It goes without saying that during classes, modeling appears to be one of the most essential elements of studying certain theory or phenomenon. With the help of modeling, one can take a relatively huge concept and bring it to a size of a small air balloon, which is exactly the case of the video in question.
Despite the fact that the phenomenon of objects changing their density and, therefore, their mass and volume, under the impact of a number of factors, such as temperature, which is the case in point, is quite hard, the teacher manages to convey the basic ideas with the help of small models.
In the course of the lesson, the teacher offered the students a model of Charles’ law, which states that the volume of any gas increases in proportion to the temperature increase if the pressure is not changed. Creating three situations, in which equal amounts of gas in balloons were disposed to the impact of a 0º C, 100º C and 50º C environment, the teacher has managed to help the students see Charles’ law in action.
It is quite peculiar that the students did not see the entire process of the Charles’ law in action immediately after the teacher started the experiment; it seems that the time which the students had to wait has taken its toll, fuelling the students’ interest and finally brought it to the boiling point.
Thus, a model of Charles’ law was used as the catalyst for the students’ interest in the topic of the lesson. In addition, there is no doubt that, when visualized, the essence of Charles’ law became obvious to all of the students. While some students might have actually succeeded in following what the teacher was writing on the desk, it must have been still hard for most of the class to digest the dry theory and understand the basic principle.
Even if they did, there was still something needed to back the theory up with, and the experiment was a perfect choice for that. As soon as the teacher asked what the relation between the water temperature and the size of the balloons was, one of the students responded almost immediately that the size of the balloon in the hot water was bigger.
Thus, the students could finally understand the basic principle of Charles’ law. The use of models is also crucial in the cases when some of the students are too shy to ask for additional explanations; even those who could not get the idea of the lesson at first finally came to understanding it after the experiment.
As for the processes which took place in the course of the lesson, it is necessary to make it clear that the lesson was not homogenous; the given issue is crucial for the lesson to work – once it flows in one piece without any actual break or change in the tone or mood, the students will hardly be able to perceive any information after the first twenty minutes.
Hence, the fact that the lesson was split into several parts is quite essential. To start with, there is the introduction in which the teacher reminds the students about the covered material: “We have already talked about kinetic theory” (Demonstrating problem solving in high school Chemistry, n. d.).
Then the introduction of the new issue, i.e., Charles’ law, comes, followed by setting the premises for the on-coming experiment. After the experiment has commenced, the teacher offers the students the basic theory. Finally, the results of the experiment are revealed; thereafter, the students put Charles’ law in their own words after observing the experiment results. After the discussion, the grounds for the next class are set.
Speaking of the behavior model which has been chosen to conduct the lesson and help the students absorb the new knowledge in a more efficient way, one must mention that the model which is referred to as “love and logic” is applied to teach the students the Charles law in the most efficient way (Behavior management models, n. d., 6).
The elements of the given model can be traced in the way the teacher acts, e.g., the way she subtly helps the students answer her questions. Speaking of which, it is quite peculiar that the teacher answers her own questions if the class cannot come up with the correct answer, which shows that the teacher does not force the answers out of the students, but subtly hints at the solutions to the offered problems.
Therefore, it is obvious that modeling is one of the keys to a successful learning process. Although the importance of the theoretical material must not be underrated, it is still clear that, to learn the theoretical issues, the students need to see the laws in practice. A perfect addition to a perfect lesson, the model of Charles’ law played its part in the best way possible.
Reference List
Behavior management models. n. d. Web.
Demonstrating problem solving in high school Chemistry n. d. Web.