In 5th grade science class we’re learning to write a lab report. One of the most challenging skills of lab report writing is articulating a crystal clear procedure. The procedure needs to be clear enough so that someone who wasn’t there and has only the information in the procedure can easily repeat the lab in a way that will yield consistent results.
To help us practice doing this, Martian Michelle came all the way from Mars. She found a bottle of hand sanitizer but wasn’t sure how to use it. Students had to give her very explicit instructions. When students told Martian Michelle to put her hands under the bottle and squirt, she put both of her hands under the bottom of the bottle, leaving the spout exposed, squirting sanitizer all over the floor. She needed to be told exactly what to push, with how much force, where to place her hands, and what to do. Eventually the students were able to help her sanitize her hands. Hopefully Purell kills Mars bacteria too!
After practicing our explicit directions, students paired up and sat back to back. They had to use the same very clear and detailed instruction-giving skills to tell their partner how to draw exactly what they had drawn, without either seeing the other’s board.
Next class we’ll use these very same skills to write up a procedure for a respiration lab we did together.