Introductory Quiz –
Earth Science
1.
How the phases of the moon occur?
-
The moon gets larger and smaller. It goes in
stages from full moon to smaller and smaller, and then it begins to look like a
crescent shape until very small. Then, it begins the stages of getting back to
a full moon.
2.
What causes the seasons?
-
The rotating of planets.
3.
What causes a lunar eclipse?
-
The weather.
Misconceptions Die
Hard
By: Joseph Stepans,
Ronald E. Beiswenger, and Steven Dyche
The question
about if teachers are not teaching the terminology enough or if teachers are to
terminology heavy is the one that sticks out to me. I think it comes from a
good place of teachers wanting students to know the vocabulary, so they can
comprehend the work. However, I think the key component missing is the
connection between the words. I understand the pre-teaching intentions, because
especially with text books, if students trip over and cannot get past the
foreign vocabulary, there is no avenue for comprehension. From the ideas in the
reading as well as our class, I think introducing terminology is fine, if then
after they address the material, they could complete a concept map and show the
connections between the words. For teachers who are not comfortable taking the
approach we use in class just yet, I think that is a good way to still achieve an
understanding while having control in the vocabulary. If I am ever time
permitting with science in my class, the least I could be sure to do is create
a concept map connecting all our terminology. Otherwise, like when I grew up, I
have an idea what all these individual words mean, but no clue how they work in
real life or with each other. This also brings up the textbook stuff the
article talked about. I agree it is best and really should only be used as a
tool. Half of the time students’ comprehension inefficiencies come from not
just knowledge of the vocabulary, but from working with unfamiliar structures
of text. I think a good way to introduce new terminology is through picture
books. The sentence and story structures are familiar to students; as well as
the vocabulary being introduced with student friendly language. This gives the
students a familiar idea of the terminology that is in a context they can
understand. Then they can go apply it to the rest. So, in the end, I would say
for teachers it is both. They are spending too much time on vocabulary
activities that do not further comprehension and too little time on ones that
will.
Five Good Reasons to
use Science Notebooks
By: Joan Gilbert and
Marleen Kotelma
Just the other day, my reading
practicum class went on a field trip. On my bus ride, in the same seat as two
kiddos, they went on and on about invention ideas and entrepreneurship. They could
not stop discussing and thinking of new ideas through trial and error
conversation. One of those students academically is in special education for
every content area. Our interaction amazed me. I have seen his literacy work on
paper and is resembles a special education level. However, this conversation
alone gave me a much grander insight into how bright this student is. I just
kept thinking how a science/experimental/creating driven education would
probably show the teachers a whole new student in their eyes. I have been
thinking lately about all of the ways literacy can shine through in that and
this article solidified that, especially with the first section. Side note, the
chart image even took my mind towards poetry and its different forms. The
opportunities are endless and this addressed the differentiated learning idea
too. This student is completely unengaged in any form of literacy instruction.
I have also heard him ask about if his scores are good and get discouraged when
they are not. He is bright and wants to do well, and has so many ideas, but
they are not shining through to his teacher. I am very worried for this cycle
to continue and push him completely away from education. As the article talked about
using the notebooks for teacher instruction, it seems like a great tool. It could
take away need for formative/summative assessments that are time consuming
and/or are only for the teacher’s knowledge and does not further the students.
This idea gets both those aspects accomplished at once. I see how all of the
content areas: literacy, math, social studies, and science shine through with
in-depth science driven education. It seems to make perfect sense to me, but as
we sort of know, it is not the norm. If it is such a good idea and makes so
much sense, why don’t more classrooms look like this? What would a daily
routine look like for this education style? It seems to me that there would be
a lot more time to complete all the content areas and tasks if they all
revolved within one idea at a time.
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