Effecting Change at School and District Levels

It can be a challenge for a regular classroom teacher to change or improve the science program in a school and/or district. I currently work for a K – 5 charter school where our administration pre-determines our curriculum based on the standards set forth by the state. Unfortunately, science is not tested by the state until fifth grade while testing for both math and reading begin in the third grade. Students in grades three and four, who we consider “at-risk” for passing their state assessments in math and reading, generally receive extra instruction in these areas which dramatically reduces the amount of time they receive science instruction. This poses an additional challenge for our fifth grade science teacher who has to prepare all of our fifth graders for their state assessment in science, which measures everything they should have learned in grades three through five. Without a solid basis in science during grades three and four, it only makes sense that many of our students do not pass their state assessment in science each year.

During staff meetings and professional development days, I often bring up the topic of improving our science curriculum. The response I typically receive from my administration is that our students need a stronger background in reading and math before we extend our focus on science instruction. We are encouraged to integrate some state science standards into our math and reading lessons but only on a limited basis. Our reading teachers are instructed to incorporate some science related passages into their reading curriculum and our math teachers are asked to incorporate data collection and analysis whenever possible. Although our fifth graders generally receive about fifty minutes of science instruction each day, the rest of our students receive dramatically less. Needless to say, I feel this is doing a disservice to our students.

I am curious what other suggestions or comments anyone can share that will assist me in getting my school’s administration to understand the importance of improving the quality of our science instruction.

Keeping Up with Global Competition

In his article, Thomas Friedman (2010) presents his perspective on what the United States must do to keep up with global competition in the future. For a while now, I have felt that our country needs to start spending less money on the war on terrorism and more money on improving our own nation’s economy. I find it interesting how Friedman (2010) was hoping we would reduce the reward for killing or capturing Osama bin Laden. I cannot even begin to imagine how much money we spent overall taking him down a few months ago. It is not that I feel we should completely end our efforts with the war on terrorism but I feel that we should also we making an honest effort to keep up with global competition.

The increased focus on STEM education in the United States is definitely a step in the right direction but I truly feel this is not enough. Just increasing our focus on STEM education is not going to dramatically improve our nation’s economy. Michael Mandelbaum states, “Our response to Sputnik made us better educated, more productive, more technologically advanced and more ingenious” which Friedman (2010) believes revived our education, infrastructure and science and propelled us for 50 years. This poses the question as whether we need a new Sputnik-like event to spark attention and commitment to science education reform to bring it back to the forefront of global competition. Countries like Taiwan have “amassed the fourth-largest foreign currency reserves in the world” and are said to have gotten rich “digging inside themselves, unlocking their entrepreneurs, not digging for oil” (Friedman, 2010). Personally, I do not think we should need a new Sputnik-like event to motivate our country to bring back a greater commitment to science education reform. We should already have the desire to help our nation keep up with, or stay ahead of, the rest of the world.

For right now, I think more focus needs to be place on science education reform at the state and local levels. In many school districts, too much emphasis is being placed on reading and math instruction with science following as a close third. With the highly technological society we live in, I feel that more emphasis needs to be on integrating STEM related skills across the curriculum. If individual states and/or school districts are not on the same page when it comes to science education reform, I believe it will be difficult for the United States to keep up with global competition.

Reference:

Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.

Modeling Earth Science Instructional Plan

To model how Earth's rotation on its axis causes night and day to occur and how Earth's tilt on its axis as it revolves around the sun, I decided to use the following online animation: http://esminfo.prenhall.com/science/geoanimations/animations/01_EarthSun_E2.html. While my students were viewing the animation a few times, I had them draw diagrams to show Earth's position during each of the four seasons.

After students completed their diagrams, I had them each write a detailed paragraph that fully described what causes night and day to occur on Earth and what causes the change of seasons on Earth. I was slightly disappointed in the overall quality of the written work my students completed. Next time I use this lesson, I plan to use a rubric so my students will know exactly what is expected out of them.


When all students were completed with both assignments, I had them work in small groups using a flashlight and inflatable globe to model Earth's tilt and position during each season. Unfortunately, since I did not want to use a flash when taking these pictures I was only able to get one that was worth posting.

Natural Disasters

I think natural disasters can provide great learning experiences for our students. Not all areas experience the same weather related phenomena and I feel it is important to understand what can occur in different parts of the world. Living in Ohio, earthquakes and tsunamis are not really a threat but the recent disaster in Japan has provided some valuable learning experiences for my students. They now have a greater understanding of just how devastating both earthquakes and tsunamis can be.

After last year’s disaster in Haiti, my school conducted a fundraiser and was able to send more than $1,000 to help relief efforts. We are currently organizing another fundraiser this year to assist with relief efforts in Japan. I am going to have my students work in small groups creating posters that will be hung around the school to advertise this fundraiser. These fundraisers are a great way for all of the students in my school to work together for a worthy cause. I will also make sure my students are aware of how many countries helped out America after the tragedies on September 11, 2001. There are also many churches and community centers in the area that are ask people to work together to help provide some relief for others after a natural disaster.

Ask a Scientist

When a person has a science related question, they can submit their question through the following website: http://www.askascientist.org/. Here is what I decided to “ask a scientist”: how does a zygote eventually become a multi-cellular organism with tissues, organs, and other specialized cells and structures? I know cell division definitely plays a part but I cannot even begin to comprehend how this single cell continues to divide until it forms all the tissues, organs, systems and other structures that make up a multi-cellular organism.

Unfortunately, it has been almost two weeks since I submitted my question and I am still waiting for a reply. At first I thought this would be a great resource to use with my students but after hearing about the number of people who experience delays in receiving their answers and that others never even receive a reply, I do not think I would use this resource in my classroom.

If I do eventually receive a reply, I will keep all of my readers posted.

Evaluating Web 2.0 Presentation Tools

Animoto

Animoto allows web users to create their own photo presentations, set to music. Once photos have been uploaded, you can choose a preloaded music track or upload your own mp3.

Pros:

- Basic access for creating slideshows is free.

- Everything is automated making it easy to use.

- You have the option to upload your own music.

- Completed videos can easily be uploaded to services such as YouTube.

Cons:

- Free access will only create up to a 30-second video.

- To create a longer video costs $3 per video, or an all access pass can be purchased for $30 per year.

- You do not have control over how many of your photos will be displayed, how quickly they will displayed, how quickly they will be mixed and which methods will be used. This is all automatically done by the Animoto mixing algorithms.

Glogster

Glogster is a tool used to create online posters. These posters can combine audio, video, text, and graphics to create interactive posters.

Pros:

- Features are very user-friendly.

- Can benefit both students and teachers.

- “Glogs” can be easily posted onto webpages or plogs.

- Users can log on from any computer with internet access to continue their work.

- It is easy to embed content from other places.

Cons:

- If your network is slow, Glogster will be tough to run.

- Many glogs require fast processors for all of the links and embedded videos to work.

- As with all technology, possible glitches can cause “lost” projects.

21st-Century Learning Tools

There are many education resources that can be utilized by both teachers and students. When searching for online resources that can be used to teach students about the three states of matter, I found several excellent websites.

Many textbook publishing companies also have educational websites designed for elementary students. The Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company has an excellent website, www.harcourtschool.com. The states of matter link, http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/states_of_matter/, shows animated models of how the particles are positioned in a solid, liquid and gas.

Scholastic is another publishing company that has great online resources. Through this website, www.scholastic.com, students can research different concepts in science or other content areas. They have a “student activities” tab that includes links to numerous online activities and interactive resources. After selecting this link, students can search for the subject and content area of their choice. Many concepts have links to “Study Jams” which include animated videos, songs with lyrics, vocabulary reviews, and quizzes. The link for their activities on the states of matter can be found at: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/studyjams/matter_states/.

There are also websites available that teachers can use as guided lessons with their students. Andrew Rader Studios has several online science resources through www.chem4kids.com. Students can use the links on this website, http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_intro.html, to gather basic chemistry information. Most of this information includes detailed descriptions and diagrams designed specifically for elementary students.

The website http://science.pppst.com/ includes links to free presentations in PowerPoint format and also has links to other websites with interactive activities for students. The PowerPoint presentation on the states of matter, http://science.pppst.com/matter.html, could easily be utilized by individual students provided they have access to a computer and the Internet. The links to the interactive activities make for a great reinforcement of just about any concept in science.

These are just a few of the many websites that can be used by both teachers and students for educational purposes. Feel free to share any of your favorites sites to add to this list.