Private Universe

What are your best understandings about...

1) How the phases of the moon occur? The phases of the moon relate to where it is in position to the Earth and the Sun. The moon goes through the phases of a one-quarter, half, three-quarters, and full.

2) What causes the seasons? Where the Earth is in position to the Sun causes the seasons. When the Earth is farthest from the sun, we are in summer, and when the Earth is the closest to the Earth, we are in winter. When the Earth is on its way closer to the sun, we are in fall, and when the Earth is going farther from the sun, we are in spring. This is true for the northern part of the equator. For the southern part of the equator, this is opposite.

3) What causes a lunar eclipse? A lunar eclipse is caused when stars fall and shoot through the sky.

A Social Constructivist Model of Teaching - Krajcik

I agree with a lot that this article has to say regarding ways we learn in a social context. For one, I do think that we learn better by having active engagement with what we're learning and having that be authentic. We do build on what we've already learned, and by having hands-on experience and multiple representations, as the text says, we can learn better. If we understand how something works in multiple settings, we better understand its true properties. If it's authentic, which means it is relevant to our lives outside of school, we are better apt to learn it better. I definitely agree with this, when I have a personal connection with something I learn it more true. I also agree that learning communities are wonderful in that we can learn a lot from others and also by teaching others. Often times I think that when we're teaching others, we learn more about the material and realize more ourself as we teach them.

I like that Krajcik also touched on the concreteness vs. abstractiveness, as this is a key point in looking at how both older and younger students learn, and how even as adults we learn in both ways. I agree that learning about resources and ways we can extend our prior knowledge to get even more knowledge are greatly beneficial. We also do indeed need multiple representations, and be able to express ourselves in multiple ways, such as through graphics, text, pictures, in a concrete way, and an abstract way. Incorporating technology into ways to learn is becoming more and more common and necessary these days as well. Furthermore, increasing our knowledge and being able to showcase it is as important as it is to relate it to our personal life.

Theoretical Foundations for Constructivist Teaching - Peters

Reading the ellaboration on the theories of constructivism was interesting. It was nice to get a review of Piaget, whom I learned about in high school psychology class. I remember learning about the developmental stages-preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. It was neat to compare him to Vygotsky who had a theory with people learning socially, and by using signs and psychological tools. I liked learning about the assimiliation and accomodation when learning through Piaget's eyes. I think it's true that when we learn we build what we're learning onto our present knowledge, and sometimes we adjust our schemata to add new information, and sometimes we have to readjust our schemata to make sense of incoming information new to us.

I think that as a science teacher, it'd be good to incorporate both Piaget and Vygotsky's theories of constructivism along with observing the individual needs of your students, which is most important. Everyone has different learning styles, and though it is likely true we all learn socially as well as with signs and go through different learning stages, each child will experience this in his or her own unique way. As the text says, understanding your science curriculum as well as your students should help you be a wise teacher.

Misconceptions in Science

This article shed light on a common, important issue: common misconceptions we as students tend to have in science class. I actually wasn't surprised by the results how elementary-age, junior-high-age, and college-age students tend to not get the same scientific concepts. Personally, I don't remember all those terms we learned. I don't know what some of the objects presented would do for sure-sink or float. It does surprise me, however, that students even college-age would think aluminium foil is heavier when it's crumpled in a ball.

I agree that ways science (or any) teachers can combat these misconceptions is to teach them to students. Review common terms used and take a poll first of what students think of them, then explain what common misconceptions of them are. I think that it would be effective to have a chart up in the classroom with these false ideas. I think it's also a good idea, as presented in the text, to note misconceptions in the textbook as they come up. I also think it's a really good idea to have them on the review sheet when students are preparing for a test. This article shed light on an important issue that needs to be resolved so students rightfully learn about science.

Rising to Greatness

Wow. I was so surprised by reading through this powerpoint. I was always under the assumption that Iowa, along with Minnesota, were among the best states for all areas education. This showed me otherwise, that we need to work on some things! I really like that the powerpoint presented the impact and opportunity of each fact that was revealed about Iowa's achievement. This presentation gives many ideas for how we can improve Iowa's educational world.

I agree that ways we can implement better learning is by having reasonable expectations for all students no matter race, gender, socioeconomic status, or native language. I think this is especially important as the gap between disability and non-disability students was so wide. I am glad to see that a majority of the students are at basic levels for reading and math, but I think we need to get more students at the proficient level. I think that if we raise our expectations, work to be effective instructors, teach a variety of subjects while implementing diversity, and importantly create a lasting love of learning, we will be on our way to success.

Five Good Reasons to Use a Science Notebook

This article covered many great reasons for using the ever more emerging notebooks in the classroom-the science classroom. I wasn't too surprised by the results as I recently learned about using notebooks during writer's workshop in language arts. It is true indeed that notebooks are thinking tools, encourage teacher collaboration, they guide teacher instruction, enhance literacy skills, and that they support differentiated learning.

Aspects I really like about the science notebooks is the grand ability to offer unique student feedback and challenge students individually in accord with their ability. I like this interaction that goes between teachers and students. I also like the different ways students can express their observations and findings, such as by drawing pictures, making charts, and in their native language. Being interested in working with students who speak different languages, either with ELL students in my class or a bilingual classroom, I think this would be neat and would provide a great opportunity for students to express scientific writing, among other styles, in the languages they know. I really like that students have their own notebook that caters to their own learning and that students are constantly using both their science and literacy skills.

Initial Vision Statements

Here's to my first blog post on my second blog ever-for Science Methods class! And here are my initial vision statements:

            For me, science in grade school was a positive experience for the most part. I remember loving Week of the Wild, making ice cream, looking at earthworms and mealworms and studying them, growing plants, Chemistry equations, astronomy, and learn about the human body, among more. I always liked opportunities when we’d be able to go outside, such as taking nature hikes and trying to find things in our school’s ravine. I remember my fascination when learning about the all the human body systems in elementary school, junior high, and high school earth science and biology.

            At Week of the Wild, my most memorable experiences were canoeing in the wetlands, and seeing all the swampy variety there. I loved going on the day-long hike through the woodlands and playing games, ending up to enjoy a picnic lunch on rocks by the lake. I loved going through the prairies and learning about the birds, getting an opportunity to hold them. A funny memory I have as well was going fishing. When we were leaving to get back on the bus, I walked right in front of a bull snake’s path. Being scared of snakes, I yelled, “Ah! A snake!” and ran to the school bus. Then, to my horror, and my friend’s laughter, I looked out the window to see the instructor holding up the snake, claiming it was 5 feet long. I also, of course, remember having the pot luck and camping out and playing night games the last night of the week-long camp.

            Some of my disappointments in science included not dissecting anything. Even though I didn’t take the college-level biology course at my high school, which seemed to regularly dissect organisms, I thought we would dissect something. We did do something interesting, though, we looked at some body part of some animal, I don’t even remember what kind, but it was indeed neat. I do wish I got the experience to dissect, though. Another thing hard in science was physics. I took it for two trimesters my senior year of high school, and though I had the sweetest, very intelligent teacher who helped me willingly, I just couldn’t seem to get it. It was interesting, but I didn’t do well in the class, which made me feel discouraged. I did, however, really enjoy chemistry. I actually loved working out all those formula math questions. In elementary school, I remember being confused by the electricity and battery units.

            I think that having hands-on experience, especially in science, is crucial. It’s extremely difficult to really understand science without seeing how it happens, and feeling it, testing it, making a hypothesis, and observing it. I believe that giving students a variety of scientific experiences is necessary to opening their eyes wider to the world in which they live. I think studying about the human body, animals, plants, and biodiversity is great-going on nature walks, hikes, catching butterflies and birds, letting students see the world in which they live. Studying about outer space, about food and how it’s made, about how elements work together, about habitats. All of these are important, and I plan to incorporate them into my science curriculum. I remember at first being grossed out by observing and caring for a worm, but it turned out to be fun. I think that teaching students about worms and how they help with the soil we need to do certain things like grow vegetables would be a great lesson, to let them see how important all the animals and organisms are. I do not want to just read from a textbook, ever. I want to teach students with illustrations and real-life photos, with demonstrations, and with hands-on activities. I also would like to implement the scientific method, showing students how they can make a prediction about anything and observe it, and then write about their results accordingly. I would like to ignite a curiosity about the different aspects of science, such as how things work in the forest, the ocean, with electricity, with speed, with us as people, etc. I hope to foster my student’s curiosity to the world around them, and that they would respect the environment, animals, and biodiversity.