| Using Literature in the Science
Classroom |
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| Article
Title |
Source |
Reviewer |
Review |
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| Library of Conservation |
Science & Children , Nov/Dec, 1999 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Carissa Becker |
In the article “Library of Conservation,” Iris
McClellan Tiedt explains how children’s literature can be used to teach the
concept of stewardship integrates science and language arts. At the beginning,
she points out that there are not many children’s books that include the
idea of saving our planet. So to get the importance of this topic across,
she suggests using children’s literature. One example of literature that
Tiedt provides, is the book, Stuartship by Collay. In this story, the main
character learns that his neighbor is going to cut down an old apple tree.
Stuart is afraid of this becoming because he thinks of it as his own. Eventually
after talking to a friend, Stuart realizes that the tree is not his and explains
to him the importance of stewardship. Tiedt stresses that it is important
for children to see the outcomes of their own actions. “For them, helping
out, cleaning up, and taking care of their own things are examples of stewardship.”
Tiedt continues to provide more examples of books that can be used for various
topics concerning conservation of our planet, and stresses that children
need to understand this topic well because it relates so much to their future.
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| Puppets and Prose |
Science & Children , May 2000 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Sarah Hoppenrath |
This article was found on the nsta.org website. The article talks about motivating students to want to learn science, and one way this can be accomplished is through the use of puppets and books. By incorporating science trade books into a lesson, the trade books can help to complement the information found in a science textbook. Trade books are more colorful and can sometimes make concepts easier for students to understand. After reading a book to complement the textbook, children can sometimes become more excited to learn about science. Reading additional books can also help to enhance reading achievement. There is one thing teachers have to be cautious about when picking books to use in their classroom. Not all books present the truth and that can have a negative impact on student learning. |
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| Children’s Literature and Environmental Issues: Heart
over Mind? |
Reading Horizons 40(3) 2000. Pp. 175-84. |
Mark Barrett |
In many ways, integrating children’s literature
into the teaching of science broadens student learning. Research has shown
that using literature in science enhances literacy development, increases
student understanding of difficult scientific concepts, develops critical
thinking skills, increases interest and participation in science, and may
encourage participation in science careers. Some elementary teachers who
feel ill prepared for teaching science may find that using literature eases
the apprehension. If chosen carefully, children’s books can explain scientific
concepts more deeply than textbooks because children’s literature is usually
limited to one topic rather than the broad range of topics covered in textbooks.
The scientific concepts are presented in a way that enables the students
to make connections to their personal lives. Students use one of two methods
when they read; efferent reading is reading for content, which is used when
reading textbooks. Aesthetic reading focuses on feelings and is used when
reading novels or other fiction. Reading aesthetically helps children make
connections and gain insight beyond simply knowing the facts. The reasons
for using children’s literature are many, however, teachers should use caution
when integrating it into the science curriculum. The danger in using children’s
literature is that students may rely solely on emotional responses and not
on the factual scientific principles. |
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| Integrating Literature, Mathematics, and Science |
Dialogues January, 2001 |
Kaelynn Hatrick |
This article is about a teacher by the name
of Jacqueline Ventura. She teaches mathematics, but the article revolves
around a science lesson she taught that incorporated literature and science.
Jacqueline stresses the importance of integrating subject areas together
to give students an overall understanding of the material at hand, in this
case science, and learning about other subject areas as well. By reading
the book, I can count the Petals of a Flower, she got the students interested
in the science topic by leading discussion while reading the story, and applying
the students’ new found science skills they had learned by the story that
was read. Many comments were made on this article. One such comment
was, “I believe that picture books—those with depth and richness—are a seriously
underrated resource in the Intermediate classroom.” Also, just
the mere capability of students’ abilities to read are essential in learning
science. Another comment made by a viewer of the website said, “In
order for a student to understand a mathematical concept or to balance and
scientific equation, a students has to know how to read.” This goes
to show literature in the science classroom is not only beneficial for students
to view the material at a different angle, but a necessity for students’
understanding and learning of the science concept at hand. Although
Jacqueline Ventura is a mathematics teacher, she understands the importance
of incorporating science and literature in her classroom. |
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| Using Literature to Teach Science and Math |
Odyssey
Fall 2002 |
Nick Husbye |
This was an interesting article covering the
efforts of two professors at the University of Kentucky, Sara Moore and Bill
Blintz, who are working on a project that could possibly replace math and
science textbooks within the classroom. Stemming from the concept that children
are not given a proper context with which to respond in math and science
textbooks, they have painstakingly gathered hundreds of children’s trade
books and evaluated then in terms of factual correctness and grouped them
by concepts. They are currently working with local schools to see if this
approach to science and math will actually be more beneficial to students.
Basically, the aim of this article was stressing that trade books will provide
a context for children to learn math and science and the stories within the
books will add to the interest of the students in regards to the concepts.
The question was raised as to how schools were to pay for these books, but
there was really no answer. This was a fairly short article and did not go
very in depth, but I did find the hypothesis very interesting and would like
to see the results of their research, which I have not found on the internet
yet. |
|
| Ask the Expert website with Dr. Lettie Albright |
Reading is
Fundamental |
Jill Peets |
This article is a easy reference to how to
incorporate reading and literature into science and math. She suggests
using books in the following ways: *Read them aloud to your class! *Think-aloud as you're reading to your students *Show students how to use trade books as sources for research or inquiry projects *Let small groups of students read and discuss different books on topics you're studying. *Ensure that you have books about math and science in your classroom library Dr. Albright also states that one of the easiest ways to engage students in science is by adding supplemental children’s literature. It is an enjoyable read for the kids that is at their level of understanding. One accessible source for finding these books is the website of The National Science Teachers Association (http://www.nsta.org/ostbc). |
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| INTEGRATING SNAKES AND SENTENCES IN THE PRIMARY GRADES |
Electronic
Journal of Literacy Through Science |
Nikki Callahan |
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| How do you choose science trade books? |
Science and Children March, 2003 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Keyan MacCune |
The article talks about the phasing out of
sole-text based teaching in science and points out that trade books can add
to the science curriculum because of their reader-friendliness, familiar
language, and interesting story line. However, it also cautioned that
trade books are not a substitute for solid science teaching, and one must
be careful in selecting quality trade books. Issues of quality include:
accuracy of content and illustrations, avoidance of stereotypes, quality
of organization, level of vocabulary, and clarity of expression. You
must also note how up-to-date the information is, whether the author is distinguishing
between fact and supposition, and the degree to which anthropomorphism was
used. Checklist for choosing children’s literature to teach science: Is the science concept recognizable? Is the story factual? Is fact discernible from fiction? Does the book contain misrepresentations? Are the illustrations accurate? Are characters portrayed with gender equity? Are animals portrayed naturally? Is the passage of time referenced adequately? Does the story promote a positive attitude toward science and technology? Will children read or listen to this book? |
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| Review of 3 articles |
1. Henriques, Laura. “Children’s ideas about weather:
a review of the literature.” (2002) School Science and Mathematics. 102.5:
202-215. 2. Johnson, N. J. & Giorgis, C. “Interacting with the Curriculum.” (2001). The Reading Teacher. 55.2: 204-213. 3. Monhardt, R. M. & Monhardt, L. “Children’s Literature and Environment Issues: heart over mind?” (2000). Reading Horizons. 40.3: 175-184. |
Jackie George |
These three articles discussed the importance
of including children’s literature in the science curriculum. They explained
that the children can relate to abstract ideas of science when they are told
to them in terms that they can relate to, and experience by characters that
are similar to themselves. The article by Johnson and Giorgis (2001)
talks about specific books to use with particular units in the classroom.
They also discuss how and why the books relate to the unit. Henriques (2002)
methods of searching out particularly effective pieces of literature to use
in conjunction with the textbooks when teaching units on weather topics.
Monhardt and Monhardt (2000) relate technology and other literature resources
to children’s understandings about science. All three articles are good resources
for information about including literature in the science curriculum. |
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| Using Trade Books in Teaching Elementary Science:
Facts and Fallacies |
The Reading Teacher March , 2002 |
Heather Rhodea |
The use of trade books in teaching science
has is growing increasingly popular. The big question that teachers
need to address along with this trend, is whether the children are able to
develop accurate science concepts from the content. The availability
of trade books paired with their more up to date information and reader-friendly
text offers educators an attractive option when trying to accommodate several
different reading levels. Unfortunately researchers have found evidence
condemning trade books because of their tendency to interfere with the children’s
abilities to discern the real science concepts from assumed and exaggerated
concepts. As educators, we must be more objective in our evaluations
of trade books to be used in the classroom. In selecting titles, the
focus must be on content accuracy, not the story or plot, ensuring higher
development in science as well as increased proficiency in reading and communication
skills. |
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| Creativity in Science Teaching
and Learning |
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| The ARIES Philosophy |
ARIES Harvard Physics Department |
Courtney Hagen |
While the main objective of this article was
to promote the ARIES program, the authors felt that it was necessary to discuss
why their science program was so successful and worthwhile in the classroom.
The authors feel that comfort in the classroom on both the students’ and
teachers’ part is 100% necessary. They were adamant about taking into
account the past experiences of students when teaching material because the
students may be “stuck” on their preconceived notion of how something may
be. This is why they feel discovery-based learning is most accommodating
to all learners; it will let the learner see inconsistencies in their personal
theories and previous ideas. The developers of the program use astronomy
and children’s natural interest and excitement to build on science in general.
I can see it as a trust scenario – they learn a lot and like astronomy and
you can teach them anything for the rest of the year. |
|
| When Students Design Experiments |
The Science Teacher December, 1999 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Missy Fedewa |
The article, “When Students Design Experiments,”
refers to the aspect of creativity in regards to the students. Our
topic, which was creativity, plays an important role in the learning of students.
The article states that the majority of the students understood the importance
of creating their own experiences and the added knowledge that they gained
from engaging in the designing of their own experiment. The students could
see the real world connections and importance of knowing the topic well enough
before conducting an experiment. Researching a topic and experimenting
with it were the main topics learned, but also they gained exposure as to
what it would be like to be a scientist. Most importantly, the students
understood what the purpose of their activity was and what each step included
and why each step was necessary. In experiments in the science books
had no meaning to the students and they did not understand the importance
of reasoning behind each step. This creativity aspect adds more than
just developing research skills and exposure to a scientist's job; it gives
the students the ability to see the real life science in everyday life.
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| Giving Spatial Perception Our Full Attention |
Science & Children February, 2002 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Julie Barch |
The article “Giving Spatial Perception Our
Full Attention,” by Thomas R. Lord and Tandi Clausen-May, talks about the
difference between children with spatial perception and children with linguistic-numerical
perception. Children with linguistic-numerical perception tend to excel
in linguistic and numerical ways of thinking such as spelling, talking, writing,
adding, and subtracting. Children with spatial perception tend to excel
in holistic and creative thinking. This is also known as left-brain
verses right-brain thinkers, with right-brain thinkers being the spatial
perception thinkers. In schools the teachers tend to teach towards
the left-brain thinkers. This is because they are required to prepare
the students for tests, which are often biased toward the linguistic and
numerical thinkers, while they penalize the students who learn best spatially.
So when these right-brain thinkers take these test and do poorly they are
labeled as slow or lower level learners. The teachers can help these
students first by just being aware of the logic patterns that do not match
the traditional answer schemes. These students will normally be the
creative students in the class. They tend to give estimations of answers
but will understand the background to why the answer is correct. The
teacher will initially look at the answer and mark it as incorrect but if
the teacher will talk to the student he/she will understand the reasoning
behind their answer. The teacher will also notice that when a right-brain
thinker answers a question he/she will often explain the answer by a drawing.
The teacher must be understanding of the ways a right-brain thinker organizes
his/her thoughts. This article does not give much explanation as to what a teacher could really do to help all types of learners besides just being aware that there are different kinds. It talks about the spatial thinkers as being more creative and they will learn better with a more creative way of teaching. I think that a teacher should find ways to teach to all different types of learners. This will include not only the “strait right-brain or left-brain learns,” but also the people that need a mixture of the two types of learning styles. With a good understanding of what this truly means I think a teacher can be much more effective for all of his/her students. |
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| Imagine the Possibilities! |
Science & Children January, 2002 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Megan Johansen |
Kris Churchman discusses in this article how
the creativity of the students in the classroom increased as they worked
together on inventions with potatoes. There was a nationwide Invent
America contest coming up and Churchman needed an activity to help the students
learn about invention and to practice their own creativity on an invention
before the competition. There was more provided for the students besides
potatoes. For example, construction paper, pipe cleaners, straws, fabric,
and more were included. The students worked together, used each other’s
ideas, and twisted them to create new ideas. This activity was more
than a practice session for the real Invent America competition, it was a
lesson filled with creativity. The students used their imaginative
sides to come up with a new invention and show it off to their fellow classmates.
I personally thought this was a great activity to get students’ minds thinking.
Not only did the students learn about inventions, they had a blast! |
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| How Animals Play Hide and Seek: A Game of Survival |
Science
Activities v37 n4 |
Katie Batema |
The article gives a lesson plan to teach children
about how animals and insects are camouflaged to help them survive.
It allows students a chance to run outside and be creative with their learning.
The teacher throws several different colors of pasta outside in the grass
to symbolize insects. The students will go outside and pretend to be
birds and other insect-eaters. They have to try to find as many of
these “insects” as they can in a short amount of time.
The author explains the lesson objective to be for students to discover the
function of protective coloring, or camouflage, and become more aware of
examples in the natural world. It takes a lot of creativity to get
students to become involved in their learning. Their “discoveries”
make it more fun for them to learn about new things. In doing creative activities in a Science classroom, a teacher must make sure that the students are getting the right information from the activity. The students in this case should be aware that the pasta only represents insects, that there are many differences between insects and pasta. There should not be a problem with this, but in doing experiments and hands-on activities, a teacher must be prepared to explain the reasons behind doing the activity in that it is only representative of the actual Scientific process. |
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| A Community Friend Helps Us to See |
Arts & Activities v. 124 no3 |
Katie Tallamadge |
This article discusses an art
project that was done in a first grade classroom. The teacher invited a blind
man to come in and work with the students on a clay project. The students
asked him several questions including how he could tell what he was making
since he couldn’t see it. He explained that his hands are his eyes. The students
then had a turn to try to make things with out using their eyes. I think
that this could be a great activity to teach the students about the five
senses. The teacher could design several similar activities so the students
could experience every day tasks without one of their senses and discuss
the challenges involved. In general when you want to incorporate art into science it is important to consider the accuracy of what you are showing the students. For example it is perfectly alright to have the students make clouds out of cotton balls as long as they realize that clouds are not really made of cotton and they are not solid. If you take the time to thoroughly explain the things that you are teaching to your students any art project can be incorporated. The students just need to be aware of what is an artistic representation and what is reality. |
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| Arts Throughout the Curriculum |
Kappa Delta Pi Record v. 30 no1 |
Erin Pfister |
According to the article "Arts throughout the
Curriculum" by Jane Carol Manner, integrating arts into different subjects is very important. Just like our class discussed the importance of integrating all subjects into the curriculum to make learning more relevant, art needs to be treated in much the same way. This article points out that art has been a form of communication throughout human history so it is important for students to become familiar with this form of communication and to use it more often in everyday experiences. This article has many good resources listed in helping teachers integrate arts into their curriculum. Specifically integration into the sciences was talked about by showing how art has been depicted throughout history such as drawings communicating ideas about different animals. Another way in which arts can be integrated into science is by learning about the color wheel and the science behind what makes up the different colors. Listed at the end of this article is a great website that has ideas to use in the classroom, it is the Calgary ARts Partners in Education Society website (http://www.nucleus.com/capes/links.html) |
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| Hands-On Thunderstorms |
Science and Children, April 2000 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Staci Robbins |
This article gives ideas for doing hands-on
activities about weather, focusing on thunderstorms. It also provides
a few good websites for teachers to become more familiar with the science
of thunderstorms before teaching the lessons. There are several activities
that are described which students can do as experiments along with a weather
unit. One such activity involves students making a model of cloud formation.
They are able to see the relationship between cold water in an aquarium and
the red-colored hot water that rises to the top like clouds. This,
and the other experiments that are mentioned allow students to see models
of the properties of thunderstorms, and then draw conclusions about what
is happening. Creativity is important for Science teaching according to this article because it allows students to get a more hands-on experience. Children seem to learn best by doing, and by combining creative experiments with classroom lessons, they will gain a more solid conceptual understanding of the unit topic. The activities presented in the article encourage creativity in the classroom that are closely linked to the National Science Education Standards. |
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| Real World and Problem Based Science
Teaching and Learning |
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| Learner-Centered Classrooms, Problem-Based Learning,
and the Construction of Understanding and Meaning by Students |
NCREL |
James Beezley |
This journal comes from the North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory found at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/sc3learn.htm.
The two themes in this piece are creating an effective classroom environment
in the classroom and using Problem-Based learning as the type of classroom
organization. The environment for the class calls for an atmosphere
that facilitates explorative learning, learners who have frequent opportunities
to confront new information and experiences, and the importance of learning
through personal discovery in individual’s personal style and pace.
The second theme is using problem-Based learning as the type of organization.
To set this up Savoie and Hughes use six actions: 1. Identify a problem
suitable for the students; 2. Connect the problem with the context of the
students’ world for authenticity; 3. Organize subject matter around the problem;
4. Give students responsibility for defining their learning experience and
planning to solve the problem; 5. Encourage collaboration through learning
teams; and 6. Expect all students to demonstrate the results of their learning
through a product or performance. This piece is informational, helping
the reader understand the importance of the environment and the learning
process in Problem-Based Learning. |
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| Expanding The Classroom Problem-Based Learning |
Science Scope March, 1999 |
Candi Bala |
This article was found in the March 1999 Science
Scope magazine. It talks about the expectations of teachers and students
while using a problem-based learning unit. It describes the complexity
of forming a unit in this manner and how many “experts” you may need to find
and talk with on a regular basis in order to be successful. It talks
about the importance of community involvement in your project. They
say the best way to describe PBL is “embedding science in a realistic format
that engages student’s interest in and out of class, it encourages cross-disciplinary
discussions of multiple resolutions, and supports extended investigations
and decision making.” Though there are many positive things about PBL
(students using this framework score better on assessments of science content,
science processes, higher level thinking and questioning than students who
do not use this method), there are also negatives (once students are exposed
to this type of learning going back to traditional will not engage them).
They want you to think very hard and carefully before using this in your
classroom because of all the hard work that goes into planning one unit let
alone a whole years worth. |
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| Problem Based Learning |
Score |
Colleen Crowder |
This article describes the concepts summarizing
problem-based learning. I found this article at http://score.rins.k12.ca.us/problearn.html.
It describes it as a curriculum that strives for students to use real world
problems to learn both content and critical thinking skills. The characteristics
of problem based learning are Reliance on problems to drive the curriculum,
The problems are truly ill-structured, Students solve the problem, Students
are only given guidelines for how to approach problems and the last characteristic
is Authentic, performance based assessments. PBL is then broken down
into three stages. Stage one is encountering and defining the problem,
which requires students to use a KWL and decide what resources they can use
to make their KWL. Stage two is accessing, evaluating and utilizing
information and the resources that they determined to use from stage one.
Stage three is called synthesis and performance. This is the final
stage in which students decide on a solution to the problem. This article
concludes describing the problems that you may encounter using this type
of curriculum as well as the rewards that come from using it as well. |
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| Inspired by Real Science |
Science and Children, Vol. 40(5) Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Erin Huber |
This article discusses the collaboration of
an elementary science teacher with a biomedical researcher to teach science
to young children. This article illustrates effective ways to help
students develop appreciation for scientific inquiry as well as how to connect
science in the classroom with real-world scientists. The main goal
of this collaboration was to influence the students’; especially the girls’,
attitudes towards science as well as their interest in science based careers.
The intent of their teaching was to merge science in an elementary school
with science in the laboratory. For example, the fifth-grade students
experimented with different materials and containers to make an accurate
model of the human digestive system in their classroom. The teacher
and scientist used different approaches to connect science in the laboratory
to the children. After the lessons taught by the teacher and scientist,
the students showed more interest in pursuing a science-based career and
a better understanding of what working in a laboratory entails. This
article shows an effective was to connect elementary students to real world
science. |
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| Animals in Disguise |
Science and Children , February 2001 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Debbie Robinson |
Originally developed from real life observations
of a lizard by a first grade class, the teacher/author has designed a series
of activities to teach students what camouflage is and its importance for
the survival of certain animals. Striving to transform the abstract into
the concrete, the first activity invites students to count the number of
colored circles on different colored backgrounds with the objective that
the students will conclude that it is much harder to count the circles when
they are the same color as the background. The teacher asks students to consider
“What if the colored circles represented small animals that were blended
into a similar colored background or habitat?” The teacher poses the question,
“How do these blending techniques” help animals survive? Included in her
lessons are: a Read- Aloud book activity "Animals in Disguise”, a rain forest
flannel board activity to illustrate how animals seem to disappear in their
natural habitat, analysis of colors and patterns of model Beanie-baby toy
animals, and real life demonstration of several animals by a pet store owner.
In another lesson, students were asked to analyze photographs of various
habitats, describe several types, and explain how each protects certain kinds
of animals. A final activity suggested is the creation of a Animal Camouflage
science journal or booklet where the students selects several animals, draws
or cuts out their picture, writes a paragraph about the animal’s appearance
and habitat, and describes how animal camouflage protects and helps them
survive. |
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| Balancing Real-World Problems with Real-World Results |
Phi Delta Kappan, January 1998 |
Beth Fellows |
Authentic learning is a goal that should be
promoted and pursued in all classrooms. However, designing such meaningful
lessons aimed at developing the understandings, skills, and beliefs necessary
to apply their learning in real-life contexts involves a deep commitment
to authentic learning experiences. Working with these real-life problems
is a sophisticated process that demands a strong teacher that can tolerate
uncertainty and complexity. As Jacqueline Brooks and Martin Brooks exclaim
in describing the benefits of constructivist classrooms: “They face students from the dreariness of fact-driven curriculum and allow them to focus on large ideas; they place in students hands the exhilarating power to follow trails of interests, to make connections, to reformulate ideas, and to reach unique conclusions.” Since real-world problems are messy by their nature, they usually do not mesh well with mandated curricula, textbooks, standardized tests, and state standards. It is for this reason that many teachers feel studying real-life problems seems somewhat incompatible with classroom realities. The article mentioned six main essential elements of authentic learning: 1. Authentic learning demands that students actively solve problems. 2. In authentic learning situations, people work together. 3. Authentic learning situations simultaneously involve one’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes. 4. Authentic learning is driven by “essential knowledge” that is meaningful to students. 5. In authentic learning environments, activities are connected. 6. In authentic learning situations, students publicly exhibit their learning, and there are often real-life standards of quality. These features of authentic learning experiences are listed in order for teachers to realize that they are highly achievable in regular classroom settings. The framework that guides the creation of authentic learning in all settings is the experiential learning cycles (ELC). This model takes “smaller” learning activities and makes them more authentic to make real-life problems seem more focused. Three levels, generally of increasing authenticity, complexity, uncertainty, and student self-direction, make up the ELC: 1. Academic challenges 2. Scenario challenges 3. Real-life problems The ELC includes both student and teacher dimensions. The student phases of the cycle are engagement, exhibition, and reflection. The teacher-led phases of the cycle are design, coaching, and feedback. Basically, the classroom is set-up giving students purposes and processes for their work. Students must understand what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how it relates to work done both in and out of school. Lessons are intended to build on one another so that students can learn from their successes and failures. “The experimental learning cycle and the combination of academic, scenario, and real-life challenges provides a blueprint to connect the vision of real-world learning to the realization of authentic student results.” |
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| The Science and Mathematics of Nature |
Science Scope; October 2001 Published by The National Science Teachers Association |
Audra Wheeler |
I am a member of a group that is researching
science through real-world experiences and applications. This article demonstrates
how science and mathematics are natural parts of the environment and of life
in general. The article emphasizes three main ideas regarding science and
mathematics relationships. Firstly, changes in nature generally occur in
patterns or cycles, which can be illustrated in mathematical terms. In other
words, objects and organisms in nature can be described scientifically and
mathematically through cyclical change (i.e. seasons, sunrise, tides, plant
growth, etc.). Secondly, mathematics helps scientists identify past happenings
as well as predict future occurrences of natural phenomena. Thirdly, the
relationship between science and mathematics is important because when examining
patterns found in nature, students often have to use mathematical representations
(i.e. statistics, ratios, etc.). The author focuses on the occurrence of
the Fibonacci series in nature. The Fibonacci series is illustrated by the
number sequence 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89…. where any number taken from
the sequence is equal to the sum of the two previous numbers. Examples of
the Fibonacci series in nature are leaves on a pinecone, petals of the artichoke,
most patterns of flower petals, to name a few. Overall, it is important for
students to recognize that science and mathematics interact in the environment
to form an important part of nature. |
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| Considering Special Education in
Science Teaching and Learning |
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| Teaching Science in Special Education A Message to Teachers From the Staff at Project Lab |
Project Lab |
Maria Garcia-Mugg |
Project Lab is not a school, but a program for children
who are considered to be ADD. A woman who runs the center wrote
the article, but is not a teacher. She speaks from her own personal
experience, as well as 40 years experience working with children. Children with ADD are completely incompatible with a modern classroom environment due to being head strong, loners, questioning of authority, excessive curiosity, internal compulsion for excitement, dislikes sitting still for long periods of time, give the impression of being lazy, a procrastinator, or maybe even impudent. These children have ten times the level of curiosity as the average youth. So instead of attempting to numb their curiosity, as general education tends to do to create “well mannered” individuals, Project Lab allows them to use it. It is a program in which the children are active learners and self-directed learners. There are no schedules or organized activities. It allows them to explore, learn, fail, learn and explore some more. She feels that these students, when put into a mainstream class, often accept low quality work for themselves because they have been predisposed to failure and curiosity as a bad thing, therefore different, therefore not good, therefore a lower self-esteem. However, these children are prone to what is known as the “Edison Trait.” This includes early development of conceptual thinking skills, high levels of curiosity, dedication to exploring and adventures, search out excitement, etc. In essence, the most important point she was trying to get across was to recognize the children’s creativity and resourcefulness and value them rather than change them. They need to be taught to their strengths rather than struggling with their weaknesses. |
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