Patterns of Change: Forces and Motion

Patterns of Change: Forces and Motion is an integrated science lesson that uses the 5E lesson cycle to tie together science with language arts, mathematics, literature, technology, engineering and social studies in an engaging format applicable for young learners. This lesson has been uniquely designed for the purpose of providing elementary teachers with ideas for using hands-on minds-on activities to foster inquiry and discussion, while engaging their students to use technology as a learning tool. This lesson has been used on the elementary level to teach students about the forces that have an effect on motion.     

Enhancing Elementary Students’ Experiences Learning about Circuits Using an Exploration–Explanation Instructional Sequence

Using an exploration–explanation sequence of science instruction helps teachers unveil students’ prior knowledge about circuits and engage them in minds-on science learning. In these lessons, fourth grade students make predictions and test their ideas about circuits in series through hands-on investigations. The teacher helps students make connections between their hands-on experiences collecting data and new terms. This lesson shows how teachers can incorporate formative assessments such as checkpoints, self tests, and exit slips into the explanation phase of instruction so students can evaluate and self-monitor their understanding of circuits in series. These activities meet the National Science Education Standards for active, student-center learning environments that cultivate the critical thinking skills necessary to learn science.     

How to Use the Science of Snow to Engage Middle School Students in an Interdisciplinary Experience

In this interdisciplinary and field-based activity, grade 5 to 9 students engage in a comprehensive scientific study of snow. Through a series of in-class and out-of-class structured interdisciplinary and team-teaching lesson progressions, students will collect data to be able to analyze and apply knowledge about weather, the physical properties of snow, and the structure of matter that will increase understanding about the nature of science.     

Investigating Human Impact in the Environment with Faded Scaffolded Inquiry Supported by Technologies

Teaching science as inquiry is advocated in all national science education documents and by leading science and science teaching organizations. In addition to teaching science as inquiry, we recognize that learning experiences need to connect to students’ lives. This article details how we use a sequence of faded scaffolded inquiry supported by technologies to engage students meaningfully in science connected to their lives and schoolyards. In this approach, more teacher guidance is provided earlier in the inquiry experiences before this is faded later in the sequence, as students are better prepared to complete successful inquiries. The sequence of inquiry experiences shared in this article offers one possible mechanism for science teaching supported by technologies as an exemplar for translating teaching “science as inquiry” into practice.     

Windmills by design: Purposeful curriculum design to meet next generation science standards in a 9–12 physics classroom

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) challenges science teachers to think beyond specific content standards when considering how to design and implement curriculum. This lesson, “Windmills by Design,” is an insightful lesson in how science teachers can create and implement a cross-cutting lesson to teach the concepts of force, motion, and Bernoulli's principle. This 9–12 lesson requires students to consider the science behind windmill design by engineering windmill blades that can produce the most power in a class competition. The lesson is designed as a 5E lesson incorporating essential features of inquiry-based instruction.     

Gregor Mendel's classic paper and the nature of science in genetics courses

The discoveries of Gregor Mendel, as described by Mendel in his 1866 paper Versuche uber Pflanzen-Hybriden (Experiments on plant hybrids), can be used in undergraduate genetics and biology courses to engage students about specific nature of science characteristics and their relationship to four of his major contributions to genetics. The use of primary source literature as an instructional tool to enhance genetics students' understanding of the nature of science helps students more clearly understand how scientists work and how the science of genetics has evolved as a discipline. We offer a historical background of how the nature of science developed as a concept and show how Mendel's investigations of heredity can enrich biology and genetics courses by exemplifying the nature of science.     

Digital game design-based STEM activity: Biodiversity example

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to design a digital game design-based STEM activity for fifth-grade students learning about endangered organisms and significance of biodiversity for living. This activity was carried out with twenty students in a public school in Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey during academic year of 2018–2019 spring term. This study planned as eight-lesson time (8?×?40?minutes) and completed at this lesson time. The students were given the digital game design challenge in real-life problem context that has been created based on design-based science learning and for which they shall use their knowledge and skills in each of the STEM disciplines. During this design challenge, students worked like a scientist and an engineer. They carried out scientific research and inquiry process in the science discipline, understood the engineering design process in the engineering discipline, established mathematical relations in the mathematics discipline, learned how to make coding in the technology discipline, and used this knowledge and skills thus acquired in their suggested solutions for the design challenge. They designed a digital game by coding and presented science knowledge and skills that acquired from inquiry process.     

Commercializing medical technology

As medicine moves into the 21st century, life saving therapies will move from inception into medical products faster if there is a better synergy between science and business. Medicine appears to have 50-year innovative cycles of education and scientific discoveries. In the 1880’s, the chemical industry in Germany was faced with the dilemma of modernization to exploit the new scientific discoveries. The solution was the spawning of novel technical colleges for training in these new chemical industries. The impact of those new employees and their groundbreaking compounds had a profound influence on medicine and medical education in Germany between 1880 and 1930. Germany dominated international science during this period and was a training center for scientists worldwide. This model of synergy between education and business was envied and admired in Europe, Asia and America. British science soon after evolved to dominate the field of science during the prewar and post World War (1930’s–1970’s) because the German scientists fled Hitler’s government. These expatriated scientists had a profound influence on the teaching and training of British scientists, which lead to advances in medicine such as antibiotics. After the Second World War, the US government wisely funded the development of the medical infrastructure that we see today. British and German scientists in medicine moved to America because of this bountiful funding for their research. These expatriated scientists helped drive these medical advances into commercialized products by the 1980’s. America has been the center of medical education and advances of biotechnology but will it continue? International scientists trained in America have started to return to Europe and Asia. These American-trained scientists and their governments are very aware of the commercial potential of biotechnology. Those governments are now more prepared to play an active role this new science. Germany, Ireland, Britain, Singapore, Taiwan and Israel are such examples of this government support for biotechnology in the 21st century. Will the US continue to maintain its domination of biotechnology in this century? Will the US education system adjust to the new dynamic of synergistic relationships between the education system, industry and government? This article will try to address these questions but also will help the reader understand who will emerge by 2015 as the leader in science and education.     

High-school students in university research labs? Implementing an outreach model based on the ‘science as inquiry’ approach

In this study we designed, implemented, and evaluated an outreach programme for high-school biology students rooted in the ‘science as inquiry’ approach. Accordingly, students learn about science from experts in the field, as well as through in-class exposure to the history and philosophy of science. Our sample consisted of 11th graders (n?=?497), ages 16–17, attending advanced biology classes. Our goal was to determine whether this programme had a significant effect on students’ understanding of the ‘nature of science’ (NOS) and on their attitudes towards science. Using a controlled pre-post research design, we asked participants to complete a Likert-like questionnaire. Also, we conducted post-programme semi-structured interviews with 35 of the participants. Results show that completion of the programme significantly enhanced participants’ NOS understanding and improved their attitudes towards science. Participants expressed a deep level of NOS understanding and explicitly stated that the field visits to experts’ labs had changed their attitude towards science. We believe that our outreach programme can be adapted for teaching other sciences and for societies worldwide, as long as there is access to university laboratories and researchers willing to interact with young citizens and potential future scientists.     

Knowledge of,and Attitudes Towards Health-related Biotechnology Applications Amongst Australian Year 10 High School Students

Modern biotechnology has a large and rapidly increasing impact on society. New advances in genetics, stem cells and other areas hold great potential for human health but also presenting socioscientific issues that commonly divide public opinion. While knowledge is necessary to develop informed opinions about biotechnology, they may also be influenced by polarized discourse and fiction in the media. Here, we examined prior knowledge about and attitudes towards health-related biotechnological applications in Year 10 high school students from Western Australia using online questionnaires. The impact of teaching on students’ understanding was tested by repeating the questionnaire after a lesson. Finally, students’ argumentation skills were examined by recording responses to statements about biotechnological applications. We found that, prior to instruction, most students exhibited a reasonable understanding of biotechnology. There was little evidence for alternative conceptions, and instruction led to a diversification in understanding. Attitudes towards biotechnology were generally positive but varied. Despite interest in biotechnological issues, argument for positions was generally cognitive-affective in nature. Consequently, biotechnology is a relevant topic for science education, and presents excellent opportunities to build on pre-existing knowledge. Rather than expanding students’ knowledge, our results suggest educators should focus on deepening existing understanding and strengthening argumentation skills.     

Linking the experiential,affective and cognitive domains in biology education: a case study – microscopy

A greater emphasis in school curricula on the technology of science would encourage teachers to engage their students more in practical work. This in turn might be expected to improve students’ attitudes towards science and enhance cognitive outcomes. The paper presents findings from a study on first-year university students’ school experience of, attitudes towards, and knowledge of, microscopy. The findings reinforce the general expectations alluded to above. They also draw attention to the importance of the lower secondary science experience – often a suboptimal one owing to a poor resource base – to the formation of student attitudes and cognitive development with respect to science.     

我国酶与酶工程及其相关产业发展的回顾

回顾我国近六十多年来的酶与酶工程及其相关产业发展走过的路程,吸取历史经验教训,走好今后的发展之路。     

Examining Microscopic Organisms under Augmented Reality Microscope: A 5E Learning Model Lesson

As a fundamental strategy for all science curriculum, inquiry is of prime importance. In order to facilitate inquiry during science education in middle school, 5E learning model was applied in this study. Following 5E learning model during a lesson, students can engage in a topic after being served to mitigate cognitive disequilibrium or familiar with daily-life examples such as yoghurt fermentation, oven spring, etc. explore the topic making an observation or testing hypothesis, explain and relate their experiences scientifically, extend or elaborate their knowledge and then being evaluated. This study introduces a sample 5E learning model for middle school students at the ages of 10–12 in science laboratory with an augmented reality microscope MicrosAR to examine microscopic organisms based on inquiry-based learning.     

Levers and mixtures: An integrated science and mathematics activity to solve problems

In recent years, the integration of science and mathematics has become popular among educators because of its potential benefits for student learning. The purpose of this study is to introduce a two-day interdisciplinary lesson that brings science and mathematics concepts together, actively engaging students in working with percentages of the ingredients in mixtures with the concept of torque. Participation in this Grade 7-9 lesson provides opportunities for students to learn from both content areas as they progress through a variety of science process skills.     

Animal Life in Caves

This is an interdisciplinary lesson designed for middle school students studying landforms and geological processes. Students create a two-dimensional topographic map from a three-dimensional landform that they create using clay. Students then use other groups’ topographic maps to re-create landforms. Following this, students explore some basic ideas about how landforms take shape and how they can change over time. As students work through three distinct learning-cycle phases of concept exploration, introduction, and application, they use art, language arts, and mathematical skills to strengthen or form new science and social studies concepts.     

Making Sense of Scientific Biographies: Scientific achievement,nature of science,and storylines in college students’ essays

In this article, the educative value of scientific biographies will be explored, especially for non-science major college students. During the ‘Scientist’s life and thought’ course, 66 college students read nine scientific biographies including five biologists, covering the canonical scientific achievements in Western scientific history. Students’ essays were initially analysed in terms of four dimensions of scientific achievement: personal traits and talent, socio-cultural environment, scientific inquiry and debate, and historical significance. Further analysis focused on noticeable aspects in the nature of science (NOS). Based on the analyses, the idea of a story grid was devised in order to identify major storylines that show students various ways of making sense of scientific biographies. The analysis shows the aspects in which biographies are instrumental for students to identify and engage critically with issues related to the NOS. The article concludes with some implications for designing history of science courses for non-science major college students.     

Impact of professional learning on teachers’ representational strategies and students’ cognitive engagement with molecular genetics concepts

A variety of practices and specialised representational systems are required to understand, communicate and construct molecular genetics knowledge. This study describes teachers’ use of multimodal representations of molecular genetics concepts and how their strategies and choice of resources were interpreted, understood and used by students to demonstrate their conceptual understanding. Recordings of teachers’ and students’ discourse around representations, teacher interviews and student pre- and post-tests were used as data sources. Vignettes of students’ dialogue with teachers around the form and function of representations and teacher interview responses highlight higher order conceptual understanding. Coding for cognitive domains within lesson phases where different modes of representation were utilised showed classrooms operated at higher domains compared to lessons where modalities were absent. This study shows how pedagogy that focuses on representational form and function as well as students’ engagement in critical discussion around affordances and constraints of representations results in a higher cognitive engagement with molecular genetics knowledge.     

All Aboard! The Polar Express Is Traveling to Science—Understanding the States of Matter while Differentiating Instruction for Young Learners

This standards-based science lesson introduces young learners to scientific inquiry and critical thinking by using activities to demonstrate three phases of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). By learning about the states of matter through a 5E instructional approach, students are encouraged to observe changes in the states of matter and to discuss their understanding in both small and large group forums. Student participants will be involved in hands-on activities along with small and large group discourse while actively learning about the states of matter and enjoying a hot chocolate demonstration with sampling. Developmentally appropriate instructional approaches are emphasized throughout this lesson.     

Choosing Activities to Meet Instructional Goals

This series of activities, which integrates science and social studies, is designed to involve students in experimental learning experiences conducted in an outdoor setting. Throughout the lesson, which is based on a model of instruction called Flow Learning?, students (a) simulate the Web of Life, (b) use different senses and scientific processes to experience and describe the living and nonliving environment, (c) develop conceptual understandings about interdependence and diversity of nature, and (d) determine what humans can do to protect the Web of Life.     

Using Amphibians and Reptiles to learn the Process of Science

The National Research Council's document, Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (2000) describes an elementary science classroom as one that is composed of learners who are engaged in scientific processes. In such a setting, children ask real-world questions and seek real-world solutions. As students pursue their inquiries, they often move away from science textbooks, and they implement mathematical skills, read literature, conduct research in electronic databases, write stories, and so forth in a larger context. What was originally a regular science lesson becomes an opportunity for integration across the curriculum. This article describes an integrated unit on bats and specifically addresses the National Science Education Standards.