Peeps vs. Marshmallows

Today our school principal stopped in my classroom.  The topic for the 7th and 8th grade's learning objective for the day had caught her eye, and she wondered what it was all about.  I guess it was a strange learning objective, but there it was  - "Peeps vs. Marshmallows."  I only had about ten seconds to explain to her that we were working on microwave experiments before the next wave of students walked into class clammering, "Hey, it smells likes S'Mores in here."

As I drove home from school today, I had to laugh thinking of our principal's bewildered look.  I get that a lot from teachers and other administrators that read the board outside my classroom.  Mr. Voirol and Mr. Larson have grown accustomed to the strange titles to our daily learning objects or the shrieks of laughter coming from my room.  Last year I even witnessed Roger run out of his room to break up what he thought was a fight, only to say "OK, you're just filming your recycling PSA for Mrs. Heinisch's room.  Carry on."

I wish I would have had the time to explain to Mrs. Kaiser all of the awesome learning that took place before the "Peeps vs. Marshmallow" objective.  Last year she had encouraged me to make my professional development goal "inquiry based learning."  I decided to try it and thanks to Mrs. Brower's help I have been able to add four inquiry based learning units to my curriculum.

The unit my 7th and 8th graders are just finishing starts with the question "What's the Quickest Way to Boil Water?  A tea kettle, a pan on the stove or a microwave.  In this unit the students are active learners in finding out the history of the microwave, the advantages of open hearth cooking, the evolution of the stove and eventually using a problem, hypothesis, experimental design and data to determine which boils water the fastest.  Their conclusion and reflection along with the aforementioned steps and notes are required to advance to the microwave experimental phase.

There are always some interesting suggestions of what they can try in the microwave.  First trimester they asked if they could dry a cat in the microwave.  Second trimester someone wanted to try jaw breakers.  Both of those ideas were vetoed by me.  This trimester, however, I was able to agree to their request of trying a Peep and a marshmallow in the microwave.  They wrote down their observations beforehand and were surprised with the outcome.

These experiments and the original question of boiling water always spawn more questions, i.e. what if the pan had a lid, what if the pans were different sizes, which one cools down the question, and why does a Peep get a lot bigger than a marshmallow in the microwave.  On Friday they will have a chance to try some of these extensions of the original learning objective before we move on to the Homemade vs. Store Brand unit.

I thoroughly love teaching this way.  In true Montessori fashion I have become a facilitator of their learning.  I also have noticed that I have very little discipline problems with these units.  The students know that they have to be well behaved during the grunt work of the unit and turn in quality work before they are allowed to participate in the "fun microwave experiments" or the hot chocolate celebration at the end.  Even though this was a lot of work to set up this year, I have thoroughly loved the enthusiasm my students have for the units.  Can't wait to see what next year brings.