It
all began with a chalk talk…
A chalk talk is a strategy that helps students explore what they know about a subject.
Students are asked to stand near a chalkboard. Then
they are invited to write opinions, ideas, facts, etc. on the chalkboard (or on
chart paper if it would be beneficial to keep the document). They come to the chalkboard in random order,
one, two or three at a time depending on the amount of space available. They are
also permitted to respond to these same opinions, facts, or ideas! Writing is the only form of communication
permitted. For our purposes, students were asked to write anything that they
knew about the human body.
….after the chalk talk, we began to zero in on our
essential question—How does science affect a sport or
an athlete’s performance?
We embarked
on a unit of study linking science and sports.
Each student completed a book called My Book About The Human
Body. We began with some general
information on the human body, followed by experiments on heart rate, the five senses,
reflexes and muscle fatigue.
At the Franklin Institute’s Sports Challenge
exhibit, we participated in activities having to do with sports equipment
(bouncing balls), surface friction (rockclimbing),
balance(surfing), and aerodynamics (downhill skiing).