3. Integrating Academic Skills - Assuring Critical Thinking
The Cosmic Curriculum
Integrating Academic Skills - Assuring Critical Thinking

4. WAS the work leading to critical thinking?
How did I know?
Were my observations and anecdotal evidence enough?
Were all my students achieving increased levels of critical thinking?
How could I assure that it was?
Was I providing the right activities?
What were the right activities?

5. Confidence in my Knowledge-base
Resources for Student Follow-up
Time
Task Management
Challenges to teaching the Cosmic Education Curriculum… With Confidence!

6. Knowledge-Base Understanding the Subject Teaching Process
What will inspire my students?
Which experiences are most meaningful?
Progress Assessment
What matters?
Facts
Flexible thinking and Problem-solving
Interest in Learning more?
How will I know?
Observation?
Projects, Reports, Tests?
Knowledge-Base
Everything led to more questions….

7. Resources for Follow-up
What activities will have the greatest impact?
What will my students be compelled to do?
Resources for Follow-up

8. Did I include opportunities or encouragement to use related subjects in solving the problem?
Did I include multi-level questions for deep inquiry?
Where is my focus in reviewing the student’s work:
Was the grammar, spelling, mechanics, and composition adequate?
Was the reasoning sound, reflective of the student’s experience, aimed at a purpose they had identified?
Task Management

9. How am I going to do ALL of this?
TIME
How am I going to do ALL of this?

10. Solving a Problem:
Discover your greatest challenge to consistently providing Cosmic Education experiences in your classroom…

12. Defining It, Teaching for It, Seeing It
Critical Thinking
Defining It, Teaching for It, Seeing It

13. Critical Thinking Development Linda Elder with Richard Paul
Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker
Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker
Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker
Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker
Stage Five: The Advanced Thinker
Stage Six: The Accomplished Thinker
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

14. Critical Thinking: An Intellectually Disciplined Process
Conceptualizing
Applying
Analyzing
Synthesizing
Experience
Observation
Evaluating information
Reasoning
Reflection
Communication
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

15. Setting: Cosmic Eduction
Content
Critical Thinking / Problem-solving
Skill practice
Inspired
Fun!
Setting: Cosmic Eduction

16. Content:
Time
Life
Change
Preparation
Timeline of Life

17. Let’s visualize the timeline

19. Imagine…
The Ordovician Period

21. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

23. How do we know?
How do we learn about the ancient times?

24. Take a Closer Look…

25. Look again…

26. Fossil Formation Take the little tray of clay.
Press the fossil into the clay deeply.
Remove the fossil and you can see a kind of fossil
Pour a little bit of the plaster of paris mixture into the mold.

27. Fossil Formation

29. Go back to our timeline…

30. Dig It!

32. Record Your Dig Number Chip Type Size Complete or partial #1 #2 #3 #4#5
Total
# under
.5 cm
# over .5 cm
P-nut butter Chips
Dark choc chunk

33. Research

34. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

36. What happened in between…
Pleistocene Ice Ages
1.8 mya
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

37. Importance to ME? Glaciers deposit soil
Glaciers carve the land into streams and rivers
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

38. Let’s do a little math…
Write the number 470 million in digits. How many zeros do you need?
The glacier of the Wisconsonian Glaciation entered Ohio about 24,000 years ago. It was completely gone by 14,000 years ago. How long did this glaciation period last in Ohio?
The Illinoian Period ended 130,000 years ago and the Wisconsonian glaciation period began approximately 24,000 years ago. How many years were between the two periods
The last two million years of the Quaternary Period are considered the Pleistocene Epoch. It ended about 10,000 years ago. How long did it last?
Based on your calculation, what percentage of the Pleistocene Epoch was the Wisconsonian?

39. Reflect
Purpose: To learn ways to present lessons in Cosmic Education that contribute to critical thinking development

40. Critical Thinking: An Intellectually Disciplined Process
Conceptualizing
Applying
Analyzing
Synthesizing
Experience
Observation
Evaluating information
Reasoning
Reflection
Communication
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

41. Reflect:
Purpose: To examine the road blocks to providing Cosmic Education

42. Addressing the 4 Areas of Challenge
Confidence in my Knowledge-base
Resources for Student Follow-up
Time
Task Management

43. Thank you! Come visit me in my booth!
Curriculum and materials from
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