Science Lesson Using Models

Last week I had the pleasure of implementing a lesson on the rock cycle using the candy airheads as my modeling clay. While the activity itself was fun and the students enjoyed working with the candy and seemed to develop a greater unerstanding of how the rock cylce works and of how rocks are classified, it struck me that there were a few pieces that I took for granted where the students were concerned. For example, the students were able to identify the types of rocks created but were unable to identify the process which created the rock. I found myself thinking how strange it was that they could not name the proceses but were able to name the rocks. It was not until I asked that I realized that they had used different markers to identify the rocks. They knew that if a rock melted and cooled it became an Igneous rock, etc. It was then that I saw clearly the difficulty that could ensue if one has students attach their own definition to essential vocabulary words. These students while they are learning about the objects, they struggle when they enter a standardized classroom/test room and find that the questions on their standardized test are not written for them specifically and as such does not provide answer options that they are familiar with.

Overall, I enjoyed working with the models for this activity as it allowed me to see students clearly attuned to their acivity and enjoying what they were doing. It also gave me insight into how/when to use the lesson and what needed to be changed to make it a great activity. I also learned very quickly that airheads tend to solidify very quickly when heated and should always handle with care, and that the spare airhead pieces should be picked up quickly so that the students do not have a faceoff over candy:) Oh, and yes airhead in its molten form is very, very hot and definitely behaves as magma being pushed to the surface where it hardens.