October 27, 2009 Conceptual Change

Agenda 5:30 – Sign In/Settle In 5:45 – Who are you…as scientist, engineer, math? 6:00 – Business/Questions 6:10 - Conceptual Change Sink & Float 6:45 - Brainstorm ideas – what do you notice? Wonder? 7:00 – Inquiry Project

To Do Sign up sheet – classroom visits Grade Numeracy projects Guide for Inquiry Project Prepare artifacts – who am I?

Welcome to class! Please sign in and help arrange the tables into a square. Sign up for a “Classroom Visit” time. Revisit your K-W-H-L grid. Brainstorm ideas about how you will learn. Be prepared to share your artifacts: Who are you?

Who are you… As a scientist? As an engineer? As a mathematician? And what does this mean for children?

Sink & Float Projects

Sink & Float (see notes) Read King Bidgood Context – natural curiosity Opportunity to integrate curriculum/big ideas Curriculum – content and process skills Instruction – experiences Assessment – questions So what? Informed my teaching.

What are children’s scientific conceptions and how do they change? everyday understandings “some things stay on top of water and others go under” what kinds of beliefs/knowledge children bring to school “I watched a movie and the heavy thing floated down.” examine the misconceptions “It will sink – it’s too heavy and too big.” “It will float – it’s too heavy and big.” play with hypotheses “For the pumpkin to float, you need more water than apples.” bridge to scientific thinking “Boats are heavy and they float.” scientific understandings “It floats because it is light for its size.”

Conceptual Understanding Procedural Knowledge scientific concepts + scientific process

Children’s Conversations about Sink & Float

Work-In-Progress Questions What kinds of misconceptions do children have about the principles of sink and float? What kinds of questions seem to provoke conceptual change? What kinds of metaphors and analogies emerge in the discussions and projects? What kinds of bridging metaphors might help children to develop a scientific understanding? What sequence of experiments might aid in the development of conceptual understanding?

Sink and Float: Initial Data Analysis Misconceptions/ Naïve Beliefs Approximations toward Conceptual Understanding Apples will melt in water. Heavy things sink. Hot things float because the heat pushes it up. Size: Little apples sink, big apples float. Little apples float, big apples sink. Weight “My grandpa’s boat is made out of metal and no wood at all and it floats….It’s heavier than the pumpkin and it floats.” Amount of Water “There is more water than apples” “We would need a bigger bucket filled with lots of water…it can be that it’s wide enough, but it has to be bigger.”

So what? This process of inquiry informed my teaching. Reflect on the use of language with children The use of metaphors to connect to prior knowledge. Formulating questions to foster inquiry. Become a facilitator of learning, child as apprentice.

Attitudes of Inquiry Review p. 160 in Worms. Do you agree or disagree?

To share during our last class session together on December 8. During the last session of the course, you will present your Inquiry Project in any format you choose. The purpose is to demonstrate your own attitude of inquiry, documenting your learning and possible avenues for sharing this with children.

To Do List for November 3 Reading: Articles – “Conceptual Change” & “Documentation” Response: Select an area of inquiry and begin to brainstorm ideas. Lab: Continue observations of children’s inquiry in natural setting.

Continue to check the blog. I will confirm my classroom visit with you.