This is the last weekly post I will make. I have learned a lot, and not enough. I am better informed, but far from expert. Perhaps being “on the road” is a good model for my students. I can honestly model being a life-long learner as long as I continue to find areas in science […]
Category: measurement
Wednesday Wonderings: What Works?
I have been spending a lot of time cogitating, and basically spinning my wheels. I loved the way that Jana structured the final optics exploration: we self-assessed and then discussed our learning. Memorable for me was Jana’s description of how she decided to create shoebox cameras obscuras pretty much FIRST rather than last. The structure […]
Sunday Synopsis: Where I am headed
Over the next two or three weeks, I am expected to pull together my thoughts on this unit to produce a rough outline of a unit on my topic. Which is measurement of force and motion. Right at this moment, I have to admit that I am not completely sure whether I have all the […]
Wednesday Wonderings: Old Fashioned Thinking
//final publish time at 7:30 pm Weds// Please see my Saturday post for additional learning from this week! Doug responded to the Saturday post, feel free to add more here if you want! The “Big Idea Kit” from the Tools for Teaching Science website involves the following four steps: Identifying Inquiry-Worthy Ideas Attending to Students’ […]
Friday Fiddling (a day late): Everyday language
I am actually writing this on Saturday, but “posting” to Friday to keep things consistent in the online world. I just finished watching a video on the use of everyday language by students to describe their scientific thinking. Titled “Discourse Primer” this 30+ minute video shows what appears to be a 5th grade teacher asking […]
Wednesday Wonderings: Basics of Measurement
Well…. after working with the idea of dyscalculia on Tuesday, I realized that these lessons, particularly since they are based on the concept of “measurement” will be very difficult for some students. Conferring with my mother, whose many decades of teaching cause her to say “of course” at regular intervals when I have such bursts […]
Wednesday Wonderings: Thinking about Thinking
This last week I have been thinking very carefully about the camera obscura we made last Friday and how it allowed even those of us who have some experience and knowledge about optics to engage in the process; to be able to observe things that formerly were “known” only through books and thought experiments. Rather […]
Friday Fiddling: More Detail
The PDF from the OSPI on the Science standards says that this unit will focus on: In upper elementary school students measure the quantities of force, time, and distance, and compare the speed of two objects. (p. 107) I will be planning a two or three week unit that gives general guidelines for investigating measurement. […]
Wednesday Wonderings: The BIG IDEA
Three “Quality Questions” What is the nature of measurement? What can we use to measure force? Motion? How could you explain force or motion to someone who has never moved? What I know: The idea of measurement comes easily to me to me at this point in my life. I have a vast repository of […]
Monday Musings 17 Jan 2011
Measurement is a key component for science at all levels in all branches. How fast? How far? How heavy? How many? The concepts surrounding counting begin when we are very little. We start with a concept of “one-ness” then add “two-ness” and “more than two (many).” Over time, we learn that we can always “add […]