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_ 3_4_2015
When uploading to the hub, use the title: Teacher Reflection: YourName, Activity, Term
Example:
Teacher Reflection: Capobianco, Drink Pouch, Fall 2013
Teacher Name: Ruthi krynak
School: Klondike Elementary School
Grade: 4
Date: March 4, 2015
PART I:
Day
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Overview of your SLED lesson(s):
Brief description of lesson activities you enacted
each day over the course of the SLED design task
 Discuss Focus Questions- How does the
earth’s surface change?
 Billy Blue Hair – “What is Erosion?” Be
cautious to distinguish the difference between
weathering and erosion. Review purpose for
containing erosion. Simple demonstration
about how pollutants and soil move into our
waterways.
 Stations about erosions two different types of
material
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Fusion Virtual Lesson Rocks on the Move
Inquiry Activity about testing the erodability
of Earth material on a sloping surface
Draw representation of Sand/soil particles
Record Predictions Stability of Sand/Soil
Inquiry – Sand and Clay Particles (2 Liter
Bottles)
Collect and record results on Table
What do you think your students
learned each day
The students learned the difference
between weathering and erosion. We had
done experiments prior that demonstrated
how large rock (a glass jar) could be
broken into smaller pieces in weathering,
and how rocks rubbing against each other
could also break large rocks into smaller
ones.
Erosion involves moving pieces of the
earth’s surface to a different location,
Students got to see first-hand how sand
and rock move with the force of wind,
wave, water, and gravity.
Students learned that rocks move. There
are forces that can move pieces of
weathered rocks. Some particles move
more easily, such as sand.
The students recognized that the shape of
sand is more uniform, therefore it has
fewer edges to catch on, and will erode
more easily that clay or soil.
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Slope and the effects of Gravity ----Fusion
lesson (Book)
Demonstrate/inquiry how slope affects soil
erosion. Create 2 different slopes and compare
how much earth material moves with the water
poured over it.
Compare runoff---water and particles.
Students drew the results in their design
notebooks.
Introduction of the Design Challenge
Demonstrate the properties of the materials that
will be offered for constructing
Introduce Design Task Designing a Canal
Literature connection Canals
Reintroduce and manipulate materials
available for use and the review the purpose
for their use. Review how the canal testing
will proceed and how success will be judged
Sketch Individual designs.
Meet with team to share sketches. Each
member will speak about why their design
would be successful.
Group design: Students will make a decision about
which design to build. They will need to compromise,
use the best part of each plan to meet the criteria for a
successful canal design.
Students will each draw the group design into their
design notebooks. Labels, measurements, and flow of
water should be indicated in the design.
They will create a list of materials.
Students learned that the steeper the slope,
the greater the effect of erosion on the
earth materials, i.e. more sand and water
moved or shifted from the original
positions.
Students noted that cotton balls absorbed
water but let very little sand through. The
screen and cheese cloth allowed water to
pass through and were somewhat
ineffective unless they rolled or folded the
material to make these materials less
permeable. Students noted that popsicle
sticks and fuzzy sticks affected the speed
and direction that water and sand flowed.
Students learned that Canals are important
in Indiana’s history. They are useful for
carrying or moving both water and floating
objects like boats.
Students learned that canals are difficult to
draw, and that it is difficult to convey what
they want to do in just one perspective of
their plan. This was one time when I felt
the students felt the NEED for 2
perspectives in their design work.
Students worked with different people on a
team. Students came to a consensus about
which plan to choose, or which parts each
member’s plan to combine to make the
best canal erosion plan.
Students had more experience drawing a
detailed diagram and made a list of needed
materials.
Begin building the team prototype
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Complete team prototypes. Students will make their
designs exactly like the group sketch. Any design
change will be noted in red on the sketch.
Test prototypes –
Redesign with team –
Students learned to work together to
complete their canals. A few groups
became aware that their design was a bit
ambiguous, and they were not sure what
they meant, so they had to go back and
agree before they could move on. OUCH
3
Retest
Reflection
Testing was great. Students learned that
all of the group designs would withstand
the same flow of water being spread over
their design. Most groups were mostly
successful, but they all had ideas about
what they wanted to change in designs. I
was extremely pleased with the evident
knowledge they shared about erosion. And
their design process through their written
reflections.
Please answer the questions below:
1. What worked well?
The many hands-on activities prepared the students for working with the canal materials.
Introducing erosion with a few experiments Using different slopes and materials enabled the
students to use scientific terms to describe the process of erosion. Allowing the students to
manipulate the possible materials to build their canals with helped them understand the
properties each material afforded, and make selecting effective designs. . This front-loading of
content knowledge was necessary with the challenging design task. After an opportunity to
build, taking a “step back” to discuss drawing a design by first thinking about ways/materials
that allowed the water to flow, but held the sand back helped students come up with design ideas
that worked. All were successful, but two were highly successful
I was very pleased with this particular design activity, and have been very proud of how my
colleagues and I have implemented SLED activities so far. We created a trough that students
could simple lay their canals in, and every canal’s water and sand loss could be easily measured.
2. What are two ways you can improve your efforts toward integrating design?
Making the conscious effort to connect these wonderful design tasks
My students and I use the design process terminology throughout each design
experience, and they even make connections to this process in other content areas – for
example, in chapter books they read in the classroom. They have been very excited to find
references to the engineering design process – for example, in Indiana History, canals were
used as a means of transportation, and they were designed to transport the heavy and
bulky crops to market, and people to other locations faster and cheaper and more efficient
than other technology at the time.
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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 is a picture of a canal design that was very successful at letting
water pass through the canal, and keeping the sand from eroding down
and out the canal. The students very purposefully chose their
materials, had reasonable explanations about how they placed them.
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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 design sketch shows that she did not grasp the concept of using the materials to slow
erosion of the sand from the sides and bottom of the canal.
The thought process was not
evident in design. The students could not verbalize how the design would actually work, so I
was not surprised that the materials they chose, and the way they placed them in their design was
not effective. The amount of sand that escaped their canal was 3 times as great as the most
successful design.
This student struggled with drawing a working circuit that incorporated the door in a
meaningful way. While parts are labeled, it does not accurately show the wires attached to the
battery and the buzzer. In working with her group, this student gained a much better
understanding of the goal of the task. After two days of manipulating the materials, this student
was able to collaboratively build a working door alarm, and her later drawing reflected a more
plausible design. She continued to struggle with a clear and accurate drawing of such a design. I
am pleased with the time I spent allowing the students to build multiple designs, as it really
helped them feel successful and create working alarms.
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PART II:
Reflection #3
Describe one thing you enjoyed about instructing this SLED task.
During the Design a Canal Unit, I really enjoyed working with the stream tables to watch
the erosion process. We used some simple experiments in order to strengthen the language of
the unit so that the students were all able to discuss the process of erosion. The canals were very
fun for the students to consider. We simplified the actual task by making all of the bases for the
canals from the same sand paper, folded the same way, and placed into a preformed stream table.
This made all of the canals have similar slopes, so the variables were lessened, and the task
became more about materials chosen and how they were used.
I loved being able to have a task for students to measure the runoff and to discern how
erosion can be impeded.
Describe one thing in your practice you would improve upon next time you implement this
engineering design task or another SLED design task.
One idea that I think would make this canal design task more meaningful for my students
is if I would have had one canal that was the same shape, same amount of sand, at the same
slope, but had no erosion control mechanisms added. Then when the water was drizzled over the
canal in the same way, the amount of water and sand that ran off could be used as a control, and
the ones that the students constructed could be compared against this one. The results could be
dramatic, because most of the designed canals actually worked fairly well (except for one) and
then they would feel even more confident in the selection and placement of their materials.