Third Grade’s Experiment Day

In mid-March all third grade classes at GIS participated in Experiment Day, conducted in conjunction with the IB transdisciplinary theme, “How the World Works."  The focus of the experiments was the impact of weather on living conditions. The experiments were designed to help students inquire deeper into how different types of weather phenomena are created in nature through scientific simulation, observation and experimentation.

To prepare, students first learned about the scientific method and terminology in their target language, German or Mandarin Chinese. They also conducted preliminary experiments in their classrooms to better acquaint themselves with scientific procedures. For example, German track students measured the qualities of cold air and hot air by capturing hot air in a balloon, while Chinese track students trapped gas vapor in a glass and in so doing, learned first-hand about the relationship between water, clouds, condensation and precipitation. 

On Experiment Day the third graders were given a packet in which to write down their hypotheses, record their observations, summarize the results, and engage in critical thinking skills. Students split into groups, and rotated to different stations around the room. Students applied their knowledge from the experiments to real-world situations, including understanding warm and cold fronts and ocean currents; the theory behind the utilization of salt as a winter de-icer; the importance of the angle of the sun to heating the earth; and conditions necessary to make clouds visible.

In the end, students learned about the scientific method in English and their target language before experiencing the scientific method first-hand during a fun-filled day of experimentation. They also made direct connections between the experimental models and real-life weather phenomena found in everyday surroundings. They used conceptual thinking to explore underlying questions about function, causation, and connection, and implemented various approaches to learning, including critical thinking skills, the transfer of knowledge from one context to another, and synthesis and interpretation. 

The students embodied multiple attributes of the IB Learner Profile in action: they were inquirers, thinkers, communicators, and reflective in their approach to the scientific method, and those characteristics shone through clearly!

Experiment Day was made possible with the help of parent volunteers, thank you! Our parent volunteers helped facilitate discussions, record findings and results, and they kept the students engaged and on-task during their scientific explorations. As always, parent volunteers are an integral part of the greater GIS learning community, and we wouldn’t have been able to hold the event without them.