Earth Science Weekly
Mrs. Wilkinson
Week of May 2-6
Monday: Research the 4 types of nonrenewable energy resources
Tuesday: Cons of Fossil Fuels/Oil Spill Lab
Wednesday: Oil Spill Lab/Renewable vs. Nonrenewable/Spill-A-Bean Lab
Thursday: Renewable Resource Newspaper Project
Friday: Renewable Resource Newspaper Project
Fossils Casts vs. Fossil Molds
To help students distinguish between a fossil mold and a fossil cast, we made them! Students first took an object and created an imprint in a piece of clay, a fossil mold. Then, they took Plaster of Paris to create a fossil cast. The following day, students removed their casts and tried to see if the pieces could be glued back together to make an entire 3-D replica of their original object.
Block #1 Fossil Making
Block #2 Fossil Making
Write-A-Test
On Friday, the students came to class and administered their test to an anonymous friend for evaluation and immediate feedback. (It looks like some of the students may have teaching in their future!)
Overall, the feedback that I received from the students regarding this type of assessment was that they really enjoyed the opportunity to be creative and the freedom to choose their own questions.
Even better, when I administered my post-test that measures student understanding, most students saw a jump of 50-70% from their pre-test to post-test scores! Great job!