I choose to do my lesson on biofuel since my cooperating teacher has the lab aid kit and I will be teaching a unit on alternative energy.
I started off the lab getting the students thinking about biofuels with an article. We talked about different fuel options and the positives and negatives to each. Next looking at the materials on the table the students had to decide what they were testing and how they would complete the task.
They did an excellent job connecting the article to the supplies given. The end goal being to test which fuel burned cleaner, kerosene or ethanol.
I learned a lot as a facilitator from this lab. It is really scary first of all. What if the student's go a completely different direction then you want them to? What if they don't know as much as you think they do? It takes a lot of planning to make sure you are prepared to help the students reach the end goal you want them to. I also learned the lesson go a lot slower then I had planned. I probably had prepared three days worth of lessons that I thought would be two.
Overall I was pleased with the lab. If I could redo the lab I would have started at a different point because I was hoping the students would get to try their experiment on camera. However they were on the right track and I believe they would have got good results from the procedures they set up. I would also try to point out the question or hypothesis more.
I'm excited to use the whole kit at my cooperating center next semester and use this as a part of the entire lab kit. I think that while IBI is challenging it is also a lot of fun to really gauge your student's learning. I get really excited when I realize they are understanding what I want them to and came up with the answers all on their own.
