When I was a doctoral student in Science Education in the 1990s at The Ohio State University, Vic Mayer (1933-2011) was on my committee. He was a fabulous science educator and a role model for all who were in the program. As a proponent of hands-on science, it perplexed me when he said one day, “All classroom hands-on science is a simulation of real science.” I could partially see his point: clearly many hands-on activities were simulations, especially when contrasted with having students examine real data sets that seem common in the Earth Systems sciences, which Dr. Mayer loved. Yet I wondered, why isn’t looking at cells through a microscope real science?
When it comes to air tracks and air tables for doing physics investigations, these clearly are simulations. They are also very expensive simulations with the cost of one group’s materials approaching $1000 when you factor in the track or table, air source, photogates, and other materials. So a class set of the materials can easily approach $7000. It would be great to have lab technicians keep the apparatus fine-tuned but alas that responsibility typically falls upon the physics teacher. The point of any simulation is to help students understand real concepts, such as momentum.
I was delighted to experience Adaptive Curriculum’s Activity Object “Conservation of Momentum in One Direction.” The Activity Object begins with an animation of two basketball players throwing a ball back and forth, and then being put on ice skates. Now, the players move backwards as they throw the ball forward (Newton’s Third Law). Students are now engaged by the question, why did the player on the left move more than the player on the right?
Instead of just sliding objects on an air table, the Activity Object shows clearly what each block represents in our basketball situation, as shown in the scene below. This helps students establish the real-world connection.
Then the rich scaffolding begins. First students join different orange blocks, the spring, and the red block, and set them in motion by releasing the compressed spring. Students have to examine the data for which physical property (mass or volume) is important in determining the block’s speed. The analysis of data indicates that the mass is important.
After the exploration, an explanation describes momentum, and explains the equation and units for momentum. In the elaboration phase, students now tackle the driving question of the basketball players. The students now join the orange and red blocks with a spring but also place the blue block on the table. When the blocks are launched, the orange block moves to the left, the red block to the right where it collides and joins with the blue block. Just as in the starting investigation, students see the actual motion of the blocks, so the data they explore is more meaningful. Then the momentum of each block (orange, red, and red joined with blue) is calculated, and all of these momenta are the same. This helps students to progress in their understanding of conservation of momentum.
This understanding is further developed with an animation describing conservation of momentum. Then students are introduced to other applications of Newton’s Third Law and momentum, including rocket launches, automobile-truck collisions, and Newton’s cradle. After the Activity Object, a ten-question multiple-choice evaluation helps teachers know which concepts students have mastered and where they may need additional work. There is a well-designed Enrichment Sheet for homework where students read a few paragraphs and then answer questions about momentum and solve problems. As wise of a man as Vic Mayer was, I’m still not sure that all hands-on activities are simulations but I do know that some simulations are better, more economical, and easier than other simulations. “Conservation of Momentum in One Direction” shows the power of a virtual simulation in scaffolding and developing deep understanding of concepts, using the 5E learning model, and helping students realize how classroom science concepts apply to their lives.
Today is Labor Day (thus the casualness of it all) and my son and his friend were shooting some video segments of, well, shooting as well as backwards slow motion (see http://www.youtube.com/user/YouKnowMeHy). I asked them to film a demonstration I did this week at an inservice professional development workshop I did for middle grade teachers.
My son filmed with his little Sony Cyber-shot camera (a still picture camera that also does video) and then edited it with Apple’s iMovie.
For another discrepant event please visit my blog posting on surface area to volume ratio.
Especially in the winter months, I enjoy a good cup of strong, hot coffee. So I purchased the 12V and USB Travel Mug from ThreeSixty Lifestyle. It is a nice looking mug with a cover but on my first use, it didn’t seem like it really was adding any heat to the coffee.
So I got out my probeware and Spark (from Pasco) and put it to the test. First, I determined that the coffee in our coffee pot is 80° C (degrees Celsius or 176° F ). To test the mug, I filled it almost full (350 mL) with water at about 80° C (beverage heating for 12 ounces in our microwave) without plugging into my USB. Then I dumped this out and started again and I tested it with 80° C water with it plugged in.
From the first graph, after about 80 minutes it had a temperature of 46° C. From the second graph it kept a constant temperature of 60° C after
Graph 1: Cooling Curve with No Electrical Heating
falling for the first 28 minutes. So clearly heat is being added with an equilibrium (heat lost=heat gained) established at 60° C with a room temperature of approximately 20° C. But is it worth the bother to plug it into my computer and have a tethered cup? Without heating the cup, the
Graph 2: Cooling Curve with USB Electric Heating
water stayed above 60° C for approximately 30 minutes. It seems like both cups took about the same amount of time to cool to 60° C so there is no advantage for my first cup of jo in the morning, as that usually doesn’t last 30 minutes. Later in the morning, when I tend to let the coffee sit longer, it might pay to have it plugged in. But coffee at 60° C doesn’t give me that coveted deep-warming feeling. So good thing I bought this at Big 5 Sports, as they are quite good at accepting returns.
When it comes down to it, I would like to find a coffee heater that has a
Image from "Melting and Boiling Points: Heating Curve" from Adaptive Curriculum
heating curve, rather than a cooling curve. Perhaps I need a hot plate, like the one shown in the image from Adaptive Curriculum to the right. Bring on the heat!
When it comes to gift giving, I suspect that science teachers tend to give gifts with richer science experiences than most other people. This is sometimes but not always appreciated, so moderation is required. This Christmas, my wife was the recipient of the “Mathmos Thaw” ice candle from think-geek.com. My iphone picture to the right shows the beauty of a candle shining through about ½ inches of frozen water.
One thing that science teachers appreciate more than your everyday person is the extremely high specific heat capacity of water. The high specific heat capacity of water has great demonstrations (for example “Flaming Hands”) and all sorts of implications such as more moderate climates when living near a large body of water and why water is so good at putting out fires. Adaptive Curriculum just released a new Activity Object entitled “Specific Heat.” Through a series of virtual experiments, students are led to an understanding of the amount of heat transferred or absorbed (Q) = mass (m) x change in temperature (∆T) x specific heat (c).
This Activity Object from Adaptive Curriculum is a fantastic way to help students develop a deep understanding of concepts related to heat transfer that are important in both physics and chemistry.
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Time lapse Mathmos Thaw From Think-Geek.com
“Thermodynamics is a funny subject. The first time you go through it, you don’t understand it at all. The second time you go through it, you think you understand it, except for one or two small points. The third time you go through it, you know you don’t understand it, but by that time you are so used to it, it doesn’t bother you anymore.” Arnold Sommerfeld (1868-1951) From: http://www.eoht.info/page/Arnold+Sommerfeld
Almost 25 years ago, Presenter for the Macintosh II was the start of a revolution in presentations, in much the same way that word processing was a revolution in writing. Later, Microsoft bought Presenter and renamed it PowerPoint. The advantages for well-done presentations with PowerPoint are evident. With the popularity, however, there are critics and unengaged audiences. To be fair, it isn’t necessarily PowerPoints fault that a presentation is bad. PowerPoint Bullets don’t kill people; people kill people. It is the case, however, that the omnipresence of PowerPoints means that students won’t be excited just because the room goes dark and a PowerPoint is being shown.
The hottest name in science presentations is Prezi, which creates a non-linear way to depict concepts and multimedia. Prezi calls itself “the zooming presentation editor,” which captures part of it but it really should be called an “animated zooming presentation creator.” The really engaging part is how it zooms to different parts. Take this Prezi presentation that is designed to be an introductory lesson on physics. You can’t appreciate how cool the zooming works until you see Prezi in action. You fly about the word Physics as students are brought to topics they will learn throughout the year.
A Prezi presentation introducing physics.
Great teachers view the world and wonder how can I use this in my teaching. There are teachers who see a tool and instantly think about how they can use it to present science better. Then, there are those that instantly think about how they can put it into students’ hands so they can use it to learn science. Check out this Prezi, which is designed to present info for students to do a “Solar System Prezi-tation.”
Prezis are kept on the internet, so you can access other teacher-created science prezi-tations. Hopefully, they will categorize their site but for now you can do a keyword search. I did a search for “photosynthesis” and found 650 presentations. You can easily have your students go to these websites. I like Adaptive Curriculum because you can embed internet resources with the assigned Activity Objects.
A lesson plan from Adaptive Curriculum includes Activity Objects and Internet resources.
Further, if you believe in the importance of concept mapping in science education (as I do), then Prezi is a great tool for this as well. You can present teacher created or student created concept maps (see below).
But if you are going to Prezi, you better get their quick. This tool will grow in popularity until one day students might say, “I keep getting motion sickness in all my classes from Prezi. Can we please go back to PowerPoints?”
While there are many powerful tools in the science teacher’s tool chest, one of the most potent is the word processor. This is because lesson planning is an iterative process; we write what we think is an effective lesson plan, then teach it, then modify it, then teach it, then modify it, etc. Although taken for granted now, we forget how easy it is to open a file and make some modifications that enhance what we do as science teachers.
Science teachers should have a template that they use in their day-to-day lessons. A template reduces the need to re-type information on a daily basis, and a template is a reminder of important areas for the teacher to include.
I have been using a Microsoft Word template for about seven years now in my preservice teacher classes. Overtime, I have modified the template, adding sections and deleting others. On a recent assignment in my elementary science methods class, I had a lot of strong lesson plans submitted by my students. Paige Hogg wrote an excellent Parachutes, and I am attaching her lesson plan as an example of a strong lesson and the use of a lesson plan template.
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology prepared a report (September, 2010) with the following recommendations:
(1) STANDARDS: SUPPORT THE CURRENT STATE-LED MOVEMENT FOR SHARED STANDARDS IN MATH AND SCIENCE
(2) TEACHERS: RECRUIT AND TRAIN 100,000 GREAT STEM TEACHERS OVER THE NEXT DECADE WHO ARE ABLE TO PREPARE AND INSPIRE STUDENTS
(3) TEACHERS: RECOGNIZE AND REWARD THE TOP 5 PERCENT OF THE NATION’S STEM TEACHERS, BY CREATING A STEM MASTER TEACHERS CORPS
(4) EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY: USE TECHNOLOGY TO DRIVE INNOVATION, BY CREATING AN ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY FOR EDUCATION
(5) STUDENTS: CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR INSPIRATION THROUGH INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP EXPERIENCES OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
(6) SCHOOLS: CREATE 1,000 NEW STEM-FOCUSED SCHOOLS OVER THE NEXT DECADE
(7) ENSURE STRONG AND STRATEGIC NATIONAL LEADERSHIP
The report begins with this summary of the importance of STEM:
The success of the United States in the 21 century – its wealth and welfare – will depend on the ideas and skills of its population. These have always been the Nation’s most important assets. As the world small measure by the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States. STEM education will determine whether the United States will remain a leader among nations and whether we will be able to solve immense challenges in such areas as energy, health, environmental protection, and national security. It will help produce the capable and flexible workforce needed to compete in a global marketplace. It will ensure our society continues to make fundamental discoveries and to advance our understanding of ourselves, our planet, and the universe. It will generate the scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians who will create the new ideas, new products, and entirely new industries of the 21st century. It will provide the technical skills and quantitative literacy needed for individuals to earn livable wages and make better decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities. And it will strengthen our democracy by preparing all citizens to make informed choices in an increasingly technological world.
Chapter 5 focuses on teachers and begins with this statement:
Anyone who has set foot in a classroom knows that teachers make a huge difference in the lives of their students. While not everyone can recall the influence of a legendary teacher like Jaime Escalante, many people have stories about the crucial role that a teacher played in sparking their passion for a subject, teaching them a lifelong skill, or helping them surmount an obstacle. Indeed, most people who work in STEM fields or who simply have an interest in STEM can point to teachers who excited about them about the beauty and power of mathematics, the wonders of science, or the power of technology – and who helped them learn that they could gain mastery of these subjects. Sadly, though, many adults also point to experiences in school that convinced them that STEM subjects were inherently boring, cryptic, or beyond their grasp.
The report correctly points to the importance of STEM for our nation, and suggests compelling steps to improve what we do.
A recent New York Times article (September 8, 2010) created a stir by suggesting that the old advice to do homework in the same spot in the home was incorrect. Benjamin Carey summarizes the findings of cognitive scientists as “instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention.” Providing evidence that takes to task the one study place idea, Carey writes: “In one classic 1978 experiment, psychologists found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room. Later studies have confirmed the finding, for a variety of topics.”
Most kids aren’t going to rejoice in this news. They are holding out for the research that says that it helps them to do homework if they are also watching TV. I guess if there are parents who make their children go to some solitary confinement place to do homework, the children might be happy to see this news. My sons seem to enjoy doing their work in the kitchen/family room area, where we tend to congregate, and my wife or I are available to help. They do have a built in desk/office space that has no windows and is cluttered. I was thinking about clearing some clutter so they would actually use their desk area, but now I can point to this 1978 study as evidence that their desk area is perfect. To be honest, I don’t really mind where they do homework and study, just as long as they do it.
Extending this idea, the varied environments created through virtual learning are better than “different rooms.” Students can learn while on Mars or learn while at the bottom of the ocean. Just consider some of the over four hundred Activity Objects of Adaptive Curriculum, students find themselves as mechanics in a car garage, on planets from different solar systems, in Egypt studying mutualism, in a chemistry lab, in a music salon, controlling a reactor in a nuclear submarine, at an amusement park constructing a roller coaster, living in Europe 500 years ago, and producing a theatrical production. Clearly my house doesn’t have rooms that are this interesting, my advertisement might be, “you can wash dishes in the kitchen.” Actually, we do make an effort to have an interesting home environment with interesting décor from different places around the world where we lived, a pool, a trampoline, a basketball court, a lawn, two fish tanks, a reptile tank, two sulcatta baby tortoises, one shelty, and an exercise area. My home, just like most other homes, is more interesting than the typical classroom. The beauty of virtual science activities is that we can take students out of the classroom. I don’t mind an occasional replication of a classroom lab, but the true power of virtual learning is taking students outside the walls of the classroom.
I hinted at controversy in my opening sentence. The Times article also called the whole notion of learning styles a myth; A dangerous statement with so many teachers eating up the invented multiple intelligences of Howard Gardner. I predict in 2020, Gardner will state that there is an intelligence for creating new multiple intelligences. While it is clear that some people are better at some things than other people are, at what point do skills, abilities, and knowledge become grouped as intelligence? I think I should rush to invent “soccer intelligence,” “volleyball setting intelligence,” and “interior design intelligence.”
The great regard for Gardner’s work by teachers is no doubt because teachers see different learning styles. Any teacher who has taught for several years will know that students have varied learning styles. Come on, how obvious, some students learn quite well by reading a textbook and others simply don’t. If you have ever been in school and there was a subject that didn’t come naturally to you but did come naturally to others, you would also realize this. So, I’m not sure how you can state that, “The contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning-styles approach within education and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is, in our opinion, striking and disturbing.”
Color Mixing at a Theater: Paints and Lights
To be sure, a teacher with only a dry-erase marker and a class of 35 adolescent students might have a difficult time adjusting to the learning styles of students, so we might expect little “utility” as he lectures. But if given the training, resources, and a suitable class size, teachers can know their students better, and plan a variety of experiences to help students learn science. One powerful tool for helping students learn at their own pace, and in ways they enjoy, is internet-based science experiences.
This month I was invited to work with Lee Hartwell (Nobel Prize winner for his work on cells that had important implications for cancer research) and his team at the Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. While not as important as cancer research to save individual lives, our work can contribute to the goal of helping to sustain an individual planet. We are developing a sustainability course for Arizona State University that will be taken by all elementary education students.
Getting to Seattle early, I was able to walk around Lake Union, take a short boat cruise, and find a neat coffee house. As I was enjoying my coffee and the cool air from the open windows, I noticed a very sleek red sports car and then a sign that said Tesla. I had just read an article about the two electric sports cars trying to survive in the US and this was the showroom for one. I bustled over with my coffee and found that they were selling for $108,000. I asked if it was okay to take some photographs, and the receptionist said, “If you put down your coffee, you can get in, and I will take your picture.” Which was an offer that couldn’t be refused.
Sitting in this car, and thinking, “Wow, I am here to work on sustainability and here I am in this brilliant electric sports car.” Perhaps it was the forces of karma that seemed to bring these two events together, my mind actually started thinking of scenarios for me to purchase this car! If you know me, this is so far from who I am; I am a “buy and hold” car person (my small 1999 Acura, that I bought used, has 136,000 miles), who always pays cash for vehicles, and who treats cars as means to get from point A to B rather than as adornments. But the karma and sitting in this awesome vehicle contributed to a flight of fancy, that has now landed. Just as the fox called the grapes he couldn’t get sour, it was tempting to disparage as I walked away: “I could buy three foreclosed houses in Phoenix for this much money,” “It was kind of difficult to get into the car,” and “I want a car that I can drink coffee in.” I do, however, admit that I really hope this company succeeds, and electric cars become more than just curiosities. And to be honest, I don’t really want three foreclosed houses, I need to get more limber, and drink less coffee. I do also hope that you buy this car, keep it in great shape, and then sell it to me in five years for one-quarter the original cost. Today is also the IPO of Tesla, I hope they are successful in raising capital for this venture.
As we move to sustainable ways of producing electricity, electric cars will be a much greener alternative. We need to capitalize on the interests of young people and help them understand how these cars work and why electric cars can contribute to cleaner environments and less use of fossil fuels. Adaptive Curriculum has an Activity Object on solar cars, which improves on the Tesla design by having solar panels. It is difficult to imagine solar panels on the Tesla, but I’m sure in the not-too-distant future we will be seeing paints that are embedded with hidden electronics that convert sunlight to electricity.
As wise of a man as Vic Mayer was, I’m still not sure that all hands-on activities are simulations but I do know that some simulations are better, more economical, and easier than other simulations. “Conservation of Momentum in One Direction” shows the power of a virtual simulation in scaffolding and developing deep understanding of concepts, using the 5E learning model, and helping students realize how classroom science concepts apply to their lives.
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