Meeting Ms. Benfer

Today our class for Science Methods in Childhood Education went to the elementary school right on campus, Bishop Dunn Memorial School, to observe the science teacher leading an inquiry based lesson with the fifth graders. We filed into the classroom before the students got there, and talked with Ms. Benfer quickly about what the students were learning at that point in time and what she was going to do with the students that day. She opened up the lesson by activating prior knowledge and asking the students to recall what they had been learning about in the previous lesson. She then proceeded to engage the students by providing concrete examples of what a mixture and a solution were. For a mixture she made a bowl of trail mix, adding m&m’s, banana chips, pretzels, chex, and other ingredients. She then made lemonade, and reinforced the knowledge that a mixture’s elements can be separated, while a solution cannot be separated because a chemical reaction had occurred. The students loved this lesson and were active and participating throughout the given time Ms. Benfer had. I was amazed because the class was on the larger side, and they had just come in from lunch and recess. This time of the day is hardest to get the students focus back on learning and work. I learned a lot today as to how to keep my students engaged and some ideas of how I would present mixtures and solutions if I were to ever teach a fifth grade science class.