A Natural Integration--Why is unnatural so much more popular?

 This article, "A Natural Integration," by Tracy Coskie, Michelle Hornof, and Heidi Trudel, falls under the category of inquiry-based articles (link to article). This type of learning is new to me. I have been a student when this type of learning was applied, but I have never read about it or taught it before so I wish to gain as much knowledge as I can about it so that I can seamlessly implement it in my future science classroom. 

     This article follows the same principle as our teacher guide book for the aquatic unit, Seeds of Science and Roots of Reading, in that it uses an inquiry based activity that involves science and writing. In this article the teachers had the students out in the nature around their school creating field guides about different plants. The students began by simply getting outside, around their school, and observing what was there. They looked at field guides as mentor texts to know what it should look like, sound like, what is included, and how they are written. The mentor texts showed students the organization and detail that are needed. 

     The next step for this project was the information phase. Students gathered information through observations and through research. The teachers taught lessons throughout these phases on areas they noticed students needed help, for example, using pictures and writing on the same page. Teachers also helped the students with their online research to determine fact from fiction online. 

     The students were now ready to write their field guides. The teachers used the mentor texts and mini lessons again to help the students' field guides look, and sound like, real field guides. The students were given a few days to revise by themselves and with peers after writing their guides and then finally the teachers reviewed their work for editing and fact checking purposes. 

     I loved how in the article the teachers gave the students a publication day where the students' parents came in and used the field guides to find each of the plants in cumulative field guide.  This article listed the state standards linked to this activity and advice on creating a rubric for grading this type of activity. There was an additional section as well for extending the integration and learning past the field guide.

 














    My personal opinions of this article are high. I thought the article was well written and to the point. There was enough detail I would feel comfortable conducting an activity like this and the student examples in the article seem like the students loved the activity and produced outstanding work. 

    In regards to the title of this blog post, why is this natural integration approach not the norm if it makes so much sense? The answer I see is work. These types of learning experiences require a lot of work from both the teacher and the students. This is the same reason Thematic Units and Science Fairs are falling out of favor. Another reason may be the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which place an emphasis on high stakes testing and have rigid standards for what curriculum must be met. These reason to avoid natural integrations and inquiry based learning may be valid, but they are not good enough to do away with a type of learning as powerful as this. No teacher should ever be afraid to work- no students ever commented on how much they learned from a state test- few people remember lessons they were not engaged it- and these types of learning experiences, if done right, can seamlessly fit in with the CCSS and the curriculum they require. 

Snow and Ice on the Roads but Dr. Smirnova got the Lesson Planning Show en Route

     Usually when classes are cancelled due to inclement weather the college students take advantage of the extra time for studying, homework, Netflix, or laundry. These snow days, however, will soon be a thing of the past. As I will soon be a teacher and no longer a student this may be in my favor.
     Dr. Smirnova set up an online classroom through EClass where all of us students could log on. We could type to each other, use microphones to talk, there was a video feature, and we could see the slide show she had prepared. From the comfort of our own homes we could learn about lesson planning and collaborate with each other. This type of virtual classroom eliminates lost time.
     As a student paying for my own tuition, I appreciate not losing class time. At $3,000 a class, with only 30 meeting, I pay $100 for every class. I would much rather lose free time on a snow day than pay $100 for a class I didn't attend.
     The beauty of this carries over to many different situations. A teacher can go anywhere for professional development, family reasons, class trips, study abroad, etc. and not worry because the classroom can be anywhere there is a computer. This virtual classroom also comes in handy if the class is centered around individual work. Students can be working independently but the teacher and their colleagues are online and available as a resource for collaboration or help.
     The next step for this virtual classroom, for me anyway, is that I would love to learn how to set one up, what sites I could use it on, how to create lessons for it, and how to invite students. My interest has been peeked.

Model Ponds or Learning Pawns?

     I could have never imagined the amount of learning that would come from the creation of Model Ponds with the 5th grade. These Model Ponds became avenues for learning, questioning, observing, and loving science. I could not be happier with the way these ponds cemented the learning from previous classes and got the students enveloped in the learning and inquiry process for future lessons; true concrete learning to move the students to the abstract in later lessons. Mrs. Vasilakos emailed me saying how the students didn't even need the observation worksheets as motivation because they were observing all day long. She said they have brilliant question, they see life in their tanks and have such ownership over their models.
     The creation of these models are both reliant on, and supportive of, all of the lessons being taught on aquatic ecosystems. There, so far, have been lessons on ecosystems and biomes in general, food webs, food chains, nitrogen cycle, waste cycling, relationships between organisms, and there will soon be lessons on aquatic ecosystems specifically. All of these are necessary for the students to understand what is happening in their Model Pond and why we have Model Ponds. The Model Pond, in return, serves as an example and model of all of these things taught. Our ponds are an ecosystem, specifically an aquatic pond ecosystem, with food chains and webs, worms that recycle waste, and animals that live symbiotically.
     The key of my reflection on the building of these Model Ponds is engaged learning. Previous to this I used to believe that teachers needed to be fun and make sure students are having fun at school in order for students to love learning. Through this one lesson I realize this view is off tune. Fun activities make a cool teacher- not an effective teacher, and students love learning when they have ownership of it. Engaging activities that put responsibility and learning in the students hands are fun and effective. Engaged learners are brilliant learners. I had students coming up to me, not even 30 minutes into our Model Pond building, and say, "May I please have the Daphnia- the transparent crustaceans in the back tank." I could have never taught the students that in 30 minutes. There were also comments coming from a student who is usually negative that took me back, such as, "This is so cool. I am glad we can do this in school." Therefore, these tanks became learning pawns for both the teachers and the students to use in engaged activities where the students generated their own knowledge through the responsibility of creating their own Model Pond Ecosystems.

Science Where? It's all over at the BDMS Science Fair!

     Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to the BDMS Science Fair. I have never seen any Science fair with that magnitude or work and effort. I was supposed to be there volunteering as an interviewer but the interviews went more efficiently than expected so I had the time to read each and every science fair project that was in the gym. I chose a few of my favorites to reflect on here.
     My all time favorite one there was titled "Tasty Dough." This project, pictured below, was my favorite because it was relevant, useful, fun, and creative. The students had blind taste testers try cookies and pick their favorite one. The only difference between the three cookies were how long the dough was refrigerated before the cookies were baked. The three batches were baked one right after the dough was made, the second batch 1 hour after the dough was made, and the third batch 24 hours after the dough was made. The blind tastiest revealed that cookies taste better when the dough is refrigerated 24 hours before baking.

     The following two projects are ones that I thought were the best as far as presentation. These projects clearly showed neatness, organization, time, effort, professionalism, and attention to detail. With the first project I loved the contrast, pictures, depth, clothespins, clear and large print, and model  lever arm (right of the poster) they had presented. The second project, I liked because of the materials they had laid out in front of the poster to model what they used and the test they preformed. I also liked all the photos they used. My only wish for that project was that they had printed, not hand written, their text aspects. 

   

     I was talking with Mrs. Foster-Faith about how amazing this science fair was. She was telling me how most schools do away with them because of the amount of work needed and that she in fact began work with the students on their projects in November. This was my "big learning" from attending the science fair: the work put is in enormous, however, the amount of student learning that came from this is even more enormous. 

The Day it All Began

     The first day of Dr. Smirnova's Science Methods class was so scientifically appropriate and fun. Beginning with a task that provokes inquiry and then looking at ourselves as scientists was an enlightening and interesting way to begin. I had never before really stopped to look at who I was as a scientist or why so this Scientific Me essay was a good way to dust off my scientific foundation.
    It was not until I did the readings, watched the videos, and reflected on the 5E model that I realized the significance of the activity we did the first day. Dr. Smirnova was modeling for us how this model works and how to execute it in any class setting for any type of inquiry. What a brilliant way to begin the semester. By doing this she helped us to think back on our science experiences and knowledge and dust off our science foundations while simultaneously look forward and set the stage for inquiry based learning cycles.
    The question bag was a fun way to get to know each other in the class as well as set the tone for the inquiry-based science instruction and learning that will be happening throughout this course and then in our future teaching. There was a paper bag stapled shut with different objects inside. Everyone got 5 seconds to shake, feel, and squish the bag. After this, as a class, we all took guesses at what was in the bag based on what we had observed.
      I was pleased with the way this first day outlined our learning for the semester and how our first assignment really got me grounded in myself as a scientist so that I can now move forward and expand upon that.

    I chose this science experiment from all of the videos on YouTube because I liked that it was a child who was doing the experiment and he seemed to really enjoy the experiment and think it was as cool as I thought it was. I also liked that this is an experiment most children could do with what they have in their house already. 

 

Science is About Inquiry Commentary

These articles gave a comprehensive overview of Inquiry in Science and strategies for effectively and correctly implementing it. The following are comments of strengths and weaknesses of each:

Myths About Inquiry Based Learning: This article clearly points out that inquiry is for everyone, is equally or more important than "beefy" content, has no specific steps or structure, the teacher is simply a facilitator to student learning, can be assessed, is not prominent enough as a fad for science teaching, and is clearly misunderstood. I thought the approach of this article was powerful and the support for every claim helped to solidify the information given.

What is Inquiry: This chapter really dove into the real definition or meaning of inquiry, the cycle of inquiry, the misconceptions, examples of how inquiry learning would look, and the most interesting part for me was the section on how inquiry is a thinking skill and students develop their inquiry thinking skills through this type of learning being only guided not taught by the teacher.

5E's: I like this simple yet comprehensive learning cycle. This is something I would love to create a poster for on my classroom wall and strive to teach by. This way of having students create their own knowledge, understanding, and experiences is more memorable for them and more conclusive.

Inquiry, The Learning Cycle, and the 5E Instructional Model: This article added to the previous NASA one by expanding upon the collaborative nature of the 5E's and how this model and inquiry correlate with and differ from the BSCS Standards as for what the students and teachers are doing during these inquiry based learning cycles.

5E Learning Cycle: This was a concise representation of the model but I felt it lacked many important points and explanations that would be important for an educator to know before using this model.

Video Lecture (commentary on each E from the 5E's Model): As for Engage, I would argue this is the most important step because if students to not have initial engagement or curiosity the rest of the Es fall apart. This also relates the topic to something relevant in their own life. The explore phase to me is the fun phase where children get to actively learn and manipulate their environment to create their own understanding and knowledge. I like the Explain phase because this is where the children are explaining their findings and learning to each other which is then clarified by terms and concepts the teacher provides. I like that the explanations are student provided and centered.  The elaborate phase to me just makes sense for learning: people learn by repeated practice. This also leads to differentiating by interests which makes the learning personal and memorable. Evaluating done by students and by teachers is a brilliant way to conclude this inquiry model. The students have been actively learning and so it makes sense they should be actively assessing their learning as well.