Lost in Thought

Sadly, I am still unable to embed a video into my blog, but I would highly recommend that you take a look at this “YouTube” video. It shows a group of adolescents popping popcorn with a mobile phone!

All teenagers are familiar with mobile phones and the majority of them would have spent many hours using them, but I suspect that not many of them have even thought about how they work and the consequences of using them. To me this is the opportunity to formulate a good lesson that is relevant, will engage the students and will build on their prior knowledge.

If the class started by viewing this “You Tube” video the teacher could continue the lesson by facilitating a brainstorming session on the questions that arose from watching the video eg “How does popcorn pop in a microwave?”, “How does the mobile phone transmit signals?”, “What types of energy are used in a mobile phone?”, “How much power does a mobile phone use?”etc. generating genuine discussion amongst the students.

This brainstorming session could then lead into inquiry based learning. Inquiry based learning helps students construct knowledge based on new information and data collected by themselves in an explorative learning environment . As Johnson (2008 p6 ) puts it “people don’t want to be spectators, they want to be participants or players”

Students could be divided into groups and follow up one of these questions experimentally, using the library or the internet. Students could then report back to the class on their findings.