Promoting Science Education Outside the Classroom

Over the past few years I have extended my classroom to include study halls, lunches and after school hours for all students to come and get extra science help. During these times I have had my own students as well as students from other classes come to get some extra practice with specific science concepts. Also during this time, we have done labs or activities that were enrichment activities or labs that we did not have time for during class. I have also brought in local professionals to share their experiences in various science fields. My science department also has done science fairs which have involved the community in their implementation. Even with these strategies to try and reach all students at my school, the biggest strategy has been collaborating with teachers from all disciplines in promoting STEM education. I have also been involved with the development of our science curriculum. From these collaborations, we have been able to refine our curricula to incorporate STEM skill sets and the reinforcement of scientific principles. We have been able to incorporate and reinforce skills such as problem solving, effective research, and the fundamentals of the scientific method. These collaborations have also served as a means of promoting an inquiry based approach and the benefits that inquiry can bring to instruction. 

            A big challenge that I and my colleagues have faced in improving our science program has been in logistics. Finding time to meet with everyone and the time to implement the strategies that we agree would strengthen our program has been difficult. Since we do not have any overlapping school time to meet to discuss these issues, the only solution we have been using has been meeting approximately once a month to discuss strategies and manners to improve. Also finding the resources and allocating the resources we currently have in the most effect manner has been an ongoing process. In a low income school, it is difficult to find creative solutions to resource acquisition and management. We have had to be creative with finding funds for resources. Reaching out to the community through universities and businesses to sponsor or donate equipment or provide programming has provided some means of expanding our resources. Also, through grants we have been able to update some of the components of our classroom. Even though there will always be obstacles, it is important to be creative and seek the help of others through collaboration to try and overcome these potential blockades. This will, in turn, lead to effective instruction and the development of scientifically literate students.

Science Education

Since the years following Sputnik, there has been a steady decline in commitment that the United States has made toward science education. In order to curb the downward progression, there needs to be a grassroots initiative that reawakens us to the value of science education. Whether it is through a boom in science related careers or through advancements in healthcare, America needs to rejuvenate its value in the advancements of the sciences. It begins on the individual level – creating more science related jobs promotes individuals to pursue science education. As the science market expands and more people pursue science education, STEM education receives more money and attention on both the state and national level. This thus increases the value of STEM education and helps to create lasting momentum toward science education. Another Sputnik-like event is not necessary to bring science education back to a priority in the United States. The more we can get people involved in the sciences, the more science education will gain momentum. Just as numerous other countries value STEM education and create science jobs within their economies, we too need to shift our focus toward science education. The advancement of the sciences has generated great opportunity for our nation, and with a renewal in science education, we can continue to grow our nation’s success.

Models and Interactives

            Models and interactives are a valuable tool in the educational process (Kenyon, Schwarz, & Hug, 2008). The topic that I explored was with seismic activity and earthquakes. Within this topic students used models of structures that were not made to withstand earthquakes and structures that were designed to be earthquake resistant. Students then compared and contrasted the models before developing their own structure they believed would survive an earthquake. Students also explored wave motion using slinkys as a model. They could then act out wave characteristics or use the model to demonstrate wave motion. Also students used interactives to explore the concepts of plate boundaries with respect to earthquakes. Students could manipulate the activity to see how stress built up in the crust and how earthquakes are formed. These models and interactives worked effectively at demonstrating and engaging students with the content (Kenyon, et. al., 2008). Students were able to apply the concepts in their formative and summative assessments; thus, indicating success with the outlined learning objectives. This showed that the instructional plan was a success as students’ demonstrated proficiency with the content. The only challenge that presented itself in the use of models and interactives was with pacing. The time needed to thoroughly explore the model or interactive is not always conducive to a period and needed more time than I allotted. It is a simple fix but something that will be considered in future applications of this instructional plan.

References:

Kenyon, L., Schwarz, C., & Hug, B. (2008). The benefits of scientific modeling. Science & Children, 46(2), 40–44.

Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters

Natural disasters can be a sudden and life-altering event. Over the past few years, two major floods have hit the northeast. The effects of these floods have been devastating in the short term while having long-lasting environmental and economic consequences (Tillery, Enger & Ross, 2008). My students have seen these effects firsthand and can relate to life-altering changes the flooding has caused. Thus students could do an open inquiry study of the pre-flood natural and social conditions of the area comparing and contrasting that with the post-flood conditions. They could then share ideas for preventing floods and methodologies for mitigating floods when they occur. As a part of their study they could choose an organization that serves the area in flood prevention and/or cleanup to interview and participate in the process. This would culminate with a creative presentation of their findings for self, peer, and instructor assessment. Each class would then nominate one presentation that would be presented at a school assembly/rally on community service. Local newspapers and TV stations would be invited to cover the presentations as well. The school could then vote on the service presentation they would like to participate in from the presentations. Then, depending on the logistics, a field trip to the preferred service project could be planned for the school to work together on rebuilding the community. This would serve to unify the community while providing a means of learning about the causes, effects, and prevention of natural disasters.

References:

Tillery, B., Enger, E., & Ross, F. (2008). Integrated science (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Ask A Scientist

The Ask a Scientist website opened a lot of opportunities to myself and my students to actively engage with others in the scientific community. It gave the opportunity to bounce questions off of other scientists that were directly related to what we were currently researching. One down side to the website is it seems like the responses to our questions were not in a timely fashion or received at all. This can be a huge setback toward its use in a classroom. The unpredictability of the website doesn't lend itself to effective unit planning. I did a little research on my own for the question I asked so I gained some insight on that front, but the website did not provide any feedback to help me answer my question. Students not receiving an answer to their question can be detrimental and cause them to become frustrated with the material. The website has a lot of potential for classroom use but it need to resolve some of its inconsistency before I would commit to using it in my classroom.

Web 2.0 Applications

One of the hallmarks of emerging technology is familiarity, ease of use and features. Using these three criteria I have gone through several of the web 2.0 applications offered and have found a few that have peaked my interest. Google docs and slide share provide a familiar platform that works almost seamlessly with microsoft office products. This is an extremely valuable advantage to a user that doesn't want to go through the transition period of learning new software. It provides comfort and reliability that applications can easily be uploaded. Likewise, Prezi is another application that provides user friendly tools with a minimal learning transition period. Most of these applications are free or free to try. All of these programs have numerous special features, such as picture, animation and video manipulation, that allow you the ability to create whatever you can imagine. They have minimal browser and technical requirements while allowing for access almost anywhere. Cross collaboration with anyone on the web are important features that help to engage audiences and colleagues in the presentation.

Encouraging Problem Solving

The “big idea” that I chose to focus on is developing instruction that encourages students to think critically to solve problems. One of the goals of my instruction is to allow students to develop the necessary critical thinking and problem solving skills to become productive and well-rounded contributors to society. Some resources that I have found helpful in this process include the following: 

http://www.theproblemsite.com/

http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/edcreative.htm

http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Classroom/Science/Problem_Solving/Problem_Solving.html

http://www.thefutureschannel.com/activities_grade/8th_grade_problem_solving_activities.php

http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classforsci.html

These tools provide me the resources necessary to incorporate the engineering design process and critical problem solving skills in my instruction. Thus, these resources provide an avenue for students to interact with simulations and real world events that apply the material. The students are then forced to either role play or critically analyze events to create a product. This process helps foster problem solving skills in students that lead them to become scientifically literate students.

Activities ranging from forensics and crime scene investigation to role playing genetic counselors these resources allow me to creatively differentiate my instruction with problem solving strategies. A physical science activity that utilizes the problem solving thinking strategy is crime scene investigations or forensics. For the scientific method I use a couple of activities that are based in these two areas. One such activity is called the case of the missing mascot and students are given clues to solve the mystery of what happened to the school’s mascot right before the big game. Using these clues the students must critically analyze data and use deductive thinking skills to solve the mystery. In collaborative pairs the students go step-by-step through the scientific method and link evidence to find out where and who took the mascot.

I am a huge proponent of problem solving and critical thinking strategies in instruction so I have spent a lot of time finding activities and methods of implementing these strategies in the classroom. I have not really come across stumbling blocks in this process when incorporating it into my classroom; however, the only small hurdle has been trying to get other teachers to incorporate problem solving strategies into their classrooms. I have made some head way but sometimes people can be resistant to change.