Linking Teachers With Teachers
THE FIRST WORD
Welcome to the fall of '92 and Issue #3 of INTERACTIONS.
One of the many and varied tasks for you as a teacher is communication with parents and guardians about students' progress and performance. It is often said by teachers that the parents and guardians they hope to see at parent-teacher interviews never come.
A valuable communication link can be the textbook. On the back page of this issue of INTERACTIONS is a blackline master (BLM) containing a letter which you may find useful. We urge you to use it 'as-is,' or adapt it, as a means of communicating the essence of SciencePlus.
By encouraging the parent or guardian to become familiar with SciencePlus, you can inspire the adult to take an active interest in their child's work. The "interaction" between parent or guardian and student can be beneficial equally for you as teacher.
FLASH
Many thanks to the teachers who participated in SPTN activities at the recent Association of Science Teachers conference in Halifax. A very special thanks to those who contributed computer disks and printed materials to be shared. Approximately 2500 pages of teacher-generated materials were copied and distributed!! This is a concrete example or how a network can work - linking teachers with teachers.
WELCOMES AND CONGRATULATIONS
Some new (but experienced!) teachers have joined diehard working advisory group of SPTN. Gordon Burton, Steve Angelidis, Sharon Willard and Bob Dawson have joined us for the fun and frolic of composing newsletters and planning activities for the Network. A thousand welcomes!!
SPTN congratulates Adriane Dorrington on her appointment as Science Consultant for the Nova Scotia Department of Education. We look forward to her involvement, along with other provincial curriculum consultants, in the promotion of Science education in the region.
SPTN would also like to congratulate our American colleagues in the production of the COMMUNICATOR, The official publication of the SciencelPlus Teachers Network in the United States. Their first issue is hot-off-the-press (October '92) and looks great. The editor is Margaret Steinheimer, a teacher in St. Louis, Missouri. Margaret is also on the U.S. Board of Directors of the Atlantic Science Curriculum Project. You may have seen her contributions as editor of the Bulletin Board in Science Scope.
Among the many questions that SciencePlus teachers ask are two that can he particularly troublesome:
We know these are tough questions. What do you do in these circumstances? How do you deal with these questions? Can you help us? A lot of teachers out there would appreciate hearing about your solutions Send in your suggestions and we'll print them so others can benefit from your ideas.
WHAT WORKS...WHAT DOESN'T
Living Things SP1
Suggestions from a grade 7 teacher: Much of the work which the grade seven students do during the first half of term one involves creating and interpreting data tables and graphs, identifying and controlling variables, making qualitative and quantitative observations, and forming conclusions. I use these skills to turn the "Conditions for Growth" (page 21) into a major assignment.
Students use the data gathered from the experiment to create a lab report. This has proven to be an effective method of incorporating all of the skills mentioned above into one assignment.
Chemical Change SP2
(1) Comments from an SP teacher: To test for the presence of carbon dioxide by having students blow through a straw into limewater does not always produce the desired result. The limewater should turn cloudy and a precipitate should form. The results my students obtain is only mildly cloudy.
After mentioning this problem to science teachers in other areas, I discovered it did work quite well for them. Suggestions were to increase the strength of the limewater or that perhaps my results could be affected by the fact that I was using well water rather than water from a municipal supply. Have you had similar problems?
(2) Here's a little note to help drive home the notion of how scientific "knowledge" is an ever changing and progressive thing. It also serves as a good example of how correlation between two variables does not necessarily mean that there is a cause and effect relationship involved.
The unit Chemical Changes contains a section entitled "Aluminum: Its Properties and Uses." (Page 106). Within this section, it is.stated "...it (aluminum) does not corrode and is not poisonous..."
Since SciencePlus 2 was written, it has been found that people suffering from Alzheimer's Disease have high levels of aluminum in their systems. It is still uncertain as to whether the aluminum may be a cause or a product of Alzheimer's. Despite the uncertainty, aluminum cookware is getting to be harder to find and some manufacturers of antacids are replacing aluminum with other elements or compounds.
The whole issue provides a good opportunity to get students out digging in the popular literature for information, interviewing doctors, etc. Students could be asked to design research projects to resolve the issue. The question, "Why is aluminum in an antacid tablet in the first place?" may also come up and provide an opportunity for more research that would be very closely related to Exploration 4 (A Chemical Property of Aluminum) in the same unit.
Floating and Sinking SP3
This unit provides a good opportunity to integrate the science and math programs. The mass versus volume graphs serve as a good application of linear equations as taught in math. Speak to the math teacher (it may be you)! And look for areas of cooperation.
Life Processes SP3
Exploration 15. Test 2
To promote student understanding, one teacher suggests:
I divide the class into five or six groups and give each group the apparatus shown below. Each group is asked to carry out the activity as described on page 48 of the text The group then completes the following task.
Study the diagram below. Then read the statements and indicate the correct response by writing the appropriate number or letter on line beside each statement.
_______ air leaves the flask here during inhalation
_______ flask in which the limewater became a milky white color
_______ place where inhalation and exhalation occurs
_______ flask which had be least concentration of carbon dioxide
_______ exhaled air enters the flask here
_______ outside air enters die flask here
Explain the purpose of this demonstration.
Life Processes SP3
Are you still having trouble getting the pigment out of those leaves? You're not alone.Teachers from the Maritimes to Tamp, Florida are having the same problem. Muriel Smyth, the unit's author, suggests using leaves from plants g rowing outdoors. She used tomato, nasturtium, impatiens and geranium leaves and had "excellent, positive results, most of them immediately." She suggests the procedure given below. There are some slight variations from the procedure suggested in the text. Note that heated rnethanol is not used -- methanol is both toxic and highly volatile, particularly when heated, and safety precautions must be taken. Other solvents such as acetone, ethanol or isopropanol will also work but the same concerns about safety apply.
Muriel also suggests preserving the leaves that show good results in methanol or in 4% formalin. When required, a leaf can be rinsed quickly in water and placed in a solution of iodine in water (with a little potassium iodide to help the iodine to dissolve). She reports that positive results can be achieved again. "They can be used for demonstration or assessment purposes or as a backup in case of disaster!"
Terry Knock pointed out that environmental filters are sometimes applied to windowglass. These may filter out wave lengths important for good starch production thus potentially affecting the results on plants grown indoors. He suggests using grow lights for indoor plants.
Group Discussions
For any who have problems when students are working in small cooperative groups,one teacher offers these suggestions:
SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR GIRLS IN SCIENCE AND MATH
In August, 42 grade 9 girls gathered at Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax for a five day camp on science and math. Ten girls attended from each of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia, and 12 from New Brunswick. They were selected by the provincial Departments of Education on the basis of demonstrated interest and competence in science and math. All leaders at the Institute were women including visiting scientists from each of the provinces, workshop leaders, chaperones (science and math teachers) and Institute planners. The planning and development process was a joint effort involving the Departments of Education of the four Atlantic provinces and the Maritime Provinces Education Foundation.
The goals of the Institute were to increase the number of young women choosing to study and pursue careers in science, math and technology and to provide a learning environment in which the participants had a variety of "hands on" experiences and interacted with women in science, math and technology careers.
The program consisted of:
The Institute was designed as a prototype. Individual provinces are considering using the model to implement their own Institutes next summer. If you want more information about plans in your province, contact your Department of Education. Perhaps with lots of interest from teachers, they will be encouraged to put on provincial programs.
Student Assessment
Authentic Student Assessment: A Philosophy
Assessment of student progress should be faithful to the educational goals of the teacher and the community. However, typical student assessment practices focus on students' short-term recall of knowledge, an outcome that is well down the list of priorities of mostteachers and school districts.
Student assessment procedures should provide a genuine indication of what a student understands and what a student can do with that understanding. This is particularly critical for a program like SciencePlus that stresses meaningful learning. including the development of interest, understanding and skills important for living and working. In keeping with this approach, a project to develop authentic assessment materials for SciencePlus is underway. Sponsored by the Atlantic Science Curriculum Project, a workshop on authentic assessment was held at Tatamagouche in July. Teachers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and in the United States are now involved in field trials which will result in the publication of materials specifically designed for authentic assessment of SciencePlus.
The goals of the assessment materials are: (1) to facilitate student ownership of their own learning; (2) to provide for assessment of students who are learning in groups; and (3) to make authentic assessment feasible for SciencePlus teachers. The materials contain ideas and suggestions for:
Use of Checklists
Some of the desired outcomes of education may he assessed more readily through teacher and student observation and reflection than through formal testing. Checklists assist in the assessment of several such outcomes, including ability to learn and work in groups, the development of interest in learning science and the development of learning skills
Assessing Group Learning
If both the performance of the group and of the individuals in the group are valued, then both need to be assessed. These assessments should consider both process (groupdynamics, quality of interaction) and product (individual and group results). Checklists arebeing developed for group and individual self-assessment of small group discussionsand activity.
Portfolio Assessment
Portfolio assessment should also be used as one of the means of making student assessment correspond to the goals of the SciencePlus program. For example, portfolio assessment supports the goal of developing students' habit of life-long independent study and achievement. Students should be given the opportunity to select for inclusion in their portfolio, projects, tests, explorations, performance tasks, reflective journal writing and other work they take particular pride in having completed. These portfolios can be made available (1) as a form of reporting to parents, (2) as an incentive and guide for students entering the course the following year and (3) as a means for the teacher and school to give the public an accounting of the results or their work.
A potential problem with authentic assessment is the demand it can place on the teacher's time. Students engaged in the SciencePlus program generate a large amount of written material and are constantly demonstrating their understanding and skill. Additional activities arid procedures intended for assessment purposes add to the amount of feedback the student provides. However, if students learn to take a large part or the responsibility for assessing their own progress, then authentic assessment becomes entirely feasible for the teacher. In the process, the student gains greater ownership of learning and is more likely to be successful. If a greater part of the individual student's learning takes place in groups, not only does each student have a more frequent audience for his or her own contribution, teachers have more opportunities to monitor student progress. Efforts to achieve the three goals are thus mutually supporting.
A few examples from the field trial materials are included in this issue of Interactions. For more information on the Authentic Assessment project, contact:
Living Things SP1
As a gardener, you want to find out which of 3 popular fertilizers (A, B, C) actually helps radishes grow best. Write a plan for how you would find out.
a) what materials would you use?
b) how would you conduct the experiment
c) how would you decide which radishes grew best?
d) how could you be sure that the fertilizer and not something else was the reason that one lot of radishes grew better?
Your plan might he the beginning of an interesting science project.
Solutions SP2
1. You have two beakers in front of you that contain the same amount of water. Suppose you put a sugar cube into one of them and an ice cube in the other. After 15 minutes, both cubes have disappeared. Will both beakers now contain a solution? Explain.
2. Suppose your car will not start. You are stranded on a deserted beach. Beyond the beach is hot desert. The only source of water is the ocean. There is dry wood on the beach and you do not have matches, cooking and eating utensils and a funnel and hose from your car. Explain how you would obtain desalinated water to drink. Use a sketch to support your explanation.
Chemical Changes SP2
Two situations are briefly described below. For each one:
a) write the word equations for the chemical reactions that occur;
h) identify the reactants and products;
c) indicate whether the chemicals involved in the reactions are elements or compounds.
(1) Three kilometres below the surface of the earth, molten rock containing iron reacts with molten sulphur. As this molten material makes its way to the surface in the vent of the volcano, iron sulfide crystals are eventually formed.
| a) | word equation: |
| b) |
reactants:
products: |
| c) |
elements:
compounds: |
2) A geologist is trying to determine the type of rock in a sample that she has gathered. She adds several drops of hydrochloric acid to the rock. Bubbles of carbon dioxide are formed. Calcium bicarbonate is also produced. She concludes that the rock is made up or calcium carbonate, commonly called limestone.
| a) | word equation: |
| b) |
reactants:
products: |
| c) |
elements:
compounds: |
Work & Energy SP2
1. You are building a two-story log cabin in the wilderness, using only materials that you find there or can take to your campsite by canoe. You must clear the land, bring the materials you will need to the site (including the logs), and build the cabin. You use a variety of tools and machines to do this, including inclined planes, levers and pulleys. Do three sketches, including one example of each of these being used in the clearing of your campsite or the building of the cabin.
2. The illustration below shows the path of a bouncing ball. Apply your understanding of the terms 'kinetic' and 'potential energy' to a description of this bouncing ball. Why does the bouncing ball lose energy, eventually coming to a stop? Where does the lost energy go?
Life Processes SP3
1. Suppose you watered your plants with only sea water rather than plain water. How would that affect your plants and why?
2. A cell membrane, such as the membrane of an egg, is often compared to a screen or sieve. Use this comparison to explain why water travels through the membrane into an egg while the materials inside the egg do not travel out. You might want to include a drawing as part of your explanation.
This 'n' That
Revising SciencePlus
The Atlantic Science Curriculum Project is looking ahead to the next revision of SciencePlus and would like your input. In fact, your input as a user of the program is essential to our goal of making SciencePlus the best Junior High program possible.
SciencePlus began in junior high classrooms and has now come full circle. We need to incorporate the combined insights (perhaps thousands of teacher years) of experienced SciencePlus teachers in a revision. Are you interested in becoming part of the process? For example, you can tell us about:
Sometime through November and early December, SPTN will be making contacts throughout the Atlantic region. looking for teachers who are interested in being part of the revision process. If you are interested, contact Alan Moore, Atlantic Science Curriculum Project. Nova Scotia Teachers College, Truro, N. S. B2N 5G5.
Resources
Media services has a video entitled "Floating and Sinking" available for dubbing. Not only does this video serve as a reinforcement of many concepts of the unit in SP3 but it presents the materials in an inquiry-oriented approach that engages the students in interesting ways.
A very useful book for developing understanding of how to get cooperative groups working:
Science Fairs
Its that time of year again - Science Fair preparations. Mixed emotions abound. Some teachers unfeeling pressure to involve their students in Science Fair projects and are questioning whether the original goals are still being realized. Do Science Fairs motivatestudents to high achievement in research and development of scientific projects? supportthe work of 'science teachers? keep the community in touch with schools and educators? encourage youth to consider careers in science? According to some teachers, Science Fairs are becoming a publicity event for the schools rather than an exciting learning opportunity for the students. It is unfortunate if this sentiment is widely felt and if negative attitudes about Science Fairs are forming.
Are you a teacher who's feeling less than enthusiastic about Science Fairs this year? Have you considered a new approach? Reducing the emphasis on sending students to national rain means greater flexibility and more options for both students and teachers. In Grade 7, for example, a project could be designed to involve the entire class, emphasizing cooperative learning, sharing tasks among groups and developing the skills of putting a Science Fair project together. As students learn Science Fair 'skills', the pressures on teachers are reduced.
Alternating Science Fairs with Invention Conventions or Science Festivals (open houses) adds variety bit also continues to provide an opportunity to show parents what their children are doing in science.
Do you have some parents who are eager (perhaps too eager) to help with projects? Can you organize a parental support group so that parents are not helping just their own children? Ultimately, Science Fair responsibilities need to be shared - by parents and the community as well as the teachers, students and school. One of the roles of the teacher could be to bring interested panics together and facilitate a cooperative effort.
What are your thoughts on Science Fairs? What role do you as the teacher play? What role do the parents play? Are Science Fairs voluntary or required in your classes? Are you using class time to teach Science Fair skills? We'd like to hear from you.
HELP!! Field Testing POE's
"Predict-Observe-Explain" (P'.O.E.) is a powerful teaching strategy in which teachers invite students to predict what will happen when an experiment is carried out. The students are then asked to give their reasons for their answers, thus revealing their preconceptions to the teacher. This puts the teacher in close touch with the students' thinking.
After observing what happens in the experiment, the teacher helps the students to explain the reasons for their observations. In this way, the students are encouraged to adjust their thinking so as to move closer and closer to the public understanding accepted by scientists.
The use of POE'S is very supportive of constructivism, a teaching strategy through which students build (construct) their own understandings. It is emerging as the dominant teaching strategy favoured by educators and is the approach suggested in SciencePlus.
Judy Reynolds (B. C. Silver Junior High School, Halifax) and Clayton Coe (Montague Regional High, P.E.I.) are working with John Haysorn at Saint Mary's University on the task of preparing a bank of POE'S for you to field test. They need your help. If you would 1ike to help by testing and providing feedback on die POE's, please send the following information to:
Judy Reynolds. c/o Faculty of Education, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, N. S. ESH 3C3
Your input would be valuable in preparing a revised edition of SciencePlus. Many, many teachers across the Maritimes were involved in preparing the first edition and we hope to continue the tradition.
| Name: |
| School Address: |
| Telephone: |
| Grades taught: |
|
For which SciencePlus units (up to three) would you like to field test POE's?
|
NOTE: An example of a POE is given below as a blackline master. Reproduce it and use it with your students. The scientific explanation of this POE is that when the tube is first placed over the flame of the candle, the air inside the tube quickly becomes heated. This increase in pressure in the tube forces some of the air out of the tube and it escape's as tiny bubbles going through the water. In addition, when the flame goes out, the remaining air inside the tube cools down and the pressure decreases, allowing water to be pushed up into the tube by the atmospheric pressure.
Note: You can print this out separately to use as a BLM.
Predict - Observe - Explain
PRESSURE
| Setting the Scene |
One day, Paul was helping his mother do the dishes. She placed a very hot, wet cereal bowl upside down on tile kitchen counter, To Paul's surprise, the bowl moved a few centimeters across the countertop all by itself!
| The Experiment |
Place a candle in some plasticine at the bottom of a bowl filled with water.
Light the candle and
place a tube,
closed at one end, over the candle and into the water.
| Observations |
a) What do you think will first happen in the tube?
b) What do you predict will eventually happen inside the tube?
| Explanations |
Tell what you saw happen when the tube was placed over the burning candle.
a) Can you explain what was happening when the tube was first placed over the flame?
b) Can yon explain what happened at the end of the experiment?
Science Leadership Institute
The Atlantic Science Curriculum Project (ASCP) is planning a five-day Summer Institute to beheld July11 - 16, 1992. The focus of the Institute will be on the development, promotion and encouragement of leadership in science education.
Goals
Possible Workshops
Information
Where: Nova Scotia Teachers College, Truro, N.S.
When: July 11 - 15, 1993 (Sun. evening - Fri. noon)
How much: Residence and meals -$150
Conference Fee - $100
Participants: Experienced SciencePlus teachers, international science educators, SciencePlus authors1 university educators
Enrollment will be limited. Applications will be available soon. Contact Nan .
BLM: Home Letter
Dear Parent or Guardian:
Now that your child is well into the study of our science program for this year, I would like to bring you some information about the program and, in particular, our textbook, SciencePlus.
The science program has a number of aims and objectives which include:
These are important goals for your child and every member or the class.
As well. I believe that the textbook, SciencePlus, can help your child develop important attitudes, knowledge and skills in science. Indeed, unlike many textbook series, SciencePlus has been developed from the classroom level in the Maritime provinces. It has now found wide acceptance in six Canadian provinces and in a number of American states.
For you as a parent, the textbook can also ho a valuable way of following your child's work, study and progress. I encourage you to look through the book and ask your child questions about what he or she finds interesting or difficult. If you have any questions about the program or the textbook, please live me a call.
As you examine Science Plus, you will see some differences from other textbooks - especially the kind you used when you were in junior high. Yes, it is colourful, with lots of pictures and diagrams which have been chosen to relate to your child's world. As well, the authors have made a great effort to write in an active, engaging style. However, SciencePlus is not a reading book. True, it contains information as well as guidance for your child but it (and the science program) is, also based on children doing science. Students are invited to become involved in the learning of science through the use of many different thinking strategies:
The science program and SciencePlus recognizes that science must be relevant and that students must be actively involved in order to progress and be successful. Student's assessment will rely less on memorization and more on ways of determining what is understood. By now, your child should be familiar with this new emphasis.
In looking forward to the rest of the year and hope you will feel free to keep in touch about your child's work. To really be successful, we all have to be involved- students, teachers, and parents and guardians.
Sincerely,
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