Bailie Kroll- Science Methods

     Week 13: Climate in Iowa Learning in Lab : This week in lab we continued our discussion over climate change and the immediate implications that it will bring within the next decade. We started our section by discussing the pedagogical approach of coupled inquiry and how it benefits student learning. We were presented with data from Iowa statewide testing scores that show the students who used inquiry-based learning performed better than their peers who experienced a traditional style of instruction. Then, we practiced this idea of couple inquiry through investigating how climate change is affecting those right here in Iowa. My group worked with five different articles along with a series of graphs to develop a claim. It was interesting to see how climate change is affecting Americans, the CDC reported that over 600 people died weather related deaths last year. Iowa is also experiencing changes in climate such as a few number of snowy Decembers, higher rates of precip...

    Week 12: Climate Change Learning in Lab : This week in lab we started learning about climate and weather and how that is impacting our Earth. We started by discussing the documentary we watched, "Before the Flood." This was an interesting documentary since it covers many aspects of the world that are contributing to climate change and why there needs to be an adjustment in our everyday lives to save the Earth. Then, we looked at NASA images of how different parts of the world have been affected by fossil fuels, flooding, natural disasters, etc. I looked at how the durecho impacted crops in Iowa, the images were astonishing at how many crops across the state were affected that year. We then moved onto looking at precipitation fluctuations across the state of Iowa from the 1890's until now. We looked at the Southeast region of Iowa and found a 5.8% increase in precipitation over the past couple centuries. Finally, we researched how the change in temperature and rainfall...

       Week 11: Erosion Learning in Lab : This week in lab we discovered more about weathering and erosion through a sand experiment. We started by talking about the Law of Superposition and how scientists tell which fossils or rocks have been there the longest. The Law of Superposition says that sedimentary rocks form layers that become buried under more layers over time, and the layers towards the top are younger than the layers below. Then, we moved onto our discover of sand and determining how they were made through water, wind, or glaciers. Sand created through water is polished, smooth, and generally similar in size. Sand created through glaciers is polished, smooth, and irregular in size. Lastly, sand created through wind is opaque, frosted, pitted, and very finely grained. Through our investigation, we found that a majority of the sand that we observed came from water, and only 1 was created by wind, and 1 was created by a glacier. I thought it was interestin...

      Week 10: Rock Cycle Learning in Lab : This week in lab we looked closer at what constitutes as a rock and how the three different rock types are created. We started with a formative assessment where we were given a list of items and had to determine if they were considered a rock, and why we thought that. After completing the assessment, we learned that a rock is naturally made, therefore items like a gravestone or marble statue are not considered rocks since they were make by humans. Limestone, cooled lava, and sediments are considered rocks because they are made through natural processes. We then experimented with the rock cycle by creating the three different types of rock, sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. Sedimentary is when materials are cemented and tightly packed together. We created this by cheese grating three different colors of starburst, then compacting them together into a little ball to represent the small minerals combined together. For our igne...

     Week 9: Earth's Timeline Learning in Lab : This week during lab we looked at the timeline of significant events that happened throughout Earth's existence. We started by hypothesizing five events, creation of the moon, dinosaurs roaming the Earth, first land plants, first land animals, human existence. We placed our hypothesis on the scaled timeline of Earth's existence to launch our lesson for the day. Then, each table was given a time period to look at significant events from Earth's beginning to today. I learned that 4.65 billion years ago Earth was formed and it was not until 4.3 billion years ago that the first water evidence existed. 4 BYA, was the Archean Eon, or the formation of Earth's crust. 3.5 BYA, microorganisms formed and then 2.5 BYA oxidation of the Earth began. 2.25 BYA the Ice Age occurred and Earth became a snow ball. 1.5 BYA land started to come together and 900 million years ago, Pangea, the super continent, formed. 750 MYA glaciers formed ...

    Week 8: Timeline of Our Universe Learning in Lab : This week during lab we listened to six different presentations that cover the timeline of our universe. We started with the origin of the universe, which was my presentation, and we described that our universe was created at one single point called the Big Bang. During the Big Bang, Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation was left behind and protons and electrons combined to from hydrogen atoms. We understand today that space is continuously expanding. Then, we learned about the lifecycle of stars as they go from a nebula to a protostar, to the main sequence and transition into either a high mass or low mass star. Our sun is considered a low mass star. The more mass something has, the greater gravitational pull they have. Then, we learned about galaxies and how there are billions of galaxies out in space. Galaxies have several different shapes such as spiral, elliptical, and irregular. Our galaxy is spiral and our sun is pl...