“Everybody Needs a Home” - Project Wild
Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level(s): K-4
Subject(s):
Interdisciplinary
Arts/Visual Arts
Science/Animals
Duration: 35 - 40 minutes
Description: Animals need a place in which to find food and water. They also need enough space in which to live and find the food, water and shelter they need. Home is more like a "neighborhood" that has everything in it that is needed for survival. The major purpose of this activity is for students to realize that animals need a home.
Goals: Students will be able to generalize that people and other animals share a basic need to have a home for survival.
Objectives: Students will be able to:
draw a picture of their homes
discuss the differences and similarities between homes
explain why people, animals, and birds need a home
Materials:
drawing paper
crayons
pictures of animals and where they live
Exploration:
1. Ask students to draw a picture of where they live – or to draw a picture of the place where a person they know lives. Ask the students to include pictures in their drawing of the things they need to live where they do; for example, a place to cook and keep food, a place to sleep, and a neighborhood. 2. Once the drawings are finished, have a discussion with students about what they drew. Ask the students to point out the things they need to live that they included in their drawings. 3. Make a “gallery of homes” out of the drawings. Point out to the students that everyone has a home. 4. Ask the students to close their eyes and imagine: a bird's home, an ant's home, a beaver's home, the President's home, their home. 5. Show the students pictures of different places that animals live. 6. Discuss the differences and similarities among the different homes with the students. Talk about the things every animal needs in its home: food, water, shelter and space in which to live, arranged in a way that the animal can survive. 7. Summarize the discussion by emphasizing that although the homes are different, every animal – people, pets, farm animals and wildlife – needs a home. 8. Talk about the idea that a home is actually bigger than a house. In some ways, it is more like a neighborhood. For animals, we can call that neighborhood a “habitat”. People go outside their homes to get food at a store, for example. Birds, ants, beavers and other animals have to go out of their “houses” (places of shelter) to get the things they need to live.
Concept Development:
1. Name three reasons why people need homes and three reasons why animals need homes.
2. Draw a picture of an animal in its habitat and tell how the habitat meets the animal's needs for survival.
Expansion:
1. Pick an animal and research where it lives, then use clay and other materials to build a model and present it to the class
2. Take the students outside and look for animal shelters
3. Draw a picture of a home for an aquatic species
Useful Internet Resources:
Canada's Aquatic Environments http://www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/
National Wildlife Federation--Backyard Wildlife Habitat http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/
“Everybody Needs a Home” - Project Wild
Student’s Guide
Materials:
drawing paper
crayons
pictures of animals and where they live
Exploration:
1. Draw a picture of where you live – or draw a picture of the place where a person you know lives. Include pictures in your drawing of the things they need to live where they do; for example, a place to cook and keep food, a place to sleep, and a neighborhood.
2. Once the drawings are finished, have a discussion with the teacher and other students about what they drew. Point out the things they need to live that they included in their drawings.
3. Make a “gallery of homes” out of the drawings, by taping your drawings to the wall.
4. Close your eyes and imagine: a bird's home, an ant's home, a beaver's home, the President's home, their home.
5. Look at pictures of different places that animals live.
6. Discuss the differences and similarities among the different homes with the other students and teacher. Talk about the things every animal needs in its home: food, water, shelter and space in which to live, arranged in a way that the animal can survive.
Concept Development:
1. Name three reasons why people need homes and three reasons why animals need homes. 2. Draw a picture of an animal in its habitat and tell how the habitat meets the animal's needs for survival.
Expansion:
1. Pick an animal and research where it lives, then use clay and other materials to build a model and present it to the class
2. Go outside with your class and look for and try to identify animal shelters
3. Draw a picture of a home for an aquatic species
Philosophical Underpinnings of Lesson
This lesson is a Learning Cycle because the students are given a task, drawing various homes and/or habitats, and then the teacher helps them develop an understanding of why homes are important for virtually all organisms and what factors they should provide for an organism’s survival, as well as the survival of its offspring. Terms such as habitat, resources, environment and so on may even be introduced. The assessment and expansion allow students to further develop and reinforce the concepts. The structure of science is met because the students sequentially apply a process to develop a concept or set of facts and terms and then expand them and even apply them to their own lives.
This lesson meets the central purpose of American education because students are developing the ability to think, and are specifically using the rational powers of comparing, inferring, and recalling in the first phase of drawing. In the second phase of this Learning Cycle the student must interpret and draw generalizations from the data (drawings) in order to develop the new concept of the importance of shelter, and calls upon the rational powers of inferring, comparing, recalling, and synthesizing. In the third phase of this Learning Cycle (the assessment and expansion) the student must expand the concept by explaining, predicting, and applying the generalizations, patterns, and models developed previously by producing and presenting a three-dimensional model. This requires the rational powers of imagining, evaluating, and deducing.
National standards are met because in the National Science Education Standards (NSES) content requirements, “Organisms and Environments” are listed under Level K-4. It also meets the Unifying Concepts and Process Standards of “Evidence, Models, and Explanation”, as well as “Form and Function”. Also, the process of science is clearly shown in this Learning Cycle, and these standards are given as:
· Understanding of scientific concepts.
· An appreciation of "how we know" what we know in science.
· Understanding of the nature of science.
· Skills necessary to become independent inquirers about the natural world.
· The dispositions to use the skills, abilities, and attitudes associated with science
The state of Oklahoma’s Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) are also satisfied by this lesson as the Process Standards for grades K-4 of Observation, Classifying, Inquiring, Interpreting, and Communicating are all covered. In Grades One and Three, there are Content Standards under Life Science called “Characteristics and Basic Needs of Organisms”, so this unit is also conforming to state standards.
Bibliographic Note:
Project Wild K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide, Council for Environmental Education, 2004 PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002.http://sde.state.ok.us/home/defaultie.htmlNational Science Education Standards from the National Research Council, 1995.http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/Educational Policies Commission. (1961). the central purpose of American education.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Relationship between the Nature of Science, the Learning Cycle, and the Central Purpose of American Education
How does the Learning Cycle allow science to be taught as scientists define science and how does the Learning Cycle allow students to achieve the central purpose of American Education?
The Learning Cycle allows science to be taught as the process it actually is and has been historically, not as a static collection of facts to be memorized as it has historically and unfortunately often been taught. It also organizes the concepts and terms that are learned in a way that reduces the world around a student to a logical system, much as a pile of bricks compares to the same bricks organized into a house or other useful structure. The central purpose of American education is, or should be, teaching the students in such a way they can develop the ability to think. That is, for a student/citizen to be able to follow instructions with teacher guidance to collect and evaluate good data (Exploration), formulate an explanation and/or viewpoint and use appropriate terminology (Concept Development), and then extend and apply it to his or her life. (Expansion). This correlates to the steps of the Learning Cycle, which are in parentheses above. The first phase of the inquiry-based Learning Cycle is called Exploration because new information (good data) is acquired. Disequilibrium occurs as the new data is temporarily in conflict with the student's current viewpoint. In Concept Development this conflict is reconciled as an understanding of the new concept occurs and appropriate terminology is put into place. In Expansion the organization of the new concept is locked in and developed further as the student practices, extends, and applies it through various means such as more labs, readings, practice problems, discussions, computer simulations, videos, and so on.
The Central Purpose of American Education was issued as a 21-page pamphlet by the Educational Policies Commission of the National Education Association in 1961. The focus of the report is quoted as "The purpose which runs through and strengthens all other educational purposes—the common thread of education—is the development of the ability to think.” The ability to think draws upon the use of the ten rational powers, which are discussed below. Some other points quoted from the document are:
¶ It is "crucial that the teacher possess a thorough knowledge of the material to be taught," as well as mastery of teaching methods.
¶ "The school must foster not only desire and respect for knowledge but also the inquiring spirit. It must encourage the pupil to ask: 'How do I know?' as well as 'What do I know?' "
¶ Schools should teach "the strategies of inquiry by which man has sought to extend his knowledge and understanding of the world."
¶ the need is for "that kind of education which frees the mind and enables it to contribute to a full and worthy life. To achieve this goal is the high hope of the nation and the central challenge to its schools."
This led to the development of national standards for science education such as the National Science Education Standards (NSES) by the National Research Council and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Standards like these state that “Inquiry is central to science learning. When engaging in inquiry, students describe objects and events, ask questions, construct explanations, test those explanations against current scientific knowledge, and communicate their ideas to others. They identify their assumptions, use critical and logical thinking, and consider alternative explanations. In this way, students actively develop their understanding of science by combining scientific knowledge with reasoning and thinking skills.”
Oklahoma’s Priority Academic Skills (PASS), which draw upon both of the above sets of national standards, also emphasizes inquiry-based instruction that requires the use of the rational powers and therefore helps develop “the skills and knowledge of a scientifically literate citizen”, and most importantly the ability to think. The PASS objectives also “build conceptual bridges between process and scientific knowledge”. It follows that the Learning Cycle teaching approach would be a logical means to accomplish these goals and objectives.
As the student initially collects data the rational powers of comparing, inferring, and recalling are used. This data must be organized, classified, recalled, and analyzed, all of which are likewise rational powers. In the second phase of the Learning Cycle the student must interpret and draw generalizations from the data in order to develop the new concept, and calls upon the rational powers of inferring, comparing, recalling, and synthesizing. In the third phase of the Learning Cycle the student must expand the concept by explaining, predicting, and applying the generalizations, patterns, and models developed previously. This requires the rational powers of imagining, evaluating, and deducing as well as the others. I feel strongly that the Learning Cycle allows the teacher to teach science as the process it is, and incorporates the rational powers as well to give the student the best chance to truly develop the ability to think, which should be the purpose of all education.
Bibliographic Note:
Edmund Marek and Timothy Laubach, "Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice: A Success Story from Science Education", (M. Gordon, T. O'Brien (eds.), Bridging Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, 47-59. copyright 2007 Sense Publishers.
Marek, Gerber, and Cavallo, Literacy Through the Learning Cycle, http://www.ed.psu.edu/CI/Journals/1998AETS/t3_6_marek.rtfEdmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002.
http://sde.state.ok.us/home/defaultie.html
National Science Education Standards from the National Research Council, 1995.
http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/
Educational Policies Commission. (1961). The central purpose of American education.
The Learning Cycle allows science to be taught as the process it actually is and has been historically, not as a static collection of facts to be memorized as it has historically and unfortunately often been taught. It also organizes the concepts and terms that are learned in a way that reduces the world around a student to a logical system, much as a pile of bricks compares to the same bricks organized into a house or other useful structure. The central purpose of American education is, or should be, teaching the students in such a way they can develop the ability to think. That is, for a student/citizen to be able to follow instructions with teacher guidance to collect and evaluate good data (Exploration), formulate an explanation and/or viewpoint and use appropriate terminology (Concept Development), and then extend and apply it to his or her life. (Expansion). This correlates to the steps of the Learning Cycle, which are in parentheses above. The first phase of the inquiry-based Learning Cycle is called Exploration because new information (good data) is acquired. Disequilibrium occurs as the new data is temporarily in conflict with the student's current viewpoint. In Concept Development this conflict is reconciled as an understanding of the new concept occurs and appropriate terminology is put into place. In Expansion the organization of the new concept is locked in and developed further as the student practices, extends, and applies it through various means such as more labs, readings, practice problems, discussions, computer simulations, videos, and so on.
The Central Purpose of American Education was issued as a 21-page pamphlet by the Educational Policies Commission of the National Education Association in 1961. The focus of the report is quoted as "The purpose which runs through and strengthens all other educational purposes—the common thread of education—is the development of the ability to think.” The ability to think draws upon the use of the ten rational powers, which are discussed below. Some other points quoted from the document are:
¶ It is "crucial that the teacher possess a thorough knowledge of the material to be taught," as well as mastery of teaching methods.
¶ "The school must foster not only desire and respect for knowledge but also the inquiring spirit. It must encourage the pupil to ask: 'How do I know?' as well as 'What do I know?' "
¶ Schools should teach "the strategies of inquiry by which man has sought to extend his knowledge and understanding of the world."
¶ the need is for "that kind of education which frees the mind and enables it to contribute to a full and worthy life. To achieve this goal is the high hope of the nation and the central challenge to its schools."
This led to the development of national standards for science education such as the National Science Education Standards (NSES) by the National Research Council and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Standards like these state that “Inquiry is central to science learning. When engaging in inquiry, students describe objects and events, ask questions, construct explanations, test those explanations against current scientific knowledge, and communicate their ideas to others. They identify their assumptions, use critical and logical thinking, and consider alternative explanations. In this way, students actively develop their understanding of science by combining scientific knowledge with reasoning and thinking skills.”
Oklahoma’s Priority Academic Skills (PASS), which draw upon both of the above sets of national standards, also emphasizes inquiry-based instruction that requires the use of the rational powers and therefore helps develop “the skills and knowledge of a scientifically literate citizen”, and most importantly the ability to think. The PASS objectives also “build conceptual bridges between process and scientific knowledge”. It follows that the Learning Cycle teaching approach would be a logical means to accomplish these goals and objectives.
As the student initially collects data the rational powers of comparing, inferring, and recalling are used. This data must be organized, classified, recalled, and analyzed, all of which are likewise rational powers. In the second phase of the Learning Cycle the student must interpret and draw generalizations from the data in order to develop the new concept, and calls upon the rational powers of inferring, comparing, recalling, and synthesizing. In the third phase of the Learning Cycle the student must expand the concept by explaining, predicting, and applying the generalizations, patterns, and models developed previously. This requires the rational powers of imagining, evaluating, and deducing as well as the others. I feel strongly that the Learning Cycle allows the teacher to teach science as the process it is, and incorporates the rational powers as well to give the student the best chance to truly develop the ability to think, which should be the purpose of all education.
Bibliographic Note:
Edmund Marek and Timothy Laubach, "Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice: A Success Story from Science Education", (M. Gordon, T. O'Brien (eds.), Bridging Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, 47-59. copyright 2007 Sense Publishers.
Marek, Gerber, and Cavallo, Literacy Through the Learning Cycle, http://www.ed.psu.edu/CI/Journals/1998AETS/t3_6_marek.rtfEdmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002.
http://sde.state.ok.us/home/defaultie.html
National Science Education Standards from the National Research Council, 1995.
http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/
Educational Policies Commission. (1961). The central purpose of American education.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Central Purpose of American Education
This article was published in Time when the EPC first released its goals for American education. I found this to be interesting reading in light of my current assignments.
The Goal: How to Think
Friday, Jun. 09, 1961
Though education is its middle name, the teachers' organization known as the National Education Association has found it hard to define a simple and consistent goal for U.S. schools. In 1918 one famed N.E.A. group prescribed "health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home membership, vocational competence, effective citizenship, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character." In 1938 N.E.A.'s Educational Policies Commission called for "self-realization, human relationship, economic efficiency, and civic responsibility" (broken into 43 sub-goals, such as "efficiency in buying"). In 1951 N.E.A. undertook to provide ten more "values," including the Declaration of Independence's "pursuit of happiness."Last week the Educational Policies Commission issued a 21-page pamphlet, The Central Purpose of American Education, that puts aside vagueness and triviality. Said the 19-member* commission: "The purpose which runs through and strengthens all other educational purposes—the common thread of education—is the development of the ability to think."Having got that obvious but long-obscured target into focus, the pamphlet went on to say that "there is no known upper limit to human ability, and much of what people are capable of doing with their minds is probably unknown today." What is known is that "the rational powers of any person"—including the supposedly dull—"are developed gradually and continuously as and when he uses them successfully." Other points:
¶ It is "crucial that the teacher possess a thorough knowledge of the material to be taught," as well as mastery of teaching methods.
¶ "The school must foster not only desire and respect for knowledge but also the inquiring spirit. It must encourage the pupil to ask: 'How do I know?' as well as 'What do I know?' "
¶ Schools should teach "the strategies of inquiry by which man has sought to extend his knowledge and understanding of the world."
¶ The need is for "that kind of education which frees the mind and enables it to contribute to a full and worthy life. To achieve this goal is the high hope of the nation and the central challenge to its schools."
* Headed by Chicago's Superintendent of Schools Benjamin C. Willis, and including Dean John H. Fischer of Teachers College, Columbia University; Historian-Columnist (New York Post) Max Lerner; President O. Meredith Wilson of the University of Minnesota
Bibliographic Note:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,938127,00.html?promoid=googlep
The Goal: How to Think
Friday, Jun. 09, 1961
Though education is its middle name, the teachers' organization known as the National Education Association has found it hard to define a simple and consistent goal for U.S. schools. In 1918 one famed N.E.A. group prescribed "health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home membership, vocational competence, effective citizenship, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character." In 1938 N.E.A.'s Educational Policies Commission called for "self-realization, human relationship, economic efficiency, and civic responsibility" (broken into 43 sub-goals, such as "efficiency in buying"). In 1951 N.E.A. undertook to provide ten more "values," including the Declaration of Independence's "pursuit of happiness."Last week the Educational Policies Commission issued a 21-page pamphlet, The Central Purpose of American Education, that puts aside vagueness and triviality. Said the 19-member* commission: "The purpose which runs through and strengthens all other educational purposes—the common thread of education—is the development of the ability to think."Having got that obvious but long-obscured target into focus, the pamphlet went on to say that "there is no known upper limit to human ability, and much of what people are capable of doing with their minds is probably unknown today." What is known is that "the rational powers of any person"—including the supposedly dull—"are developed gradually and continuously as and when he uses them successfully." Other points:
¶ It is "crucial that the teacher possess a thorough knowledge of the material to be taught," as well as mastery of teaching methods.
¶ "The school must foster not only desire and respect for knowledge but also the inquiring spirit. It must encourage the pupil to ask: 'How do I know?' as well as 'What do I know?' "
¶ Schools should teach "the strategies of inquiry by which man has sought to extend his knowledge and understanding of the world."
¶ The need is for "that kind of education which frees the mind and enables it to contribute to a full and worthy life. To achieve this goal is the high hope of the nation and the central challenge to its schools."
* Headed by Chicago's Superintendent of Schools Benjamin C. Willis, and including Dean John H. Fischer of Teachers College, Columbia University; Historian-Columnist (New York Post) Max Lerner; President O. Meredith Wilson of the University of Minnesota
Bibliographic Note:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,938127,00.html?promoid=googlep
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Nature of Science, The Learning Cycle, and The Central Purpose of American Education
How does the Learning Cycle allow science to be taught as scientists define science and how does the Learning Cycle allow students to achieve the central purpose of American Education?
The Learning Cycle allows science to be taught as a process, not as a static collection of facts to be memorized. It also organizes the concepts and terms that are learned in a way that reduces the world around a student to a logical system. The central purpose of American is, or should be, teaching the ability to think. That is, for a student/citizen to be able to follow step-wise instructions and evaluate data (Exploration), formulate an explanation and/or viewpoint and use appropriate terminology (Concept Development), and then extend and apply it to their lives (Expansion). This correlates to the steps of the Learning Cycle, which are in parentheses above. It also correlates to Piaget's model of mental functioning, that is, how we learn, and there is neurobiological research that further supports the notion that this is how our brains operate as well. The first phase of the Learning Cycle lends to Assimilation as new information (good data) is acquired. Disequilibrium occurs as the new data is temporarily in conflict with the student's current viewpoint. In Concept Development this conflict is reconciled as Accomodation, or an understanding of the new mental function, occurs. In Expansion the Organization of the new concept is locked in as the student practices and applies it through various means. as the student initially collects data the rational powers of comparing, inferring, and recalling are used. This data must be organized, classified, recalled, and analyzed, all of which are likewise rational powers. In the second phase of the Learning Cycle the student must interpret and draw generalizations from the data in order to develop the new concept, and calls upon the rational powers of inferring, comparing, recalling, and synthesizing. In the third phase of the Learning Cycle the student must expand the concept by explaining, predicting, and applying the generalizations, patterns, and models developed previously. This requires the rational powers of imagining, evaluating, and deducing as well as the others. I feel strongly that the Learning Cycle allows the teacher to teach science as the process it is, and incorporates the rational powers as well as Piaget's model of mental functioning to give the student the best chance to truly develop the ability to think, which should be the purpose all education.
Bibliographic Note:
Edmund Marek and Timothy Laubach, "Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice: A Success Story from Science Education", (M. Gordon, T. O'Brien (eds.), Bridging Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, 47-59. copyright 2007 Sense Publishers.
Marek, Gerber, and Cavallo, Literacy Through the Learning Cycle, http://www.ed.psu.edu/CI/Journals/1998AETS/t3_6_marek.rtf
Edmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
http://sde.state.ok.us/home/defaultie.html (PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002).
http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/ (National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences, 1995).
The Learning Cycle allows science to be taught as a process, not as a static collection of facts to be memorized. It also organizes the concepts and terms that are learned in a way that reduces the world around a student to a logical system. The central purpose of American is, or should be, teaching the ability to think. That is, for a student/citizen to be able to follow step-wise instructions and evaluate data (Exploration), formulate an explanation and/or viewpoint and use appropriate terminology (Concept Development), and then extend and apply it to their lives (Expansion). This correlates to the steps of the Learning Cycle, which are in parentheses above. It also correlates to Piaget's model of mental functioning, that is, how we learn, and there is neurobiological research that further supports the notion that this is how our brains operate as well. The first phase of the Learning Cycle lends to Assimilation as new information (good data) is acquired. Disequilibrium occurs as the new data is temporarily in conflict with the student's current viewpoint. In Concept Development this conflict is reconciled as Accomodation, or an understanding of the new mental function, occurs. In Expansion the Organization of the new concept is locked in as the student practices and applies it through various means. as the student initially collects data the rational powers of comparing, inferring, and recalling are used. This data must be organized, classified, recalled, and analyzed, all of which are likewise rational powers. In the second phase of the Learning Cycle the student must interpret and draw generalizations from the data in order to develop the new concept, and calls upon the rational powers of inferring, comparing, recalling, and synthesizing. In the third phase of the Learning Cycle the student must expand the concept by explaining, predicting, and applying the generalizations, patterns, and models developed previously. This requires the rational powers of imagining, evaluating, and deducing as well as the others. I feel strongly that the Learning Cycle allows the teacher to teach science as the process it is, and incorporates the rational powers as well as Piaget's model of mental functioning to give the student the best chance to truly develop the ability to think, which should be the purpose all education.
Bibliographic Note:
Edmund Marek and Timothy Laubach, "Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice: A Success Story from Science Education", (M. Gordon, T. O'Brien (eds.), Bridging Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, 47-59. copyright 2007 Sense Publishers.
Marek, Gerber, and Cavallo, Literacy Through the Learning Cycle, http://www.ed.psu.edu/CI/Journals/1998AETS/t3_6_marek.rtf
Edmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
http://sde.state.ok.us/home/defaultie.html (PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002).
http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/ (National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences, 1995).
Saturday, February 03, 2007
The Nature of Science and the Learning Cycle
In the Learning Cycle children engage in explorations of the world around them, and with the teacher's assistance develop ideas and concepts and then apply them to other areas as well as their own everyday lives. The key point here is the experiences (data collection) that the students have are then developed conceptually in the appropriate contexts. The students are learning by doing rather than being placid receptacles of information being fed to them by reading, lectures, notes, etc. The teacher is simply the guide and mentor who facilitates the process. The process of science itself then, is being employed to bring about understanding of the world and how it works. This is because, as several well-known scientists have phrased it with only slight differences in wording, in science we are trying to "coordinate our experiences into a logical system", "extend the range of our experience and reduce it to order", or "science is the quest for knowledge, not the knowledge itself". Regardless of which definition one prefers, the main point is that we cannot teach science without the process, which is the nature of science itself.
Bibliographic Note:
Edmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
http://sde.state.ok.us/home/defaultie.html (PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002).
http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/ (National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences, 1995).
Bibliographic Note:
Edmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
http://sde.state.ok.us/home/defaultie.html (PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002).
http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/ (National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences, 1995).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)