Heat and Changing States of Matter - Discovery Education

SUGGESTEDACTIVITIESThe Suggested Activities offer ideasfor activities you can direct in theclassroom or have your students completeindependently, in pairs, or insmall work groups after they haveviewed the program. To accommodateyour range of classroom needs,the activities are organized into skillscategories. Their labels will tell youhow to identify each activity and helpyou correlate it into your classroomcurriculum. To help you schedule yourclassroom lesson time, the AIMShourglass gives you an estimate of thetime each activity should require.Some of the activities fall into thesecategories:Meeting IndividualNeedsThese activities are designed to aid inclassroom continuity. Reluctant learnersand learners acquiring Englishwill benefit from these activitiesgeared to enhance comprehension oflanguage in order to fully grasp contentmeaning.MATHCurriculumConnectionsMany of the suggested activities areintended to integrate the content ofthe ATM program into other contentareas of the classroom curriculum.These cross-connections turn theclassroom teaching experience into awhole learning experience.Critical ThinkingCritical Thinking activities aredesigned to stimulate learners’ ownopinions and ideas. These activitiesrequire students to use the thinkingprocess to discern fact from opinion,consider their own problems and formulatepossible solutions, draw conclusions,discuss cause and effect, orcombine what they already knowwith what they have learned to makeinferences.Cultural DiversityEach AIMS Teaching Module has anactivity called Cultural Awareness,Cultural Diversity, or CulturalExchange that encourages students toshare their backgrounds, cultures,heritage, or knowledge of other countries,customs, and language.Hands OnThese are experimental or tactileactivities that relate directly to thematerial taught in the program.Yourstudents will have opportunities tomake discoveries and formulate ideason their own, based on what theylearn in this unit.WritingEvery AIMS Teaching Module willcontain an activity designed for studentsto use the writing process toexpress their ideas about what theyhave learned. The writing activitymay also help them to make the connectionbetween what they are learningin this unit and how it applies toother content areas.In The NewsroomEach AIMS Teaching Module containsa newsroom activity designed to helpstudents make the relationshipbetween what they learn in the classroomand how it applies in theirworld. The purpose of In TheNewsroom is to actively involve eachclass member in a whole learningexperience. Each student will have anopportunity to perform all of the tasksinvolved in production: writing,researching, producing, directing,and interviewing as they create theirown classroom news program.Extended ActivitiesThese activities provide opportunitiesfor students to work separately ortogether to conduct further research,explore answers to their own questions,or apply what they havelearned to other media or contentareas.Link to the WorldThese activities offer ideas for connectinglearners’ classroom activitiesto their community and the rest of theworld.Culminating ActivityTo wrap up the unit, AIMS TeachingModules offer suggestions for ways toreinforce what students have learnedand how they can use their newknowledge to enhance their worldview.8© Copyright 1999 AIMS Multimedia