Module 1: Week 2: Awakening the Inner Scientist - January 24, 2011 - January 30, 2011

Week 2: Awakening the Inner Scientist: January 24, 2011 - January 30, 2011 includes: doing an experiment activity called Float, Sink, or???, went to computer lab to set up our pbworks account for our electronic portfolio, watched a video called Fish is Fish Story, did an activity with Conceptions of Learning and Structure of Knowledge, an activity with Take a Guess to guess how we think people learn based on categories. Submit for Grading: A1, A2, and under cloud "An Invitation to Teaching Science" did assignments: F2: A Sketch of a Typical Scientist, F3: Chapter 2 Questions, and F1: Chapter 1 Discussion Questions

This was a great week. It was good to get all the online stuff for this class set up. It was a great idea to go to the computer lab. The Fish is Fish Story was very interesting. I am happy that the assignments that are due for graded are listed. 

 Week 2: Awakening the Inner Scientist

During week 2 you will make the discoveries:

• Who you are
• What you think of science
• What your questions about nature are
• What your concerns about science teaching are
• What learning is and what the best ways of teaching scienceare
• What constructivism is and how to create a constructivistscience classroom

    Many new teachers don't think of themselves as scientists. They often regard science as a subject beyond their grasp. This uneasiness leads them to rely on external authorities in science rather than looking inside themselves and cultivating their own scientific approach. There is a budding scientist in all of us and it is the task of a new teacher to try to rediscover his or her scientific instincts and develop them. 

     As a teacher you need to wear different hats to teach your students. It is important to engage your students so sometimes you need to dress up as a character or pretend to be someone else to show your students a lesson. If science is not your subject you as a teacher need to find a way to teach science to your students. It can be by using your strengths and then incorporating science. Doing experiments is important and a great way to show students a good time and a great way to get students involved and engaged in wanting to learn science. It is important to learn science. 

    I think that science is the study of facts and organisms. Science is the study of nature and the environment around us.Science is with us everyday. Science is nature around us the animals that we see. Science can be found in jobs like bio-techs, pharmacists, doctors, and many others. Flowers bloom and so do food that is grown and that is science. Science can be studied close or from a far. Science can involve doing experiments or involve observing. 

  Teachers as scientists: 

1. Make observations which include all our perceptions of an object or an event using as many senses as we can 

2. Make inferences based on our observations

3. Become your own source

4. Create a hypothesis

5. Test your ideas by planning an experiment and carrying out the extended investigations

     As a teacher do not have negative thoughts about a subject because that affects the attitude of the student toward the subject. In other words, teachers who have a positive outlook toward science tend to instill that outlook in their students. 

     My concerns about science teaching are as follows. One of my concerns about teaching science is that I will make a fool of myself in front of the class. Another one of my concerns about teaching science is that I am going to do the experiment wrong. I am also concerned about not being fully prepared when doing an experiment. I am also concerned that  I won't have all the answers to the questions.   

  Learning is to obtain information through notes, reading research of articles that becomes knowledge.  

Constructivism

:

  A family of theories about knowledge and learning whose basic tenet is that all knowledge is constructed by synthesizing new ideas with what we have previously come to know. This means that knowledge is not passively received. Rather, knowledge is actively built up by the learner as he or she experiences the world.

Module 1: Week 1: An Invitation to Teaching Science - January 17, 2011 - January 23, 2011

Week 1: An Invitation to Teaching Science: January 17, 2011 - January 23, 2011 includes: the Inquiry Classroom in Action! Video, Week 1 assignments of looking over syllabus,, TF(test files), LC (learning contract), and  4th grade test part one multiple choice to a forum  


It is important at the beginning of the course to set up  the rules. It is important to go over the syllabus. It is also good to set up a learning contract and to set goals for yourself and then to see how well you did toward those goals. 

Week 1: An Invitation to Teaching Science.The main ideas behind this Module include learning and understanding of: 

• The nature of science
• Science as a process, a set of ideas, and a way of thinking
• The reasons for teaching science
• The National Science Education Standards and the National Educational Technology Standards
• The importance of making school science relevant to all the students’ lives
• The connections between science education and technology
• Feeling scientific about oneself
• That we teach who we are.

    Nature of a science: is science of natural world. Nature of science is seldom-taught but very important features of working science include: its realm and limits, its levels of uncertainty, its biases, its social aspects, and the reasons for its reliability. 

   Understanding the nature of science includes knowing both what science knows and how science knows what it knows. The central ideas involve observation of the world and the constant testing of theories against nature, with the requirement that everything that is to be called science is testable. 

 Science has its limits; it cannot be used to solve any kind of problem.Science can only address natural phenomena (not supernatural phenomena, as such), and only natural explanations can be used in science. Supernatural or magical explanations cannot be definitively or reliably tested - they cannot be disproved, since any result of any test could be attributed to some supernatural or mysterious influence. Natural explanations are testable - open to being disproved - being shown not to follow consistent rules of nature. The fact that the most highly credible concepts in science have survived such critical testing attests to the practical reliability of scientific knowledge and the processes of science that created that knowledge. Scientific solutions tend to work!

Science

:

1. a set of ideas (theory); 2. a process of finding out a phenomenon; 3. a way of thinking. The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.

    Reason to teach science: why we teach science before high school

1.The set of ideas that we are calling science ideas is increasingly vital in our technologically oriented society. Many educators,cultural commentators, and leaders of industry have stated that knowing what science is about is crucial for everyone. Many of today's jobs require some scientific knowledge, and even our everyday decisions -from what to eat to which vehicle to buy- can be affected by our scientific understanding or lack of it. 

A good science program will help youngsters understand the ways in which we are depleting the natural resources of the earth. 

2. The skills that students acquire by engaging in the scientific processes are useful in many fields other than science. In fact, studies show that science in the early grades has the potential to help children to become critical thinkers, to reason carefully, to solve problems, and to make informed decisions.Students who engage in science activities build confidence in themselves. 

3.By cultivating a scientific way of thinking,we can help students improve their abilities to explore a problem from many perspectives, confer with their classmates and their teacher and become knowledge builders and meaning makers. Understanding how science works helps people grasp the nature of evidence and the conclusions we can reasonably make about the world around us.   

   National Science Education Standards: A set of standards prepared by the National Research Council and published in book form in 1996. It offers guidelines for teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and school districts for establishing science education programs. The overall theme is that acquiring scientific knowledge, understanding, and abilities should be a central aspect of education, just as science has become a central aspect of our society.

   The importance of making school science relevant to all the students' lives: It means learning about the students you teach. It is important to engage your students by doing activities. You can say when you grow up you will use science for this job. Recycling is a form of green science that you can do every day. You as a teacher can teach science and help your kids use science in their lives to better their lives and the environment for the future. 

  The connections between science education and technology: 

    The connections between science education and technology is that science can be taught through using technology. The emphasis is on innovation, and the hope that the technology will foster students' capacity for original thinking, creative communication, and application of existing ideas to new contexts. The technology can be by using a Smart Board. 

That we teach who we are: 

   I want to teach my students I all I know about science. I want to use technology in my classroom with science. I want to have my students do hands-on activities. I will use the standards  both National and state to make sure that my students are prepared for state tests they have to take. I want my students to ask questions and learn from very interesting experiments that I create for them and that the students learn from creating experiments themselves. I want to teach my students about how to use science outside the classroom and how technology can be used in science. 

How I would use the book "Science Stories" in the clasroom

         I enjoy reading all of the Science Stories in the different chapters of the Science Stories book. I find the Science Stories to be the most interesting parts of the chapters that I read. It is very interesting to see what different experiments are being shown in each chapter. I find the Science Stories to be very well explained and easy to follow. Science Stories which are the experiments are easy for a teacher to explain to her class and to do in the classroom. 

     The following is what I would incorporate into my classroom when I am a teacher. For the Science Stories listed below, I would probably follow the instructions and explanations that are listed in the book Science Stories by Jane Koch. 

   From Chapter one, I would definitely incorporate science as a process and explain that process in my classroom. I would go over key terms like hypothesis, theory, and discovery learning  I would ask my students about their prior knowledge of science . For this chapter I would the Science Story called The Search for Understanding: Toaster Story. The Search for Understanding: Toaster Story is an interesting experiment that I would try with my class to help the students learn about electricity.  The Toaster Story can be done is groups of two to four people. I students can answer the questions and I provide and make observations in their notebooks. 

   I found both these videos to be very helpful for me to teach electricity and explain electricity to my students. The first video shows the effects and troubles with electricity and I thought that would be a good way to show my students what not to do and what to be careful for when dealing with electricity. The second video is from School of Rock and shows electricity and what electricity is used for and it is a cute video.  

 


   For Chapter two, I would definitely incorporate the Science Story called Why the Balloon Doesn't Pop: An Experience for New Teachers. It was interesting how the person used two balloons and different colors liquids in this experiment. The Why the Balloon Doesn't Pop experiment I as the teacher would demonstrate this experiment for my class.  I would ask my students to draw an image of what he or she thinks is a scientist or looks like. I would also have my students keep a science journal based on the seed that the students planted  Each day the student will write a new entry about how the seed grows and how much water the student added to the seed.   


   I found this video about the how a seed grounds and though that it be a great video to show to my students especially if we as a class are doing. It would be great for the students to see the process of the seed because the students will be watching a seed grow and then the students will know what to look for while observing their seed and know what to write in their journal of what happens to their seed. 

    For Chapter three, I would definitely incorporate the Science Story called Bottle and Balloon. The Bottle and Balloon is a very fun experiment and easy to do in the classroom in groups or even as the teacher showing a demonstration. I would do the Science Story of Jcicles. Jcicles is better to be done in the winter when there are icicles formed. This experiment can be done in groups can see what the different results are. I would talk and ask my students if he or she knows what a variable and what a constant are. For both Science Story experiments the students can write about the experiment in their science notebook. The students should include observations, a hypothesis, a conclusion, and a reflection about the experiment. The student can also answer the questions I will provide. 

  For Chapter four, I would definitely incorporate the terms of process skills, science notebook, and do science circus with my class. I would have a Science Circus that included stations of: The Penny in Pie, The Weather Station, The Soda Can, Crazy Rocks, Buoyancy Boats,  and Falling for Gravity. Buoyancy Boats involves water in a pan or bowl, aluminum foil, pennies, scissors, and ruler. The students have to make a boat and while the boat is in the water, students have to put pennies in the boat and see how many pennies fit in the boat before the boat sinks.  Falling for Gravity involves a binder with a line and marbles both big and small. The  object of this station  is to see which marble with roll down faster the big or the small. Crazy Rocks involves a bunch of rocks. At this station, students will categorize the rocks by color, texture, and size. The Penny in the Pie Pan involves water, aluminum foil, and pennies. At this station, students make predictions and sketch what the students think the penny should look like before going in the water and after going in the water. The Soda Can involves a soda can that was out in the sun on a summer day.The students are to brainstorm about the can. The Weather Station has a wireless laptop set up to access an Internet weather site. The students then record their data in science notebook.   I think these stations should be done toward the beginning of school like in November. The students will answer the questions that are left at each station and write a journal entry for each experiment discussing what the student liked or disliked about the stations.  

  This link listed below will help the students with the station called the Weather Station to obtain information.  

http://www.weather.com/
 

     For Chapter five, I would definitely incorporate the Science Story called How Much Milk Are We Wasting? This experiment would help to teach my students about recycling. I would definitely ask the custodian to bring the milk and allow my students to wear gloves while pouring the milk into the graduated cylinder. I would do this experiment for a week with my class. This is a great experiment to get the students involved in. The students will work in groups of four. The students will answer questions based on the experiment that the students have been working on. The students will write a journal entry each day about the milk and how the experiment is going. I would develop a Science Corner in my classroom where I can keep the supplies for the experiments that I am going to do with my class. I would also encourage my students to bring in some stuff from home to bee included in our Science Corner. Field trips both virtual and actual field trips help students make connections in science both inside and outside the classroom and learn things from other people other than their teacher. Field trips are a great idea. 

     For Chapter six, I would ask  my students their prior knowledge about solids, liquids, and gases before doing the experiment featured by the Science Story called Exploring Solids, Liquids, and Gases. It is a fun way to discover liquids, solids, and gases. For the first Science Story mentioned I would have my class work in groups of four.  I would also do the Science Story called Mysterious Matter. I would have my class for this Science Story experiment just come near me on the floor as I demonstrate what will happen when I add different ingredients. I would probably read the story Bartholomew and the Oobleck out loud to my students while my students sit on a rug. I think the students will enjoy the book.  For both Science Story experiments the students will answer questions based on the experiment and also write what the student like about each of the experiments in their science journal as a journal entry. 


    I found both these videos to be very helpful for me to teach electricity and explain electricity to my students. The first video shows the what solids, liquids, and gases are. The first video is from Bill Nye the science guy. The second video shows some different experiments to deal with solids, liquids and gas and their effects. The first video is education for kids.   

 For Chapter seven, I would ask my students their prior knowledge about what is a vegetable or what is fruit? I would do the Science Story called When Is A Vegetable A Fruit? This is a great experiment to discuss what parts of the plant are edible. It is great to discuss what fruits and vegetables grow below or above ground. Then the students in my class can write a journal entry about what their favorite fruit or vegetable is?  I would ask my students if they have prior knowledge of the words invertebrate and vertebrate before learning about earthworms. I would also like my students to learn about earthworms. So I will probably get an earthworm for each student and have my students keep a journal each day about the earthworm. This chapter mentions about taxonomy so I will mention to my class about the different kingdoms and as a project I will give each group a kingdom and have the students research the definition, characteristics, and examples for each kingdom.   

    For Chapter eight, I would like to do the Science Stories called Floating and Sinking Fruits and Apples, Potatoes, and Destiny. Before doing the Science Story called Apples, Potatoes, and Density I would make sure that my students understand  the terms: volume, mass, and density.Floating and Sinking Fruits is best to be done in the fall especially October when the pumpkins are in season. This is a fun experiment that the kids in my class will enjoy. Apples, Potatoes, and Destiny would be interesting to what what fruit can float or sink. I as the teacher say that the students for these two experiments should work in groups of four. For both Science Story experiments, I would have the students write down in their science journals what they observe, a prediction of what they think will happen before doing the experiment, a conclusion, their results, collect data and answer questions that I will have written out of them. I would also ask the students to do a journal entry discussing what they liked and disliked about the experiments. 

   The video explains the definition of density and also has a cool experiment that I could demonstrate. The experiment involves two eggs and salt water and fresh water. I think that my class would enjoy this experiment.

   
   For Chapter nine, I would like to incorporate, talking about the eight planets, the solar system, and the moon. There are two Science Stories that can help me talk about the planets and the solar system and the moon are called  An Edible Solar System and Shapes of Moon. I would also teach the students the monodic device I learned to remember the planets. My Very Educated Mother Just Started Using Numbers (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).  For An Edible Solar System and Shapes of Moon, the students in my class can work in groups of four. The students for both of these experiments will make observations. Before doing the Shapes of the Moon experiment I would have already done a lesson discussing what the phases of the moon were so that the students would already have prior knowledge before doing this experiment. For Shapes of the Moons, students will answer a worksheet which involves figuring out the phases of the moon. The students then will write in their journal a journal entry about what the student liked and disliked about the experiment. The student will will work together on the experiment An Edible Solar System and decide the sizes of each planet based on fruits and vegetables. The students will record data about which fruit should be for which planet. The students will answer the questions that I will have prepared in their science journal. The students will also write a journal entry discussing what the student liked and disliked about the experiment called An Edible Solar System. 


The first two videos are about the moon and the moon phases. It is important for the students to see the moon phases and know the moon phases in order to do the Shapes of the Moon experiment listed above. These videos explain the moon phases and show the moon phases in a way that is easy to understand.  The other three videos that are together explain the solar system and all the different planets. It is a three part series that is for  kids . It explains the planets and their characteristics very well. The students will really enjoy the solar system videos.

  

 This is what I would do as a teacher in my classroom. I want to make learning fun for the students in my room. The experiments that I listed are the ones that I think that my students will enjoy doing. I want to have my students involved in hands-on experiments so that my students enjoy science.  

Going to Computer Lab Class

   I think that it is important to expose your kids to technology. It was a great idea to take our class to the library. It is also important to have rubrics and guidelines for assignments. It is important to show students way of communicating with each other which is safe and free which is through the program of Google docs. Google docs is a great way for students to collaborate on projects and activities together and share their work so that both members of the team can see the work. The students can also message each other while working on the project.

Quote from Week 3

"You can be taken by surprise even in areas with which you are familiar. It is the surprises that hold the potential for furtherlearning." * Eleanor Duckworth How does this relate to teaching science?




     This relates to teaching science in many ways. The surprise can be a new discovery something that was not found yet. The surprise could be lead to other discoveries. When doing an experiment the surprise can be a new discovery like a new substance. Surprises that are new can encourage students to want to study more and try to find new discoveries with that experiment. It could also encourage students to take an interest in that type of science and want to learn more about science or more about the experiment that the students just did. Surprises in science can lead to a cure for cancer or a new treatment that can give someone with cancer a better chance to survive longer and cancer free.  


    Surprises can relate to teaching science in a few ways.Teaching science can be a surprise if your hypothesis does not work to the result you are getting it can be a surprise to work to maybe someone's hypothesis. Teaching science is important. Students need to draw their own conclusions and by doing so the students are figuring out the surprises in science. 


     It is always important to use the students prior knowledge to help with experiments but you can still be surprised by science. If you put too much of a liquid or doing something different to the experiment you can be surprised by the results. If students don't follow directions then the students may get different results and that can be a surprise. Surprises can be a good and bad thing in science.  

Mount in the News Response

This is the website  for the Mount in the News. Click here and it will bring you to the page where you can list to the Mount in the News about Bird Migration from Dr. Robinson.  

My response:
                    Northeast Public Radio featured the listen to feature Listen Now segment of  Bird Migration with Dr. Robinson. It was interesting to learn about birds from a professor at the Mount named Dr. Robinson. Some interesting facts that I learned from the listening recording are as follows. I learned that as spring approaches we welcome the return of many birds that migrated north. Dr. Robinson talked about birds urges to return to their summer breeding ground. Another fact I learned was that in the course of a single year only half of the bird migrate some distance at some time. I also learned an interesting fact that during spring and northern temper regions most of birds that breed here in Newburgh, NY will return from some point south as the ice and snow melt and the warming of spring approaches. Some species like American Robinson flew to the South Atlantic states, Santo Crane wintered along the Gulf of Mexico, and our brightest and best singers the Wogbers flew to the Tropics and Southern Hemisphere. For species that are wintering along the equator, the internal annual clocks signal that birds should come back to their natural breeding grounds. Other species urge to return is cued by day lengths. Even longer day lengths, their arrive will trigger production of hormones which trigger reproduction but migraters may stop south of their final destination and then for the final push use temperatures, rainfall atmosphere conditions, and food abundant to fine tune their arrival to their summer homes. It is sensitivity to warming conditions and perhaps earlier food abundant that seem to be results in early spring arrivals of some species as global temperature increases. The ability to time the arrival or breeding grounds has been selected as those who make mistakes or arrive on wrong cue have few offspring or even their own death.  These are the facts I learned about from listening to Dr. Robinson.

            Bird migration is interesting to learn about. Birds are interesting creatures. Birds come in all sizes, colors, and shapes. Birds are different and interesting to see. Birds are interesting animals.

            I would use this migration recording from Dr. Robinson in my class. I would use this to teach my students about bird migration. In the video there was three birds mentioned Santo Crane, American Robinson, and Wogbers. I could have my students do more research on these three birds or let the students choose a bird to research and learn more about as a project. I feel like my students would enjoy learning more about the bird they choose and about the bird’s migration pattern of that bird.

             

Mount in the News notes

Mount in the News Notes: 

     I took these notes while listening to the radio broadcast of  Dr. Robinson. I found the piece on bird migration to be interest and so I typed up my notes below for people to read and find out about the bird migration in case that people don't have the time to listen to the radio broadcast. By taking the notes helped me to better understand the migration of birds and which birds go to which places and why birds come back to their original homes. 

• starts with music
• as spring approaches we welcome the return of many birds as they migrate north 
• Dr. Robinson an assistant professor of bio at Mount St. Mary College talks about birds urges to return to their summer breeding grounds
• in course of a single year only half of the birds migrate some distance and at some time
• during spring and northern temper regions, most of the birds that breed here (in Newburgh, NY or Orange County, NY) will return from some point south as ice and snow melt and warming of spring
• some species like the American Robinson flew South Atlantic states, Santo Crane wintered along the Gulf of Mexico, the brightest and best singers Wogbers flew to the Tropics and Souther Hemisphere
• for species wintering along the equator have internal clocks that signal that birds should come back to their northern breeding grounds
• other species urge to return is cued by day lengths 
• even longer day lengths they arrive will trigger production of hormones which trigger reproduction but migraters may stop south of their final destination and then for final push use temperatures, rainfall atmosphere conditions and food abundant to fine tune their arrival to their summer homes
• it is sensitivity to warming conditions and perhaps earlier food abundant that seem to be result in earlier spring arrivals of some species  as global warming temperature increases
• the ability to time arrival or breeding grounds had been selected as those who make mistakes or arrive on wrong cue have few offsprings or even their own death.    

This goes with the next blog entry. It is important to take notes on video to help students remember the information. Taking notes on video has always helped me to learn.