Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
How can students who struggle with writing or are absent have a complete record of what they observed during testing?
Answer:
Create a bulletin board that can display the results for each test for each mineral. After each test, gather as a class to share and discuss results and add general information to the bulletin board about the results. This can be a great resource for students who are absent or have difficulty recording their own information accurately. Remember student observation need to be valued even if they don't match up with the majority.
Question:
Do students need to remain with the same partner through the whole unit?
Answer:
It is helpful for students to remain with the same partner for lessons 5–14, but for lesson 15 you might want to assign students a new partner to better assess what each student learned.
Question:
What do I do if students identify mineral samples incorrectly in Lesson 14?
Answer:
Remember they many students won’t identify every mineral correctly. The main concept of this lesson is for students to use a reasonable process to reach their conclusions. Think about the answers to these questions as well:
- Are they analyzing their data?
- Are they comparing what they observed to the Mineral Identification cards?
- Are they using the information they read about the different mineral samples?