Science Teacher Observation

I had the opportunity to watch a ecology/biology class today, January 14, while they prepared for their test that is tomorrow. The teacher had many years of experience under her belt and this gave her a strong classroom presence and display of clarity.

Before the review began the class went over the activity they had completed yesterday. This activity began to sound very familiar as I heard the teacher prompt the students with questions as to what had happened the day before.

The students were looking into how a parasite spread from animal to animal. I don't know exactly how they conducted the activity, but the idea was that one student had the parasite and after contact two students had it, then four, and so on. I did the same experiment to show how easily disease can spread through a herd. I used water and white vinegar (which changes the pH), then a pH indicator to show who had caught the disease. The teacher called on students to read the question and give their answer. She would then call on another student for an answer or she elaborated and talked about the answer further. This was a great way for the students to show their answers and talk about them instead of the teacher giving the answers right away.

The rest of the period was spend reviewing for the exam that was tomorrow. The students began by writing their own definition of the word. This is a great way for students to review the terms. They have to internalize the definition in order to write their own.