SHUJUANA LOVETT currently teaches sixth grade Science at Myra Bradwell School of Excellence. She has taught various grades and subjects during the last 22 years. Her last four years, the focus has been Science curricula content. This amazing area of study has been most rewarding for her in captivating students abilities to be critical thinkers and unlock their wonderings about the natural world.
The Lesson an Amazing Teaching Moment
This amazing lesson was designed for the audience of middle school students who are in sixth grade. This population of students are 98.9% African American students with similar socioeconomically backgrounds. This group of students include about a 30% population of Diverse Learners. There is a wide range of parental involvement in this community where these group of students attend school..
My Ultimate STEM idea is the phenomenon of "Motion". Unlocking the big question “What role does MOTION play in roller coaster physics?” I wanted to get my students to wrap their understanding around the how motion affects in everyday life. So in this amazing lesson I began with connecting students to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to captivate this big idea. Through the NGSS we started with concentrating on what do we want to know and be able to do at the end of this lesson.
We started with developing a hypothesis about roller coasters, which lead us to create blueprint designs and students having a gradual release of the content to test their hypothesis and construct their design. The blueprints were really a huge piece in getting students to unlock the big question of “How does motion affect me on on a roller coaster? My students had a rich fishbowl discussion about visiting an amusement park and the experience of riding a rollercoaster which supports the accountable student talk in the classroom. They shared out their experiences which lead to this phenomenon about the motion of the coaster. Referring back to their blueprints students designed and constructed roller coasters to be tested for speed of an object in motion. During this amazing lesson students also experienced opportunities to deepen their understanding about potential and kinetic energy, friction and gravity. My students learned that roller coasters are driven by the force of gravity and that the conversion between potential and kinetic energy is essential to all roller coasters. Students had to apply the role of friction in slowing down cars in a roller coaster. Lastly, students examined the acceleration of their roller coaster cars as they traveled around the track.This student centered activity imbedded cross-curricular opportunities to increase student engagement for interconnectedness of other core subjects.
This was an amazing and awesome lesson because students gained the knowledge about the possibilities and limitations of roller coasters within the context of energy conservation, frictional losses and other physical principles.
The Top 5 Elements in STEM World
Gradual Release of Responsibility/Scaffolding- “I do, we do, you do together, you do alone” in STEM lessons ensures students receive support and scaffolding while learning skills and content.
Accountable Student Talk - Students have opportunities to discuss lesson concepts with each other; this can prove to be invaluable with clearing up misconceptions and reaffirming any understandings.
Technology as a Tool - Technologies are tools that aid in concept clarity. There are many levels of technology; each activity can evolve based on technology accessibility and teacher TPACK.
Cross Curricular Opportunities/Literacy - In addition to STEM, lessons include literacy, writing, and arts components that could be developed in collaboration with other teachers to reinforce STEM’s interdisciplinary nature.
Student Centered Activity - Students feel comfortable in collaborating when analyzing informational texts. Students feel valued, respected, and part of the group. Students show ownership of their learning.
The Lesson an Amazing Teaching Moment
This amazing lesson was designed for the audience of middle school students who are in sixth grade. This population of students are 98.9% African American students with similar socioeconomically backgrounds. This group of students include about a 30% population of Diverse Learners. There is a wide range of parental involvement in this community where these group of students attend school..
My Ultimate STEM idea is the phenomenon of "Motion". Unlocking the big question “What role does MOTION play in roller coaster physics?” I wanted to get my students to wrap their understanding around the how motion affects in everyday life. So in this amazing lesson I began with connecting students to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to captivate this big idea. Through the NGSS we started with concentrating on what do we want to know and be able to do at the end of this lesson.
We started with developing a hypothesis about roller coasters, which lead us to create blueprint designs and students having a gradual release of the content to test their hypothesis and construct their design. The blueprints were really a huge piece in getting students to unlock the big question of “How does motion affect me on on a roller coaster? My students had a rich fishbowl discussion about visiting an amusement park and the experience of riding a rollercoaster which supports the accountable student talk in the classroom. They shared out their experiences which lead to this phenomenon about the motion of the coaster. Referring back to their blueprints students designed and constructed roller coasters to be tested for speed of an object in motion. During this amazing lesson students also experienced opportunities to deepen their understanding about potential and kinetic energy, friction and gravity. My students learned that roller coasters are driven by the force of gravity and that the conversion between potential and kinetic energy is essential to all roller coasters. Students had to apply the role of friction in slowing down cars in a roller coaster. Lastly, students examined the acceleration of their roller coaster cars as they traveled around the track.This student centered activity imbedded cross-curricular opportunities to increase student engagement for interconnectedness of other core subjects.
This was an amazing and awesome lesson because students gained the knowledge about the possibilities and limitations of roller coasters within the context of energy conservation, frictional losses and other physical principles.
The Top 5 Elements in STEM World
Gradual Release of Responsibility/Scaffolding- “I do, we do, you do together, you do alone” in STEM lessons ensures students receive support and scaffolding while learning skills and content.
Accountable Student Talk - Students have opportunities to discuss lesson concepts with each other; this can prove to be invaluable with clearing up misconceptions and reaffirming any understandings.
Technology as a Tool - Technologies are tools that aid in concept clarity. There are many levels of technology; each activity can evolve based on technology accessibility and teacher TPACK.
Cross Curricular Opportunities/Literacy - In addition to STEM, lessons include literacy, writing, and arts components that could be developed in collaboration with other teachers to reinforce STEM’s interdisciplinary nature.
Student Centered Activity - Students feel comfortable in collaborating when analyzing informational texts. Students feel valued, respected, and part of the group. Students show ownership of their learning.
