Standard Indicator 2.2. Pedagogical Content Knowledge  

The teacher creates learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to ensure mastery of the content.

Evidence 1: 2022-2023

Lemon Battery.pdf

Lesson Plan: Lemon Battery

The project of making a lemon battery provided an excellent opportunity for learners to understand the principles of energy transfer and electrochemistry in a practical way. Even though the initial result of the experiment was not successful in lighting up the LED, it opened up an invaluable dialogue about problem-solving and critical thinking. This instance taught learners that science is as much about 'mistakes' and troubleshooting as it is about discovery and success.

In our discussion, we dissected the potential issues that could have led to the unsuccessful outcome, such as the quantity and quality of the electrolyte (lemon juice), the size of the lemons, or possible incorrect setup of the circuit. By exploring these issues, students gained a deeper understanding of the importance of each component in the system, from the electrolyte to the anode and cathode. We emphasized the importance of precision and attention to detail in conducting scientific experiments. As an educator, seeing the learners actively engage in such a dialogue reassures me that even 'unsuccessful' experiments can lead to rich, learning experiences. It's all part of the scientific process, and these moments of troubleshooting and reflection are as valuable as any successful outcome.

As a class we reviewed our previous teaching. We discussed what a battery was, what a postive and charge was, and what did it mean. We reviewed anodes and cathodes, and open and closed circuits. 

Discussion was had with students where they were incorrectly connecting a wire from one anode to another anode, resulting in a positive charge to a positive charge error. Students were able to conclude why a charge could not travel from a positive charge to a positive charge. 

During this time we also tood the opportunity to push the lesson further in discussing serires and parellel circuits. We talked about one of the potential errors in the procedure was that there was not enough of a chemical reaction to create enough volts. We talked about how you could wire circuits differently to combine power.