This is a picture of a jug of olive oil mixed with coco powder. I used this as material for a grade 5 science class that I instructed about the impact of resource development, specifically around how oil spills occur and how they are cleaned up. For this lesson, I divided the students into groups of three and provided each group with a pie tray filled with clean water. After this I introduced the different methods for cleaning up oil spills: using skimmers, absorbers and detergents. I then poured some of the olive oil into each of the pie plates and had students work to clean up the oil spills. They tried each method and as they used it they filled in an observation sheet that recorded the method they used and the results. Finally, I had them come up with conclusions related to the activity.
This artifact represents my understand of Standard 6: Educators have a broad knowledge base and understand the subject areas they teach. I chose this standard because I felt that this activity embodies not only my understanding the impact of resource usage but my understanding of the relevant process of science. In this case I was focusing on students identifying variables in an experiment.
In my future teaching practice I wish to focus on teaching science through experiments rather than rout learning or reading comprehension activities. I feel that by emphasizing experiments students will not only understand the content of science but they will also develop an understanding of the processes.
