Lifesaver Lesson

The Lifesaver lesson was a fun and simple way to introduce students to the basic steps of the inquiry process. We started with a question. We used our materials to come up with a procedure, we then conducted the procedure, analyzed our data, and came up with a conclusion based on the data. These are all the basic steps of the inquiry process. I think because this lesson would be so entertaining for younger students they would easily be able to recall the steps. This will be extremely helpful later on when they are using the inquiry process for much more difficult and scientifin questions. The inquiry process is not only important for science but across content areas. Once students grasp the concepts and the steps become concrete in their minds I am sure they will be more successful students. I think the earlier you can introduce this process to students the better prepared and efiicient they will be during their entire educational career. With the Lifesaver lesson we have taken invaluable information and made it accessible to young students.

Scaffolding Activities

The graphic organizers like the brainstorming chart and problem filter helped me to organize my thoughts into possible ideas in order to complete the assignment. I felt that the problem filter was extremely useful when trying to decide which idea was the most appropriate and important to focus on in an attempt to really help improve the school community. Although the lesson activities did not give us any answers they were a good starting point to help our group generate and discuss possible ideas. I think that many students would have difficulty or roadblocks without the lesson activities to stimulate their thinking.
The technology used was helpful because we were able to modify our original thinking and ideas to come up with a more complex and effective solution. We were able to cut and paste, as well as color code items in an attempt to organize our thoughts and ideas. I also felt the technology used made our presentation more cohesive and informative. We were able to create a hyperlink to an important news article that supported our case. We were also able to include our action plan without creating a new one inside our PowerPoint presentation. In this assignment I feel that the use of technology made our presentations more thorough and accurate. The use of technology also helped save us time by not having to recreate many of the tables and plans that we created during the brainstorming activities.