Actions Taken to Ensure Equal High Quality Science Instruction

The challenges I have faced in my efforts to improve the science program at my school and district include such things as not having a school district to impact. There is not much leeway that is given to a day to day substitute.
The school that I am at right now for long term subbing has been impacted by my doing what I can to fill out their science curriculum in kindergarten. They do not do much with it, but I try my best to get that in. I also send information on to the principal as I can. If I can send him links to grant possibilities, or events, contests, or anything of the like, I do. He has not done much with it so far though. He did copy a paper that I put in his mailbox and give it out to the various teachers that would benefit from it. I started a grant proposition from and electrical company. We could have gotten up to 10,000 dollars in funds, but then I would have had to write a big explanation of what I would do with the money and I won't even be there next year to fulfill it since I am a sub. That wouldn't have stopped me from passing it on to the right teacher except that the deadline is tomorrow and I do not have her contact information.

How have you overcome these obstacles? I haven't! I do not think that I can. I believe that I can wait it out until I do have the power and authority to make these advances. I have submitted to many applications that I want to create these types of changes but I need to be allowed the ability to do so and right now, I have none.

Do We Need a New Sputnik?

Op-Ed columnist Thomas E. Friedman (2010, January 17) in his article, “What’s Our Sputnik?” has a very strong position on the things he would like to see happening in the United States economy and in reference to education in the states. I have to say that I was pretty shocked at how bold he was in his claims. Yet, I also found it refreshing that he should be so clear in his thoughts about reform.



I think that we have a bigger issue here than we would like to think since science education is not the sort of thing that gives instant gratification. Science work can very well be hard work! I believe that many people like jobs where they are creating video games or playing video games in order to check for glitches. That type of technology training spawns many a volunteer. However the gross, meticulous, time consuming stuff like investigating what caused a pond full of organisms to all die out is something that even shows like "Bones" show scientists to be odd if they enjoy, perhaps even "off of their rockers". Also, since so many of the scientists that got their catalyst from events like Sputnik and are therefore at the age where they can retire should they so chose, it would seem to make it difficult for students to see that career choice as much different from choosing to join a knitting group with their grandma. "Nice" maybe, but not "cool". So, we need a facelift in the science field.

Sputnik brought about a surge of desire that was natural. We had to be better and we had to be better because we did not trust those who were ahead of us. It was a need to feel safe in a survival mode setting. Do we need that again? Well, I think that whether we need it again or not, we certainly should not be sitting around hoping and waiting for it to happen because I do not see such a thing coming around in the near future. Countries do not act the same way. Like Friedman wrote, why threaten to bury us when they can do so much more damage by bankrupting us?(p.1)



No, rather than waiting, we need to see that there is already a threat of extinction that comes through our co-investor in the United States, China. No, there is no obvious and severe threat the China will try to overtake us and force communism down our throats, but even now I see little promise that we can keep up with China and keep our economic strong hold for long. It looks inevitable that China will be the next economic leader and will set the tone for what they want the rest of the world to be able to do in these fields.

But, how can we try our best to stay viable? I think that Friedman has a great point. We have to stop spending so much of our money, time and energy trying to fix all the other nations! I think that we need to invest a good amount of our time and energy on engaging our own people, young and old, in learning more about STEM related fields and doing it in such as way that the information is valuable to them. So often Americans are surrounded by lectures about things. "Well, you should really not drink this, it is so bad for you...well you really SHOULD drink this, it is really good for you..." But, the chemical "details" behind it, the logical reasoning or science methods used to reach that conclusion are not shared. So, faulty pseudosciences has caused many a person to just stop listening and to have no greater understanding or impact in their health than they did before. I believe we need to be more willing to teach people and less trying to force them to act or be a certain way. Let them take ownership of their own knowledge and stop acting like you have the corner on what they have to do.



Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.

Modeling Earth Science instructional plan

Reflections:
How did the use of a model work for you and your students?

I was not completely sure how to make use of a model in discussing the biomes of the earth. The students will themselves be creating a diagram after they learn about all the biomes. They will chose an animal and create it's living environment. So, I was thinking of how to make use of a model that would display their knowledge of where the various biomes are and why they are there. I decided to use that as an interactive thing so that I would describe a biome and then ask them to predict where they believed it would be based off of what they know about the relationship that the sun has on weather and seasons. Later, I made them create a model of the types of trees one would find in each of the taiga and temperate deciduous forests and explain in writing why it is that they would be found there.





Share the triumphs and challenges of using models in an effort to support student understanding of complex science concepts.

Well, I think that these activities helped me to be able to see where each student's misconceptions were. Since the students went outside for a walk to look at examples of how plants adapt to the winter season in western PA, that became a part of their answers for the model. In some cases, they became the answer for BOTH biome choices though and although I am fond of oak trees, I am pretty sure that they would not do well in the taiga biome regions. So, what I believe I would do is just like after asking students to predict where they biomes are, I showed them the real places, I would also do the same thing with the trees. I can show them examples of particular plants and then explain to them why those plants can or can not live in various biomes.

I would love to make this a game sort of like memory. I could make cards that have the pictures of various trees/plants and then have listed information on the card about the biome that it lives in and why it needs to be there. Students could either match up the same picture, or be able to take up pairs according to their biome, or a partnership between a plant and an organim in that biome or something like that! Through this sort of game the facts could be reinforced while the students are also having fun.

Creating Compassionate Students

Natural disasters happen regularly, yet how often do we really pay attention to what is going on? I know that for me, most of the time it takes something happening within my backyard, or a very big event that everyone surrounding me will be talking about.

I believe that we can create more compassionate students in class by tying significant natural disasters into our science study in related events. If I am teaching on weather instruments and scientist, I would probably include some information on the hurricane that went through Galveston, Tx in 1900 and discuss how important studying the weather is because the people there did not believe that anything was going to happen to them.

I believe that a good incentive for my students would be to allow them to bring in recent events news clippings on natural disasters. They get extra credit, and even a chance to discuss it in class (which has the added incentive of being a small break from the regular activities), and then I can use those readings as a way to connect the science concepts to reality. If students are able to relate what we learn in class or in homework back to the events we read about, talk about, and post on the classroom wall, then they can get extra credit for either presenting that to the class orally or visually along side the news clippings. Students will also get credit for presenting information on organizations that they have found which help during these events. I would set an example by including the major ones in any unit that I do on a given natural disaster. In this way, I believe that students can become more aware of their surroundings, what the information they receive means, and how to respond to this information with compassion and understanding.

Ecological Exploration with a Touch of Sense

Since I do not have my own class, I was using the students from my sister’s third and fourth grade class for my lesson. These students have a forty-five minute block for science time. Ironically, that block also includes packing up for the end of the day, so my time with them was brief.
I wanted the students to understand ahead of time what the goals were so, although I planned on discussing the standards, instead I briefed the students on the objectives. I explained that since they were learning about their senses, and I needed to do a lesson on ecology, that we were going to observe nature because no matter what is being studied in science, a scientist relies on their senses to help them in their work. Yet, I also pointed out that for this lesson no one is allowed to use their sense of taste since I did not want anyone to become sick. I quickly handed out blank journal books and instructed students to label it with their name and a nature book title. I told them that our time would be brief and so they should use it wisely and then I took them outside with field study books to sit on benches and identify the trees.
Students were so excited about finding things. They noticed any number of organisms surrounding them including miniscule mushrooms.

At first, some students were searching for birds. I told them to first focus on the trees surrounding them. It took them a while to adjust their focus since their hopes were on birds but about half way through the lesson, some hawks started circling above us. They were gorgeous! The students loved to watch! Not much later a murder of black birds showed up and students drew them. In between that time, some students spotted a snake. It was about 3 feet long! We identified it as a garter snake and discussed why students do not need to be concerned about them living on the school grounds.

About half way through, students were looking more at the bark of trees and the things growing on them.



They looked at small seeds and nuts on the ground.
They started wandering further out to study more trees. Many students were numbering each organism they identified and using pencil rubbings to record leaf patterns.
Students met the goals with flying colors. Although I would have loved for us to be able to create their own presentation about what they saw, we never would have had enough time for it. Still, they did observe well for the time that they had. And, although I would have loved for the students to be able to collect more information, it is really impossible to research what all the various plant types are with third and fourth graders in a forty some minute block.

The lesson was successful because the students were intent and responsible in their research and collection of information. They loved going out and searching around them. It was like a scavenger hunt for them. They loved thinking about what plants were and collecting leaves or seeds. It was good for the students to practice looking in books to identify trees, but it was a bit awkward since it is a new procedure for them. The next time I would prepare them ahead of time by showing them how to use a field book appropriately. I believe that we could make a better use of time for a number of students that way.
The backward process worked well. I have used that process now for many years. It is what I was taught by my professors during college. I appreciate how a teacher does not lose sight of the final goal when this is used.

In closing, students discussed connections between what they saw, and how those organisms relate to each other to create our school environment. Students did very well in recognizing relationships and causal effects.

Web Tool Examination Analysis:

Considering the following web tool: PreZENt (http://prezentit.com/)
Ease of use: It is so similar to Power Point that I have no trouble moving around to find the options that I need.
Special features: The way that pictures are used makes it easy to create your own designs to use.
Reliability: I wouldn’t know. It seems reliable enough though I have not been using it long. One needs the use of the internet for creating though supposedly one does not need it later on when presenting.
Learning curve/availability of training materials: I did not see any tutorials, which means if I am missing something SUPER COOL that I could do, then it is lost on me for quite a while. I found that the text box would not work at the right level with the text. The first line would not go away even though none of the words were on it after I got done typing. All the words were thus hidden in the text box. I resized it. Then, I just moved the textbox up to align it where I had wanted before the first line incident only to notice that after writing the text and ceasing to edit, the box outline still shows.
Equipment/technical requirements: What is common internet usage is what is required.
Potential for collaboration and file sharing: Yes, absolutely! In fact, collaboraters can be working on it at the same time from different places, the presentation can be kept private or made public, and one gets one’s own web address to be capable of editing manually.
Cost of use: None? I signed up and got access without paying a thing. Perhaps I will get hit with a fee after a create something and want to use it? I do not know. So far nothing has indicated that I owe anything.
Accessibility from home, school, or classroom: It is accessible from anywhere that there is internet until it is saved on someone’s computer, it seems.
Multi-media capabilities (such as animation, sound, video elements) I did not see sound elements, animation, or video options.
Engagement/motivational factors: Good question! The pictures are gorgeous! One can layer information, pictures, and shadow boxes to make a jaw dropping display which has great depth. These images can come and go in the slide via a number of silly, or not so silly, options just like Power Point. However, a lack of animation and sound would be a slight against it unless I am just not finding it yet.

Considering the following tool: Vuvox (http://www.vuvox.com/)
Ease of use: Looks easy enough so far.
Special features: The slide format makes the presentation flow. It also can create movement and timing variances. At some points the presentation can go on autopilot and go slow or fast based on the designer. At other times the viewer can deside to take over and slow it down if something was missed or fast forward as well.
Reliability: I do not know how to check this one.
Learning curve/availability of training materials: There are plenty of ways to learn more. Not only can a person look at examples of others’ work, but there are video tutorials as well.
Equipment/technical requirements: standard internet and windows programming seems to work just fine.
Potential for collaboration and file sharing: I do not see any option for that.
Cost of use: So far, free.
Accessibility from home, school, or classroom: If one has internet…
Multi-media capabilities (such as animation, sound, video elements): Animation, I do not know. Sound and video elements absolutely and it works great.
Engagement/motivational factors: One can make a presentation that looks incredibly professional. This is on par with being a newscaster or reporter. It does not take much to seem as though everything presented is official. It can be a great way to show a house, artwork, etc. because it is easy to create a panoramic effect.

This one is my favorite simply because it looks so remarkable, so beautiful, and there are countless options for layering pictures and text so that a person is really creating their own.

Chemical Reactions

While teaching third grade in South America, one of the issues that came up every year was the sticky subject of identifying chemical reactions versus physical ones. I decided to make this point my topic of study when out exploring Internet sites.
I was able to find a number of sites which explained things using big words and a few pictures. I was also able to find a number of sites which gave some great lists of science experiments that can be done but there were two sites that stood out as best facilitating a young child's understanding of chemical reactions. These sites were Andrew Radar's Studio and BBC's Bitesize. What I really loved about BBC's Bitesize is that there is plenty of humor and fun illustrations to keep children entertained. They are reacting and causing things to occur by clinking their mouse, or sliding an image on the page. In this way, they are engaged in the process in more than a mental way. Another thing that I loved is the tests at the end of the lesson which give the students something to measure how much they understood what they saw.
One way that I can tie these sites into a lesson is through using two examples. Students can pour two materials together, such as sand and salt and then try to take them apart. We can discuss how even if the materials were sugar and salt and really hard to take apart, it is still physical if we can. It would take a long time, but we can take them apart. Then we (I) could do a chemical reaction such as burning a piece of paper and allow the students to see how we can not every change that back to being paper again. We could also then discuss how when heat is involved, it is often a chemical reaction which is occurring. Students could take aluminum/metal and put it in a solution which will cause rusting as well. The website's interactive offerings fit well with explaining these experiences.

The students would need to view the site after we mix the salt and sand and before we would work with chemical reactions. This would be a challenge if I do not have computer/Internet access for all my students during that time. The use of a computer lab in the middle of a science lesson would be tricky, but attainable, I believe.

References:
Andrew Rader’s Studio. (1997-2009). Retrieved on June 11, 2010 from: http://www.chem4kids.com/files/react_intro.html; http://www.chem4kids.com/files/react_thermo.html
BBC. Bitesize. Retrieve on June 11, 2010 from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/science/chemical_material_behaviour/;