NikBrink+Journal+4

This week in the fifth grade class I observe, the students were given an assessment on lesson 1 of their levers and pulleys science kit. The students have been experimenting with their levers and pulleys by putting a weight on a given mark on their ruler and by moving their scale to various places on the other side of the ruler to measure in Newton’s how much effort was used to balance out the weight. The students have been recording their data and converting it into Newton’s. To assess their understanding of what they have been doing they were asked to draw a graph and to plot the Newton’s on the Y axis and the mark on the ruler where they had the scale (5,10,15,20 etc.) on the X axis. The teacher then gave them a questionnaire sheet asking them to estimate how much effort would be needed if the scale was placed at 2.5, 7.7, 12.5, and 17.5, and they were asked to explain how they came up with their answers. I think that this was a good way to assess the students because they had to use what they have been learning, graph it, and then apply their knowledge about the weight, effort and Newton’s to figure out where hypothetic points would be placed and how much effort would be needed for each given point. The students were able to work with their partners to figure out their answers and could ask for help from either me or the teacher if they needed it. Most of the students seemed able to do it on their own and truly understood how the pulleys worked!