Forces: A Learning Cycle
Science Concept: A force is a push or a pull. Unbalanced forces cause motion, balanced forces do not.
Age/Grade of Students: 6-8th graders, mostly
10 to 14 years old.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Forces: A Learning Cycle
Concept:
A force is a push or a pull. Unbalanced forces cause motion, balanced forces do not.
Materials:
Open area with 5-10 m diameter circle, rope, block of wood with hooks in opposite ends, two spring scales, gloves, helmets, paper, and pencil
Safety:
A soft or grassy surface is preferred, and helmets and gloves are recommended for both the “reverse sumo” and tug of war.
Procedures:
See Teacher’s and Student’s Guides
Assessment:
-Completion and class discussion of questions on student’s guide.
-Appropriate practice problems.
-Quiz or test.
-Completion of Expansion(s) with discussion and observation to facilitate and confirm student understanding.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
“A TUG OF WAR”
EXPLORATION PART A:
TEACHER NOTE: Explain each setup and have students make predictions before each game.
On the first setup evenly split the class into two separate teams.
On the second setup move 5 players from the red team and put them on the blue team to create a team with a larger number. (Numbers may vary depending on class size.)
On the third setup pick students who are the strongest and put them on the team with the lowest number of players. (Keep the ration the same as in the second setup.) For each setup, play 3 games and have students record their information between each trial.
Prediction 1:
Who do you think will win the most of three games? RED BLUE (circle one)
Why? Answers will vary. Students may say something about strength or size
because the numbers are the same.
Prediction 2:
Who do you think will win the most of three games? RED BLUE (circle one)
Why? Students will probably say the blue team will win because they have more
people.
Prediction 3:
Who do you think will win the most of three games? RED BLUE (circle one)
Why? Students will either predict the team with the strongest members OR the
team with the most members. Either will be accepted.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Number on each team
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Team with most wins
Red _____
Blue_____
Red _____
Blue_____
Red _____
Blue_____
You may want to make a copy of the table for the overhead or put the table on the board.
When the teams were even who won the most games? Why? Answers will vary,
Explanation may be because a student is stronger or bigger.
When the teams were uneven who won the most games? Why? Students may
say the team that had the most people.
When the teams were divided by size, who won the most games? Why? Students
may say the team with the most members or the team with the stronger players.
Were your predictions correct or incorrect? Explain. Answers will vary.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
PUSHING EACH OTHERS “BUTT”ONS
EXPLORATION PART B:
TEACHER NOTE: The gym was suggested because it already has circles on the floor. You may also want to tape down a 2m X 2m square to use if you want more than one group to go at a time. Teacher will line up 2 students back-to-back at the center line. When the teacher blows the whistle the students will attempt to push each other out of bounds. The students may not use their hands to accomplish this and must stay back-to-back. If they fall or become disconnected they reconnect and begin again. The game ends when one student is pushed out of the circle or square. Have students record the winner in their table.
1. Who won the most games in your group? Explain why this happened.
Answers will vary depending on results.
2. Did the size of the person determine who won? Why or why not?
Answers will vary depending on results.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
IDEA
Go over the answers to the IDEA page.
Students may not come up with the idea that a force is a push or pull. Teacher may have to invent the term force. It needs to be stated that the change in motion that is experienced in these activities indicates that a force is present. For example, when the rope is not in motion and is stopped, a force is applied. Teacher should also express to students that even if the object is not moving a force may still be applied.
1. During the tug of war game, was the rope in motion before the rope was
touched? The rope was not in motion before it was touched.
2. How do you know if the rope was or was not in motion? We know the rope
was not in motion because the bandana was not moving toward or away from
the reference point.
3. What observations about the rope did you make when the game of tug of war
began? What caused this to happen? Answers may include the rope is
moving or starts moving. Students may say this is caused because they are
pulling on it. Some students may also bring the term force out at this time.
4. At any point in the game was the rope not in motion? If so, when and why?
The rope was not in motion when both teams were pulling with the same
strength on both ends.
5. In exploration A, what action was taking place? pulling
6. In exploration B, what action was taking place? pushing
7. Do the actions in the explorations have the ability to cause an object to move?
Yes, both pulling and pushing can cause an object to move or change
direction.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
IDEA CONT.,
8. Are the actions described above, considered to be forces? Explain. At this
point, hopefully students can say yes because pushing or pulling is applying
a force.
9. What idea do you have about forces? Students should say that a force is a
push or pull and can cause a change in motion.
10. Do forces always cause the object to move? Explain. Forces do not cause
objects to move. For example, in the tug of war game when the equal force is
being applied to both sides of the rope.
11. Give your definition of what a force is. Answers will vary but students should
state that a force is a push or a pull. Unbalanced forces cause motion,
balanced forces do not.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
“A BALANCING ACT”
EXPANSION
Teacher may want to make an overhead or put on the board the tables so that the results may be discussed as a group. Teacher also needs to explain the proper use of a spring scale.
Procedure:
1. Using the tape the teacher provides, tape a center line on the desk.
2. Place the object evenly on the center line.
3. Attach a spring scale to each side of the object.
4. Each person pulls with a force of 1 Newton.
5. Determine whether or not the object is in motion using the tape line as a reference point.
Student #1 Force
Student #2 Force
Did the object move?
Were forces equal?
Are the forces working in the same or opposite direction?
1N
1 N
Repeat activity with one student pulling with a force of 1 Newton while the other
Student does not apply a force.
Student #1 Force
Student #2 Force
Did the object move?
Were the forces equal?
Are the forces working in the same or opposite direction?
1N
0 N
Repeat activity with both students pulling with a force of 1 Newton on the same
side of the object.
Student #1 Force
Student #2 Force
Did the object move?
Were the forces equal?
Are the forces working in the same or opposite direction?
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Balance forces are when the forces are equal or unequal.
Balance forces cause motion or do not cause motion.
Unbalanced forces are when the forces are equal or unequal.
Unbalanced forces cause motion or do not cause motion.
Give a definition of balanced forces based on your information or observation.
Balanced forces are when equal forces are applied in opposite directions.
Give a definition of unbalanced forces based on your information or observation.
Unbalanced forces are unequal forces applied in opposite directions. Students
may also say when 2 forces applied in the same direction.
Give an example of a real life situation in which there are unbalanced forces.
Students may say kicking a soccer ball, closing a door, opening a drawer. Other
possible answers will be accepted.
Give an example of a real life situation in which there are balanced forces.
Answers may include leaning against a wall, telephone lines being held up or
other possible answers.
When the forces were applied in the same direction was it a balanced or
unbalanced force on the object? Explain. When forces are applied in the same
direction it will be an unbalanced force because there is nothing to prevent the
start of motion.
STUDENT’S GUIDE
“A TUG OF WAR”
EXPLORATION PART A:
Materials:
Tug of war rope
Gym or large area
Bandana
Procedure:
1. The rope is positioned so that the bandana is placed on the half court line.
2. Your teacher will divide the class into 2 EVEN teams.
3. Your teacher will assign your team a color and a specific end of the rope.
4. Your teacher will tell you when to start pulling.
5. When half of the team passes the center court line, the game is over and the teacher will instruct you to drop the rope.
6. Make a prediction before the game begins.
Prediction 1:
Who do you think will win the most of three games? RED BLUE (circle one)
Why? ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Now the teacher will divide the class into 2 different teams.
Prediction 2:
Who do you think will win the most of three games? RED BLUE (circle one)
Why? ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Now the teacher will divide the class into different teams again.
Prediction 3:
Who do you think will win the most of three games? RED BLUE (circle one)
Why? ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
STUDENT’S GUIDE
TUG OF WAR CONT.,
Complete the data table with the results of each game by filling in the team that won.
Number on each team
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Team with most wins
Red _____
Blue _____
Red _____
Blue _____
Red _____
Blue _____
1. When the teams were even who won the most games? Why? ___________________
_______________________________________________________________________
2. When the teams were uneven who won the most games? Why? _________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. When the teams were divided by size, who won the most games? Why? __________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Were your predictions correct or incorrect? Explain. __________________________
________________________________________________________________________
STUDENT’S GUIDE
PUSHING EACH OTHERS “BUTT”ONS
EXPLORATION PART B:
Procedure:
1. Find a partner (only 2 per group).
2. Your teacher will instruct you where to line up back to back.
3. When the teacher blows the whistle, begin pushing your partner. You must stay back to back and you may NOT use your hands.
4. Repeat the procedure 2 more times.
5. Record the name of the winner in the table below.
Student #1 __________________________ Student #2 ___________________________
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Most Wins
Find 2 other groups and record their information below.
Student 1__________________ vs. Student 2 __________________ Winner __________
Student 1__________________ vs. Student 2 __________________ Winner __________
Who won the most games in your group? Explain why this happened.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Did the size of the person determine who won? Why or why not?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
STUDENT’S GUIDE
IDEA
During the tug of war game, was the rope in motion before the rope was touched?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
How do you know if the rope was or was not in motion? ____________________
__________________________________________________________________
What observations about the rope did you make when the game of tug of war
began? What caused this to happen? ___________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
At any point in the game was the rope not in motion? If so, when and why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
In the exploration A, what action was taking place? ________________________
__________________________________________________________________
In the exploration B, what action was taking place? ________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Do the actions in the explorations have the ability to cause an object to move?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Are the actions described above, considered to be forces? Explain. ___________
__________________________________________________________________
STUDENT’S GUIDE
IDEA CONT.,
What idea do you have about forces? ___________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Do forces always cause the object to move? Explain. ______________________
__________________________________________________________________
Give you definition of what a force is. __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
STUDENT’S GUIDE
EXPANSION
Procedure:
1. Using the tape the teacher provides, tape a center line on the desk.
2. Place the object evenly on the center line.
3. Attach a spring scale to each side of the object.
4. Each person pulls with a force of 1 Newton.
5. Determine whether or not the object is in motion using the tape line as a reference point.
Student #1 Force
Student #2 Force
Did the object move?
Were forces equal?
Are the forces working in the same or opposite direction?
1N
1 N
Repeat activity with one student pulling with a force of 1 Newton while the other
Student does not apply a force.
Student #1 Force
Student #2 Force
Did the object move?
Were the forces equal?
Are the forces working in the same or opposite direction?
1N
0 N
Repeat activity with both students pulling with a force of 1 Newton on the same
side of the object.
Student #1 Force
Student #2 Force
Did the object move?
Were the forces equal?
Are the forces working in the same or opposite direction?
STUDENT’S GUIDE
Underline the bold word that completes the sentence correctly.
Balance forces are when the forces are equal or unequal.
Balance forces cause motion or do not cause motion.
Unbalanced forces are when the forces are equal or unequal.
Unbalanced forces cause motion or do not cause motion.
Give a definition of balanced forces based on your information or observation.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Give a definition of unbalanced forces based on your information or observation.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Give an example of a real life situation in which there are unbalanced forces.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Give an example of a real life situation in which there are balanced forces.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
When the forces were applied in the same direction was it a balanced or
unbalanced force on the object? Explain. _______________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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.
Edmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002.
National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences, 1995.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
“Interrogations”on Scientific American Articles
Abstract
Group oral quizzes based on notes students have taken from Scientific American articles are an effective means of developing, expanding, and applying science concepts.
Group oral quizzes based on notes students have taken from Scientific American articles are an effective means of developing, expanding, and applying science concepts.
Interrogations!!!
Don’t let the term “interrogations” scare you away from the idea of using relatively advanced science magazine and even journal articles to facilitate concept development and expansion in your learning cycles. This teaching method has been given this somewhat intimidating name at least somewhat affectionately by the students subjected to them, and many former students have reported back that as far as college preparation in high school was concerned, nothing helped them more than our friendly “interrogations”, regardless of their major.
I began my teaching career in 1988 in El Paso, Texas at Coronado High School, considered at the time the top academic high school in that area. After “paying my dues” for all of two years teaching mostly remedial math and science while “floating” from one classroom to another each period, I was fortunate enough to be able to move into teaching the Honors Biology I and II courses due to the retirement of Mr. Rayburn Ray. Mr. Ray was an educational icon at Coronado and around El Paso county, having taught there for 35 years. He and his courses were renowned for their rigor, his test scores were always among the best in the county and district, and a large number of his students went on to be successful in research, education, and medicine, often citing Mr. Ray as a prime influence and motivator who helped spark and drive their success. Although the El Paso school district provided specific and detailed curriculum guides keyed to state TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) and national objectives for each course, there was still some latitude for the individual teachers to use specific teaching techniques and methods of their own preference. Mr. Ray left behind all of his teaching materials upon his retirement, taking only his coffee mug and a few other personal effects, and the only thing he insisted I do as he did was to maintain and continue to include what he and the students referred to as “interrogations”. He even went so far as to have me visit his classroom several times during my conference period the year before he left, so that I could observe the mechanics and protocol of the interrogations myself, so after he left I could do them correctly in my own classroom.
Scientific American articles have several advantages and positive features that make them useful in this format, particularly for advanced high school students with a solid background in basic science. This includes the progression in how they are written, from general to specific, and often including a relevant and fascinating historical context as well. The articles are a good bridge to introducing students to actual scientific papers from journals, because they are written by the actual researchers and deal with topics of advanced and current research, but as more of a science magazine they are less “science-centric” in that they are more easily understandable. The articles also often include outstanding graphics, tables, and charts that elucidate critical concepts from the article and the research it sprang from. Another plus concerning Scientific American is the occasional special issue, concerned only with articles pertaining to a specific topic such as AIDS or immunology, and featuring articles by several of the world’s experts in the particular topic. I have experimented with using lower-level articles from science sources such as National Geographic Reader, Owl, Muse, and Discovery for Kids for younger and/or less advanced students, with mixed but encouraging results, and I feel this is something that could be tested and developed further.
The basic mechanics and procedure of the interrogations are as follows. Upon completion of a unit in Honors Biology II (later AP and/or IB Biology), students are assigned one or more articles concerned with that topic. They are given from one day to up to week depending on the number of articles and their degree of difficulty and complexity to take notes on the article(s). On the day of the interrogation the students are divided randomly into groups ranging from two to no more than five or six. The classroom’s furniture is arranged into a horseshoe configuration with the teacher at the open end, and students are dispersed by groups, with their notes. The teacher must have prepared a series of questions and answers from the day’s article, progressing from easier and more general to more difficult and specific as the articles themselves are written. The teacher asks the first group a question, and the students may discuss among themselves who is going to answer, but not the actual answer to the question. Once a student is designated to answer, they may refer to their notes, but are encouraged to not read verbatim from them, but instead formulate an answer in their own words based on their notes. A grade is assigned subjectively by the teacher, and the students at the end receive a cumulative group grade. Questioning continues to the next group, and the same question may be repeated until it is answered to the teacher’s satisfaction. Because the students never know who is going to be in their group and they receive a group grade, there is a sense of cohesiveness and not wanting to let their classmates down that fuels the dissection, note taking, and understanding of the article. Questions and answers (whether right or wrong!) often serve as a springboard for further in-depth discussion of a topic as well. One 45-55 minute class period is usually required for a single interrogation, although more than one article may be served if they are shorter in length or content. Students are even encouraged to communicate with the article’s author(s), and this has even led to students undertaking summer internships with one of the researchers!
I believe this activity helps students to learn to think, which should be the goal of all educational processes, and most importantly think critically, employing several of the rational powers. It helps toward meeting the National Science Education Standards’ vision of a scientifically literate populace, specifically the K-12 Unifying Concepts and Processes Standards that “provide students with productive and insightful ways of thinking about and integrating a range of basic ideas that explain the natural and designed world”. In Oklahoma the PASS (Priority Academic Student Skills) for secondary science are met by this method because virtually any of the content standards may be addressed, as well as the literacy benchmarks and even some of the “Science Process and Inquiry” standards. This classroom technique is also ideally suited as an Expansion activity in a Learning Cycle, and could even be used to facilitate Concept Development. From Piaget’s point of view then, the organization of mental structures is facilitated by the use of articles in this way.
In conclusion these oral quizzes and discussions are in my opinion one of the most effective and enjoyable ways to teach, develop, and organize science concepts I have come across, and I hope you will give it, or your own variation of it, a try in your classroom soon.
Bibliographic Note:
Don’t let the term “interrogations” scare you away from the idea of using relatively advanced science magazine and even journal articles to facilitate concept development and expansion in your learning cycles. This teaching method has been given this somewhat intimidating name at least somewhat affectionately by the students subjected to them, and many former students have reported back that as far as college preparation in high school was concerned, nothing helped them more than our friendly “interrogations”, regardless of their major.
I began my teaching career in 1988 in El Paso, Texas at Coronado High School, considered at the time the top academic high school in that area. After “paying my dues” for all of two years teaching mostly remedial math and science while “floating” from one classroom to another each period, I was fortunate enough to be able to move into teaching the Honors Biology I and II courses due to the retirement of Mr. Rayburn Ray. Mr. Ray was an educational icon at Coronado and around El Paso county, having taught there for 35 years. He and his courses were renowned for their rigor, his test scores were always among the best in the county and district, and a large number of his students went on to be successful in research, education, and medicine, often citing Mr. Ray as a prime influence and motivator who helped spark and drive their success. Although the El Paso school district provided specific and detailed curriculum guides keyed to state TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) and national objectives for each course, there was still some latitude for the individual teachers to use specific teaching techniques and methods of their own preference. Mr. Ray left behind all of his teaching materials upon his retirement, taking only his coffee mug and a few other personal effects, and the only thing he insisted I do as he did was to maintain and continue to include what he and the students referred to as “interrogations”. He even went so far as to have me visit his classroom several times during my conference period the year before he left, so that I could observe the mechanics and protocol of the interrogations myself, so after he left I could do them correctly in my own classroom.
Scientific American articles have several advantages and positive features that make them useful in this format, particularly for advanced high school students with a solid background in basic science. This includes the progression in how they are written, from general to specific, and often including a relevant and fascinating historical context as well. The articles are a good bridge to introducing students to actual scientific papers from journals, because they are written by the actual researchers and deal with topics of advanced and current research, but as more of a science magazine they are less “science-centric” in that they are more easily understandable. The articles also often include outstanding graphics, tables, and charts that elucidate critical concepts from the article and the research it sprang from. Another plus concerning Scientific American is the occasional special issue, concerned only with articles pertaining to a specific topic such as AIDS or immunology, and featuring articles by several of the world’s experts in the particular topic. I have experimented with using lower-level articles from science sources such as National Geographic Reader, Owl, Muse, and Discovery for Kids for younger and/or less advanced students, with mixed but encouraging results, and I feel this is something that could be tested and developed further.
The basic mechanics and procedure of the interrogations are as follows. Upon completion of a unit in Honors Biology II (later AP and/or IB Biology), students are assigned one or more articles concerned with that topic. They are given from one day to up to week depending on the number of articles and their degree of difficulty and complexity to take notes on the article(s). On the day of the interrogation the students are divided randomly into groups ranging from two to no more than five or six. The classroom’s furniture is arranged into a horseshoe configuration with the teacher at the open end, and students are dispersed by groups, with their notes. The teacher must have prepared a series of questions and answers from the day’s article, progressing from easier and more general to more difficult and specific as the articles themselves are written. The teacher asks the first group a question, and the students may discuss among themselves who is going to answer, but not the actual answer to the question. Once a student is designated to answer, they may refer to their notes, but are encouraged to not read verbatim from them, but instead formulate an answer in their own words based on their notes. A grade is assigned subjectively by the teacher, and the students at the end receive a cumulative group grade. Questioning continues to the next group, and the same question may be repeated until it is answered to the teacher’s satisfaction. Because the students never know who is going to be in their group and they receive a group grade, there is a sense of cohesiveness and not wanting to let their classmates down that fuels the dissection, note taking, and understanding of the article. Questions and answers (whether right or wrong!) often serve as a springboard for further in-depth discussion of a topic as well. One 45-55 minute class period is usually required for a single interrogation, although more than one article may be served if they are shorter in length or content. Students are even encouraged to communicate with the article’s author(s), and this has even led to students undertaking summer internships with one of the researchers!
I believe this activity helps students to learn to think, which should be the goal of all educational processes, and most importantly think critically, employing several of the rational powers. It helps toward meeting the National Science Education Standards’ vision of a scientifically literate populace, specifically the K-12 Unifying Concepts and Processes Standards that “provide students with productive and insightful ways of thinking about and integrating a range of basic ideas that explain the natural and designed world”. In Oklahoma the PASS (Priority Academic Student Skills) for secondary science are met by this method because virtually any of the content standards may be addressed, as well as the literacy benchmarks and even some of the “Science Process and Inquiry” standards. This classroom technique is also ideally suited as an Expansion activity in a Learning Cycle, and could even be used to facilitate Concept Development. From Piaget’s point of view then, the organization of mental structures is facilitated by the use of articles in this way.
In conclusion these oral quizzes and discussions are in my opinion one of the most effective and enjoyable ways to teach, develop, and organize science concepts I have come across, and I hope you will give it, or your own variation of it, a try in your classroom soon.
Bibliographic Note:
Scientific American
Edmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002.
National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences, 1995.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The Nature of the Learner and the Learning Cycle
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 education is, or should be, teaching the ability to think. That is, for the general populace 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 extend and apply it to their lives (Expansion). This correlates to the steps of the Learning Cycle, which are in parentheses above. 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.
This teaching approach also correlates to Piaget's model of mental functioning, or 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 Piaget’s concept of Assimilation as new information (good data) is acquired from the environment. Disequilibrium occurs as the new data is temporarily in conflict with the student's current viewpoint. In Concept Development this conflict is reconciled as Accommodation, 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.
Human intelligence is a concept that can be difficult to define, or defined in various ways. For our purposes the intelligence of an individual can be defined as consisting of four components:
· Quality of Thought (Stages) Model
· Mental Functioning
· Mental Structures
· Mental Content
The four stages of cognition or quality of thought are in order, sensorimotor, which is from birth to roughly 2.5 years old and is characterized by object permanence and language development. This is followed by the preoperational stage from approximately 2 to 7 years of age in which children imitate, play, and talk but are also characterized by egocentrism and irreversibility. Next is the concrete operational stage from 6 or 7 years of age to between 15 and 20 in which the child begins to use the mental operations of seriation, classification, correspondence, reversal, decentering, and inductive and deductive reasoning. The final stage is called formal operational and in it hypothetico-deductive and abstract thought is finally realized. The four factors associated with cognitive development, or movement through the stages, are:
· Maturation
· Physical and Logical-Mathematical Experiences
· Social Interaction and Transmission
· Disequilibrium
It is changes in the mental structures and mental content that drive mental functioning in association with the Learning Cycle, as well as movement through the cognitive stages of development. In other words, mental structures are processes in the brain used to deal with incoming data, and differences in their nature and complexity distinguish one intellectual stage from another. Schemes are the basic unit of mental structures, and as new data is incorporated into existing structures assimilation occurs, as in the Exploration of a Learning Cycle. Disequilibrium, or the mismatch between pre-existing mental structures and what has occurred, causes new schemes to develop (also known as accommodation, associated with Concept Development of a Learning Cycle). These new schemes or structured need to be properly aligned and placed among previous ones, and this is essentially organization, and can be brought about in the Expansion phase of a Learning Cycle. Mental content is how a child believes he or she sees the world.
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 and knowledge of the cognitive stages of development and how one moves through them 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.
Edmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002.
National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences, 1995.
This teaching approach also correlates to Piaget's model of mental functioning, or 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 Piaget’s concept of Assimilation as new information (good data) is acquired from the environment. Disequilibrium occurs as the new data is temporarily in conflict with the student's current viewpoint. In Concept Development this conflict is reconciled as Accommodation, 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.
Human intelligence is a concept that can be difficult to define, or defined in various ways. For our purposes the intelligence of an individual can be defined as consisting of four components:
· Quality of Thought (Stages) Model
· Mental Functioning
· Mental Structures
· Mental Content
The four stages of cognition or quality of thought are in order, sensorimotor, which is from birth to roughly 2.5 years old and is characterized by object permanence and language development. This is followed by the preoperational stage from approximately 2 to 7 years of age in which children imitate, play, and talk but are also characterized by egocentrism and irreversibility. Next is the concrete operational stage from 6 or 7 years of age to between 15 and 20 in which the child begins to use the mental operations of seriation, classification, correspondence, reversal, decentering, and inductive and deductive reasoning. The final stage is called formal operational and in it hypothetico-deductive and abstract thought is finally realized. The four factors associated with cognitive development, or movement through the stages, are:
· Maturation
· Physical and Logical-Mathematical Experiences
· Social Interaction and Transmission
· Disequilibrium
It is changes in the mental structures and mental content that drive mental functioning in association with the Learning Cycle, as well as movement through the cognitive stages of development. In other words, mental structures are processes in the brain used to deal with incoming data, and differences in their nature and complexity distinguish one intellectual stage from another. Schemes are the basic unit of mental structures, and as new data is incorporated into existing structures assimilation occurs, as in the Exploration of a Learning Cycle. Disequilibrium, or the mismatch between pre-existing mental structures and what has occurred, causes new schemes to develop (also known as accommodation, associated with Concept Development of a Learning Cycle). These new schemes or structured need to be properly aligned and placed among previous ones, and this is essentially organization, and can be brought about in the Expansion phase of a Learning Cycle. Mental content is how a child believes he or she sees the world.
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 and knowledge of the cognitive stages of development and how one moves through them 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.
Edmund Marek and Ann Cavallo, The Learning Cycle: Elementary School Science and Beyond, (Portsmouth NH, Heinemann, 1997).
PASS Objectives, Oklahoma State Board of Education, 2002.
National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences, 1995.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Making Learning A Never-Ending Story
This article is about "illustrations that instruct".
This article deals with the creation of large murals to teach or reinforce sometimes difficult concepts learned by the students in a science classroom. The author believes that “illustrations that instruct”, as first put forth by Richard Mayer’s reference groundwork in 1993, can use scientific drawings to capture information pictorially and aid student understanding immensely. This technique can be used to help teach or reinforce a single concept in the Concept Development phase of a Learning Cycle, and it can be employed in the Expansion phase of the Learning Cycle to extend a concept or tie several related concepts together in a more general sense. I feel it could even be used in the Exploration phase of the Learning Cycle, as in the habitat drawings of the Learning Cycle I prepared for the Project Wet, Wild, and Learning Tree class we just concluded. I chose this article because I believe based on my own teaching experience that making murals and pictorial representations of science concepts can greatly enhance student understanding, and that article supports my view and also lends itself to use in Learning Cycles. I have in the past had students make murals or large-scale flow charts of topics ranging from the taxonomic diversity of life to the geologic time scale.
More research is cited in the article, such as Edens and Potter (2003) that supports this technique as a viable way for students to learn scientific concepts, and the author himself reports that his ninth grade biology classes produced the highest Biology End-Of-Course (EOC) test scores in the Charlotte-Mecklenberg (North Carolina) schools beginning in 1994. Since then other teachers in the area have adopted his methods with similar results.
The author feels it is important to take a narration or concept and adapt it to visual images, and he refers to this process as diagramming. He lists three rules that must be followed:
The direction and relationships of the components of the concept must be made clear using relevant connectors (arrows with reasons written across them).
Diagrams should dominate.
Explanations must accompany every picture.
Rough drafts are done on connected sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch paper that can be folded accordion-style into students’ notebooks. After several revisions, the final drafts are done on large, scrolling butcher paper. Stencils may be provided and colors are not applied until everything is penciled in first. Students usually present their final projects in class as well.
The author states that diagramming helps toward meeting the National Science Education Standards’ vision of a scientifically literate populace, and he feels strongly that no technique he has used has been as well received or used more successfully in this way. Specifically, the K-12 Unifying Concepts and Processes Standards that “provide students with productive and insightful ways of thinking about and integrating a range of basic ideas that explain the natural and designed world” are well addressed with this activity. It also satisfies four of the five components of National Science Education Content Standard E concerning technological design:
Design a solution or product.
Implement a proposed design.
Evaluate completed technological designs or products.
Communicate the process of technological design.
In conclusion, I agree that diagramming is a valuable tool for the science teacher and student that can enhance the student’s grasp of a science concept. I base this opinion on my own experience, as well as this article and the additional research referenced within it. I also feel that this technique can be useful in developing and expanding a concept, or linking two or more concepts together, from one or more Learning Cycles, thereby making this article relevant to this course.
Bibliographic Note:
Ralph T. Pillsbury, "Making Learning A Never-Ending Story", Science Scope, December 2006, Volume 30, Number 4, pages 22-26.
This article deals with the creation of large murals to teach or reinforce sometimes difficult concepts learned by the students in a science classroom. The author believes that “illustrations that instruct”, as first put forth by Richard Mayer’s reference groundwork in 1993, can use scientific drawings to capture information pictorially and aid student understanding immensely. This technique can be used to help teach or reinforce a single concept in the Concept Development phase of a Learning Cycle, and it can be employed in the Expansion phase of the Learning Cycle to extend a concept or tie several related concepts together in a more general sense. I feel it could even be used in the Exploration phase of the Learning Cycle, as in the habitat drawings of the Learning Cycle I prepared for the Project Wet, Wild, and Learning Tree class we just concluded. I chose this article because I believe based on my own teaching experience that making murals and pictorial representations of science concepts can greatly enhance student understanding, and that article supports my view and also lends itself to use in Learning Cycles. I have in the past had students make murals or large-scale flow charts of topics ranging from the taxonomic diversity of life to the geologic time scale.
More research is cited in the article, such as Edens and Potter (2003) that supports this technique as a viable way for students to learn scientific concepts, and the author himself reports that his ninth grade biology classes produced the highest Biology End-Of-Course (EOC) test scores in the Charlotte-Mecklenberg (North Carolina) schools beginning in 1994. Since then other teachers in the area have adopted his methods with similar results.
The author feels it is important to take a narration or concept and adapt it to visual images, and he refers to this process as diagramming. He lists three rules that must be followed:
The direction and relationships of the components of the concept must be made clear using relevant connectors (arrows with reasons written across them).
Diagrams should dominate.
Explanations must accompany every picture.
Rough drafts are done on connected sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch paper that can be folded accordion-style into students’ notebooks. After several revisions, the final drafts are done on large, scrolling butcher paper. Stencils may be provided and colors are not applied until everything is penciled in first. Students usually present their final projects in class as well.
The author states that diagramming helps toward meeting the National Science Education Standards’ vision of a scientifically literate populace, and he feels strongly that no technique he has used has been as well received or used more successfully in this way. Specifically, the K-12 Unifying Concepts and Processes Standards that “provide students with productive and insightful ways of thinking about and integrating a range of basic ideas that explain the natural and designed world” are well addressed with this activity. It also satisfies four of the five components of National Science Education Content Standard E concerning technological design:
Design a solution or product.
Implement a proposed design.
Evaluate completed technological designs or products.
Communicate the process of technological design.
In conclusion, I agree that diagramming is a valuable tool for the science teacher and student that can enhance the student’s grasp of a science concept. I base this opinion on my own experience, as well as this article and the additional research referenced within it. I also feel that this technique can be useful in developing and expanding a concept, or linking two or more concepts together, from one or more Learning Cycles, thereby making this article relevant to this course.
Bibliographic Note:
Ralph T. Pillsbury, "Making Learning A Never-Ending Story", Science Scope, December 2006, Volume 30, Number 4, pages 22-26.
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