Author: lpenney (Page 2 of 9)

During our first class, we read the book Bud Finds Her Gift, it is about observations. Our instructor put us into groups of 3 using our tree cookies. We then got a piece of chart paper on which we wrote numbers 1-6 on the left-hand side. She then handed out a box that was labeled with a number (ranging 1-6) and we could not see what the object was. As a group, we had to use our senses (sound, weight, touch) to come up with an answer on what we thought was in the box. At this point, we had to write our answer down beside the number that was on the piece of chart paper. We then passed the box to a different group and repeated this six times so we were able to guess for all six boxes.

Here is what the boxes looked like:

This is what our chart paper looked like:

Once everyone had their guesses, as a class, the teacher held up the first box, moved it around, and got people to share their answers. Once everyone had shared their thoughts, the teacher then opened the box and revealed what was inside. You would then repeat this process until all six objects were presented. In my cohort we all loved this activity. We thought it was so engaging, fun, and exciting.

Automatically I came up with an idea on what else you could do with this activity. My idea was to put objects in the boxes and have the students guess what the object is using different sounds, feelings, etc. Create this activity based on the morning radio show where they play “guess that sound” where the class can be put into teams and have to “call in” using a fake phone at the front of the classroom to make an educated guess on what the object/sound is. This could be a morning game where only one team gets to make one guess a day and then eventually the team who guesses the sound correctly gets to choose the game they play in gym, etc.

BC Science Connection:

This activity connects to the BC Curriculum Curricular Competencies in Questioning and Predicting, Processing and Analyzing Data and Information. As we used our senses to explore the mystery boxes that our professor provided, we were forming educated guesses based on evidence and prior knowledge we have. At the elementary school level, students are expected to demonstrate curiosity, make predictions, and communicate their thinking to the teacher and their peers. This activity supported all of those Curricular Competencies in a playful and an engaging way. This activity also supports collaboration as we had to justify our ideas and explain our reasoning in our small working groups and then in front of the class.

Reflection:

I really enjoyed this activity because it showed me that everything in science is so impactful when it is done in an inquiry-based and exploratory way. It is a lot more joyful than having a worksheet-based class. My extension idea of “Guess That Sound” game would continue to build observation, inference, and thoughtful reasoning in a motivating way. I will definitely include this in my future classroom as I think it will be so much fun but I also think it will build crucial skills not only in Science but in SEL (social emotional learning). You could do this with younger grades and ask “what emotion is this” with a poster.

My AHA Moment:

My AHA moment is when I realized observation is not a small introductory skill; it is the foundation of scientific thinking. Additionally, I realized that gaining these important skills like observation can start from an early age where it is fun and engaging. Yet, I could use this lesson for all ages and they would still have fun.

Throughout this class, we had to make a demonstration and present it to our cohort. My partners for the demonstration were Carter White and Connor Hall. We did a lot of brainstorming and we decided to do our demonstration on paper airplanes. We connected this topic to the grade 6 science curriculum.

What we did to prepare:

• Created a student worksheet to guide inquiry and reflection
• Created a teacher document that our peers could follow in the future
• Researched how Paper airplanes could connect to FPPL (First People Principles of Learning) in a meaningful way
• Tested our demonstration before our presentation

Here is everything we gave our class:

As you see, in the teacher notes, we have already connected our demonstration to the BC Curriculum by tying in the Big Ideas, Content, and FPPL.

Big Ideas:

• Newtons three laws of motion, describe the relationship between force and motion.

Content:

• Newtons three laws of motion
• Force of gravity

FPPL:

• Intro in Ktunaxa
• Learning is hands on and contextual
• Learning involves recognizing consequences of one’s actions
• Learning involves patience and time
• Learning is reflective
• Sharing Circle at the end – talking about what went well and what we could improve on
• Recommended to do the activity outside if the weather is nice
• Fredrick James Carmichael (first Indigenous commercial pilot)

AHA Moment

My aha moment came when I realized how much work it is for teachers to set up each demonstration and when I realized that engagement alone does not equal understanding. Students get really engaged with paper airplanes therefore, it is easy for a class to be engaged but not create a meaningful connecting to the content that is being covered. When my group was brainstorming, we kept thinking how we could make sure that the students were actually learning and that is how we came up with our worksheet. We had to make sure our worksheet was guided and structured in a way that students would make meaningful scientific observations and guesses. The worksheet and teacher notes are essential to help me understand that strong science teachings are about purposeful structure that supports the students inquiries.

Reflection

This experiment and assignment impacted how I view science instruction at the elementary and middle school level. When I was a student, I loved science experiments because I found them exciting and fun (I mean I still do). Now, as a future educator, I see the importance of intentional design behind all of the experiments.

Moving forward in my practices and creating student worksheets, I want to make sure that I somehow include something for the students to record. This should include their data/ observations (predictions and their explanations). I feel like those three things really helped us with creating a good worksheet that help guide students into meaningful hands on learning.

One thing I need to keep in mind when I am creating scientific demonstrations is how I will keep my class focused on the learning intention while still allowing time for their own exploration. I believe that there has to be both structured learning but also unstructured inquiry/play but there needs to be a clear purpose, place, and time for each of those things.

Having meaningful hands on learning in elementary and middle school classrooms helps students make abstract concepts concrete. Science at the elementary and middle school level should encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and different types of problem solving skills. This demonstration helped me understand how to design learning outcomes that support these goals I have.

For this class, we brought out microscopes that were age appropriate to use within elementary schools. This was my AHA moment. I totally would have never even realized that there are different levels of scientific instruments that are for elementary students that even the primary grades could use. My teacher rented them from our local resource centre.

Here is what the microscopes look like:

Using these microscopes, our teacher brought in natural resources from outside for us to look at through these microscopes.

When we focused these items on our microscope, we had to draw what it looked like. This is what I drew (cork hot plate). Although the picture below is of one of the wood cookies.

When we were done drawing, we had to put our drawing and our item on the table in random spots. We our teacher picked a couple of us to guess which drawing went with an object. After a couple of us guessed, we all picked our item and put it with the object we drew.

This connects with the BC Curriculum Science Curricular Competencies, communication, processing and analyzing data and information, and additionally, safety of using scientific tools. This lesson allows students to be curious and experiment while other students are still working on their drawings. When I was waiting for my peers to finish their drawings, I was looking at the table we sat at and other objects through the microscope that were from outside. Additionally, this allows students to analyze details and represent their findings through drawing. This activity is inquiry based which reflects how the BC Curriculum highlights hands on exploration rather than memorization in the elementary school levels.

This was an AHA moment because I realized scientific tools like microscopes are accessible even in primary grades. It challenged my thinking about what is developmentally appropriate in science. This activity impacted my learning by reminding me that students learn best when they feel like real scientists (hands-on learning). I think science is hard to always have hands on learning but this activity made it clear that it is important to have hands on learning whenever possible to keep students engaged and learning. Microscopes also help students learn ways about the world that they would not be able to see with their naked eye which will create inquiry. I know I was engaged and being curious about what other objects look like around me.

This week in our science class, focused on the chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass Asters and Goldenrod. This chapter was amazing to read.

There was one quote that stuck out to me which was:

“Growing together, both receive more pollinator visits than they would if they were growing alone. ” (Kimmerer, 2013, p.46)

This quote relates to more than just nature. It relates to human beings. I took this quote and understood it as no one will flourish as an individual, rejecting help, being stubborn, etc. To grow in not only life but academically, we need to have others to be there for us and to help us learn throughout our journeys. This also resonates with me because this gives me evidence on why I want my future classroom to be supportive, encouraging, and a community. Additionally, this quote is important to science because it shows how scientific understanding is strengthened through collaboration, observation, and Indigenous knowledge, rather than memorization. Reading the chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass made it very clear that science cannot just be a western view. There has to be both western and Indigenous knowledge within scientific learning through all grades/ levels.

After we reflected on those questions as a class, our professor showed us the game Strong Learners by Strong Nations. There are many different games that are “Strong Learners”, but this game was a memory matching game with Indigenous plants. To play, I would go off of the classroom list and call a student to go and lift to cards to see if they were a match. If they were not a match, I would tell them to read the plant names and then flip the cards back over. If a student got a matching pair, I would then get them to say the name out loud to their classmates and then go on First Voices and then play the Ktunaxa word and practice the pronunciation as a class. The game would continue like so.

Following the game, we got these prompts:

Using this information, we created a plant out of a tree root and we had to decorate it.

This is my creation. The scientific name is Lauren Vitacê Boudica. Which means Lauren’s Immune Boosting Victory. The short name for this plant is Labragut. I found this plant by walking in the forest with my Labrador Retriever and he started eating these flowers. He has really bad allergies and he did not have an upset stomach after eating the flowers and it helped his allergies. I then told my friends who have allergies and they tried it and it worked. So it stops allergic reactions from happening.

The chapter that was covered, and the activities completed are connected directly to the BC Curriculum, but more specifically, Life Sciences, where students explore how living things are interconnected within the ecosystems and how relationships in nature support growth and balance. This learning shows how Indigenous knowledge is just as important and valuable for us to understand the world around us. By bringing in Indigenous ways of knowing, students are able to see that science is about relationships, collaboration with peers, and learning from the land around us. When we get students to learn by doing, exploring, and experiencing we enhance their understanding and they will then create deeper connections with the content we present to them. Lastly, I think creating those connections to our curriculum and the FPPL (First Peoples Principles of Learning) will allow students to see that science is not separate from culture, community, and lived experiences.

I have included everything in this post because I would love to do this lesson in my future classroom. I think that it is a great lesson for all ages which you could increase the complexity or decrease it so that it is suitable for all ages. These lessons just remind me how it is simple to connect Indigenous knowledge in every lesson. This lesson allows for multiple different perspectives as Indigenous knowledge is involved, latin terminology can be involved, and the western view is involved. These activities just help myself understand that bringing in Indigenous knowledge does not have to be complicated in the education systems.