Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
January 18, 2020 6:39 PM
A different kind of sorting. [Advanced, VI-VII] by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary had really considered something more exciting for this lesson, but with the Ball at the end of the year, she had entirely crossed love potions off the curriculum for the term. They weren't generally allowed in schools anyway, but the idea of even teaching a bunch of teenagers how to brew them - interesting as they were - was just too frightening to consider. Most of her advanced lessons focused on career oriented subjects and on the minutia of potion-making, aimed to assist students on their exams. RATS were approaching at the end of the year, and that was only logical. Still, the one thing Mary sometimes regretted about her lessons was the lack of outright theory. Tabitha's lessons were chock full of it, as were most other subjects on campus. Mary was fascinated by the theory of potion-making, but much more enraptured by the craft itself. That wasn't to say everyone was, though, and maybe advanced lessons were late to find out but it was better late than never.Making a note to introduce this subject to the younger grades as well, Mary had planned a theory-based lesson that relied as much on knowledge of potion-making as on critical thinking ability. She'd set the classroom up just as usual, except that each desk had small boxes with five or six each of three ingredients: porcupine quills, wormwood, and billywig stingers. Two vials, one of an infusion of wormwood and the other of the liquid made from billywig stings, as was most commonly preferred in potion-making. Various other tools, such as scales, mortar and pestle, and more, were featuring prominently on each desk as well. Once the advanced students had taken their places, Mary wasted no time in getting started.
"Hello, class," she said, smiling as brightly as usual. "Today will be a short lecture, as I want to ensure you have maximum time to work with in pairs or triads on the practical portion of the lesson." She took a quick moment to explain what was set up at each desk, and direct them to the pages in their textbooks where they could find information about each. Chalk darted madly across the chalkboard to copy down the page numbers and references as well. "Each of these ingredients is used in a variety of potions, and interacts differently with each of the other ingredients, with the temperature, with the method of brewing, with the stirring, and with the wandwork that goes into potion-making. For today's lesson, I want you to consider the lists in your textbook, as well as the given properties, and see if you can begin to identify some of the features of each of these ingredients that make them act the way they do in their various uses. This is a good time to remember the chemistry-based chapter in your textbooks as well. It's one of the primary reasons I picked this textbook for your class."
She looked around the classroom, giving anyone with a question the opportunity to ask one before she moved on. "Please experiment. You can't get all the answers from the books, or else there wouldn't be any need for people to write new ones. What happens when you crush these ingredients? What can you learn by their weights? By the changes they undergo when exposed to various temperatures, ingredients, or elements? What does the environment of their origination tell you about them? Go ahead and take the rest of the class period to work on this and take copious notes! I will pass out instructions for an essay on this topic as you leave the classroom today, and your notes will be counted as your lab points for the lesson." It was a common format for her Advanced lesson soon particular, but it never hurt to remind her students.
"Let me know if you have any questions or need any help. Enjoy!"
OOC - For information about these ingredients, I used the following links:
Porcupine quills: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Porcupine_quill
Wormwood: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Wormwood
And it's infusion: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Infusion_of_Wormwood
Billywig stings: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Billywig_sting
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
A different kind of sorting. [Advanced, VI-VII]
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