Thursday, January 9, 2020

Eggshells in Vinegar: How a Chemistry Teacher Uses Agriculture

Agriculture is involved in everything including chemistry. In the science class that I had observed, the teacher had presented a demonstration of an eggshell in vinegar to hook her students into the lesson. I observed the entire class period, and her teaching methods were very successful in getting the students to reach the goal of the period.

The teacher had asked her students questions to get them to figure out the chemical reaction of the eggshell in vinegar. While they were engaged in the lesson, she had further explained what will happen to the eggshell in the coming hours of the experiment. To wrap up that part of the lesson she had them determine the products of the reaction as well as why there were bubbles at the edge of the eggshell. The rest of the class period they had group work on a previous assignment.

Evaluating her effectiveness of teaching, I had observed her facilitation of learning, business-like behavior, enthusiasm, clarity, opportunity to learn, and variability (BECOV). She did not give any information away, rather she had continued to ask questions to answer the first question she asked. Her use of BECOV are as follows;
  • B – She presented herself well in front of the classroom as a professional. She also demonstrated by doing, how to be business-like with group work.
  • E – She was excited about the chemical reaction as well as helping the students. Each student felt a part of the group as well as encouraged to work harder.
  • C – She was on top of helping students with group work as well as making sure students were on track. She also provided further explanation into the chemical reaction to help students understand the idea behind reactants and products.
  • O – Students were probed with questions to show what they know about chemical reactions and stoichiometry
  • V – She had presented an idea through demonstration, then talked about the demonstration, and finally wrote out the chemical reaction that had occurred probing students to give the answers of the elements involved.
She had done a great job of facilitating learning and keeping students on track with her objectives for the day. I am grateful I had the opportunity to observe her teaching a class.


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