Today's lesson involved me giving the class a basic introduction to force, including basic examples such as gravity, and also using force diagrams to explain why items move and why eggs break. They then used their newfound knowledge to build packages to protect an egg in an egg drop challenge.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous before the lesson; a lot of preparation had gone into getting to this point, and it was a large class of around 30 children. Even some teachers came in to watch. On top of that, I was jetlagged (12 hour time difference between California and Uzbekistan!), and it was my first time teaching science in Uzbek, which required me to learn a lot of new vocabulary. But when the lesson began, all my fears dissipated as I saw the spark of excitement in the children's eyes, and I was blown away by the energy and level of participation in the egg drop challenge. After today, I can't wait for the rest of the week!