Now that you have taught your first inquiry science lesson, take a moment to reflect on the experience in your grade bands.
What were your lesson goals, both in terms of content and process skills? What strategy did you use to help students reveal and reflect on their own science ideas? What patterns did you observe in students' science ideas, writings, or drawings? Were any ideas particularly difficult or easy for students? Why was this? In what areas did students' science understandings grow? If you were going to teach a follow-up lesson to this one, what would it be and why? What question do you still have about "inquirizing" your science teaching?
1 comment:
Kevin Cashman and Raenelle Dayton
Our goals were to allow students the opportunity to become more familiar with the properties of solids, to understand that different solids have better uses because of their properties and the stronger the solid
the stronger the structure. Our process skills/ goals included allowing students to discover on their own what objects were better for constructing because of their properties along with the process of actually using their solid materials to build a tower.
One strategy we used to help students reveal their own science ideas
was first by asking them questions to get them thinking about their
previous lessons on solids (properties of solids, for example, smooth, hard,
rigid etc.) and then by asking them questions like what will make them
stronger, what materials will work best, what properties of the
objects will help them build a better tower, and what are the strategies you
all plan to use and why?
Patterns we noticed in students ideas while they were building was that
they all began to slowly discover what was objects/materials were
working best, for example the cup was working great for a base, the tinfoil
was nice for holding light objects up and the popsicle stick and the
straw were great for making their towers tall (which was a goal for
them). Also, when they were asked what changes they would make to a new
tower what would they be and to draw his or her new tower, they all had
similar drawings. The cup was at the bottom for a strong support, the
straw and popsicle stick were used to make their towers taller etc.
One idea the students seemed to grasp after we began to elicit
questions was what materials were going to be the most beneficial in building
their towers. For example when we asked them what properties were
necessary in the objects for stronger towers, they got they idea that the
stronger the materials used the stronger their tower, which could
potentially make their towers the strongest. Properties did seem to be somewhat
of a challenge though because they were new vocabulary words so we
really had to continue to repeat the properties like transparent, opaque,
rigid and what their meanings were.
Throughout the lesson as mentioned before students really got the idea
of what properties were necessary for building their towers. They
quickly learned things like the square piece of cloth and the rubber band
weren’t going to be as helpful because of their softer properties. This
really allowed them to expand on the importance of properties and how
they play a role in our lives.
If we were to teach a follow up lesson to the science lesson we taught recently, we would remain on the topic of solids and their properties. Although the students have spent a considerable amount of time exploring solids already, we would explore solids in nature, offering students a slightly more sophisticated set of properties to identify and work with.
It is important that we remain on the topic of solids and their properties, as not all students have completely grasped these concepts. Further exploration of the same topic in a different context offers students that are having difficulties understanding a concept a new perspective. This strategy simultaneously offers new challenges for those students who have fully grasped the concept. The students are in a delicate period, where nearly all have a solid handle on the topic of solids, though the majority may not quite be ready for the next step: liquids and gasses.
A question that we still have on teaching science is : When is it appropriate to incorporate the teaching of current events in science, such as endangered species and global warming?
Post a Comment