Good Units Need:

(Chapter 4)

• Information that links to the past and future learning.
• Good use of resources such as curricula and textbooks.

 

Good Lessons Need:

(Chapter 4)

• Most teachers use different formats.
• "Good lesson plans result in focused, dynamic learning experiences wherein children are thoughtful and engaged. Well-thought-out lesson plans also facilitate good classroom management, which maximizes student time on learning and minimizes disorder and discipline issues," (p. 66).
• Include the 6 Elements as described in the text.

Voila!

Chapter 4: Planning and Managing

(science units and lessons!)
Here's a website to help plan science units and lessons!

CLICK ME!

Scope of Science Curriculum for the National Education Science Standards (range, depth): In order to plan a great science unit, teachers should know the concepts that their students are expected to know:

From earth/space:

"1. The stars, sun, and planets
 2. The soil, rocks, and mountains
 3. The weather," (p. 59).

From life sciences:

"1. The study of plants
 2. The study of animals
 3. The study of the relationship between plants and animals
 4. The study of the relationship between living things and the environment," (p. 59).

From physical sciences:

"1. The study of matter and energy
 2. The study of the chemical changes that matter undergoes," (p. 59).\

From technology and engineering (more suggestions):

• "abilites of technological design
• understanding about science and technology
• ablilities to distinguish between natural objects and objects made by humans," (p. 59).

Chapter 2: Constructing Knowledge and Discovering Meaning

Let's talk about theories, and how children are going to learn in our classrooms.

1. Behavioral Theory
2. Cognitive Theory
3. Piaget's Theories
4. Bruner's Theories
5. Constructivism
6. Gardner's Multiple Intelligences
7. Alternative Learning Styles

Do you wonder which one is my favorite? Well, I'll tell you. I like the idea of constructivist teaching because it's all about building new meanings and constructing new concepts based on what you already know. Children are going to have background knowledge about the science concepts we are teaching. They are going to assimilate new experience with experiences they already have, and they are also going to have to accommodate those new experiences to make sense of what they are learning.

Let's build a foundation for our students so that they will have the solid knowledge to grow later in science and in school.

Teachers should remember:

• "Naive conceptions. A person never really knows the world as it is. Each person constructs beliefs about what is real," (p. 31).
• "Assimilation. Students try to reconcile new experiences and data with their present understanding so that the new data support and deepen, but do not change their fundamental mental model," (p. 33).
• "Accommodation. Students cannot reconcile new experiences and data with their present understanding, and they have to change their mental model to logically explain the experience," (p. 33).

Let's Get Things Started...

This is a picture from a hike I went on this summer with my dad, sister and cousin. It was hard, but so much fun. As we walked along the trail there were so many things that define the outdoors: nature trees, dirt, animals, insects (a LOT of insects), weather, etc.

All of these examples are driven by science!!! How curious are we about the world around us and what happens in it? What do you want to discover? How that work, and what does that do? I think that children are still in a magical stage of their lives, when they are driven by curiousity and finding out how and why things work.

The world is amazing. We have a big responsibility as teachers to nurture and strengthen children's science foudations and knowledge!

"Learning doesn't happen only for children, and it doesn't happen only in school. Learning in an ongoing process, in which the larger integrates new knowledge with previous knowledge and discovers new ways of thinking, acting, and feeling. We are always constructing new meanings in this way. I am always learning, you are always learning, and right now, somewhere a child is learning that it doesn't matter whether a corn seed is planted upside down or rightside up. That child is learning that in the proper environment, new shoots, like young children, grow toward the light," (p. 26).