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:
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.
