Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Science Teaching Philosophy
At the beginning of this class, I thought that the entire basis of science was to promote scientific discovery and the best tool was through experiments and hands-on experience. I still believe that to be a valuable aspect of teaching science, but I have been opened to the idea of including other tactics. The development of science skills and the important processes of scientific inquiry and design process have shown me new aspects of science that I have never considered. The idea of using essential questioning to help shape a unit plan will definitely be beneficial to my teaching practices. I come from a strong science background and I thought I knew a lot about science and how to teach it, but this class proved that I didn't really and I will take a lot from this class.
STSE Implementation - Appreciating the Natural Environment
I think that if I was to address an issue in my Grade 1 class, I would look at the destruction of natural environment and how mankind has affected that.
1-1-14/B5: Show respect for living things in their immediate environment
1) Fort Whyte Alive Field Trip
By taking them on a field trip to a designated area that contains elements of the natural environment, students can appreciate the habitats of their favorite animals. Students will be able to better grasp the needs of these animals and develop compassion and want to help save the environments.
2) Little Earth Charter DVD
Showing students this DVD will demonstrate the eight basic principles needed to coexist with animals and the natural environment. Also this DVD will introduce the concepts of human rights and in turn can be related to the rights of animals in our community.
3) Demonstrations of Man-Made Occurrences that Impact the Natural Environment
By either conducting a hands-on investigation or showing pictures/video of a recent event, students will be able to connect the affects of mankind and the resources we take for granted to the impact those actions have on certain animals and their habitats. Students' compassion for the natural environment will continue to grow.
By introducing those three resources and others students' will grasp the concepts of protect our natural environment, not only for the animals that live in them but for ourselves. Students will recognize that they have to rely on the natural environment as much as the animals, creating a deeper compassion and connection between the two worlds.
1-1-14/B5: Show respect for living things in their immediate environment
1) Fort Whyte Alive Field Trip
By taking them on a field trip to a designated area that contains elements of the natural environment, students can appreciate the habitats of their favorite animals. Students will be able to better grasp the needs of these animals and develop compassion and want to help save the environments.
2) Little Earth Charter DVD
Showing students this DVD will demonstrate the eight basic principles needed to coexist with animals and the natural environment. Also this DVD will introduce the concepts of human rights and in turn can be related to the rights of animals in our community.
3) Demonstrations of Man-Made Occurrences that Impact the Natural Environment
By either conducting a hands-on investigation or showing pictures/video of a recent event, students will be able to connect the affects of mankind and the resources we take for granted to the impact those actions have on certain animals and their habitats. Students' compassion for the natural environment will continue to grow.
By introducing those three resources and others students' will grasp the concepts of protect our natural environment, not only for the animals that live in them but for ourselves. Students will recognize that they have to rely on the natural environment as much as the animals, creating a deeper compassion and connection between the two worlds.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Learning Centre Experience
Below is the lesson I created and a picture of the learning centre set up:
The Path of Light
Grade 4 - Light
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Goals:
The goals of this learning centre are for students to observe how light
travels and be able to make better, more descriptive observations.
Outcome:
4-2-07: Observe and describe properties of light
4-0-5c: Record observations in a variety
of ways
4-0-9c: Report and record what is
observed, not what they think they ought to observe, nor what they believe the
teacher expects
Materials: 4 pieces of cardboard (with holes in
the middle), flashlights, stands (for cardboard pieces), instructional poster,
“The Path of Light Record Sheet” worksheet
Timeframe: 35 minutes
Adaptations: Have pictures and words for
instruction on the worksheet and poster board.
Strategies:
Activating: Read a non-fiction book about light and
explain that books are a good resource for learning about light. Find pages in
the book that discusses the movement of light and how it moves through
different objects.
Acquiring:
Discuss that light travels through the air, just like a car or a
spaceship. Have the students predict
whether they think light travels through the air in a straight line or a curved
line. Tell the students that they will be going through three learning centres
that show how light moves through the air and through different types of
objects. Explain all three centres.
Applying:
For “The Path of Light” learning centre, describe how one set has the holes in
the cardboard lined up, but the other doesn’t.
Reinforcing that the students have to observe what happens to the light
as it travels through the holes in the cardboard. Then have each student test how the light
travels through the holes of each set of experiments. Get the students to
communicate and describe what happens to the light in each set. Then have the student draw and label the
diagrams of both experiments on the worksheet provided. (This would include “Raindrops
and Rainbows” and “Translucent, Transparent, Opaque” learning centres)
Assessment: Observe how students participate at
each learning centre and take in the worksheets given. The students will then create posters that
showcase how light travels and how it travels through different objects,
demonstrating they know how light travels and can use the appropriate language.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Creating a Design Process Experiment
Protecting from Soil Erosion
4-4-13 Use the design process to determine an appropriate system for controlling soil erosion in a given situation.
Scenario:
Sitting alongside the Red River, down at the Forks, you notice that river is brown and murky not clear and clean like you have seen at the lake. Why is the water so brown and murky, why not clean and clear?
"SOIL EROSION!"
The soil has runoff into the river from wind, rain and human disturbance. The City of Winnipeg has employed you to create a system that would protect the banks of the river from further erosion. Having already learned about the different methods for protecting against soil erosion, you must design a system using the materials given and demonstrate its use in a model of the river bank. How would you design an effective system?
Materials:
plastic sheets
sticks
felt
strainers
plasticine
Implementation:
If I used this in my classroom, I would first discuss the process of erosion and all the contributing factors to soil erosion. Also I would introduce some systems that have been used around the world in order to combat this problem. Then I would give my students the situation with a list of materials they could use and have them design a contraption, based off the given examples, and then test its results. Clearly stating that no one system will be better than the other and that science is all about trial and error. I would allow them the opportunity to do further research on a particular system and give them guided instruction if they feel frustrated.
Its important to encourage students to formulate their own design process and make it unique to the situation. Design process is a integral part of science and scientific discovery.
4-4-13 Use the design process to determine an appropriate system for controlling soil erosion in a given situation.
Scenario:
Sitting alongside the Red River, down at the Forks, you notice that river is brown and murky not clear and clean like you have seen at the lake. Why is the water so brown and murky, why not clean and clear?
"SOIL EROSION!"
The soil has runoff into the river from wind, rain and human disturbance. The City of Winnipeg has employed you to create a system that would protect the banks of the river from further erosion. Having already learned about the different methods for protecting against soil erosion, you must design a system using the materials given and demonstrate its use in a model of the river bank. How would you design an effective system?
Materials:
plastic sheets
sticks
felt
strainers
plasticine
Implementation:
If I used this in my classroom, I would first discuss the process of erosion and all the contributing factors to soil erosion. Also I would introduce some systems that have been used around the world in order to combat this problem. Then I would give my students the situation with a list of materials they could use and have them design a contraption, based off the given examples, and then test its results. Clearly stating that no one system will be better than the other and that science is all about trial and error. I would allow them the opportunity to do further research on a particular system and give them guided instruction if they feel frustrated.
Its important to encourage students to formulate their own design process and make it unique to the situation. Design process is a integral part of science and scientific discovery.
Friday, 5 October 2012
My Own Science Inquiry
Mysterious M&Ms
If I were to teach this in my class, I would introduce this activity by discussing the properties of water and how they can dissolve certain items. This activity did have its own initiating story which would help with self-discovery and independence but I would preface it by discussing dissolving. This activity did not focus on conclusions since it just was a re-testing of someone else's experiment, but did offer up a possibility for more investigation and determining different variables in this experiment. The site that I found this inquiry on had a lot of chemistry based experiments, at different levels, I would definitely use these in my classroom.
If I were to teach this in my class, I would introduce this activity by discussing the properties of water and how they can dissolve certain items. This activity did have its own initiating story which would help with self-discovery and independence but I would preface it by discussing dissolving. This activity did not focus on conclusions since it just was a re-testing of someone else's experiment, but did offer up a possibility for more investigation and determining different variables in this experiment. The site that I found this inquiry on had a lot of chemistry based experiments, at different levels, I would definitely use these in my classroom.
Monday, 1 October 2012
Essential Questions for Lesson Planning
Grade 1
Cluster 2 - The Senses
Essential Questions that I would ask regarding this cluster would be:
1) How do our five senses help us in examining the world around us?
2) Why should we protect our eyes/skin?
3) Why/How does everyone else smell/taste/touch/hear/see differently than me?
4) Why is knowing our five senses and how they work help us with science?
5) Why is using our senses important when doing certain jobs?
I would teach these questions in that order because it follows the direct chain of instruction. The students first need to learn what body part goes with which sense and how those five senses help us to examine the world around us. Then we get farther into the critical thinking of the five senses and how they would relate to science as a whole. In order to teach Grade 1 students you need to first introduce them to the topic with basic essential questions and then broaden their knowledge to include the world around them and the world of science.
Cluster 2 - The Senses
Essential Questions that I would ask regarding this cluster would be:
1) How do our five senses help us in examining the world around us?
2) Why should we protect our eyes/skin?
3) Why/How does everyone else smell/taste/touch/hear/see differently than me?
4) Why is knowing our five senses and how they work help us with science?
5) Why is using our senses important when doing certain jobs?
I would teach these questions in that order because it follows the direct chain of instruction. The students first need to learn what body part goes with which sense and how those five senses help us to examine the world around us. Then we get farther into the critical thinking of the five senses and how they would relate to science as a whole. In order to teach Grade 1 students you need to first introduce them to the topic with basic essential questions and then broaden their knowledge to include the world around them and the world of science.
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