In a school year full of unknowns, one particular unknown for science teachers is how to proceed with one of the most important and well-loved parts of our curriculums- student laboratory activities, that is, labs. Most students love labs. In a normal school year, the first words out of students' mouths as they walk into my classroom are often, "Are we doing a lab today?" If I say no, they ask if we are doing one tomorrow. I like to think that this is because students enjoy seeing science concepts at work, but I know it is really that they prefer the hands-on nature of labs to sitting quietly at their desks, writing or working on their own. Labs have traditionally offered students a chance to be a bit more relaxed, and to work with other students in a cooperative environment. Labs can be intriguing, cool, gross, and sometimes just plain fun! I love that labs give students a chance to learn and practice science and lab work skills and to work with scientific equipment and tools, but more than that, they provide a chance to practice working as a team with other students- dividing up responsibilities, interpreting directions, discussing results, forming conclusions. These are skills that will benefit students in many settings, even if they do not pursue science in the future.
Well, obviously, things are different this year. Some of the very features that make labs so appealing are also what make them the most treacherous in a classroom during the time of COVID-19. Last year, I wrote in this blog about many labs that my students performed in biology class, but this year we have had to do things differently. My goal has been to try to keep as many lab activities in class as possible, though I have had to change the way these activities proceed, for better or for worse. (Better: allowing students to remain as distanced as possible, Worse: less direct student participation, engagement, and ownership of the activities).
The main way I have revised my activities is by conducting the labs as demonstrations performed by me, in front of the whole class. For some activities, this has worked pretty well. Elephant's Toothpaste, for instance, is a lab we do to demonstrate the effect of an enzyme on a chemical reaction, the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide. This lab is quick to set up, and creates a cool visual as soap bubbles trap oxygen gas, making a growing mass of foam. Students didn't have to wait very long for me to get this reaction set up, and the pay-off was worth it when the reaction occurred. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of this lab this year.
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| Test tubes with solidified and liquid gelatin. When the enzymes in the pineapple juice are able to work, they break down proteins that allow the gelatin to solidify. |
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| Demo Set-Up: Testing the effects of heat on the enzyme in pineapple juice. Individual test tubes were removed from the heat as various temperatures were reached. |
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| My demonstration cart! |
One other consideration I have had to keep in mind is my students who are learning virtually from their homes. I have created videos of the lab activities and results for these students to be able to view, which is not ideal, but better than nothing. As I get more comfortable, I hope to be able to livestream some of these lab demonstrations in the future. Perhaps if a few lab demos are very simple and require only supplies students might have at home, I may even encourage my virtual learners to try them out themselves!
Our class wouldn't be a biology class without microscope work! I struggled with how to allow students to safely use microscopes. I finally ended up dividing my students into groups- one group would use the microscopes while the rest of the students did work at their seats, and then we would switch groups. This seemed to go ok. Virtual learning students were assigned a web-based microscope activity.
Science teachers at my school have also been fortunate that our district purchased licenses for the website explorelearning.com for us to use this school year. These are more commonly known as "Gizmos," and are virtual lab simulations. I have used these for all of my students, both virtual and in-class learners. Each student is able to create an account, and then they have access to all the virtual labs that I have added to our class. So far, we have used the Gizmos for measuring liquid volume, measuring mass with the triple beam balance, and an enzymes STEM case in which students acted as veterinary technicians working to diagnose a dog with an enzyme deficiency. I have been pleased with all three of these activities and look forward to trying more throughout the school year. While they are certainly not the same as actual lab activities, they provide a valuable alternative as we navigate our way through this school year.
As with just about everything else this school year, giving students lab experiences requires a re-thinking of the way things are done. While the alternatives may not be as authentic, I know that our COVID-19 safety is the top priority and will continue to be so. I remind myself that doing things in a different way is not necessarily always a bad thing, and that there are things I can learn from this unusual year that will bring benefits in years to come. I'd love to hear ideas from others about how they are adapting lab activities within their science classes!
Please continue to mask up and stay safe!
