The Soil Type Lesson was age appropriate and fun overall, but I struggle with timing and classroom management issues.
The Exploration Phase asks students to experiment with three soil types: sand, silt, and clay by pouring water through flasks of each soil type. Following that experiment, students are asked to combine certain types in creating a soil that is unique. Many groups misunderstood the directions and combined the water and soil together. This created a huge mess and many of the students missed the concept altogether. When I use this lesson in the future, I will separate the Exploration Phase into two parts.
The Concept Introduction Phases took a considerable amount of time. Students were actively engaged, however the discussion turned into a lecture on soil particles as many did not have the appropriate background knowledge in this area. Although it was well received and fun, it took approximately sixty minutes; a lot longer than I had anticipated.
The Application Phase was engaging and fun. The only downside to this phase was that the students only took ten minutes with their soil samples before they were finished with the activity. In the future, I will incorporate additional follow up questions.
Overall I think this lesson went well. In the future I will make the necessary adjustments with time and activities to create a better balance throughout the lesson.