What’s New in Science

2011-2012

Overview

• Formative Assessments

• Revised documents & location

• District-level meeting dates

• District curriculum expectations

• State Mandated lab time

• STAAR vs. TAKS Overview

• 5E Lesson training

The 5 E Science Lesson

Inquiry-Based Instruction

Engage

Explore

ExplainElaborate

Evaluate

5 E’sScience Lesson

Engage

Activity which will focus student’s attention, stimulate their thinking, and access prior knowledge

Suggested Activities• Demonstration• Reading• Free Write• Analyze a Graphic Organizer• KWL• Brainstorming

Engage

What the Teacher Does and What the Principal Would Observe

• Creates Interest.• Generates curiosity.• Raises questions.• Elicits responses that uncover what the students

know or think about the concept/topic.

ExploreActivity which gives students time to think and investigate/test/make decisions/problem solve, and collect information.

Suggested Activities

• Perform an Investigation• Read Authentic Resources to Collect Information• Solve a Problem• Construct a Model

Explore What the Teacher Does and What the Principal

Would Observe

• Encourages the students to work together without direct instruction from the teacher.

• Observes and listens to the students as they interact.

• Asks probing questions to redirect the students’ investigations when necessary.

• Provides time for students to puzzle through problems.

ExplainActivity which allows students to analyze their exploration. Student’s understanding is clarified and modified through a reflective activity.

Suggested Activities

• Student Analysis & Explanation• Supporting Ideas with Evidence• Structured Questioning• Reading and Discussion• Teacher Explanation• Thinking Skill Activities: compare, classify, error analysis

Explain

What the Teacher Does and What the Principal Would Observe

• Encourages the students to explain concepts and definitions in their own words.

• Asks for justification (evidence) and clarification from students.

• Formally provides definitions, explanations, and new labels.

• Uses students’ previous experiences as basis for explaining concepts.

Elaborate

Activity which expands and solidifies student thinking and/or applies it to a real-world situation

Suggested Activities

• Problem Solving• Decision Making• Experimental Inquiry• Thinking Skill Activities: compare, classify, apply

ElaborateWhat the Teacher Does and What the Principal Would

Observe

• Expects the students to use formal labels, definitions, and explanations provided previously.

• Encourages the students to apply or extend the concepts and skills in new situations.

• Reminds the students of alternative explanations.• Refers the students to existing data and evidence and

asks, What do you already know? Why do you think . .?• Strategies from Explore apply here also.

EvaluateActivity which allows the teacher to assess student performance and/or understandings of concepts, skills, processes, and applications.

Suggested Activities

• Any of the Previous Activities• Develop a Scoring Tool or Rubric• Test (SR, BCR, ECR)• Performance Assessment• Produce a Product• Journal Entry• Portfolio

Evaluate What the Teacher Does and What the Principal

Would Observe

• Observes the students as they apply new concepts and skills.

• Assesses students’ knowledge and/or skills.• Looks for evidence that the students have changed their

thinking or behaviors.• Allows students to assess their own learning and group-

process skills.• Asks open-ended questions, such as: Why do you

think. . .? What evidence do you have? What do you know about x? How would you explain x?

Engage

Explore

ExplainElaborate

Evaluate

5 E’sScience Lesson

Dep

th

Level of ComplexityAdapted from ILT to ILD, Moving Texas Forward 2002

Facts Topics Concepts Generalization Principle

Synthesis

Evaluation

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Blooms’ Taxonomy

and Erickson’s Structure of Knowledge

Theory

Content

Process

(Skills

)Context

(Tra

nsferred w

ithin or a

cross D

isciplines)

Big Ideas

(Tra

nsferable)

(Knowledge)

Facts Topics

Comprehension

Knowledge

Content

(Knowledge)

Science

• Study animal adaptations.• Student quiz includes questions on examples of

general animal adaptations.• Study insect adaptations.• Students answer questions on insect

adaptations.

There is never a discussion beyond the

facts or beyond the topic of animal

adaptations. Students progress through

science courses without moving out of

knowledge, comprehension, facts, or

topics.

Dep

th

Facts Topics

Synthesis

Evaluation

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Content

Process

(Skills

)

(Knowledge)

Science• So, we add depth by asking

students to use higher level cognitive skills.

• Students are asked to analyze how the various adaptations of insects have allowed their survival over millions of years.

There is never a discussion beyond the

facts or beyond the topic of animal

adaptations Students progress through

science courses with only facts, topics and

skills without complex understanding of

the concepts and generalizations.

Dep

th

Level of ComplexityAdapted from ILT to ILD, Moving Texas Forward 2002

Facts Topics Concepts Generalization Principle

Synthesis

Evaluation

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Theory

Content

Process

(Skills

)

Big Ideas

(Tra

nsferable)

(Knowledge)

• So, we add complexity by asking students to investigate how environmental changes have contributed to animal adaptations over time.

• Students research how animal adaptations have correlated with environmental changes.

• Students, now have the knowledge, skills, and understanding about how environmental changes affect survival.

Science

Dep

th

Level of ComplexityAdapted from ILT to ILD, Moving Texas Forward 2002

Facts Topics Concepts Generalization Principle

Synthesis

Evaluation

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Theory

Content

Process

(Skills

)

Big Ideas

(Tra

nsferable)

(Knowledge)

However, while our students have knowledge, skills, and understanding of transferable

concepts and generalizations . . .

they have never been asked to transfer these concepts and understandings within the

discipline of science, or across academic disciplines.

Science

Dep

th

Level of ComplexityAdapted from ILT to ILD, Moving Texas Forward 2002

Facts Topics Concepts Generalization Principle

Synthesis

Evaluation

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Theory

Content

Process

(Skills

)Context

(Tra

nsferred w

ithin or a

cross D

isciplines)

Big Ideas

(Tra

nsferable)

(Knowledge)

So we ask our students to apply these ideas in a new context. Students are asked to analyze why African elephants are endangered.

Science

Will humans ever become endangered?

So…TAKS or STAAR?

• Green grasshoppers often live in green grass or areas with plants. If a grasshopper were moved to a sandy desert, it would most likely –

• A change colors to look like sand• B be camouflaged from predators• C develop new adaptations• D be caught and eaten

Adaptations for Survival

Body Structures

Body Coverings

Coloration

Kit foxes have large ears to hear Kit foxes have short fur Brown and tan

Scorpions have a tail that stings

Scorpions have a hard covering Black

Brown and white Rattlesnakes have scales Rattlesnakes have a tongue to smell

The traits of the animals in the chart above make them most adapted to surviving in a –A desert ecosystemB grassland ecosystemC coastal ecosystemD forest ecosystem