was only a few years ago when I first heard about STEM. I also wish that more schools would encourage STEM in their lesson plans.


For years, the science class has taken a backseat to math and English. Teachers work all year long to prepare for the test. The frustrating thing is that we have a science test but it doesn't receive nearly the emphasis in schools like the yearly state test does. Unfortunately, there are repercussions. Fewer and fewer students are interested in pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

I was challenged this week to write a lesson plan with STEM in mind. I planned a lesson on Mass and Motion. I wanted students to think about what happens when you drop two objects from a given height. Which one would hit the ground first? As an extension, I wanted my students to predict what would happen if air resistance was not a factor.

I have had to write a variety of lesson plans this year. I am a part of a three year grant where I participate in the Teachers' Academy for the Natural Sciences (TANS). I am currently in year two. At the academy, we work with scientists for the purpose of improving the content we are teaching in middle school grades. At TANS, I was required to use the UbD (Understanding by Design) lesson plan format.

In a few weeks I will be attending NASA's Lift Off Institute for a week. I had to use a simple formatted lesson plan to share during the week. With all the variety of plans, one thing held true. All the lesson plans were designed to engage the students to get them excited about science. Isn't that what science teachers are supposed to do? It is our mission to get students engaged in the content we teach.

Last year, a colleague and myself collaborated with three other teachers on a lesson we could perform at 28,000 feet above the ground. It was an amazing experience. We went on a Zero-gravity flight. We wanted to show students the difference between mass and weight. We had a little stuffed Beaker (the creature from the Muppets) on a scale. We placed 40 grams of masses into Beaker's labcoat pockets. The idea was that when the plane climbed, Beaker would appear to have a greater weight. When we hit that parabola and experienced weightlessness (really freefall). The scale should have risen as far up as it could register making it appear that Beaker weighed nothing. Students would see that he still has mass. That never changed. However, weight was relative to our altitude. The experiment would have gone well but a reporter, doing her own filming, landed on it and crushed it. Beaker survived but the experiment did not. Even still it was the most amazing experience.

Anything the teacher can incorporate to make each lesson taught, more engaging to students, is a step in the right direction. Throughout, this experience this week, I have pooled in all of the collaborations and ideas to engage my students.

The journey continues...