Isabel Sherman: Elementary Science Methods 2024-2025

  Lab -  Climate vs Weather Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get One middle school student put it Climate helps you decode what clothes to buy weather helps you decide what clothes to wear Climate is average over THIRTY year period Evidence from phenology Baby birds hatch when there is a peak in their food source With climate change the bugs come out earlier, but the birds are still hatching and they hatch when there is not as much of a food source–they may die Teachers misconceptions or preconceptions of a subject feed students misconceptions In a survey majority of teachers teach about climate change in their classrooms–but a significant percent are including incorrect ideas, such as the notion that today’s warming of the globe is a “natural” process The globes temperature is changing (we know this from the Earth history simulation) but “climate change” specifically means the human caused climate change and the unnatural warming from that Jigsaw Activity Group...

  Lab STOP teaching about polar bears when talking about climate change–student’s brains don’t have the capacity to care about that TEACH about something that is close to home To teach climate change make it personal  To make it personal in Iowa Teach about goldfinch Map precipitation in Iowa Make climate change place based Have students look at that place in Iowa about that places precipitation My lab group and I looked at climate change through a more relevant lens. We took rain data from Northwest Iowa and came to a conclusion that the goldfinch is endagered. Lecture Quiz! Readings I learned more about the difference between weather and climate. Weather would be when it is snowing, climate is the weather in an area over a longer period. Climate is measured in thirty- year intervals. Climate change is the shift in what we expect the climate to be over time. I found the acronym LOWER near water to be helpful. L stands for latitude, O is for ocean currents, W means wind and ai...

  Lab It is important to have students engage with their preconceptions because there is no learning unless there is cognitive dissonance Direct the review–Draw out how much kids are talking. Tell principal/reviewer to look at the conversations In an ideal classroom 20-30% of the “voice” should be teacher. But most times teachers are teaching with 50-60% of their voice. It is important to have students lead the conversation You don’t have to “move on” if students are excited then you can continue the learning Only got through at most 70% of his curriculum  If students are engaged then let them be engaged Law of superposition–the oldest is at the bottom of the rock. Soil lays down flat.  We talked about the Law of Superpoistion and the Law of Orginal Horizontality. There was an image that showed a fault line. The fault line is caused by the granite in the image which is the same age as the volcanic ash. Then we did the sand lab! This helped us determine what kind of sand c...