In class, we did an activity involving lemons that furthered my understanding of observations and questioning, and the relationship that they have to my science notebook. One could say it was sort of a "light-bulb" moment, and I am excited something things finally clicked.
We began the activity by receiving one lemon per person. We were told to observe anything we possible could about our individual lemons in our science notebooks. The initial instructions engaged all of us, and we were curious as to why we had to intently observe these lemons. Also, lemons have differences but are generally similar color and shape, making the task of observation much more detailed. I drew a picture of the lemon, including labels and color with colored pencils. I wrote a bullet point list of observations that I initially was drawn to including color, ends, indents, shape, size, etc.
After being given time to record the observations that I noticed as important, we were told to discuss the elements of our individual observations with our table groups. Immediately, we looked at each others' notebooks and discussed how we differed in our observations. Then we noticed the tools made available to us, including a magnifying glass and a ruler. Hearing everyone's observations was my light bulb moment. Sharing what each person recorded allowed me to pick and choose how and what I chose to record. We were given additional time to continue with our observations, and I utilized many of the techniques that our group discussed.
I could definitely see the effectiveness when using this strategy in the classroom, especially when initially trying to teach students how critical observations are when experimenting like a true scientist. Students can share ideas and tips for recording observations, just as scientists share information in the real world when experimenting and researching.
Finally, we were told to place our lemons back into a mutual bowl. Sarah passed the lemons out again to each person, however everyone received a different lemon. We were told to only use our recorded observations in our science notebook to discover where our lemon was. Just as scientists do, we questioned our observations and compared the lemon to them. This task was somewhat difficult, as we truly had to question which characteristics were important and which observations matched which lemon. Eventually, my classmates and I all discovered our original lemons.
This short activity provided me with many future ideas for my science classroom. Students will automatically be engaged when given an item and told to observe it. With a reasonable time constraint, I believe classroom management will be fairly simple because students will want to record as much information as possible in their notebooks. In terms of questioning, students will discuss their observations to discover whether their observations are sufficient and find new ideas on observing in general. Lastly, utilizing observations to actually make a discovery was a rewarding feeling. As a student myself, I felt that I had done a quality job of recording observations and was comfortable with the amount of information recorded in my science notebook. The process was filled with inquiry, excitement, real-world connections, questioning, and observations. All of these items created a "light-bulb" moment that I will take with me when teaching science in the future.
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