Sunday, May 15, 2016

Artifact Bag

For the first time, I tried doing an Artifact Bag lesson. What is an Artifact Bag one asks?
 Much like a Mystery Bag, an Artifact Bag is designed to serve as a springboard for brainstorming ideas. Students then write down their ideas freestyle without editing them on their own notebook paper.  The Artifact Bag lesson can take several forms. 


For my lesson, I decided to fall back on my lesson on Ancient China. This lesson is part of the The Exploring the Scientific Method Unit. The goal of the unit is to introduce the Scientific Method to the students and allow them to apply the method in the classroom through experiments and inquiry.  I will introduce the final lesson by giving the students a mystery bag. Inside the bag will be 3-5 items related to science. The brown bag or box will remain closed. Based on the class size, I will have multiple mystery bags floating the room. Before I circulate the mystery bags, I will ask the class what have they learned up to this point. What do they know about the Scientific Method?
“Today boys and girls, we will become scientists once more. Inside these bags is a collection of mystery items. The bag is to remain sealed. I will pass the bags around the class. Each one is labelled a certain number. As you receive the bag, chart the number and note any characteristics of the item in the bag without opening it. Is it heavy? Light? Is it hard?  As you observe each mystery bag, I ask you make note of the observations and record them in the graphic organizer.”

Students will have anchor charts posted in the room where they can refer back to.
The students will use their graphic organizers to complete the 5 W’s. Each group will be given a mystery bag to analyze and record. Students will be allowed to open the bag and record their observation of the mystery items. As the students are recording their observations, I will circle the groups for any questions or concerns. Students will be encouraged to ask questions and formulate opinions on their graphic organizers. The organizers will be used to present in a google presentation.
A Google Classroom will be setup so the students can display their work. 


Link to the presentation on Artifact Bag  

- MW


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