09-28-2010


 * __Class Discussion__**

RSS Chapters 3 and 4 review questions, - Chapter 3, #1 “How can educators harness young children’s shared base of understanding and skill to help them learn science?

- Chapter 3, #2 “How can children’s misconceptions about science act as stepping-stones to greater scientific understanding? How does this differ from past thinking about children’s misconceptions?” - Chapter 4, #1 “How does the idea of building on core concepts over longer periods of time differ from the science practice you remember from your own experiences in school? What do you see as the benefits and challenges to teaching this way?” - Chapter 4, #3 “As a prospective teacher, what ideas would you have for adapting a single science unit to fulfill both short-term and long-term goals in a learning progression?” - Other “Describe the conceptual change theory of learning. Give some examples within your group's subject areas for each of the three types of conceptual change.”

JACK in the box ACE in the Hole Kings:

1)T eachers can harness childrens shared base of understanding and skill by recognizing that virtually all children arrive at school with different types of sophisticated reasoning skills and knowledge, which is the first step toward building and supporting effective, ongoing science learning.

2)Teachers can model lessons based on the misconceptions of students, which also encourages them as active explorers assisting them with interpretation, anticipation, and explanation in science learning.Young children are not the bundles of misconceptions they are sometimes portrayed as being.

3) If teachers in lower grades fail to build upon core concepts, then when students reach higher grades it will pose difficulties with science teachers in those subject areas. The benefits is that teachers are in some way assured that there students will be able to engage in the material. There needs to be an understanding that of the critical core concepts, and that grade level teachers shouldn't only teach to their grade level standards, but also to those related standards along the science learning continuum for K-8.

4) Teachers should put into place those structures and social processes necessary to support the exchange of knowledge and information related to core concepts across grade levels. They should not limit themselves to teaching solely the core concepts for their grade level. They should always incorporate a preliminary review to ensure students have an understanding of the information from prior grade levels, in addition to providing an introduction to the information that will be taught in future grade levels.

5) Elaborating on A Preexisting Concept (Earth Science): Discuss subduction boundaries regarding plate tectonics, and segue into a discussion on volcanoes and how they are related.