Lesson Study

Pn Long Kwai Ling using high order questioning techniques to help students to think critically and to draw inferences from the guided result table.

Pn Lee Bee Swan guiding the students to explore and gather information/data from the activity/experiment.

Fun, meaningful and collaborative learning

Cik Lee See Mee enquiring about the students’ results and using question techniques to encourage students to think critically.

Learning was active, fun and effective. Students interest in the learning objective is arroused

Biology specialist and knowledgeable others

I am inspired and energized by Lesson study. Lesson study helps in professional development. In lesson study, teachers collaborate, share our knowledge, co-plan, observe, critique the lesson, discuss professionally and redesign lesson plans to make their goals for student learning effective and fun. It significantly helps to improve teaching and learning in the classroom. In fact, lesson study makes me think, restructure and reorganize my thoughts about classroom practices. It ensures that classroom practices are improved collaboratively so that learning is fun and effective.

Currently, the National Standardized Public exams are going to be kept at a minimum to discourage exam centric learning and tuition culture. Lesson study in schools will help to turn the Malaysian education culture to a system that is more innovative and creative. There will be less questions testing simple factual recall, which promotes rote learning of superficial knowledge. Instead, questions that require justification of answers or problem solving to foster higher order thinking skills will be implemented. Students will be given more projects where they are graded for original thought, collaborative work and presentation skills. These are the abilities needed in the K-economy where wealth is generated by creating new knowledge, not regurgitating old knowledge. With this change in educational culture, Malaysian will be able to compete in an innovation-led economy as they will be well prepared to think out of the box and be actively encouraged to gather knowledge.

“Quote: “If Malaysia is to compete in an innovation-led economy, our education system will

have to be drastically changed as we need to think out of the box.”

The Star, Sunday 29^th April 2012

Assoc Prof DR William K. Lim

Faculty of medicine and Health Sciences,

University Malaysia Sarawak, Kuching

Concepts in Biochemistry - Interactive Animations

Concepts in Biochemistry - Interactive Animations

Investigation Project Discovery

 Investigation Project: Complex

Title: Stain Removal Project

               

Testable Question: Which is the best cleaning agent for removing stains?

What I changed (Independent variable): cleaning agents

What stayed the same (Controlled Variables): kind of fabric, type of stain, washing procedure

What I measured: (Dependent variables): the visibility of the stain after washing

Research:

I started my research by talking to mummy who is a teacher. She said that besides using commercial products, household items such as vinegar and baking soda also make good cleaning products. She also warned me never to mix vinegar with products containing ammonia as this could produce harmful vapors!

 Hypothesis:

Vinegar and baking soda mixed together are best for removing stains from cotton fabric.

Why I think so:

I think this because the carbonic acid that results from mixing the two substances together probably breaks down stains.

Materials

       

Mustard

Blueberry syrup

Ketchup

Prune juice

Water

Vinegar

Baking soda

Commercial pre-stain treatment

Commercial laundry detergent

Q-tips

Watch/timer

Plastic cups for washing fabric swatches

100% cotton fabric swatches (approximately 3 inch squares)

Permanent marker for labeling

Procedure:

1. Cut at least 28 pieces of 100% cotton fabric into approximately 3 inch squares.

2. Use a permanent marker to label each of the fabric pieces using all of the combinations of stain and detergent mixture. (stains= ketchup, mustard, blueberry syrup, prune juice; detergent mixtures=water, vinegar, vinegar and baking soda, commercial pre-treatment, commercial laundry detergent, vinegar and baking soda paste +laundry detergent, commercial pre-treatment + laundry detergent.

3. Place a stain on each sample according to the labels.

       

        W=water (50mL)

         V=vinegar (50mL)

   V+bs=vinegar +baking soda solution (30mL vinegar/20mL baking soda)

    pst+w=commercial pre-stain treatment +water

    (20mL commercial pre-stain treatment +30mLwater)

     ld=laundry detergent +water (20mL laundry detergent+30mL water)

      vbp+ld=vinegar, baking soda paste + laundry detergent

      (10mLvinegar+40mL baking soda)+(20mL laundry detergent +30mL water)

      cpst+ld= commercial pre-stain treatment + laundry detergent

      (20mL commercial pre-stain treatment +30mLwater) + (20mL laundry detergent+30mL water)

1.    Place each sample in the detergent mixture and scrub for 2 minutes.

2.    Remove excess liquid and compare the samples when they are dry. 

Data Table:

Stain Removal Effectiveness Scale:

5= highly effective (stain gone) 4=slightly visible 3= faded 2=no change 1=worse Stain Removal Data
Mustard		Blueberry	Ketchup		Prune Juice
Water	1	3		2	4
Vinegar	3	3		2	4
Commercial laundry detergent	4	5		3	5
Vinegar and Baking soda solution	1	2		2	3
Commercial Pre-stain treatment with water	4	5		3	5
Pre-stain vinegar and baking soda paste and commercial laundry detergent	5	5		4	5
Commercial Pre-stain treatment with Commercial Laundry Detergent	4	5		5	5

Qualitative Observations:

In most every example, the stain got at least a little bit lighter. However, some stains actually got worse when put in the different solutions. For example, the mustard stain actually got darker gold when put in vinegar and baking soda solution. The blueberry syrup stain turned green and brown when put in the vinegar and baking soda solution.

on Stain Removal Effectiveness Scale*
Water	2.5
Vinegar	3.0
Commercial laundry detergent	4.25
Vinegar and Baking soda solution	2.0
Commercial Pre-stain treatment with water	4.25
Pre-stain vinegar and baking soda paste and commercial laundry detergent	4.75
Commercial Pre-stain treatment with Commercial Laundry Detergent	4.75

Results/Conclusions:

The results show that the best way to remove stains is to use either a combination of vinegar and baking soda paste + commercial laundry detergent or to use a combination of commercial pre-stain treatment + laundry detergent. Both of these treatments scored a mean average of 4.75 on the effectiveness scale (5 being the most effective).

My hypothesis was only partly accurate. I thought that just washing the stain in a vinegar and baking soda solution would be enough to remove the stain. What I found was that using more baking soda to make vinegar and baking soda paste then combining it with laundry detergent was the best way to remove most stains. This even worked better than using the laundry detergent alone or the commercial pre-stain treatment alone.

Since the commercial pre-stain treatment combined with laundry detergent did not appear to remove stains any more effectively than the homemade vinegar and baking soda paste + laundry detergent, I would recommend people purchase baking soda and vinegar since it is the cheaper and more eco friendly product.

Scientific Investigation Discovery

Investigation Project

Title: Keep it Cool

               

Testable Question: Which is the best insulator for keeping ice cold?

What I changed (Independent variable): The insulators (aluminum foil, Styrofoam, commercial plastic insulator, and no treatment)

What stayed the same (Controlled Variables): initial amount of ice, containers, time, location of the containers

What I measured: (Dependent variables): how much water melted from the ice over time

Research:

I started by looking up insulators in a book at my house. The book was called How Science Works by Judith Hann published by Reader’s Digest 1991. The book said that materials that trap air like polystyrene and wool are good insulators. Metals like aluminum are good at conducting heat. A thermos is good at keeping things cold because it cuts down on the passage of heat in all possible ways. Inside a thermos is a flask with a double wall of glass or plastic with a vacuum in between. The vacuum is good for stopping heat from passing through it.

I wasn’t sure if a book published in 1991 had the latest information about my topic, so I searched the internet to see if other current scientists still agree. After searching the internet, I found that polystyrene or Styrofoam is still good at keeping things cold. Finally, I asked the manager at the local convenience store. He said that Styrofoam coolers are one of his most popular products.

Hypothesis:

Styrofoam is the best insulator for preventing ice from melting.

Why I think so: I think this because my research says that polystyrene traps air and Styrofoam coolers are a very popular cooler to purchase.

Testable Question	What is tested (independent variable)	What says the same (controlled variables)	Data Collected (dependent variable)
Which is the best insulator for keeping ice cold?	The insulators (aluminum foil, Styrofoam, commercial plastic insulator, and no treatment)	initial amount of ice, containers, time	how much water melted from the ice over time

Materials:

               

Styrofoam

Aluminum foil

Plastic commercial product (drink cozy)

Ice 300g

Clock/timer

4 transparent plastic cups with lids

Clay

Scale for determining mass

Measuring tool for mL

Time: 1 day

Procedure:

               

1. Place 75 grams of ice into each of 4 identical transparent plastic cups. Cover with lid. Cover the opening where the straw hole is with clay to make it airtight.

2. Insulate 3 of the cups with either aluminum foil, Styrofoam, or a plastic commercial insulator. Do not put any insulation on one of the cups.

3. Wait one hour. Remove the clay and pour the water from the cup. Measure the amount of water in each cup. Compare the amounts of water.

4. Measure and compare again every hour for 5 hours. Observe the ice and make qualitative observations as well.

Data:

The chart below shows how much water I collected after each hour. Amount of Melted Water Collected Over Time in mL
Type of insulator	After 1 hour	After 2 hours	After 3 hours	After 4 hours	After 5 hours
Aluminum foil	5mL	20mL	15 mL	12mL	10mL
Plastic	10mL	20mL	18mL	12mL	15mL
styrofoam	10mL	20mL	11mL	15mL	10mL
none	15mL	20mL	20mL	20mL	--

Qualitative notes: As the ice cubes began to melt they stuck together. At the end of the 5 hours, there clearly was a bigger piece of ice left in the aluminum foil covered cup than in any of the other cups

Results and Conclusion

The results did not confirm my original hypothesis. I thought that the Styrofoam would be the clear winner. Instead the container with the aluminum foil had the most ice left at the end of the test. The Styrofoam came in second place, followed by the plastic and the container with no insulation.

I wonder if my results had something to do with the procedure I used. The loose Styrofoam that I placed around one of the cups may have let in more air than the aluminum foil that covered the other container completely. If I had to do the experiment again, I would use a Styrofoam cup instead of the smaller pieces of Styrofoam.

Also, since the difference between the Styrofoam and the aluminum foil was not that much, there could have been a slight error in how much ice I measured at the beginning of the experiment. Maybe the styrofoam cup had slightly less grams of ice at the beginning of the investigation because some of the ice could have been accidentally dropped when moving it from the scale to inside the cup. Maybe the ice in one of the containers began melting together when I was measuring it at the beginning of the investigation and this affected the rate of melting more than if the ice cubes were still cold and separate at the beginning of the experiment. My best guess for the different results is that it might have taken me too long to measure the melted ice resulting in more air getting inside the Styrofoam container than in the aluminum foil container.

While the results of my investigation show that aluminum foil is best for keeping things cold, I am not confident that my original hypothesis is totally wrong. The small differences at the end of the investigation make me think that repeating the investigation would help draw a more firm conclusion.