Nov28

Literacy Skills

Science Scope Cover
With the emphasis on literacy since the onset of No Child Left Behind, there seems to be two schools of thought. One emphasizes instruction in reading and math to the point that instruction in science, social studies, and the arts, especially in the primary grades, is greatly reduced. The other looks at ways to integrate these subjects, so that students see that reading and writing are part of learning in all subjects. There are many resources that can help teachers to incorporate science and literacy skills, and this issue of Science and Children has many of them.

Two articles address writing in science. The authors of The P.O.E.T.R.Y of Science use the acronym (predict, observe, explain, think, reflect, yearn to learn more) to describe the processes used in student "journals." What they describe as a journal is the same as newer definitions of science notebooks. Whether you call it a notebook or journal, if you require more than just a collection of assignments or a log of events, the rubric in this article can be helpful. In Scientific Journals: A Creative Assessment Tool the authors describe how guide students through the process of integrating science and writing skills. If you're a secondary teacher, these articles are great resources, especially if you have students who are new to the idea of writing in science. Other resources related to science notebooks can be found in a SciLinks blog entry from June 2008.

As you're reading the articles, don't forget to check SciLinks for more resources, using the keyword "reading". One that I like in particular is Connecting Elementary Science and Literacy. For each step of the inquiry process, this page has suggested resources for incorporating communications skills. With the increasing demands on classroom time, the author of Reading and Writing in the Science Classroom describes how to work "smarter" by integrating reading and writing with content areas such as science. There is a table showing how these three areas are connected. Reading in the Sciences is a collection of resources, including a summary of the research on the topic, a matrix showing the correlation between reading and science skills, and links to a collection of K-8 lessons that illustrate how science and reading are connected. Reading Across the Curriculum has resources that help students make sense of their reading: anticipation guides, vocabulary instruction, KWL charts, text analysis, questioning, predicting, and summarizing.

The November 2007 issue of Science and Children was also themed around literacy with great ideas and suggestions.

Note: If you're looking for SciLinks resources on spiders related to the article Becoming a Spider Scientist, use the keyword "arachnid"
Published: Nov-28-08 | 0 Comments | 92 Links to this post

Nov20

Check Out This Digital Resource

One of my roles on the SciLinks team is to find resources for a specific topic. Using several search engines, I browse through the lists and select sites for a more intense review and approval process. You as a SciLinks user then have a list of websites for a given topic that have been reviewed and whose content has been correlated with the National Science Education Standards.

Occasionally, I come across a resource for a specific topic that is part of a larger, more general collection. I'd like to call your attention to Teachers' Domain, sponsored by the WGBH Educational Foundation. This is an indexed and annotated collection of multimedia resources from public television. I've used the URL to the main site (http://www.teachersdomain.org) in the link above so that you can share it with your colleagues in other content areas.

There are so many wonderful science resources on public television, but getting these resources into the classroom used to be a challenge. We could order a tape of a program from a regional library and hope that it would be delivered in time to use in our lesson, we could purchase a copy if our budgets permitted, or we could tape off the air, with appropriate permissions, assuming that the programming matched our lesson. In the analog tape media, it was hard to pinpoint a brief clip or a series of clips.

But this digital collection solves the problem. From this site you can access hundreds of individual multimedia resources (video clips, photographs, audio files, animations, PDF documents) anytime from any computer with an Internet connection. Most of these resources have a generous use policy. All of them can be used online, most can be downloaded, and many can be shared or added to your own presentations. The site also has a set of lesson plans that integrate these resources. These lessons are very good, and many of them have been added to SciLinks. There are links to professional development opportunities offered by PBS, too.

The site can be used with or without a registration/login (which is free). I did go through the registration process, which requires that you list your school or affiliation. If your school/district is not listed, you can add it. The advantage of registering is that when you find a resource, it is correlated to your state's academic standards. Registration also gives you access to online folders to "save" resources for future projects or lesson.

With the websites in SciLinks and the multimedia resources of Teachers' Domain, you'll all set to help students explore topics visually and to take students beyond the classroom walls.
Published: Nov-20-08 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Nov15

Communication Skills

Science Scope Cover
A few years ago, one of the speakers at our school's career day was a graduate who was an environmental scientist. A student asked her what she did all day. The audience expected her to say things such as I do chemical tests. I spend all day on the river. I look at things through a microscope. I walk through the woods. I do experiments. But her answer surprised everyone. She said that she spends as much time on communications, especially on writing, as on anything else. She described how much of her work involves taking notes, writing reports, preparing presentations, writing articles for publication, writing brief updates for her funding agencies, writing and answering emails and letters, conversing with her colleagues, and writing entries in her daily log. I suspect that a similar response would come from those in many other professions and jobs, too.

So it appears that if we want our students to have authentic, real-life experiences in science, our classes will have to include more activities that involve communicating about what the students are learning. Fortunately, there are many resources to help us, including this month's Science Scope with several articles that discuss writing in science: Another resource is SciLinks. Use the code SS110801 for websites on communications. Many of them deal specifically with reading in science. One that I like in particular is Connecting Elementary Science and Literacy. For each step of an inquiry process, this page has suggested resources for incorporating communications skills. (Although the title says "elementary" other grade levels can use this resource!)

You may also want to check out the November 2008 issue of Science and Children and the November 2007 issue of Science Scope for more articles and resources. Mention the idea of using a template for student writing, and you'll get a variety of responses (for example, ask your English teachers about the five-paragraph essay). Some teachers feel that using templates constrains student writing to a cookie-cutter format, with little room for individuality or creativity. Others suggest that using a template can guide students through the writing process, especially students who have not had much experience in a particular style or in writing for a specific purpose. Most of us probably have a format we want students to use for a lab report or a journal entry. It's been my experience that most students appreciate having a template (or a format or a set of guidelines) at first. After a while they can expand, customize, or embellish their work to express their creativity. It's hard to think outside the box when you don't know what the box is!
Published: Nov-15-08 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Nov08

Project-Based Science

The Science Teacher Cover "I have to do a science project." These words can produce a feeling of dread for students and parents, with visions of Styrofoam planets or tri-folds for science fairs. But this month's issue of The Science Teacher describes projects as an integral part of a science class, not as add-ons to be completed at home or for extra credit.

The editor notes that "in a well-designed project, students engage in extended inquiry by addressing complex, authentic questions and creating a meaningful product or artifact." The teacher serves as a facilitator, resource, and coach. The process also involves the three Cs: critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.

Should project-based science be limited to just the "better" students? I've found that some of the "better" students were used to doing well in science by memorizing and following directions. They were intimidated by open-ended activities or projects because there was no correct answer or outcome. Some of the more reluctant students blossomed when they were pursuing topics of interest to them and could express their creativity. All students would benefit from some guidance, scaffolding, and modeling when starting these projects. Simply telling students to "do a project" without any guidelines, examples, and rubrics would be frustrating to both students and teachers.

So, use this issue of The Science Teacher for guidance if you want to try this approach. The article Project-Based Science Instruction: A Primer provides a definition, a rationale and a description of this process, with a sample project plan. Planning for Success and Problem-Based Learning Tools have practical tips and advice, the best advice being to start simple and to allow for some mistakes the first time! The Driving Question Board shows how to guide students through the process of asking a driving question for the project (a necessary step, since students are more accustomed to answering a teacher's question rather than asking their own).

Other resources include Project-Based Science from the University of Michigan that describes five characteristics of project-based science, checklists from Project-Based Learning, and Project-Based Science Teaching with some examples of projects to get a class started. Part of the process is finding background information on topics. SciLinks can be of assistance here. For example, three articles in this issue describe projects related to geckos, herpetology, and invasive species. The SciLinks codes TST110801 (Herpetology) and TST110802 (Invasive Species) are examples. Don't forget that students can have passwords to SciLinks, too. And check back through previous issues of The Science Teacher (as well as Science Scope and Science and Children for more examples of projects and potential questions or topics that you could adopt or adapt for your students.

Part of the process of project-based science is the creation of a tangible product by the students to demonstrate their learning. Written reports are certainly one type of product, but let the students use their imagination (and the technology available to them).

But what about all of the material we feel obligated to "cover" and the class time that would be spent on projects? I would certainly look at the state standards and district curriculum for guidance on topics that students could learn about as they worked on projects. My state's standards have a whole section on the processes of science. The concepts here could be reinforced through project-based science.
Published: Nov-08-08 | 0 Comments | 35 Links to this post