SLED TEACHER REFLECTION HUB SUBMISSION
There are three parts to this reflection submission. The first part requires a brief description of
your instructional activities over the course of a SLED design task. The second part includes
your reflection on a student who performed well and your reflection on a student who performed
unsatisfactorily. The last section includes your response to two short questions.
Save your file as: Reflection_YourName_YourSchool_YourGrade_Date
Example:
Reflection_Capobianco_Purdue_Grade4_11-15-14
When uploading to the hub, use the title: Teacher Reflection: Your Name, Activity, Term
Example:
Teacher Reflection: Capobianco, Save the Wolf, Fall 2014
Teacher Name: Arielle Mucha
School: Klondike Elementary School
Grade: 4th
Design Task: Erosion Canal
Date: 3/4/2015
PART I:
Day
1&
2
3, 4,
5
Overview of your SLED lesson(s):
Brief description of lesson activities you enacted
each day over the course of the SLED design task
How does the earth change? What do we notice?
Weathering and Erosion Intro
Fusion textbook – definition of each and picture
examples
Erosion Inquiry Stations –
1) Bill Nye Erosion video
2) Wind – sand in tubs with straws to blow
3) Slope (gravity) – binders with sand and rock
on top, weighing amount of material dumped
at each increase in height of slope
4) Water (and slope) – stream table, effect of
various slopes on speed of water and amount
of sand eroded
*Inquiry about glaciers (ice) moving and depositing
sediment – two frozen Styrofoam cups of water, one
only ice and one with sand on the bottom – notice
different effects on the soil
What do you think your
students learned each day
Difference between weathering
and erosion
Sediment, deposition definitions
Effect of slope on eroded
material and speed of water
Forces of erosion and how it
changes earth’s surface
Shape of sand is more uniform
and round, more fluid and easy
to move – clay has variety of
shapes and edges, catches on
each other
2
5
6
7
*Inquiry between sand and clay particles with shape
blocks and small round rocks binder (whole group)
Literature connection – book titled, Canals – to
develop background of canals and their purpose
Introduce design task (identify client, end user,
problem, goal) and materials and plan individual
designs
Team design sketching – labeling and materials
Purpose of canals
Sketching and labeling to
communicate ideas
Sketching and labeling to
communicate ideas
Folding sand paper- measuring and making folds as a
whole class
8
9
10
Building team designs
Test team designs
Reflection – what did you observe? What could you
improve?
Erosion control techniques and materials in the real
world (YouTube video example)
Redesign – What would you use if you could use any
materials? (Real-world inspired)
Collaboration
Erosion control techniques in
the real-world
Please answer the questions below:
1. What worked well?
Students have a much better understand of what a canal is, what erosion is and what it
means to try and control erosion because of this design activity. The materials and set-up
simulated a canals purpose and offered students a hands-on experience involving eroded
material. It was easy for them to compare the amounts of eroded sand in the graduated cylinders
from each group, as well as they amount of water the canal allowed to flow through. There were
too many variables that could factor into this design task, so limiting those was useful. We used
only one slope and kept the canal measurements uniform – therefore testing the effectiveness of
the materials and set up of their erosion control mechanisms. Lessening the number of variables
kept the task more manageable for my students.
2. What are two ways you can improve your efforts toward integrating design?
For this specific activity, integrating this canal erosion control task with a study of canals
and their use in Indiana and throughout Indiana’s history would make it even more valuable for
fourth grade students. This would be an interesting way to delve more into an aspect of Indiana’s
history while considering the design process in a different setting.
This year several students have made comments indicating they would like to design
something to solve a particular need in our classroom. Opportunities to design or even build
these potential solutions will help students in applying the design process and build interest in
future possibilities. One student was curious to find a way to design a pen that would work with
IPad’s screen so we didn’t need to purchase one. I would like to encourage this mentality and
interest even more.
3
PART II:
Reflection#1 on student performance:
Include an image of work from one student who you thought performed well on the task. Insert
the image here within the Word document. This image may be a copy of the student’s notebook
entry(s) or an image of the team’s artifact or an actual picture of the student at work.
In the space below describe what the image(s) is about and why you would explain or
characterize the student’s performance as mastery or excellent.
This team’s design shows an understanding that erosion must be controlled on the sides
and bottom, and not simply by creating fence at one end to stop any sand from flowing out. They
also asked about being able to place the screen on top of the sand (which we did not change at
this point in time, but will offer the option next year). They were able to allow plenty of water
and minimal sand to move through the canal through their choice and placement of materials.
They wanted to find a way to simulate roots helping to hold some sand as well, which is
evidence in the middle of their canal. Their design shows and understanding and thought about
how to make their control technique realistic.
4
Reflection#2 on student performance:
Include an image of work from one student who you thought did not perform as well
(unsatisfactory) on the task. Insert the image here within the Word document. This image may
be a copy of the student’s notebook entry(s) or an image of the team’s artifact or an actual
picture of the student at work.
In the space below describe what the image is about and why you would explain or
characterize the student’s performance as unsatisfactory.
This team’s design used only a fence technique in an attempt to control erosion. They
created steep sides and did not account for a way to prevent erosion from the sides of the canal.
The fence became clogged and very little water was able to move through – eventually a lot of
sand made it into the graduated cylinder as well. Upon reflection, students indicated that they
would need a way to help with erosion along the length of the canal and not just at one end.
5
PART II:
Reflection #3
Describe one thing you enjoyed about instructing this SLED task.
Students were immediately hooked in this study of erosion and the following design task
because of the materials and stream tables. Modeling these real-world concepts in the classroom
really made canals and erosion control accessible topics for students. They were eager to interact
with all these “messy” materials, throughout inquiry and design. Being able to model and
demonstrate concepts related to weather, slope, and erosion with sand, soil, and rock made for a
more concrete learning experience. Students were able to see all the variables associated with
changes to earth’s surface. They were genuinely excited to read about these concepts because
they knew we would have a chance to model them and use the knowledge in a design task.
Describe one thing in your practice you would improve upon next time you implement this
engineering design task or another SLED design task.
The effects of these student-designed erosion control mechanisms might be more
dramatic had there been a control. I would have a canal with only sand (no control mechanism)
and run the water over it. We would collect that material in a graduated cylinder and be able to
compare each group’s success to this control group.