LeaPS Learning in Physical Science November 13, 2009 Supported by University of Kentucky PIMSER Math and Science Outreach Welcome!

Project Goals for LeaPS Overall goal: Students will learn targeted physical science concepts (structure and transformation of matter, force & motion) Goal 1: Enhance teacher content and pedagogical knowledge of targeted physical science concepts Goal 2: Improve Teacher Instructional Practices Goal 3: Enhance Administrator Support

Group Norms Stay on schedule; be on time Put cell phones on silent and computers closed Stay present, giving full attention Listen actively as others are speaking Be engaged—Be IN the work Avoid sidebar conversations Keep name tags visible Rule of 2 feet Any others?

October Review Content Pre-Test Content Building: Describing Motion Minding Your P’s and Q’s

Roadmap for Today Content Building: Graphing Motion Debrief Homework Force & Motion CTS

A New Vision of Science in Education Think about the classrooms in Science Education now and in the past. What are some characteristics that describe these classrooms? Write these characteristics on the mirror.

New research points toward a kind of science education that differs substantially from what occurs in most science classrooms today. Ready, Set, Science! Pg. 3

Let’s look forward! Ch. 1 in RSS was about a “New Vision” in science education. Looking forward, what characteristics would you expect to find in a classroom that embraced this vision? Write these characteristics on the glasses.

Gallery Walk Let’s examine what others think about our past, present, and future. As you read, where are we in our quest for this “New Vision”? How will this new vision impact teacher practice and student understanding?

Time to Reflect

Curriculum Topic Study Learning target: I can use the information from a curriculum topic study to improve instruction of that topic. Have you ever done this?

What is a Curriculum Topic Study? A systematic study of readings from a core set of professional science education resources. Helps improve content background. Helps improve understanding of pedagogical implications of particular content. Helps teachers translate formal course content into a context that is appropriate for students.

Going Through the Process There are 6 parts to the CTS Today we will do all parts You will need the following resources: –Science Curriculum Topic Study (SCTS) –Benchmarks for Science Literacy –National Science Education Standards –Science for All Americans –Science Matters –Atlas of Science Literacy Vol. 1 and 2 –Making Sense of Secondary Science –Graphic Organizer for note taking

Force and Motion Using the guide on page 220 of the SCTS book….. –Complete section I –Refer to page 37 for guiding questions –Record your notes, using the CTS organizer –Examine ALL grade levels; not just middle school

Section I Debrief—Standing Meeting What information did you gain from this section? How can the information gained improve your instructional practice? How can the information gained improve understanding for your students? What are some pros and cons of this section? We will create a group chart synthesizing the information you read from Science for All Americans and Science Matters WHAT SHOULD ADULTS KNOW?

Using the guide on page 220 of the SCTS book….. –All the 1’s--Complete section II –All the 2’s—Complete section III –Refer to page 37 for guiding questions –Record your notes, using the CTS organizer Force and Motion

Section II and III Debrief What information did you gain from this section? How can the information gained improve your instructional practice? How can the information gained improve understanding for your students? What are some pros and cons of this section? 1’s partner with 2’s to share what you found in the reading. We will create group charts answering…. WHAT ARE THE INSTRUCTIONAL IMPLICATIONS? WHAT ARE SPECIFIC IDEAS AND CONCEPTS?

Critical thinking based on scientific concepts and understanding is the primary goal for science education. –Benchmarks for Science Literacy, pg. 71

Using the guide on page 220 of the SCTS book….. –Complete section IV Refer to page 37 for guiding questions –Record your notes, using the CTS organizer Force and Motion

Table Meetings At your table, share out your findings about misconceptions around this topic. We will chart these misconceptions whole group.

How can the CTS impact….. Curriculum? Instruction? Assessment?

What if… What if students don’t develop a more scientific understanding of Force and Motion?

Ch 4 Ready, Set, Science! Placemat Consensus: teammates place consensus items in the center of their team placemat. Teammates all respond simultaneously in their individual space, writing as many ideas as the time allows, to the question about Ch. 4 provided to the team. Teammate 1 announces one item he/she has written. Teammates discuss the item. If there is consensus that the item is important, Teammate 1 records his/her best synthesis of the team’s ideas in the center of the placemat, seeking help with wording if necessary. The process is repeated until each teammate in turn suggests an idea and records the team consensus.

Ch 4 Ready, Set, Science! How did the CTS on FnM provide a big picture understanding of this topic? Why are FnM concepts difficult for students? Examine the draft learning progression for FnM K-5. –How are progressions different from standards? –How might progressions be useful in developing curriculum and instructional units?

“In order to develop a deep understanding of scientific explanations of the natural world, students need sustained opportunities to work with and build on the concepts that support these explanations and to understand the connections between concepts…Research strongly suggests that a more effective approach to science learning and teaching is to teach and build on core concepts of science over a period of years rather than weeks or months.” Ready, Set, Science! pg. 59

Curriculum Topic Study Learning target: I can use the information from a curriculum topic study to improve instruction of that topic.

Time to Reflect

Content Building Learning Target –I can use graphs to describe observed motion.

Activating Prior Knowledge In your science notebook (composition notebook), write today’s date in numerals. Then, describe how you would set up a graph to describe motion. Record the focus questions: –How do I move to match the graph? –How are graphs useful for describing motion?

Science Session Record your answers to each check in your science notebook. Be sure to include sketches of graphs with brief descriptions of the motion depicted. Use words from the word bank, as needed, to help you describe the motion.

Meaning Making Your facilitators will place you in one of three meaning making groups. Meet with your meaning making group to debrief about the motion activities. –Shared reflection for the science session Concept attainment –Individually, describe the motion on the graph and turn in your description to your facilitator.

Time to Reflect

Roadmap for Today Content Building: Graphing Motion Debrief Homework Force & Motion CTS

For Next Time Our next meeting will be December 15 Read Ch 1 and 2 from Writing in Science Read Ch 6 in Ready, Set, Science! Complete the reading guides.