Lesson Plan Title: Periodic Family Cartoons. (3 Days)
Based on 7 period day (60 minutes per period).
Concept/Topic to Teach: Using the periodic table of elements to determine basic
information and trends about the nine families of elements. Using the periodic
table as tool in science.
Standards Addressed: AL 8th grade COSS # 3: A.)Locating metals, nonmetals,
metalloids, and noble gases on the periodic table. B.) Using data about the
number of electrons in the outer shell of an atom to determine its reactivity.
TE # 11: Use digital tools and strategies to locate, collect, organize, evaluate, and
synthesize information.
TE # 12: Use digital tools to communicate and collaborate at all levels from
interpersonal to global.
Specific Objectives: The students will demonstrate comprehension of trends
within the families of the periodic table with the production of an online Toondo
comic strip and accompanying student worksheet/report that reinforces all
classroom presentations.
Required Materials: Computer and internet access
An account on toondo.com
Borgford, C. (2005). Physical Science. Austin, TX: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston.
Any online, interactive periodic table such as :
www.ptable.com
www.webelements.com
PowerPoint notes similar to those on Science Spot website.
http://www.sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html#Anchor4).
See Support Documents.
Students need twitter accounts or access to my personal
blog.
Anticipatory Set (Lead-In): Begin day 1 by having the students flip through
various different comic books from the library to get an idea about what
is in store for the assignment. Then begin directing the students to the
toondo.com website to have them create an account and become
acquainted with the website and tools used to build the comics. While
the students are busy building the comics discuss various topics with
them such as trends on the periodic table and why they occur. Ask
students specific questions about certain chemical compounds and how
they are put together and see what the reasoning is behind the
compound. Ex) Why do sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) form salt? Finally
have students create their likenesses on the website and name their
pictures after specific elements within the periodic family that has been
assigned to their group. (Nick = Neon, Sally = Krypton)
Step-By-Step Procedures for Teaching the Lesson: Day 1 – Students will begin
class by being shown several different examples of comic books to get
an idea about images and storylines they may use to create their own
original cartoons. Then they will be given 8-10 note slides on
powerpoint similar to those found on Science Spot website, as a way of
introducing the material.
(http://www.sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html#Anchor4). Then
students will proceed to the computer lab if adequate laptop computers
are not available for every student (1:1 classrooms). Once in the
computer lab students will be given their assigned family of elements
and grouped together according to mixed ability levels. They will then
be directed to www.toondo.com to begin creating an account and
perusing the site. After watching me present the basic components for
building a simple cartoon on the smartboart, students will begin to
research and work on their projects.
Day 2- Students will report directly to the computer lab to begin working
on their cartoon presentations. While working I will walk around the
room and provide assistance while randomly choosing students to
answer basic questions about the element families they have been
assigned. Questions could include: “What is elements make up your
family?” , “How many valence electrons does each member of your
family have?”, “Does your family consist of mostly metals, nonmetals, or
metalloids?”, and other basic questions of about their assigned element
families that they should know from the beginning of their research.
Students may also choose to use twitter to submit questions directly to
me during lab time or after school while working at home. Students
groups will be responsible for creating an avatar for each member of
their group. If they do not have enough members to equal each
element in their assigned group then they will create an avatar for the
remaining elements. Each cartoon should have as many characters as
there are elements in the assigned periodic family. After creating their
avatars, each group will produce a cartoon strip consisting of at least 3
slides that outlines such information as the reactivity of the family, the
valence electrons of the family, the composition of the elements within
the family, the family name, and any other unique family trends.
Day – 3 After completing their projects and presenting them to the class,
students will be able to answer the questions in the student worksheet
in the support documents. Information from the presentations could be
asked again on a summative test at the end of the semester or unit.
.
Guided Practice/Monitoring:
o
o
o
INPUT – Carefully walk students through an example for creating their avatar. Then
walk the students through the basic functions needed to produce their cartoon.
Students will work along as I create basic cartoons on the smartboard.
Modeling –Student groups will work on their cartoons in class and periodically have to
answer questions concerning certain trends within their family of elements. All
troubleshooting and problems will be answered for the entire class using the
smartboard as a guide.
Check for understanding - Upon submission of their projects students will be required
to complete with 80% accuracy the closure questions/report included in the support
documents.
Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set): Students will be asked to compare
their comic strips to those viewed a couple days earlier to determine if
they used the same types of animations and organization. Also students
will be asked to reflect on other students presentations to analyze if the
trends in those families resemble the trends found in the family they
researched and presented.
Assessment Based on Objectives: The students will demonstrate comprehension
of trends within the families of the periodic table with the production of
an online Toondo comic strip and accompanying student
worksheet/report that reinforces all classroom presentations with 80%
accuracy.
Adaptations (For Students With Special Needs): Tim, Jessie, and Olivia are three
visually impaired students that will complete the assignment using the
aid of a peer helper and paraprofessional to describe the options &
characterizations being created on their computer screens. The
students will also use an application such as screen readers and screen
magnification software to help them see the options on screen. All
instructions and handouts will be converted to Braille if needed and
assessment will be auditorily by myself and the paraprofessional.
Extensions (For Advanced Students): Advanced student classes or groups will be
asked to take the idea and project further and create a comic book,
rather than a 3-4 slide strip. Their presentations should include any and
all information relevant to the topic and two connections their element
or family of elements has to other sciences.
Possible Connections to Other Subjects: Digital Imagery, Computer Animation
and software or gaming programming.
Reflection: I believe this lesson was very invigorating and fun for the students.
Those students that have more of an artistic side did well on the project as they
could easily visualize the flow of the cartoon. I would like to be able to carry this
assignment a step further and create entire books that the students might could
pass out on a parent teacher night activity or during some other type of assembly
to show as evidence of student work and progress. This assignment might also
work well as an individual assignment where each student is assigned an
individual element on which to create a cartoon strip, as was the case in the
source from which I retrieved the idea.
(These reflections are simple conjecture, as I have never previously done this
activity. I am planning on attempting this lesson when I reach this part of my
continuum. )
Works Cited: Original Idea courtesy of
Caffee. N. Elemental Toons . Retireved from
http://alex.state.al.us/la_searchresults.php#.UHIlF65KUlo. (10/1/2012).