Developing
the Capabilities to Interact with Science: Session 2
Maeroa School Aim:
To develop 2 big inquiry questions for our 2016 science planning (Term 2 &
term 4)
Summary of
Workshop
Ø Recap
Ø How did the
homework go?
Ø Hands on,
minds on
Ø Assessment
Ø Pulling it
together
Capabilities
·
Gather and interpret data:
o Observe
o Infer
o Think about
what they can see
·
Use Evidence
o Push
students to justify
o Show proof
·
Critique Evidence
o Explain
what you are thinking
o Understand
about fair testing
§ Variables
§ Controls
·
Interpret Representations
·
Engage with Science
Science observation statements – I wonder… It think… What if…
I noticed…
Possibly – I infer… I predict… (Depending on context)
Students need to see the links between these sentences
(Making connections) – Transfer of knowledge
Students need to put their science lens on to utilise these
statements to their full scientific potential.
In the
classroom:
Environment boxes – labelled to their location or have them
blank – can you guess where I have been?
Jars from different beaches full of sand, shells, rubbish –
anything you find
Activity 1: Observing:
-
Fold paper into quarters
-
Observe an item and record down an observation
-
Like scattagories – try and make unique observations –
if someone has the same as you cross it off (the downside of this is students
miss the obvious observations because they are trying to come up with unusual
ones)
-
To avoid this set the challenge of who can make the
most observations
-
Make observations that it’s not – “It’s not purple,
it’s not round etc…”
Choose specific words – What’s heavy? - A dragonfly is heavy compared to a grain a
sand
Now you decide what you think the objects are – using
evidence
Students can start thinking about stories. What has happened
here? What has made it like this?
I think… I notice… I wonder….
If students do make an inference say to them “What makes you
think this? What are the clues that made you think this?”
This activity helps to:
-
Develop awe and curiosity
-
Deepen thinking
-
Ask questions
-
Engage in discussion
-
Developing oral language/scientific language
-
Put on a science lens
-
Activity 2, 3 & 4:
-
Blowing bubbles
-
Solar Eclipse glasses
-
Circuit sound maker – Energy stick
-
Kinetic sand
-
Water resistant sand
o Asking
questions “How do you know that’s not normal sand?”
o Draw what
is happening
o Describe
what it is doing
o How is this
happening?
o Show me
your understanding
o Draw a
diagram
-
Water balloon inside a balloon (ARB)
o Lots of
opportunities for wonderings
§ I wonder
what different liquids would do
§ I wonder if
the temperature would change the flight path
§ I wonder if
you prepare it and wait a day if this would change the flight path
“Can you show me the phases of the moon, if the moon was a
cube” – This is checking the understanding of phases
Assessment
What’s important?
v Be clear
about the purpose – formative or summative?
v Make sure
it’s manageable
v Assessment
focus needs to be deep enough to track progress over time or you need to change
the focus (e.g. generating and critiquing explanations)
My notes:
-
Keep anecdotal notes
-
Is the knowledge/assessment transferable
to other context
-
Use the capabilities to form assessments
What counts as evidence?
-
Will you set up specific assessment activities or will
you collect evidence as students display it?
-
Will you use formal test?
-
How will you manage the collection of data?
My notes:
-
A critique group used to give effective
feedback and feedforward
o
The feedback needs to be specific and
constructive
-
If the feedback is specific enough you
can break the big task into smaller chunks
-
Student’s need to see the relevance in
creating 6 drafts
-
Is what you are asking the students to
do fit for a purpose?
What might progress look like?
-
Problematic because progress is unlikely to be linear and
context and working in groups are important considerations
-
However if you do want to design some sort of
framework we suggest trialling your draft criteria and be prepared to adapt
them
Monitoring Sheet for Assessment:
-
Components
-
Attributes
-
Changes
-
Descriptive language
-
Topic specific words
-
Scientific language
Developing
children’s capabilities to interact with science
-
Content knowledge
-
A way of knowing
-
Skills
Interests:
Overarching should be the nature of science
-
Planet
Earth and Beyond
-
Interacting systems
-
Astronomical systems
-
Life processes
Body systems – improving the performance of an
athlete – forces and motion (Olympic link in)
Waves (NZ Coastlines)
