DI: Potato Bubbles!!

In my class recently we have been discussing enzymes. 10th grade biology.
Due to my AR I found a new "inquiry version" of a normal lab I would usually do.
It is called potato bubbles. The directions are simple...
1) cut a 1cm3 of potato (don't tell them how it's hilarious to watch)
 2) mash it .... (Again don't tell them how WOW funny) and put contents in a plastic cup or beaker.
3) add 10 mL of hydrogen peroxide  and observe... Record  5 observations. Hint: "it FOAMS"
From those observations form 5 questions.
Then record 5 hypothesizes.
Then choose one to test against the control... (Whole?, boiled, more H2O2, boil H2O2... est)
As a class you can cover just about anything and everything!

Long story short(er)... Mashing the potato releases "catalase" an enzyme found inside potato cells. It's job is to break apart H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) that forms when water and oxygen come in contact. So essentially the reaction the students see is: H2O2--->H2O + O2 (cells get rid of it cuz it's toxic)

So they are seeing foam or bubbles or fizz because oxygen gas is released underwater!
They feel tricked and a tiny bit sad that "that's it" but they figure it out on their own! And more!!!

I'm starting to see how inquiry style really allows for DI at their own level and pace.
Some students moved on to the more intense catalase lab with liver vs potatoes but some didn't...
They just kept working with bubbles!! (Gas)

Read this and it spoke to me as conferences approach.
Was thinking about asking my middle school staffers to give me thier top 3 suggestions for parents
at conferences and giving it out as a handout. Too much? Student led or traditional? Always data...
"THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG
ED Pulse Poll Results: 
Which Type of Parent Support for the Common Core Would Be Most Useful? 
November 5, 2013 

ASCD continually seeks to provide solutions to the challenges that face educators of all levels. Recently theASCD SmartBrief ED Pulse poll sought to develop a short list of useful tasks for parents to implement in their daily routine to enhance what is being taught in the classroom.

In response to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), many different groups have created documents for parents, education experts, and others that provide clear, consistent expectations for what students should be learning at each grade. Of the seven tasks suggested in the ED Pulse poll, there were three that resonated with the ASCD SmartBrief readers who took the survey. They felt that students could be best supported in their transition to CCSS if parents did the following:

--Demand "evidence" in everyday discussions/disagreements 24%

--Know what the priority work is for your child for the grade level 23%

--Read nonfiction texts aloud or with the child 20%
Also noted:

--Ask your child to do the math that comes up in your daily life 11%

--Provide more challenging texts your child wants to read comfortably 11 %

--Be aware of what your child struggled w/ last year & how that will affect learning this yr 9%"

DI: Say Something Strategy

Recently I have been working closely with the 10th grade English teacher seeing if we can't get our students to do more thinking. It is true that they certainly read at different levels. She suggested that I try more "active reading strategies" and helped me create a SAY SOMETHING SHEET for science. It looks like a bingo board but with bigger squares. 6-9-12 depending on the ages of your students and how much you want them to say! In each box the students are asked to SAY SOMETHING about the text that they are reading or the video they are watching or the websites they are searching... I will give you some examples of what the squares could like like:

PREDICT something...
CLARIFY something...
ILLUSTRATE something...
DESCRIBE something...
MAKE a CONNECTION to something...
COMPARE something to something else...
QUESTION something...
CRITICIZE something...
EXPLAIN something...

If she doing in class reading... then during work (reading) time she will hold up a SAY SOMETHING sign and that will be a "jolt" for them to stop what they are doing and record in a square of their choice. They like to share what they have noticed with each other as well! Ideas, ideas, and more ideas!!