MINI LESSON: Documenting an Experiment

Documenting an Experiment

Overview:

In this activity, students will create Posts from scratch, uploading an image of a science experiment they recently completed, using the audio tool to describe the experiment, and documenting their hypothesis and procedure in the text section. Students will also be given the chance to read, listen to, and respond to the findings of their classmates by utilizing the Comments section.

Objectives:

• I can share the findings of my science experiment with visuals, audio, and text.
• I can compare and contrast my findings with the findings of my classmates.

Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.9

Vocabulary:

• Post, Audio, Commenting (if students are unfamiliar with the Write About vocabulary)

Materials:

• Student science projects
• One to one devices
• If one to one devices do not have a way to capture a photo, then cameras (or student smart phones) may be necessary
• Student posts

Lesson Outline:

• Part One: Create a Post from Scratch

• Individually or in small groups, have students take a picture of their science project. Once everyone has their picture ready and uploaded to the computer, instruct them to create a Post from scratch using their individual images, making sure it has an appropriate title (like “Our Volcano Project” or “My Science Project”).

• Part Two: Add audio
  • Once students have created their post, have them use the audio tool to describe the experiment. If students are working in groups, you can decide if you want each group to have a speaker, or if you want each member to contribute to the recording.

• Part Three: Write

• From here, have students write out their hypothesis, the procedure they used to complete the experiment, and their findings in the text section.

• Part Four: Comments

• When students have finished documenting their experiments, have them read, listen to, and Comment on the findings and experiments of their classmates; if they all did the same project but didn’t necessarily find the same results, this is a great chance to use the Comments section to explore what happened for them to have varied results.

Enrichment/Extensions:

• Have students write about and discuss how their findings apply to everyday life (ie. why is it important to know how these two chemicals react? How are we impacted by volcanic eruptions?)

Accommodations:

• Use the Description area when creating an Idea to provide step-by-step instructions or links to instructional references (ie skill videos, visual aids, etc).
• Use the audio tool to record instructions when creating an Idea. You can read the Idea and Idea Description text out loud so students can listen and replay them as needed.
• Modify the lesson to include small groups and be sure to follow provided personalized accommodations based upon any student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP).