Greetings, Friends!
Unlike the majority of the posts within the
blog, I wanted to take the time to BRIEFLY mention a fantastic resource for
science teachers who are in the transition from teaching science based on old
standards to teaching science as expected by following the Next Generation
Science Standards.
The original, more traditional science
standards required that science be taught as a series of facts linearly
connected so that students could eventually understand concepts. In other
words, facts were used as building blocks that could be used to construct
different buildings which are representative of the concepts that the students
are supposed to understand. The concepts, then, are peripherally connected to
understand an overall scientific theme, which is analogous to how the
constructed buildings make up a small community. However, scientific themes
have usually been taught in isolation in a manner that does not allow for
connections to be made within the different domains of science (Chemisty,
Physics, Biology, Earth Science, Space Science, Environmental Science,
etc).
The Next Generation Science Standards is
unique and entirely different in that the "facts" students are
supposed to learn are intended for students to understand, examine,
investigation, and work with scientific phenomena. The new standards do not
stress that students should learn all of the steps of mitosis in order, but
they do want students to understand mitosis, how it works, but in the context
of a specific phenomena. However, it is up to the science teachers to choose
the phenomena to investigation. To put it more simply, students will eventually
be assessed to describe, explain, and analyze data from a scientific phenomena
that may have not been studied in class, but based on other phenomena that was
studied in class. As an example, a science teacher may choose to study the
anatomy and physiology of a human during the course of a Biology class.
However, students may be asked to discuss the anatomy and physiology of a fish
if given an illustration or visualization of a fish's organs. Students may also
be asked to explain the differences of fish anatomy from that of a cow in terms
of the organisms' respiratory system. A cow's anatomy may not have been studied
in class, a fish's anatomy may not have been studied in class, but the students
should possess the academic skills necessary to apply their knowledge of
studying the anatomy of a different organism.
Teaching to the Next Generation Science
Standards will be tricky, it will be difficult, and may even result in several
years of "low average scores" on the final assessment due to teachers
not adapting to the new instructional strategies needed to teach the course.
This same phenomena (pun intended) occurred whenever The College Board re-wrote
the Advanced Placement Physics curriculum for its Algebra based Physics course,
which resulted in a 66% pass rate prior to the rewrite and a 32% pass rate
after the rewrite (one of the lowest scored exams in the history of Advanced
Placement Exams).
Since the Next Generation Science Standards
will emphasize phenomena, I would like to suggest that science teachers check
out the following website.
According to the individual who created the website,
"TJ McKenna got his start as an animal
behaviorist and is now an extreme hoarder of NGSS resources (which we know to be
scarce). This may have stemmed from his undergraduate research where he
conceived and designed experiments on deceptive and theft-averting behaviors of
food-caching Eastern Grey Squirrels - hoarders of a different kind. This later
eventually led to a Masters degree in Entomology, and he is currently in the
doctoral program in Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Connecticut
focused on Science Education, and a lead facilitator for the NGSX project (NGSX.org).
TJ first commented on early drafts of NGSS
and became very interested in education because of the way the Next Generation
Science Standards capture what it is like to think like a scientist in
authentic ways. Now, drawing on his background as a research scientist and his
7 years of on-air television work, phenomena has become a major way he engages
students and teacher learners (both pre-service & in-service) with
core science ideas that they want to figure out. Because the NGSS reflect
how TJ thinks about science, he hopes that through curating a cache of
phenomena this will open conversations and with educators across the
nation who are hoping to create the next generation of student engagement in
science."
The website is fantastic due to the fact that
it gives teachers access to a variety of different phenomena that can be used
to introduce a topic in science and referred to throughout an entire unit or an
entire course to help drive the science that students are expected to learn. As
of now, the phenomena listed on the website is not connected to the Next
Generation Science Standards, but I would assume that TJ may make those
connections as he continues making progress with his website.
Please consider the amazing phenomena already
listed on the website to help drive future lessons, or submit your own
phenomena that amaze you. Regardless, this is a website that needs to be
cached.
And with that, I am caching out!
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