Effecting Change in Sciecne Educaiton

When I ask my self what can be done on the state, district, and school level to ensure all student are  experiencing high-quality science instruction.  Currently , my state offer Alabama Science In Motion for highschool students. The also offer Alabama Math and Science Initiative for elementary and middle school.  However, the program is limited to only a few schools. As a result, I am force to find other ways to insure that may students are give the same high quiality science instruction. One resource that I use is the local power company.  The power company provides STEM based learning kit to educators free of charge to use on a two week bases in the classroom. I also use lesson plan found on the ISTEM education website to help me come up with STEM related lesson plans.  However, because of the lack of funding for the classroom I will try to implement more virtual labs in the classroom seting. This process limit the need for funds and allows me to use one computer , a projector, and screen if needed.

Keeping Up With Global Competition

In earlier centuries with Columbus the student learner was the explorer of knowledge in geography, medicine and the stars.  In later centuries student became knowledge accumulators. In the current century we see a large shift in the way students learn.   Educators are faced with a generations of learners who are more digital minded.   According to Thomas Friedman in the video “The World is Flat”, three technology events changed the world. The introduction of the personal computer, internet, and software allows more peoples the ability to communicate, share, and compete.  However, “not enough young people are being educated or inspired about interest in advance math, science, and engineering” ( Traurig & Feller ,2010).  This lack of preparation cause student to loss interest in career in science, math, and technology.

In order to grow student interest in STEM careers, student must be prepared in elementary, middle and high school.  Research has shown that the most learning happens when students are engaged in activities that require them to think like real life STEM professionals (Traurig & Feller, 2010). The National Science foundation estimates that 80% of the jobs in the next decade will require some form of math and science skill. In order for our students to be competitive in this new century, they must have an education that prepares them for the jobs of their future.

Currently, the shift in the economy has forced educational system to limit the availability of the technology need to run a success STEM program.  In addition, funding for classes in the preforming ARTS have been decreased.   This lack of balance hinders the education of the whole student body.  STEM education is designed to teach the whole student body. It allows student to use their critical thinking skills in conjunction with their creative skills.  All students will benefit from a well-organized STEM program because it allows student to think independently while exploring deeper into a subject utilizing critical thinking.  Students will also be able to work collaboratively in groups or independently.

All students benefit from the STEM program because it teaches independent innovation and allows students to explore greater depths of all of the subjects by utilizing the skills learned; these skills are going to be required in order for today’s students to be tomorrow’s global leaders. All jobs are requiring workers to have a greater ability to think critically, work as a member of a team and independently, and close the performance gap between our American students and those being produced in other countries. Since, “many of the careers of the future will require that students have the ability to collaborate and solve problems using STEM skills” it is important the local state leader put more into educating our students.  In order for STEM to work it must be available to all students.  This process has already began on the federal level.  President Obama refers to STEM as America’s Sputnik.  He see STEM as a way for Americans “to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world”. AS a result President Obama vowed to “prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science and technology and engineering and math.".   

References


Obama, B. (2011, January 25). Remarks by the President in State of Union Address. Speech presented at United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. [Transcript]. Retrieved November 11, 2011 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/25/remarks-president-state-union-address



Traurig, A., & Feller, R. (2010). Preparing students for STEM careers. National Career Development Association. Retrieved from http://www.associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/6234/_PARENT/layout_details


Aarons, D. I. (2008). New skills seen essential for global competition. Education Week, 28(4), 12.

Implementation of Models in the Classroom

The lesson that I taught was originally designed for the six thru eighth grade classroom. The lesson is designed to be a part of a unit lesson on earthquakes. I decided to do a lesson on earthquake safe structures. The lesson lasted 55 minutes and also required student to journal a reflection of what they learned from the lesson. The lesson started with a brief introduction to what we were going to cover in the lesson and why it was important. One way to ensure that students get an appreciation of current technology, is to introduce the before and after pictures of an earthquake. In order to complete this objective, students were given a pre-writing activity that asked students to look at a scene and draw or write a short paragraph describing what the picture would look like after a major earthquake. Students were given about five to ten minutes to complete the pre-writing assignment. As the students were writing I observed and checked on each student’s progress. After completing the pre-write activity students were asked to share their drawings or descriptions with the group. One student mentioned that the drawing would have broken buildings, trees, and bridges. Another student stated that there would be cracks in the ground. In addition to the comments given, many of the students drew pictures of building with major structural damage.

            In the next phrase of the lesson I read a copy of the book Earthquakes (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science)” by Frakly M. Branley. Reading and hearing about earthquakes may make students believe that nothings can be done to lessen the destruction and death caused by earthquakes. To introduce the concept of earthquake-resistant buildings, students were allowed to watch a short clip from the YouTube site entitled “Nationwide Effort to Make Buildings Earthquake Safe “. After students watched the video I pause the lesson and talked about what was happening on the video, I asked students questions to help them extract more detail from the video segment. I then introduced the main activity and began giving students instructions for the lab.

Furthermore, the materials needed for this lesson are items that you can find in any grocery or convenience store. Students were given spaghetti, toothpicks, marshmallows (miniature), Jell-O and paper to sketch drawings on. (I notice that I forgot toothpicks and substituted spaghetti) Students were instructed to build two spaghetti buildings. I also modified the lesson to help my student with the IEP. I provide a piece of paper illustrating how to build structures with marshmallows and toothpick obtained from teachervision.com. In addition, I demonstrated to students how to make cubes and triangles using spaghetti and marshmallows. I also instructed student on how cubes and triangles can be stacked. Students were allowed to work in groups of two. Students were asked to sketch a picture of their structure before starting the lab. Students were allowed to work freely while I stood back and observed.

Student learning and understanding during the implementation of the lesson seem quite good. During the lesson objective one and three were met were student understood that earthquakes are natural disasters that can cause damage and that the structure of a building could affect how much destruction is caused by an earthquake. As I moved among the different groups I noticed that my IEP student was losing focus and needed to redirect by his partner several times. To help with this situation I suggested that she allow him to make the different sized spaghetti and pass them to her as she needed them. This seemed to give him direction and a since of purpose.

            It was interesting to see how each group approached the design of their structure. One group of girls decided to build a triangle structure. Other groups decided to build structures with triangles and cubes. I could see that student understood the objective of the lab by the way they discussed and sketched out their design. The visual representation of the structures was another sign of student comprehension. All of the structures survived the stimulate earthquake.

            After reviewing the lesson and student samples I was able to see that student needed a little more direction on what causes an earthquake. Most of the students are still not sure what an earthquake is. Based on my own reading I know that“earthquakes are the result of sudden release of energy from stress on rocks beneath Earth’s surface” (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008, p. 361). And Seismic wave results from the movement of rocks in different positions. One major misconception that student made was that earthquakes were caused by fault lines. The lesson needs to be modified to show that most earthquake occur along a fault line near the Earth’s surface” (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008, p. 361).

If I were to teach this lesson again, I would make some modifications. The first modification I would make would be to include an on line lab stimulation of how earthquakes waves are created. Another modification would be to allow students to constructed buildings using materials that they choose. I could provide several different options and allow the student to choice their own materials and design. One major modification I would make to the lesson is reading book Earthquakes (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science). Instead, I would provide students the opportunity to research earthquake histories prior to doing the lab. Student could then fill out a comparison chart for the most destructive earthquakes in earth’s history. In addition I would make sure that student really understand what causes seismic waves. However, I still believe that a great way to introduce students to earthquake-resistant buildings is to have them build their own structures. “The more senses that are involved in the learning experience, the more stimuli have a chance of reaching long-term memory” (Know Yourself, p. 37).

References:

Chapter 1: Know Yourself — Socrates. (pp. 37-41). Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/rotc_learning_models.pdf

Tillery, B. W., Enger, E. D., & Ross, F. C. (2008). Integrated Science. Boston: Laureate Education Inc.

Creating cultural awareness and foster a humanitarian mentality in the classroom

Is it possible to increase cultural awareness and foster a humanitarian mentality in the classroom? I believe that students can be taught cultural awareness a humanitarian. The best teacher is through personal experience.   It is important to foster a spirit of humanities at an early age.  Most children like to feel wanted and needed.  One way to teach student this concept is by allowing them to volunteer for some type of community service.    Allowing student to participate in relief efforts after natural disasters is one way to help student to foster sense of caring and self-worthiness.” People who become volunteers usually lead richer, happier, and more satisfying lives than those who don’t volunteer” (www.pbskids.org).

 Most natural disasters are sudden and unexpected.  The key to survival is being prepared. New technologies have help to save lives by providing data that allows scientist to make prediction of bad weather allowing time for evacuations before natural phenomena happens.  One way to help students connect to natural disasters that are happening around the world is connect it to their studies in humanities or social studies.   Students can learn about the geographical whereabouts, the nation, the social impacts of the disaster in their history class while learning about the scientific features and potential ways to prevent such disasters in the future in science class.

Furthermore, allowing student to study the history of past natural disasters, the people, and the area they have affected as well as the current conditions after the storm could help them  make a connection with the people and their circumstances.   For example , the year of  hurricane Katrina, student were moved by the amount of people displaced by the disaster.  The school district was emendated with a large number of new students that had experience trauma and lost.  Many were in need of school clothing and shoes. As a results student requested that the school creates a clothing closet.  Student asked other student to bring in clothing items to use as donations for survivor’s who had been forced from their homes and had recently became members of their school.  This idea allowed student to bring in donation throughout the year to be used for other students in need.  The closet is monitored by students and the counseling department handles the donations.  That way individual who receive donations are not embarrassed by receiving handouts.  Allowing student to volunteer or even create relief efforts after a disasters helps them to become more sympathetic citizens, while also becoming more scientifically literate about the disaster itself, how such a phenomenon occurs, and what can be done to protect human life in the future.

Ask a Scientist

The website askascienctist.org was a lot of fun. I was able to browse threw a few questions already asked by others who visited the site.  I was excited about having access to science professional who could share their knowledge on a topic.   The website was very user friendly and easy to read. The question I decided to ask was if ADHD was a hereditary trait. I also wanted to know if there was a genetic mutation related to speech disorder. I have two family members who stutter and several with speech impairment.  I have not received a response just yet. 

Web 2.O presentation tools

Incorporating technology into the classroom has been a requirement for my school district. Teachers are encouraged to use as much technology as possible. Smart boards have been added to all math and English classroom. Unfortunatly, the science and history classrooms have been forgotten. Using Web 2.o presentation tools may be another way to include technology without using the smart board.

I decided to investigate the slide share website and the googledoc website. I found that each website user friendly. The Google doc webpage offered a familiar format. I was able to begin using the documents instantly. Slideshare is a website that I have used to pull slides presentation. It contains a lot of information but requires a fee to have access to all the slides presentations. I like both websites equally. One obstacle that I face is the fact that my school district limits access to Google and other unknown web pages, so I will not be able to access either webpage at school.

Intergating technology in the classroom

Incorporating technology in the classroom is a challenging process. Technology is a need resource into days classroom. Today’s society has created a has create a generation of students that a visually centered learners. Technology is a way to engage students using innovative tools that prepares student to work in today’s work place.

The area I selected to focus on is Forces and Motion. I was able to find several web sites resources that allow students to use technology tool, multimedia sources to research solutions for real world problems. One web site I found www.internet4classrooms.com. This website is very useful. I provide a wealth of resource for students and teachers to use. This website provides information that can be used by parents, students and teachers. . In order to help student understand the concept of Force and motion in everyday life, I decided to incorporate multimedia into the classroom. I will create a blog page where I will have students to gather, share, and publish information on Force and Motion in everyday. Students will be able to use cameras, scanners, and computers to create a book that will be shared with students. The above website provides online learning resources and pictures that students can use. Students will also create a poster that demonstrates forces and motions in action. This activity will be a good way to challenge my student to apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios.


One site, Engineering Interact, (http://www.engineeringinteract.org/resources.htm), offers five sub-topics: light, sound, forces & motion, earth & beyond and electricity modules, correlating questions, and applications. I found this site not only kid-friendly, but introduced content vocabulary in a meaningful way which is vital to comprehension. This would be a good site for English Language Learners.

I found both of the above sites are a good way to incooperate technology into the science classroom.  Allowing student to practice the use of technology in the learning process in a stepping stone to preparing them for a technology driven society.