Incorporating the Nature of Science Throughout the Year


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Incorporating the Nature of Science Throughout the Year

  2. 2. The Nature of Science <ul><li>How science works. </li></ul><ul><li>The essence of science. </li></ul><ul><li>The fundamental assumptions and processes of science. </li></ul><ul><li>No scientific method, science is tentative, subjective, socially/culturally embedded, creative, empirical, imaginative, collaborative,… </li></ul>
  3. 3. Struggles with Integration <ul><li>Textbook offers single unit/chapter. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Science Careers. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Graph Analysis </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Measurement </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Other teachers do not see importance. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Not enough time. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>No “meat”. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Student resistance. </li></ul>
  4. 4. Decontextualized to Contextualized NOS Continuum (Clough 2006) <ul><li>Decontextualized (black-box). </li></ul><ul><li>Moderately Contextualized (lab activities) </li></ul><ul><li>Highly Contextualized (historical examples) </li></ul><ul><li>Clough, M. P. (2006). Learners’ Responses to the Demands of Conceptual Change: Considerations for Effective Nature of Science Instruction. Science & Education, 15(5), 463-494. </li></ul>
  5. 5. Classroom Atmosphere. <ul><li>Question/Discussion-based classroom. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Ideas not facts. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Debate not recitation. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Investigations rather than labs. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Very little to no preset procedures. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Results can be unexpected or vague. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Meaning of data is made by students with teacher questions guiding thinking. </li></ul></ul>
  6. 6. Introducing the Nature of Science <ul><li>Students consider “What is science?” </li></ul><ul><li>Decontextualized “black-box” activities. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>“Magic tricks” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Tubes </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Cubes </li></ul></ul><ul><li>These activities serve as experiences on which students can reflect when discussing contextualized nature of science examples. </li></ul>
  7. 7. Moving toward Contextualized. -Rutherford Tray.
  8. 8. Why start NOS discussion with black-boxes?
  9. 9. Moderately Contextualized NOS example 7 th Grade <ul><li>Students were given the task to investigate how hard water affects soap. </li></ul><ul><li>Students’ initial conclusions were that hard water increases soap effectiveness. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>This was majority view. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>To further test their ideas, students introduced solutes into distilled water. </li></ul><ul><li>They interpreted their new data as contradictory to their previous conclusions. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Many speculated errors. </li></ul></ul>
  10. 10. Addressing NOS from Examples. <ul><li>Your ideas changed based on new evidence, what might this indicate about science? </li></ul><ul><li>How did you have to be creative during your investigation? </li></ul><ul><li>How did your classmates influence your investigation/thinking? </li></ul><ul><li>You had arrived at a conclusion, when data seemed against it you assumed error, why? </li></ul><ul><li>How might technology help your investigation? </li></ul><ul><li>How are the methods and thinking you did in this investigation similar to the tubes (cubes, tray, etc)? </li></ul>
  11. 11. Why are inquiry experiences useful for helping students understand NOS? <ul><li>How can we promote nature of science understanding when using cookbook labs? </li></ul>
  13. 13. Discussion of Short Story. <ul><li>What is the difference between Galileo’s and everyone else’s ideas? </li></ul><ul><li>How does technology help and also hurt Galileo’s ideas? </li></ul><ul><li>Why was Kepler’s confirmation of Galileo’s observations so important? </li></ul><ul><li>The Church changed Copernicus’ book; what impact might this have on science? </li></ul><ul><li>How do you think Galileo felt about science and religion? </li></ul><ul><li>How does this story compare to things we do in this class? </li></ul>
  14. 14. Why start with black-box, then lab experiences, then history of science?
  15. 15. Why continued NOS instruction?
  16. 16. Sample Student Writing <ul><li>Last year I would have thought a scientist was just someone that kept testing things that other scientists had found. I didn’t think there was still things in the world that we needed to figure out. -MF 9th </li></ul><ul><li>Science is solving problems on not yet reached subjects of nature. Scientists have to have creative minds. –AL 9th </li></ul><ul><ul><li>I thought science was just memorize, answer, and taking really hard tests. I was always really bored. </li></ul></ul>
  17. 17. <ul><li>The idea of a scientific method is partially accurate. It shows the steps that are a lot of times used in science, but it is very inaccurate in saying that there is one right way to do science when there are actually many diff. ways. –AM 7 th </li></ul><ul><li>Scientific knowledge could be both [invented & discovered] for me. The knowledge part to me is invented because invented means you built up ideas and made one big idea & you discovered it like it’s something that’s been there but you’ve never seen it before. –JL 7 th </li></ul>
  18. 18. <ul><li>I think that the majority of it [science] is based on evidence and observation but there is some other aspects also. For example, imagination and your own thoughts/ideas are apart of it too because you have to have some way to tie all your info together and that’s where your imagination comes in. -MM 7 th </li></ul><ul><li>Most scientific ideas change, but some stay the same for a very long time. We will never know if our ideas are 100% right. -KP 7 th </li></ul><ul><li>Observations can’t make us understand, we have to be able to interpret them ourselves. -RA 9 th </li></ul><ul><li>A lot of the time you will find a temporary answer to science, but some things seem to last for a long time, as if there will be no other answer. –AM 7th </li></ul><ul><li>It’s [understanding NOS] important for not only educated people, but everybody . –JS 7th </li></ul><ul><li>For the most part you find evidence but you also use lots of creativity. –NM 7th </li></ul>
  19. 19. <ul><li>Evidence is not all scientists use. They have to use other scientists. –JD 7 th </li></ul><ul><li>Science is everything! It’s what we see, breath, do, everything around us because you can observe things w/ technology. When you breath you’re doing science because you’re using forces. It all relates to science! –JL 7 th </li></ul><ul><li>It [science] is like a big puzzle from which many pieces are missing. People with good ideas and clever minds will be good at science. -AB 7th </li></ul>
  20. 20. Advanced Science Students <ul><li>Scientific Method is used by many scientists for many years to prove things, it’s accurate if they do it properly. –AK 12 th </li></ul><ul><li>Real science is the use of the scientific method –SL 12 th </li></ul><ul><li>Most to all science is observation. It’s observation –CR 12 th </li></ul><ul><li>It [scientific knowledge] is discovered rather than invented –AS 12 th </li></ul>