Ken Dunbar Science Teacher, Plymouth High School

 What if you had total power over the curriculum and instruction for your science classes? What would you teach?  List the most important ideas, skills, concepts, and knowledge that you would want your students to take away from your classes.

 Festivus  What are the barriers and roadblocks?

 "Good science is not how many answers you know, but how you behave when you don't know the answer" (author unknown)

 A Purdue University study found that the best way to get students interested in science, engineering, and technology at an early age is to focus less on textbooks and more on interactive, problem-solving design projects. A study of 126 eighth graders from 10 science classes was conducted in a rural, racially diverse middle school, with 57% of the student population receiving free or reduced- price lunches. Half of the students were taught using traditional methods that included textbooks, and half were given an assignment to build a water purification device that demonstrated their grasp of the concepts. Students who were involved in a hands-on project learned more and demonstrated a deeper understanding of the issues than the traditional group. Source:

The standards for science teaching are grounded in five assumptions.  The vision of science education described by the Standards requires changes throughout the entire system.  What students learn is greatly influenced by how they are taught.  The actions of teachers are deeply influenced by their perceptions of science as an enterprise and as a subject to be taught and learned.  Student understanding is actively constructed through individual and social processes.  Actions of teachers are deeply influenced by their understanding of and relationships with students.

 "The fatal pedagogical error [is] to throw answers, like stones, at the heads of those who have not yet asked the questions." (Paul Tillich, , as quoted by Julian Weissglass on page 59 of Exploring Elementary Mathematics, 1979, W.H.Freeman & Co.) *Courtesy of Robert Cohen

Inquiry into authentic questions generated from student experiences is the central strategy for teaching science. National Science Education Standards (1996) Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education (CSMEE)

 National Institutes of Health ReportReport

 What do you really want them to know?  Collaborate, discuss, explore.  NJ standards NJ standards  PHS Biology Standards PHS Biology Standards

 How do you assess mastery of standards? What about the content?  webgrader webgrader

 “Selling it” to the students and parents  Students don’t like it – we’ve trained them well  What about the Parents??? (the ugly conference)

 What went right?  What went wrong?

 REAL Science  Discussion  Questioning  Invention  Creativity  Engaging  Student relationships

 “Mr. Dunbar, can we just chill today and take notes? I’m kinda tired of doing all these labs.”  “You’re cheating them out of content.”

 If you’re a control freak, don’t bother.  Resist the urge to “tell” them.  Less content... So what?  It’s work, no doubt about it.

  kdunbarlumberjack.pbworks.com kdunbarlumberjack.pbworks.com