GS 311: Biology for Elementary Schools Winter 2008 Instructor: Dr. Karen Bledsoe Winter office hours: Contact information: M: 10:00-12:00 Office: NS 220 W: 8:30 – 10:00 Phone: 8-8036 F: 9:00 – 11:00 or by appointment email: [email protected] http://www.wou.edu/~bledsoek Welcome to GS 311. This is a 300-level pedagogical content knowledge course in which you will learn biology through the kinds of activities appropriate to the children you will one day be teaching. Much of the class time will be spent in hands-on, inquiry-based activities, some of which will be taught by your instructor, some by your peers, and some by you. Be prepared for out-of-class time spent reading, composing essays, responding to online writing assignments, working with an online video-based learning program, and preparing for your assigned teaching time. Textbooks • Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A Guide for Teaching and Learning (NRC, National Academy Press) • Inquire Within: Implementing Inquiry-Based Science Standards (Douglas Llewellyn, Corwin Press) • The Way Life Works (Mahlon Hogan and Bert Dodson, Three Rivers Press) Term assignments Daily work (100 points) Each class session will include activities and discussions. There may be worksheets, lab write-ups, discussion questions, or other written work to turn in. These will be collected and graded, and the total percentage of all daily work scores will be calculated into your final grade. Blog assignments (50 points, 10 points each) There will be five written assignments throughout the term in response to class reading assignments. These will be posted on the class blog (http://gs311.wordpress.com). A page will be created for each written assignment. You will use the comments features to post your response to each assignment, and to respond to other students’ work within the timelines stated for each assignment. ViSTA Project (100 points if completed entirely) The ViSTA Project consists of a series of short online videos made in classrooms of two elementary teachers during their science lessons. Both are experienced teachers, though not necessarily exemplary teachers. Each video has a set of tasks associated with it that you will complete, which include analyzing the video clips for science content, science storyline, and student thinking. All work on the ViSTA project will be done online, mostly out of class. The ViSTA project materials are still in the development phase. Our class will provide feedback in the form of pre- and post-tests and commentary. You will need access to a computer with Flash Player and sound to complete the project. Science quizzes (180 points, 20 points each) Each week after week 1 will begin with a quiz over the prior week’s science content. In-class teaching (100 points: 25 for first lesson, 75 for second) Pairs of students will be responsible for presenting two lessons during the weeks designated in the course schedule. The first lesson will be an assigned inquiry-based lesson. For the second, a “cookbook” activity will be assigned, and the pair must modify the lesson using the 5E model of inquiry-based teaching to convert the lesson into an inquiry-based lesson. The class will provide feedback using a modified classroom observation tool. Final project (100 points) Your final project will be a “Preparing for Science Teaching” portfolio which you will work on throughout the term. The portfolio will include four essays and an outline for a thematic unit in which you will include inquiry-based science teaching and integrate literature and writing. During the time scheduled for the final exam, you will give a short presentation on your thematic unit and lead a discussion about your plans and ideas.Week Inquiry Topic Elementary Content Standards Assignments due Readings 1 What is Inquiry? Science as Inquiry Blog post 1 ViSTA Pretests: Lesson Analysis pre-test, Student Activity pre-test Introduction: Welcome, The Lenses Llewellyn intro, Chs 1&2 NRC Ch 1 Hogan & Dodson, Intro 2 Learning through inquiry Levels of inquiry Memories of Science essay draft ViSTA Introduction: Student Thinking Lens, Content Storyline Lens Llewellyn Chs 3, 6 NRC Ch 2, 7 Hogan & Dodson, Ch 1 3 Learning science Blog post 2 ViSTA Food for Plants: Pretest, Content, Content Storyline Llewellyn Ch 4 NRC Ch 6 4 Designing inquiry: teacher Characteristics of Organisms • Organisms have basic needs • Organisms have structures that serve different functions. • Behavior is influenced by internal and external cues. Who is a Scientist essay draft Begin student-led lessons set 1 ViSTA Food for Plants: Student Thinking, Analyzing Learning, Posttest Llewellyn Ch 7, 8 Hogan & Dodson, Ch 5 (portions) 5 Designing inquiry: student Blog post 3 ViSTA Seeds and Growth: Prestest, Content, Content Storyline Llewellyn Ch 7, 8 Hogan & Dodson, Ch 6 (portions) 6 Questioning skills Philosophy of Teaching essay draft ViSTA Seeds and Growth: Student Thinking, Analyzing Learning, Posttest Llewellyn Ch 10 Hogan & Dodson, Ch 3 7 Becoming an inquiry teacher Life Cycles • Plants and animals have life cycles • Plants and animals closely resemble their parents • Traits involve an interaction between genes and the environment. Misconceptions essay draft Begin student-led lessons set 2 ViSTA Inquiry: Introduction, Analysis Llewellyn Ch 9 NRC Ch 5 Hogan & Dodson, Ch 3 8 Inquiry in the classroom Blog post 4 ViSTA Applying Your Knowledge: Reviewing Strategies, Connections to Standards Llewellyn Ch 5 NRC Ch 3 Hogan & Dodson, Ch 1, revisited 9 Assessing inquiry Blog post 5 ViSTA Posttest: Lesson Analysis NRC Ch 4 Hogan & Dodson, Ch 6 (portions) 10 Supporting inquiry Organisms in their environment • Animals depend on plants. • Patterns of behavior relate to the environment and influence survival. • Organisms affect their environment. • Humans depend on the natural and the constructed world. Portfolio ViSTA Posttest: Student Activity NRC Ch 8 Final Exam (Portfolio presentations): Thursday, March 20, 8:00 a.m.GS 311Portfolio Project: Preparing for Science Teaching Due date Portfolio: Thursday, March 13 Presentation: Thursday, March 20 Portfolio contents Memories of Science essay: Draft due week 2. Length: about 1 ½ - 3 pages. In this essay, you will reflect on how you learned science when you were an elementary student. Consider what activities you can