Leigha Thompson

ELED 3221-002
October 31st, 2014
Science Reflection
During this experience, the students found out that speed can be related to their daily
lives. They were surprised that they could calculate their own speed using distance and time. The
students worked in pairs effectively and used a stopwatch to record the time it took to run 50
meters. The students collaborated together during the explore phase successfully without
problems. I believe this was beneficial to see that the students at my clinical school have built a
positive learning community.
The science activity the students complete was not very open-ended because
experimenting with speed involves a direct formula. The groups calculated their speed the same
way by using distance divided by time. By using the formula, the procedures would be the same,
but the speed results could vary. I differentiated the lessons by starting the explore phase with
going out to calculate their time first and then basing my higher-order thinking questions off of
this exploration. During first and second block, we talked about what speed means before we
explored. Also, I knew in these two blocks I had to model the activity before we explored and
use more examples during instruction. While demonstrating how we would calculate speed and
order the numbers from fastest to slowest, I did 4-5 speeds to model ordering speed.
The students extended the investigation by talking about how speed is used in real life
with speed limits and a speedometer in cars. We discussed how the speedometer tells you how
far you will go if you maintain that speed for an hour. This related to the two units used for
speed, distance and time. The students can back to the room after the explore phase to calculate
their speed using the distance (50 meters) and their recorded time. The next day, the lesson
extended to acceleration and velocity, which related to the previous lesson about speed.

Leigha Thompson
ELED 3221-002
October 31st, 2014
During the explore phase, the students were accommodated by not being required to run
if they were not able to. Instead, they were allowed to jog or walk to meet their needs. If students
had trouble running they would have a partner to participate with. Also, I accommodated
students by reading the questions aloud and allowing wait time for the students to generate their
answers. I made sure to scaffold students while they were answering the questions. My lesson
was differentiated so that each flexible group could attain the information. I believe including
accommodations and differentiation allowed the students to meet the objective.
I used technology effectively by having a SMART Board notebook prepared and
reviewed before the instruction. I allowed the students to interact with the SMART Board while
practicing how we would record our data on the Speed Recording worksheet. I believe this
assisted the students in fully understanding how speed is related to force and motion. The
students made connections to the content and saw that speed cannot be calculated by using on a
stopwatch. Many of the predicted that a stopwatch gives you speed on the anticipation guide
before my lesson was taught. By the end, the students understood that a stopwatch gives you
time, but you still need the distance to calculate speed. The students attained that speed equals
distance divided by time and learned how to apply this formula to their data.
The most I remember about this science lesson is seeing students fully understanding the
content. During this lesson, students that are classified as below grade-level were achieving the
information being taught. This was the most rewarding aspect to see their outcome from the
instruction. While calculating speed, I went to scaffold a low student to formatively assess his
learning. I asked the student to describe to me how he would calculate his speed and what units
he would use. The student was able to describe to me how he would find his speed correctly. I

Leigha Thompson
ELED 3221-002
October 31st, 2014
saw that getting him involved with the lesson and having him interact with the SMART Board to
demonstrate showed growth.
I would most definitely teach this lesson to students again because of the positive
experience I gained. Teaching the content for three different blocks taught me my strength and
weaknesses. Before this experience, I had never taught or observed science through inquiry in an
elementary classroom because most classes I have been too have looked past the content while I
was in the school. At the end of the three lessons, I felt prepared to teach force and motion and
like an expert on speed. In between each block, I learned what needed to stay the same and what
needed to change based on the previous blocks lesson. This gave me time to reflect and improve
my expertise before the next lesson was taught. I learned that I can become a confident science
teacher. Also, I learned that I am still learning and growing each day to become a powerful
teacher. I felt like I met my goal to show leadership in science during these two weeks at my
clinical school.