The kids wouldn’t stop rapping “Made of Cells”, an educational song I threw together to reinforce vocabulary, even a week after the exam.It actually got to the point where I had to settle them down each time they walked into my classroom.
Auditory comprises the “A” in Fleming’s VARK model for different styles of learning (others are Visual, Reading and Kinesthetic) and can explain why we remember things more easily if it encompasses a rhyme or a melody.Recall when you were first introduced to the alphabet song: “a, b, c, d, eee, eff, geeee…”It was easy to memorize 26 separate sequence specific letters as a preschooler when it took the form of music.This technique is also implemented in learning the names of the continents (sung to the tune of “Frère Jacques” a.k.a. “Where is Thumbkin?”):
“There are se-ven, there are se-ven,
con-tin-ents, con-tin-ents:
Europe Asia Af-ri-ca
North and South Amer-i-ca
Austral-i-a, Antarc-tic-a.
Advertisers have been using the power of jingles for decades in both private
“You deserve a-break-to-daaayy.”
and public sectors:
“Be…All That You-Can-Be.”
Many scientists credit neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) for how the mind processes information.The theory states that we can potentially incorporate all of our senses during cognition of a word, idea, or set of specific tasks.The more senses bombarded through VARK when attaining that piece of information, the easier for it to “stick” in the brain and recall later.
Whether you call it an earworm, a jingle, or a catchy tune, using educational rap in the classroom is extremely effective.This is especially true in a subject area like science where much of the terminology is derived from Greek and Latin.So start formulating rhymes in your classroom today so your students can memorize that:
“All plants and animals are made up of cells.
Each is made up of parts called organelles.
So tiny you need a microscope to see.
About 100 trillion cells make up you and me.”
Guest Post by Joseph Ocando, who was an 8th grade science teacher in New York City as a member of Teach for America.He has started a business called Rhyme ‘n Learn.His raps can be ordered from http://cdbaby.com/cd/rhymenlearn
With a partner, my secondary science methods students selected a tree and then combined their ample knowledge, creativity, and critical thinking and came up with several methods to determine the height of the tree.
Linda Dee and Karen Schedler were helping my students learn about Project Learning Tree (PLT) and its many science activities. My students now have the assignment to develop a lesson plan using a PLT activity and then teach a high school or middle school class using this lesson plan.
This class of students has already earned my respect for their knowledge, abilities, and great attitudes, but it was still exciting to see them apply what they know with their creativity and critical thinking. Indeed the process was just as important as the result. Their tree-height-measurement methods included (a) having a partner of known height stand by the tree and estimating how many of them it would take to reach the top of the tree; (b) measuring the shadow length of the partner and the tree and using ratios; (c) holding a vertical ruler up, with the partner at the tree, and using the marking of the ruler to determine ratios for the heights, and (d) comparing the tree height to a building and then counting brick segments on the building to determine height. Of course, if a protractor was on hand we could have used the distance from the tree, angle to the top of the tree, and some trigonometry to make this estimate.
The tree height estimates were compared to a value found by using clinometers. These nifty devices, we were told, give a pretty accurate reading. You measure off 66 feet and look through the viewer with one eye and line up a horizontal line with the other eye. There were two scales for viewing the height of the tree, one in feet and the other in meters.In many cases, my students’ estimates were pretty close to the clinometers’ readings.
I was glad to see my students using metric measurements because we had talked about this before our spring break. My advice is to have their future students do all their measurements using the metric system and NEVER convert back into the imperial system. But with the “66 feet” distance and foot scale on the clinometer, it seems like our forestry colleagues, at least in the US, are not fully metrified. Prior to this, I had thought that the only people of science who were not completely immersed in the metric system were US meteorologists. It is obvious that some science traditions don’t change easily.
As an educator who embraces the promise of technology, I believe that 2009 is an important milestone. Consider this statement: “the possibilities exist today for individualized instruction to a degree heretofore unimaginable. We stand at the brink of a vast revolution in teaching, learning, instruction, education… the computer makes possible teaching and learning that are suited to the momentary requirements of the individual human being.” Why are these words so relevant today? They were written by Robert Siedel in 1969, making 2009 a fortieth anniversary. It is easy to forget that educational technology has been around for decades. As early as the 1950s, researchers were investigating the use of computers as tutors. By the late 1960s, there was abundant evidence in favor of computers. In 1972, a major review of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) was published that summarized ten studies with 10,000 total subjects; it concluded that computers were beneficial for students. In 1977, two important events coincided: Inexpensive ”micro-computers” were first released, including the Commodore PET and Apple II. And the statistical technique of meta-analysis, which had been invented one year earlier, was first applied to CAI research. All meta-analyses, including the first in 1977 and the dozens of others that followed, have reached the same conclusion: CAI is better than traditional instruction. This is true at every level (elementary, secondary, college, adult education) and in nearly every subject (science, math, social studies, accounting, woodworking, languages, etc.) The evidence is overwhelming. In almost 95% of statistically significant studies, CAI results in higher test scores. Plus, there are other benefits: students learn faster on computers and enjoy CAI more than traditional instruction. Despite the obvious benefits of computers, they are not being used to teach students in school. Although computers are sometimes used to surf the Internet and type reports, they are never used to deliver the majority of curriculum in any course. This is not due to a lack of evidence; we have known since at least 1977 that CAI is better than traditional instruction. This raises a critical question: Why is the most effective educational technology ever invented not being used to instruct students in classrooms? Today, in 2009, it is easy to get caught up in new innovations, especially for those of us who embrace technology. However, we should be mindful that no amount of innovation will usher in the age of educational technology because CAI was good enough more than 30 years ago. The barrier to instructing students effectively with computers is not technology; the barrier is will.
Reference
Seidel, R. J. (1969). Is CAI Cost/Effective? The Right Question at the Wrong Time. Educational Technology, 9(5), 21-23.
Article is by Jeremy Schneider, who I invited to submit an article after I read his book Chalkbored. Jeremy is a former high school chemistry teacher who is currently living in Canada. –PR
The key ingredient of a successful hands-on science lesson is to start with a great science activity. I think as teacher educators, it is easy to underestimate how difficult it is for preservice students to find and evaluate science activities. In my “Physics for Teachers” class, students teach a hands-on science physics lesson. But before they turn in a lesson plan and teach a lesson, they are required to submit the activities they strongly considered and two activities they tested out and that they determined to be excellent. I then make the selection of which activity they will teach, helping to ensure that they are successful and that our class enjoys vibrant, relevant hands-on experiences. I am attaching the template my students use for this assignment. Click Here for Physics Activity Template
Rillero, P., & Gallegos, B. (1998). Databases: A Gateway to Literature in Science and Mathematics Education. In J. E. Malone, W. Atweh, & J. Northfield (Eds.), Research and Supervision in Mathematics and Science Education (pp. 323-349). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates (Hardcover edition: ISBN# 0-8058-2968-7, paperback edition ISBN# 0-8058-2969-5)
About the Image
The picture shows two toy cars and is from Adaptive Curriculum’s Activity Object entitled “Newton’s Third Law of Motion.”
This blog focusing on using technology to improve science teaching and learning has been in existence since June 2008. The list of 2008 blog titles for Ed-tech-4-science with publishing dates are presented below. I made hotlinks for articles that I think classroom teachers of science would find most useful. Then I put the titles into Wordle to get the image below.
Using gooey balls, in the “World of Goo,” to make towers and bridges is an engaging way to build conceptual ideas in physics, engineering, and chemistry. The game made by a team of two guys (Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel) at “2D Boy” won the Innovation Award and Technical Excellence Award at the Independent Games Festival. Goo is available for PCs, Macs, and the Wii. IGN named Goo the best Wii game of the year.In my house, the free trial download version of Goo won the “Win Over the Skeptical 11 Year-Old Award” for totally engaging my son—who proclaimed, “This is addicting!” My eight-year old son called it “very fun.”
That shows the power of Goo. A game that requires no instructions, but you proceed from level-to-level building things to transport the living goo balls. There is something satisfying about building the goo structures, and something powerful about completing the puzzle at each level. Okay, the goo ball creatures and game remind me a bit of the Zoombinis, and the puzzle contexts are not the greatest, but building the structures to solve the puzzle is intriguing and satisfying. And who wants to waste time learning elaborate storylines when there are goo structures to build?
In my trial of the free on-line sample, I built towers and then bridges. Then my 11-year old son took over, starting anew, and quickly blazed past me to get to build balloon structures to help fight gravity. Neither of us met the minimal goo ball rescue at the “Impale Sticky” level, but fortunately we were able to skip this level when we were left a few balls short.
Building a goo structure is difficult to describe but easy to do. You pull one of the goo balls and separate it from the structure. Two or three white “lines of force” (my term not theirs) appear and when you stop pulling it, the white lines become goo links joining the ball to the previous structure. Of course there is a lot of jiggling and the pull of gravity is evident. If you pull a ball too far away from the others, the lines of force disappear and you realize you need to put it closer.
Science Education and Goo
Linking goo balls forms triangular tresses, which are important units of engineering design. Through trial-and-error learning, we experience that triangle goo formations are easy to build and stable. It is a nice contrast, because it seems in the world of play (from Lincoln Logs™ to Legos™), rectangular formations dominate. The tresses are then used to build towers, bridges, and dangling structures. There is a nice science (and international touch) in the use of metric measurements such a “you have 4.4 meters to go.”
The physics of Goo feels pretty real, and this can be a bridge to many physics concepts. As you build structures, the notions of a good foundation and center of gravity come into play. Build it one way too far, and it falls down; keep the center of gravity above the base, and the tower rises. There is also a sense of harmonics/resonance/vibration in that if your structure starts to bend and bob, you have to be careful that your additions don’t cause more of this in an undesired direction.
At some higher levels of Goo, buoyancy comes into play, along with levers and moments, as balloons lift up lever arms. When this is applied to building a bridge, the balloon placement is critical because too much lift or too little gets the balloons popped. Placing the balloon closer or further from the pivot point can decrease or increase the lift.
For chemistry, the most obvious notion is the idea of adhesion and cohesion. Goo balls being attracted to other goo balls is cohesion. When they stick to something else, like the level where you have to climb up out of a canyon and make them stick to the walls, you have adhesion.
How do you Goo?
If you are teaching an engineering class, I think you have good justification to buy a class set of the “World of Goo.” I also think this would make a great addition to the computers of an elementary school computer lab. I can imagine Mr. Cosgrove (my fifth grade teacher) saying: “After you finish your graphs, if you have time you can Goo.” But for stepping softly into the “World of Goo,” give your students an extra-credit assignment to download the free version (link) at home and complete a certain number of levels. They can use screenshots to prove (and display) their work.
Edu-Goo
Winning awards is great and selling lots of this game must be pretty exciting to the creators. But I think the next endeavor should be an Edu-Goo product line. The possibilities are endless so I will just name three: (a) Online competitions between classes, schools, or the world to see who can build the Goo bridge to support the most weight, (b) three-dimensional Goo structures so students can explore using triangular versus rectangular tresses, (c) DNA Goo, where students can construct DNA double helix molecules. Less exciting but useful are worksheets that can guide exploration and discovery. Edu-Goo could have a teacher contribution page so teachers can contribute ideas about educational uses of Goo.
Last month, I put in some thoughts about capitalization of Earth and Moon at the end of my blog posting (Long-Lost Lunar Pics and the Lunar Slamdown: Some Recent Space Science News). I did not anticipate reader reaction to this, with over 365 comments and dozens of emails–on both sides of the issue. A few readers told me how tears welled up in their eyes, when they read the line, ““If a meteor hits me, don’t I crater? If my plates move, don’t I crack?” Time magazine did a cover story, “Rethinking the miniscule earth!” Many universities are holding meetings to consider updating their editorial style guide. Of course there was the mail from those who disagreed and like many attacks, they took on distressingly ad hominem nature. No doubt some of these were fueled by Fox TV News, who advocated the status quo: “Why change? Rillero is pandering to the liberal media. We think he should be labeled a Lunatic with a capital ‘L.”
But back to reality… I will be the first to admit that grammar isn’t as exciting as science, but nevertheless, I will share some random ideas about capitalization that science teachers and students should know. Start brewing the coffee; it is difficult to get through all this without some caffeine.
General Guidelines
First, let’s start with rule A from the University of South Carolina’s Publication’s Editorial Style Guide: When in doubt, do not capitalize.
Then a good hedge statement always comes in handy, like this one from the University of Chicago:
“But “rules” in writing — unlike, say, rules in Newtonian physics — are not written in stone. They are established by agreement among experienced writers, even though experienced writers can and do disagree all the time.”
I find this an interesting analogy. I wonder if people of science look at grammar as black and white but consider science to be changing and based upon shared understanding. While people of grammar view science as black and white, but consider grammar to be changing and based upon shared understanding. I like using analogies to explain science, but I find it interesting when people use science to explain other things. (But I will save this for a future blog posting.)
From NASA: Celestial Objects
While not everyone would agree with my call to use capital letters when referring to the Earth, Moon, and Sun as celestial objects, NASA certainly does.
According to the NASA style guide: Namesofcelestialbodies such as “the NorthStar,Halley’sComet, Venus,Earth(theplanet),theSun,theMoon(Earth’s) are capitalized.” So let the controversy end!But we don’t capitalize, again according to NASA, “earth(theground) and moonsofJupiter.” I went into this a bit more in my earlier blog post.
For lack of a better organization, let’s fly with NASA for a bit. We also capitalize geologic names such as geologic periods (UpperCambrianPeriod,BronzeAge) and soil groups(Laterite,Tundra).
These capitalization comments are from NASA’s Grammar,punctuation, andcapitalization: A handbook for technical writers and editors written by Mary K. Mccaskill. The entire handbook is online as a PDF document. This guide has way more to it than capitals, so if you want a good free guide to technical writing, have at it. I think it is a good idea to introduce students to different types of style guides.
From NASA: Geologic Entities and Life
Here are a few more capitalization nuggets from NASA:
While we do capitalize days of the week (Monday) and months (October), we don’t capitalize seasons (fall, spring).
For biological names, we don’t capitalize common names (red buckeye) unless they contain a proper noun (Ohio buckeye).
We do capitalize kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, and genus but we don’t capitalize species.
But of course in binomial nomenclature we describe the species with both the genus and species, so for the Ohio buckeye tree, we have Aesculus glabra (see image to the right).
University of South Carolina: More Science Tidbits
Capitalize the formal name of departments but not the informal names. Correct: He enrolled in the Department of Civil Engineering. Also correct: He enrolled in the civil engineering department.
Capitalize entire geographic names and regions of the country but not compass directions or localities. For example: Saluda River Sesquicentennial State Park; Midwest; western East Coast; and northern Atlantic.
Don’t capitalize names of university majors and minors except for proper nouns. For example, “He has a major in Swahili and a minor in biology.”
The names of university courses are capitalized, so for instance, I often teach Methods of Elementary Science 411.
Company trademarks are capitalized. Both of my sons ate Earth’s Best baby food. (This was the first major organic baby food brand and it was started by my brother-in-law Arnie Koss).
“Addresses on Envelopes The United States Postal Service requires that addresses appear on envelopes in all-capital letters and, except for the hyphenated ZIP code, without punctuation.”
I wonder if the US Postal Service has some sort of amnesty program because I better turn myself in for violating this one. But if you agree with capitalizing Earth and Moon, please write to me at this address on the left and if you disagree with my comments and want to do an ad hominem attack, please write me at the address on the right.
Majuscule
In my internet research on capitalization of science terms, I came across a new term: majuscule. It sounds like a school Harry Potter should attend to work on his magic. But this word refers to, as far as I can tell, capital letters. Odd that most people haven’t heard of majuscule, yet miniscule is well known.
Conclusion
If you read all the way to this point, you really have a strong regard for capital appreciation. Capitalization is a tricky affair, but as long as you have your own style guide—there won’t be any capital punishment. Although, we shouldn’t consider the importance of a proper majuscule as miniscule.
For the Record
The first paragraph about the capital controversy was in jest. The address in capitals quote was real but I don’t know if it is true. Arnie Koss is my brother-in-law. The buckeye drawings are from Minnesota Trees and Shrubs (Clements, Rosendahl, and Butters, 1912), which was scanned by Google.
As the novelty of PowerPoint presentations in the K-12 classroom fades, the dim lights and streams of text could inspire sleep instead of excitement in science. There are ways that science can be made interesting through PowerPoints. Interactions, great pictures and graphics can really help make a point and share a story.
Fortunately many teachers and people who support education are willing to share their efforts. Here are several powerful sites for science PowerPoint presentations. Of course, with any collections of resources, not all are great so you must browse through and pick and modify. I think combinations of interactive and exciting elements from diverse PowerPoints can make you have a presentation with many strong elements but that is tailored for your students and curriculum.
Assigning Activity Objects and PPTs with Adaptive Curriculum
Adaptive Curriculum. With student subscriptions teachers not only assign great interactive science Activity Objects but they can also assign or provide any online resources. So students can easily access great PowerPoint presentations without remembering complicated addresses. For instance in the picture to the right a lesson plan is being created with the Activity Object “Color Mixing: Paints and Lights” and is combined with two PowerPoint presentations.
Last evening my 11 year-old son shared with me the YouTube Video “Charlie Bit My Finger”. If you are more like my son and less like me, you probably have already seen the cute sibling clip that is approaching 70 million views and dozens of new posted remixes and re-enactments. If you do a Google search in quotes, you can find over 300,000 sites sharing or discussing this video.
As science teachers, we know the power of analogies to help students connect new concepts to existing conceptions already wired into their brains. Certainly, knowing what students know is a prerequisite for using analogies. References to pop culture can be a good source. Now, for example, if someone does something that is likely to cause a problem in science class, I could say, “Obviously if you put your finger in Charlie’s mouth, it’s going to get bitten!” And of course, we know the power of humor for keeping science class lively. Every time my son says, “Char-lie bit me and that really hurt,” with a British accent, I chuckle.
I had a science teacher colleague in the Bronx, who argued with me that we shouldn’t relate to students through their culture, but should expose them to a higher culture. Since she went to Stanford as an undergraduate, and I went to the University of Buffalo, it is possible that I never scaled that same cultural plateau (but I did have my high school biology class dissect chicken wings which are world famous because of Buffalo, NY). But I know there are others like me who like to stay connected with the youth we teach.
So how does my generation stay connected with the top videos?
Within the YouTube environment, clicking on videos, you can sort by “most popular” or “most viewed” and you can select the timeframe desired (such as one day, one week, or one month). In this way, I came across “Sneezing Panda”, usable in all sorts of lessons, such as stimulus and response, the nervous system, or animal behavior. There is also the Viral Video Chart, where you can see the graphs of popularity rankings for videos on the internet, not just on YouTube.
Of course, I had to select the category “Science and Technology” to see the most viewed videos of all time in this category. Sadly, most had nothing to do with science, but I found the very well produced and suspenseful “Oxygen (new version) – Periodic Table of Videos”.
So you can search, view, and relate to the world of adolescents. Or, you can wait for an adolescent to share a bit of their world with you. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t discover “Charlie” on my own because it was delightful having my son share it with me. And even though he saw it many times before, when he showed it to me we both had hearty laughs—together.
Resources:
Adaptive Curriculum’s “Habit Designer: Panda” (which will create a much nicer habitat than what you see in the “Sneezing Panda” video.
Perhaps the first assay we learned in science class was the starch test, where we dropped iodine on a substance, and if it turned “blue-black”, it indicated the presence of starch.
Now, as modern-day science teachers, we carry on the wisdom of generations of science teachers, and continue to avoid calling the positive result “black and blue”, as no science teacher wants students to associate bruises with white bread or potatoes.
The starch test has become such a common test, that I believe the term “starch test” should replace “litmus test” as the analogy cliché for social or political tests. (For example, Wikipedia states, “A litmus test is a question asked of a potential candidate for high office, the answer to which would determine whether the nominating official would choose to proceed with the appointment or nomination.”) How many non-science teachers even know what litmus is or what a litmus test is? Let’s start using analogies more people can relate to. [People would really start liken that (with an intended pun on the nature of litmus)!]
Today is the six-month anniversary of this blog. It seems such a short time ago, but alas, on June 20, 2008, my first blog was posted. This made me wonder, “How does one know if one is successful after just six short months?
To find the answer to this query, I did a search on blogs. I found no numerical metrics for success. Looking at the latest report from Google Analytics, I did see that more than 35 people per day have read this blog, and that this month alone, there were over 1,000 readers from 70 countries/territories.
The search for blogs about blogs (i.e. metablogs) yielded no numbers, which I viewed once again as evidence that collective wisdom can often be found in groups of people. The qualitative metric I did derive, however, from reading the advice of more experienced blog pundits was this: If a blogger enjoys writing about their interests, and some people are reading, then it should be considered successful. As far as this starch test is concerned, I judge this blog as a success, and I thank you for reading it.
But now on to science teaching and technology, which is the focus of this blog. In the living world, photosynthesis is one of the most important processes. Fortunately, Adaptive Curriculum has a free interactive activity that teachers and students (from all 70 countries/territories) can use to learn more about photosynthesis. In “Plants Needs for Photosynthesis” students conduct several investigations, where they can add or subtract water, light, carbon dioxide, and oxygen. The plant then does its thing (AKA: metabolism) for four hours.
After this, the starch test is performed to see if photosynthesis occurred. In the starch test, the leaves are boiled and then dipped into hot alcohol to remove the green chlorophyll. Next, the leaves are dipped into room temperature water. Finally, drops of iodine are placed upon the leaves. Through these discovery-based learning experiences, students are able to determine the conditions that are needed for photosynthesis to occur.
Thank you to Adaptive Curriculum for giving us this free Flash-based activity, and for their support of this blog. And no matter what your starch test or litmus test for happiness may be, I wish you a happy holiday season.
Resources:
If you (or your students) don’t know what a litmus test is, here are some links:
The key ingredient of a successful hands-on science lesson is to start with a great science activity. I think as teacher educators, it is easy to underestimate how difficult it is for preservice students to find and evaluate science activities. In my “Physics for Teachers” class, students teach a hands-on science physics lesson. But before they turn in a lesson plan and teach a lesson, they are required to submit the activities they strongly considered and two activities they tested out and that they determined to be excellent. I then make the selection of which activity they will teach, helping to ensure that they are successful and that our class enjoys vibrant, relevant hands-on experiences. I am attaching the template my students use for this assignment.
Using gooey balls, in the “World of Goo,” to make towers and bridges is an engaging way to build conceptual ideas in physics, engineering, and chemistry. The game made by a team of two guys (
How do you Goo?
Last month, I put in some thoughts about capitalization of Earth and Moon at the end of my blog posting (
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