“There is a long history of research dating back to the 1960s that clearly demonstrates how engaging parents in their children’s learning contributes significantly to the student’s academic success (Buxton & Provenzo, 2006, p. 352). In an attempt to promote scientific literacy throughout the district have been working to develop is a family science night. With the help of students, science teachers in the middle school will prepare science activities for the public. I know my students enjoy doing labs and activities and would gain a lot from leading their families through such activities. This sort of event would be a way to excite younger siblings about science and also help my students build confidence in their science skills.
I also have begun talking with 1st and 2nd grade teachers to develop a partnership between my middle school students and the elementary. I feel that my students could learn a lot from preparing presentations or hands on learning experiences for elementary students. I think this type of a program would build interest for the young children and provide my children a chance to share their expertise.
Our elementary schools devote most of their instructional time to math and reading. This is an obstacle we must overcome in the older grades as students’ science learning experiences are limited. We pushed for more non-fiction, science content books to be read in the younger grades to help combat this problem. More collaboration between teachers of different subjects would also help create an overarching theme of science literacy. The science literacy night and student to student mentor programs will hopefully spark the interest in science in all children in our district.
References:
Buxton, C. A., & Provenzo, E. F., Jr. (2007). Teaching science in elementary & middle school: A
cognitive and cultural approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
SJBlog Post
I was inspired by reading “What’s Our Sputnik?” I agree with Friedman that we must shift our priorities and change our focus from trying to change others to striving to improve ourselves. The Space Race caused Americans to want to make the kind of advancements the Soviets were making. It caused us to challenge ourselves to meet a huge goal. I often am inspired by a quote from Jim Lovell’s character in the movie Apollo 13. After seeing Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the moon he says “It is not a miracle, we just decided to go.” I believe that we are capable of solving the problems that face our nation, if we just decide to do it. Like Friedman, I agree that we must set goals that make us “better educated, more productive, more technologically advanced and more ingenious” (Friedman, 2010). We must look inward and focus more on educating and making our citizens more passionate and better prepared for the twenty-first century. I feel Americans have lost sight of the power education gives the people. I think that education reforms are the only way to reignite our nation’s passion for education.
In Ohio, our new governor claims to see the need to reform the state of education in Ohio. In his state of the state address last week, Kasich said “he wants to link the needs of business with the curriculum in the classroom” (Magan & Kissell, 2011). He seemed to be aware of the importance of creating individuals that are equipped with skills to prosper in the twenty-first century. Reading these statements excited me about the possibilities for STEM education in Ohio, but that excitement was quickly followed by disappointment as I read his promises to cut funding for public schools. He also promised to introduce a program that would take experienced teachers out of failing schools and replace them with new college graduates with minimal training (Magan & Kissell, 2011). This type of reform is not the type that I feel is being enacted to excite our students about education. Instead of focusing on quick and easy budget fixes we have to get Americans to see the benefits of education. We must devote time and money into meeting the challenge of educating our youth in a new way that prepares them to deal with the challenges of this new world.
“Other nations have been transforming their school systems to meet the new demands of today’s world” (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Successful nations invest money into educating more of their population and revising educational systems to keep their students prepared with knowledge and skills needed to be successful in the twenty-first century. In America, we have made accountability our nation’s educational policy and have relied too much on lower level thinking tests to drive educational decisions (Darling-Hammond, 2010). America is no longer the world’s educational leader because we are putting more money into testing than teaching. It reminds me of the saying “You do not fatten a calf by weighing it, you fatten it by feeding it”. We must change our focus if we want to raise the achievement of our children. We must be willing to try new approaches and invest in training teachers to prepare all of our nation’s children to be skillful, literate members of the twenty-first century society.
References
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Restoring our schools. (cover story) Nation, 290(23) 14-
20.
Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.
Magan, Christopher and Kissel, Margo Rutledge. (2011, March 11). Kasich wants students better prepared for jobs. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved from: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/kasich-wants-students-better-prepared-for-jobs-1103918.html
I was inspired by reading “What’s Our Sputnik?” I agree with Friedman that we must shift our priorities and change our focus from trying to change others to striving to improve ourselves. The Space Race caused Americans to want to make the kind of advancements the Soviets were making. It caused us to challenge ourselves to meet a huge goal. I often am inspired by a quote from Jim Lovell’s character in the movie Apollo 13. After seeing Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the moon he says “It is not a miracle, we just decided to go.” I believe that we are capable of solving the problems that face our nation, if we just decide to do it. Like Friedman, I agree that we must set goals that make us “better educated, more productive, more technologically advanced and more ingenious” (Friedman, 2010). We must look inward and focus more on educating and making our citizens more passionate and better prepared for the twenty-first century. I feel Americans have lost sight of the power education gives the people. I think that education reforms are the only way to reignite our nation’s passion for education.
In Ohio, our new governor claims to see the need to reform the state of education in Ohio. In his state of the state address last week, Kasich said “he wants to link the needs of business with the curriculum in the classroom” (Magan & Kissell, 2011). He seemed to be aware of the importance of creating individuals that are equipped with skills to prosper in the twenty-first century. Reading these statements excited me about the possibilities for STEM education in Ohio, but that excitement was quickly followed by disappointment as I read his promises to cut funding for public schools. He also promised to introduce a program that would take experienced teachers out of failing schools and replace them with new college graduates with minimal training (Magan & Kissell, 2011). This type of reform is not the type that I feel is being enacted to excite our students about education. Instead of focusing on quick and easy budget fixes we have to get Americans to see the benefits of education. We must devote time and money into meeting the challenge of educating our youth in a new way that prepares them to deal with the challenges of this new world.
“Other nations have been transforming their school systems to meet the new demands of today’s world” (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Successful nations invest money into educating more of their population and revising educational systems to keep their students prepared with knowledge and skills needed to be successful in the twenty-first century. In America, we have made accountability our nation’s educational policy and have relied too much on lower level thinking tests to drive educational decisions (Darling-Hammond, 2010). America is no longer the world’s educational leader because we are putting more money into testing than teaching. It reminds me of the saying “You do not fatten a calf by weighing it, you fatten it by feeding it”. We must change our focus if we want to raise the achievement of our children. We must be willing to try new approaches and invest in training teachers to prepare all of our nation’s children to be skillful, literate members of the twenty-first century society.
References
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Restoring our schools. (cover story) Nation, 290(23) 14-
20.
Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.
Magan, Christopher and Kissel, Margo Rutledge. (2011, March 11). Kasich wants students better prepared for jobs. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved from: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/kasich-wants-students-better-prepared-for-jobs-1103918.html
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Lesson Reflection
Models are used in science to represent a system. Models help us grasp the relationships between parts of a system or help us better understand a phenomenon. I have often used models to help my students understand the topics we read about. I feel one of the jobs of middle school science is to help students visualize the concepts of science so that when they can connect further learning to those ideas. Models help explain an idea and allow students to better grasp complex concepts. “Even better than knowing about powerful models is knowing and doing scientific modeling” (Kenyon, 2008, p. 41). To teach my students about the interior structure of the Earth, I had them create a 1 mm to 1 km scale model of the Earth’s interior layers. I know that students understood the relative thickness of the layers after completing this activity because of the way they evaluated the models I presented to them. Students also evaluated the effectiveness of using an egg to as a model of Earth’s interior layers. Journal entries reflected understanding of the differences and similarities between these two structures.
The most successful part of the lesson was the investigation of the egg and Earth’s interior structure. During this investigation, students were scanning their books for more details about each layer of Earth and identifying similarities and differences that were quite impressive. The journal entries that were created from this investigation showed me what students understood and what I needed to reteach. I focused on the misconceptions as we created the models of the Earth the next day.
I should have students create their models of Earth’s interior before doing the egg-Earth investigation. Because the egg-Earth investigation was such a powerful piece, I think making the model first would provide students with more information that could be used for their comparison of the two structures. This year I revisited the comparison and had students write a paragraph stating why they think an egg is a good or bad model for the interior structure of the Earth. I know students would have been able to identify even more similarities and differences between the two structures if they had more information about Earth’s layers before doing the investigation.
Creating a model helped students see the different layers as separate parts of a whole. Although we read about traveling through layers of different materials at the beginning of the lesson, I do not think that my students understood how different each layer was. After making their own model, figuring out what the layer was made of, and how thick it was, students were having discussions about the differences of each layer. The part of the lesson that most impacted my students with disabilities was a virtual field trip through their model. I had students point to the area of their model being travelled through as I reread “How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World” (McNulty, 1979). Students were amazed at the fact that even though Earth’s crust is the thinnest layer, we have never drilled completely through it. We made several stops in Earth’s crust to talk about how deep humans have been, how deep the deepest mine is drilled, and where ground water is found. I was impressed by all the facts they remembered from the story and how they wanted to tie that information into their model.
The day after this lesson, to review and evaluate student learning, I showed students several models of the Earth’s interior and asked them to explain what was good and bad about the models. Students showed understanding of the increasing heat as you move from the surface to the core. They showed an understanding of the physical properties of each layer and every student was able to recognize if a layer was too thick or thin. They also shared other facts they had learned as a result of this investigation.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Natural Disaster Response
As we study natural disasters I will give students real world examples of those events. As we learn of the devastation these events can cause to humans and to the environment, I will share the impact these events have had. We will investigate the loss of human life, the monetary costs and the changes in politics that these events have caused.
In Ohio, we are not closely connected to hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or tsunamis, even tornadoes are not a huge threat to our area. Because of this students may have trouble picturing this idea concretely. To help them understand the impact of such storms, I could have students write emails or post questions for survivors of natural disasters. Giving students the opportunity to interact with people who have experienced such horrific events will make the abstract concept more concrete.
I will have students brainstorm ways that we can help those who do experience the wrath of such disasters. Since we are so lucky to live in a “safe” area of the world, we will come up with ways we can help others. In the past we have created Emergency Clean Up buckets. This ministry was taking place in one of our area churches following hurricane Katrina and students suggested we get involved by donating specific supplies and raising money to ship them. This project is a way we can offer practical help to those in need.
In Ohio, we are not closely connected to hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or tsunamis, even tornadoes are not a huge threat to our area. Because of this students may have trouble picturing this idea concretely. To help them understand the impact of such storms, I could have students write emails or post questions for survivors of natural disasters. Giving students the opportunity to interact with people who have experienced such horrific events will make the abstract concept more concrete.
I will have students brainstorm ways that we can help those who do experience the wrath of such disasters. Since we are so lucky to live in a “safe” area of the world, we will come up with ways we can help others. In the past we have created Emergency Clean Up buckets. This ministry was taking place in one of our area churches following hurricane Katrina and students suggested we get involved by donating specific supplies and raising money to ship them. This project is a way we can offer practical help to those in need.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Application 5: Implementing the Backward Design Lesson Plan
Ecology is an important part of science education. “We don’t have any real idea how our present actions will affect the future. What we do know is that we have just one planet to inhabit, and we are the only species on it capable of deciding its future” (Bryson, 2008, p. 160). As students learn more about our environment, it is important that they understand the interrelationships between its living and non living parts. As students begin to see how their actions impact the world around them and their future, they will learn to be more aware citizens of the world. Ecology encourages people to think about the impacts of their daily decisions.
I created a lesson to help students understand the process of photosynthesis and the role it played in their own health. At the end of the lesson I was sure that all of my students understood the process of photosynthesis. I asked them to create a concept map that showed the process of photosynthesis. I was able to quickly assess which students understood what was used by the plant and what was made by the plant during this process. I liked this assessment piece because I could instantly see who understood this concept and who needed to investigate and learn more. I was also sure that students understood the role of plants in their lives. Students understood that as the Earth becomes more populated, the space for wildlife is reduced. To illustrate this point, I had students measure how much grass it would take to provide their daily oxygen needs (a 25 foot square). As the 12 of us sat in our boxed off area of the football field I asked them to consider how many in the school could have their oxygen needs met with the grass on the football field. Students saw the connection that more people require more plants to clean the air.
I began the lesson by having students brainstorm ways that plants help people. All of my students were very active in making this list on our interactive whiteboard. It was neat to see one child’s idea encourage another child to think of something to add. We then focused on things that people do to help plants. This list was a little harder for students to generate. I then asked students to notice the connection on the two lists. Plants help humans be removing carbon and adding oxygen to the air. Humans help plants by caring and protecting them. I then had students observe an underwater plant as it created oxygen. Students were captivated by seeing this process that they know they depend on taking place before their eyes. It was a great motivator for learning about the process of photosynthesis.
The area of my lesson that I will improve for next time is allowing more time for the lesson. Students were rushed to complete their pamphlet for the public. I also feel that students were unclear about the purpose for their pamphlet. The next time I teach this lesson I will make up a rubric that tells students what information to include in their pamphlet. I will also provide students with a list of websites to help them narrow their search. If students were directed to specific sites and were able to read about several different things that were being done to protect plants and why such things were happening, it would increase their learning experience.
The backward design process worked very well for me. It helped me make a relevant lesson that would empower my students to want to learn about a process that may have otherwise seemed boring and not at all important to their lives. By beginning with the end in mind, I was able to create learning experiences that were directly related to the end product. I put more thought into how I wanted to asses my students’ learning than I usually do. The assessment pieces made the learning easy to assess and ensured that students were attaining the enduring lessons I wanted them to accomplish. This process made me feel like I can make any lesson engaging and relevant for my students.
The backwards design approach was a perfect model for making a relevant ecology lesson. This experience encouraged me to connect students learning of the world around them to their part in the ecosystem. By focusing on what I wanted students to learn and retain from this lesson I was able to create a meaningful learning experience for my students. Although there were parts that need to be improved, I was able to help students meet the goals I set for them at the beginning of the lesson.
References
Bryson, Bill. (2008). A really short history of nearly everything. New York: Random House
Ecology is an important part of science education. “We don’t have any real idea how our present actions will affect the future. What we do know is that we have just one planet to inhabit, and we are the only species on it capable of deciding its future” (Bryson, 2008, p. 160). As students learn more about our environment, it is important that they understand the interrelationships between its living and non living parts. As students begin to see how their actions impact the world around them and their future, they will learn to be more aware citizens of the world. Ecology encourages people to think about the impacts of their daily decisions.
I created a lesson to help students understand the process of photosynthesis and the role it played in their own health. At the end of the lesson I was sure that all of my students understood the process of photosynthesis. I asked them to create a concept map that showed the process of photosynthesis. I was able to quickly assess which students understood what was used by the plant and what was made by the plant during this process. I liked this assessment piece because I could instantly see who understood this concept and who needed to investigate and learn more. I was also sure that students understood the role of plants in their lives. Students understood that as the Earth becomes more populated, the space for wildlife is reduced. To illustrate this point, I had students measure how much grass it would take to provide their daily oxygen needs (a 25 foot square). As the 12 of us sat in our boxed off area of the football field I asked them to consider how many in the school could have their oxygen needs met with the grass on the football field. Students saw the connection that more people require more plants to clean the air.
I began the lesson by having students brainstorm ways that plants help people. All of my students were very active in making this list on our interactive whiteboard. It was neat to see one child’s idea encourage another child to think of something to add. We then focused on things that people do to help plants. This list was a little harder for students to generate. I then asked students to notice the connection on the two lists. Plants help humans be removing carbon and adding oxygen to the air. Humans help plants by caring and protecting them. I then had students observe an underwater plant as it created oxygen. Students were captivated by seeing this process that they know they depend on taking place before their eyes. It was a great motivator for learning about the process of photosynthesis.
The area of my lesson that I will improve for next time is allowing more time for the lesson. Students were rushed to complete their pamphlet for the public. I also feel that students were unclear about the purpose for their pamphlet. The next time I teach this lesson I will make up a rubric that tells students what information to include in their pamphlet. I will also provide students with a list of websites to help them narrow their search. If students were directed to specific sites and were able to read about several different things that were being done to protect plants and why such things were happening, it would increase their learning experience.
The backward design process worked very well for me. It helped me make a relevant lesson that would empower my students to want to learn about a process that may have otherwise seemed boring and not at all important to their lives. By beginning with the end in mind, I was able to create learning experiences that were directly related to the end product. I put more thought into how I wanted to asses my students’ learning than I usually do. The assessment pieces made the learning easy to assess and ensured that students were attaining the enduring lessons I wanted them to accomplish. This process made me feel like I can make any lesson engaging and relevant for my students.
The backwards design approach was a perfect model for making a relevant ecology lesson. This experience encouraged me to connect students learning of the world around them to their part in the ecosystem. By focusing on what I wanted students to learn and retain from this lesson I was able to create a meaningful learning experience for my students. Although there were parts that need to be improved, I was able to help students meet the goals I set for them at the beginning of the lesson.
References
Bryson, Bill. (2008). A really short history of nearly everything. New York: Random House
Friday, September 10, 2010
Presentation Programs
I am a self-proclaimed Power Point Queen. I use these presentations to enhance lectures or visualize the ideas that I want to share with my students. I am a little apprehensive to learn a new program because I am so familiar with Power Point, but understand the benefits that the new programs offer. I am looking forward to learning a new program to make my presentations more intriguing for my students.
After watching the tutorials of Prezi I was very excited to create my own presentation. It seemed very easy and like there was a lot of help available. I watched some YouTube videos of Prezis and thought I would try to make my own. It was a little more difficult than I thought. Prezi uses a format that I am completely unfamiliar with. My biggest problem came from making frames. I could not figure out how to adjust the frames to go around phrases I had written. Then, when I wanted to set a course for my presentation to follow, I had to use the mismatched frames I had created. I want to spend more time investigating this tool because I saw evidence of some very nice, interesting presentations that were created using this program. I like the non-linear setup and freedom this program allows. I think I will be able to find an answer to my problem because there are several tutorials and examples available on the internet. I do not know if I would use this for my course project because I am so unfamiliar with the format and would be afraid something would go wrong and I would not know how to fix it
Cool Tools for School offered a very user friendly presentation tool called Prezentit. I was easily able to figure out how to create slides and add information, pictures, and interesting text. I could not easily find tutorials, but was able to navigate pretty easily through the site. The setup was more Power Point-like so I was much more comfortable creating a presentation using this program. I liked the graphics and background choices. They were of a higher quality than those of Power Point. I did have some trouble importing pictures though. I am a little worried about this because I will definitely want imported pictures for my Course Project.
I will probably use Prezentit for my course presentation. I am looking forward to getting to know the program better as I build my own presentation week by week. I am not giving up on Prezi though. I will spend more time learning to use this program so that I can implement it in my classroom.
After watching the tutorials of Prezi I was very excited to create my own presentation. It seemed very easy and like there was a lot of help available. I watched some YouTube videos of Prezis and thought I would try to make my own. It was a little more difficult than I thought. Prezi uses a format that I am completely unfamiliar with. My biggest problem came from making frames. I could not figure out how to adjust the frames to go around phrases I had written. Then, when I wanted to set a course for my presentation to follow, I had to use the mismatched frames I had created. I want to spend more time investigating this tool because I saw evidence of some very nice, interesting presentations that were created using this program. I like the non-linear setup and freedom this program allows. I think I will be able to find an answer to my problem because there are several tutorials and examples available on the internet. I do not know if I would use this for my course project because I am so unfamiliar with the format and would be afraid something would go wrong and I would not know how to fix it
Cool Tools for School offered a very user friendly presentation tool called Prezentit. I was easily able to figure out how to create slides and add information, pictures, and interesting text. I could not easily find tutorials, but was able to navigate pretty easily through the site. The setup was more Power Point-like so I was much more comfortable creating a presentation using this program. I liked the graphics and background choices. They were of a higher quality than those of Power Point. I did have some trouble importing pictures though. I am a little worried about this because I will definitely want imported pictures for my Course Project.
I will probably use Prezentit for my course presentation. I am looking forward to getting to know the program better as I build my own presentation week by week. I am not giving up on Prezi though. I will spend more time learning to use this program so that I can implement it in my classroom.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Energy is an important issue in the news right now. Students have probably heard about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and a lot of talk about the impact the oil spill may have on our future. I chose to look for websites that taught students about sources of energy and also gave information about alternative fuel sources that may be renewable or less harmful to our planet. I found several informational websites that put information into kid friendly terms, but my favorite site allowed children the opportunity to interact with, connect to, and clarify information of their choice.
The site I found taught students to go beyond just reading information. This site called, NOVA: Science in the News, took news stories and allowed students to read an article about current events and science issues. This website: http://www.science.org.au/nova/phys.htm went further by providing a glossary, related activities, websites, and further reading suggestions. The activities offered ranged from graphic organizers to critical thinking pieces that helped children make sense of what they were reading or even apply a newly acquired skill.
The website encouraged various 21st century skills that would increase interest in science. It also provided guidance so that children could apply their scientific knowledge. I was mostly impressed with the activities that the sites suggested. The article about geothermal energy had a related activity that asked students to evaluate geothermal energy. This site provided detailed questions that should be asked and put students in a real-life scenario. This sort of activity encourages students to practice the problem solving and collaboration skills that are such an important part of science.
The aspect of this website that I especially liked was the choice it offered young scientists. Although all articles were about energy, students could pick an area that interested them and in many cases, after reading the article, they could pick a follow up activity, be directed to another related site or find alternative reading material about the topic. The way this site was set up allowed students to inquire and investigate in a guided way, but still allowed them to make selections of their choice.
This Australian Academy of Science website did not just have information about energy. Students could explore various physical science concepts. I think this site would be an excellent source for sidebar studies. I often encourage my students to begin investigations of their own based on the information we are studying in science class. Sometimes students have a hard time finding a topic when they are given limitless possibilities. This site would be an excellent source for students to chose an article and then begin an investigation with guidance. I could definitely use this site to introduce my students to the concepts of sidebar studies. “Most students, regardless of age, need extensive practice to develop their inquiry abilities and understandings to a point where they can conduct their own investigation form start to finish” (Banchi & Bell, 2008). I believe that this website will help my students build skills they need to do scientific research on their own.
Although I am excited about using this source, one of the biggest challenges I have is access to technology. Ideally, I would have the students in the computer lab researching once a week, but we are lucky to get the lab once every two weeks. Also, even when we get to use the computer lab, we are plagued by broken computers, lost passwords and other obstacles to learning.
References
Banchi, H., & Bell, R. 2008. The many levels of inquiry. Science & Children, 46(2), 26–
29.
NOVA: Science in the news. Retrived on June 12, 2010 from:
http://www.science.org.au/nova/phys.htm
The site I found taught students to go beyond just reading information. This site called, NOVA: Science in the News, took news stories and allowed students to read an article about current events and science issues. This website: http://www.science.org.au/nova/phys.htm went further by providing a glossary, related activities, websites, and further reading suggestions. The activities offered ranged from graphic organizers to critical thinking pieces that helped children make sense of what they were reading or even apply a newly acquired skill.
The website encouraged various 21st century skills that would increase interest in science. It also provided guidance so that children could apply their scientific knowledge. I was mostly impressed with the activities that the sites suggested. The article about geothermal energy had a related activity that asked students to evaluate geothermal energy. This site provided detailed questions that should be asked and put students in a real-life scenario. This sort of activity encourages students to practice the problem solving and collaboration skills that are such an important part of science.
The aspect of this website that I especially liked was the choice it offered young scientists. Although all articles were about energy, students could pick an area that interested them and in many cases, after reading the article, they could pick a follow up activity, be directed to another related site or find alternative reading material about the topic. The way this site was set up allowed students to inquire and investigate in a guided way, but still allowed them to make selections of their choice.
This Australian Academy of Science website did not just have information about energy. Students could explore various physical science concepts. I think this site would be an excellent source for sidebar studies. I often encourage my students to begin investigations of their own based on the information we are studying in science class. Sometimes students have a hard time finding a topic when they are given limitless possibilities. This site would be an excellent source for students to chose an article and then begin an investigation with guidance. I could definitely use this site to introduce my students to the concepts of sidebar studies. “Most students, regardless of age, need extensive practice to develop their inquiry abilities and understandings to a point where they can conduct their own investigation form start to finish” (Banchi & Bell, 2008). I believe that this website will help my students build skills they need to do scientific research on their own.
Although I am excited about using this source, one of the biggest challenges I have is access to technology. Ideally, I would have the students in the computer lab researching once a week, but we are lucky to get the lab once every two weeks. Also, even when we get to use the computer lab, we are plagued by broken computers, lost passwords and other obstacles to learning.
References
Banchi, H., & Bell, R. 2008. The many levels of inquiry. Science & Children, 46(2), 26–
29.
NOVA: Science in the news. Retrived on June 12, 2010 from:
http://www.science.org.au/nova/phys.htm
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