Kill - A - What? DNA?

Christmas Lights & Kill-A-Watt Device

Kilowatts and strawberry DNA extraction! One of our tasks as Student Teachers this semester is to observe a lesson in a science classroom. So I ventured beyond the Ag Department at Cumberland Valley over to Mrs. Pyers AP Environmental Science laboratory where they were in the middle of their unit on energy. This period, the class was engaging in an energy usage lab using the Kill-A-Watt device to measure the amount of electricity various household electric appliances use. 

Observing this lab allowed me to see how another teacher manages a lab space. As the students worked in pairs to collect data from each station, Mrs. Pyers answers clarifying questions and connected student interest to life outside of the classroom. As the lab progressed, students began to make think about how to be more responsible with the items they leave plugged in at home for energy conservation and safety. Mrs. Pyers deployed inquiry based instruction to get her students involved in their learning and it was fun watching their learning process in this lab.

Strawberry DNA Extraction Materials

After the conclusion of this period, Mrs. Pyers invited me to attend the strawberry DNA extraction lab in her Biology class. Upon the start of the class, Mrs. Pyers got to work overviewing the purpose of the lab. She explained that while DNA is microscopic, this lab would allow the students to coagulate the DNA and see it clumped together at the end of the experiment. After presenting some tips on procedures and clean up, demonstrating how to pour materials, and answering a few clarifying questions, the class got to work mashing up their berries and making their extraction mixtures. Strawberry DNA extraction is a personal favorite of mine, however watching Mrs. Pyers teach this lesson gave me a new appreciation for it. By expanding on the science behind what the students were seeing, I learned that the bridge between theory and experiments can be built not only with context before class starts, but also simple comments while the students are asking questions and making observations. 

Mrs. Pyers had a knack for focusing student attention by connecting content to life outside of class, a feat I am still working to tackle as a young educator. I found that this technique also helped the students to connect their own interests to the content, especially in the Kill-A-Watt lab where students asked questions about electricity in their own homes. Mrs. Pyers exhibited clarity and enthusiasm in this way, enjoying what she could do to help students apply their learning to the real world. Observing Mrs. Pyers also helped me to see that even experienced teachers embrace learning. While she mentioned the Kill-A-Watt lab was new to her, she did an excellent job of keeping the students focused on learning and engaged in the stations. Overall, I enjoyed learning more about lab management from Mrs. Pyers and am so thankful she allowed me into her classroom to learn from her!

"Taylor"ed with love,