Starting the 5E Learning Cycle: the ENGAGE Phase

After discussing how we can use our knowledge of the science of learning to help students understand science concepts better, we created summarizing concept maps of the Chapter 10 "Learning in the Middle and High School Classroom" reading (Chiappetta, E. L. & Koballa, Jr., T. R. (2010). Science Instruction in the Middle and Secondary Schools: Developing Fundamental Knowledge and Skills for Teaching; 7th Edition. Allyn & Bacon). Students took photos of the concept maps and shared them on Yogile.com (use the password "scienceed" to check them out!). Please note that albums in the free version of this webtool are deleted after 14 days, so it may not be available anymore when you check. Here are a couple of examples too:

Taylor's Concept Map

Dylan and Brett's Map

The Chapter 10 discussion was followed by a look at the Abell and Brown article titled  Examining the Learning Cycle (2007). Students each came up with one key point from the article. They shared these via Today's Meet and here was the list they came up with:



We will explore the 5E Learning Cycle in the weeks to come, starting with the ENGAGE phase. To get thinking about this, students practice an example of an activity that could be used to start the topic of DNA Technology. They had to use black and green playdough to create a genetically engineered organism. This not only got them interested in the topic (or "hooked") but also uncovered preconceptions about what genetically engineered organisms are. The instructor took photos of their creations and shared them with students again on Yogile.com (see them below if the album has expired). Their GE organisms ranged from camels with photosynthetic eyeballs to a snake with rabbit ears.

After looking at other examples of activities / games/ photos that could be used as the Engage phase, students came up with their own. They shared them on the Padlet wall below and we compared the different approaches students took for presenting some of the same topics.

Created with Padlet

Discrepant Event Lesson

Discrepant events are a great way to start an inquiry-based learning cycle. Discrepant events leave students puzzled and wanting to find out more about what happened. If you want to learn more about discrepant events as a teaching strategy, here is a good summary. There are plenty of resources out there with ideas for discrepant events. Check out our LiveBinder tab for some starting points. Lots of critical thinking going on and some fun in our discrepant events lesson in Science Methods the other day... via Photopeach

Online Gaming in the Classroom

Why Online Games? 

 

Online gaming has negative attention for being addictive, time consuming and non-educational. But what if we simply were not using this technology to its full potential? 

Most teenage students would prefer to play a game than sit and listen to a teacher talk at them for an hour and thirty minutes. With revolutionary technology evolving constantly students are becoming more distracted by said technology in the classrooms. So why not use them to engage students and emphasize key points of learning developing toward mastery? 

Benefits

An online game is a game that is played over a computer network, or the internet. Most can now be accessed a variety of ways including:

• Computers or Laptops
• Smart Phones
•  Tablets

By using these technologies to access online games students can become engaged in an interactive atmosphere (while also having an excuse to use the technology they are so fond of).

Examples

How in-depth and interactive an educational online game is depends on the learning target and the duration of the game. Some games are fast paced and can come to an end within a few minutes whereas others may take multiple playing periods for a conclusion to feel more like a real online game and to enable critical thinking. 

Cell Craft is an example of an online game that can take a longer period to play. In the game you are actively constructing a cell starting as a single-celled organism containing only a centrosome and plasma membrane. Throughout  each step the major organelles and biomolecules are explained to help the student build the cell which furthers understanding of the content. There are roughly 8 sections to be played but this is what the first section would look like when students play this game. 

 An example of a shorter online game would be Extinct! Are You Smarter Than a Plant? which happens to be a strategy-based game. The game can be as long or as short as the student wants depending on the strategies taken to insure the survivability of a plant species. The link to this game can be found below.

http://www.kongregate.com/games/Harissa/extinct-are-you-smarter-than-a-plant

Final Thoughts

It is almost crucial with the abundance of technology today and student interest in the cyber world to utilize the internet for student engagement and mastery learning. If we can't hold student attention by traditional methods then making the shift to accommodate a technology dependent generation should prove beneficial. The important thing to note here is that online games should not be used to replace teaching but rather act as a supplement to support mastery learning. 

Useful Resources

• Cell Craft

• Extinct! Are You Smarter Than a Plant? 

• Kongregate: Free Games Online

• Science Game Center

Youtube in the Classroom

YouTube

YouTube is an online video website. Most videos on YouTube are music videos, vlogs, commercials, or other videos. Anyone with a google account can create a channel. YouTube can become a wonderful tool in the classroom if used appropriately. 

Some ways to use YouTube in the Classroom:

YouTube is full of short informative videos and vlogs that can act as a hook for lessons.

• Videos like this are examples of ways to get students excited about 
• The investigation of chemical properties. 
• Or genetics 
• Or even bringing Soccer into the classroom with physics
• The science of weather, like snowflakes!
• Investigating their world. 

Youtube can also act as a great refresher or recap for students on the prior knowledge they need to recall for the upcoming lesson. 

• Channels like Crash-Course or Khan Academy are a great place to go!
• Students can watch a video about Electron Configuration or Mitosis

Youtube can also be used to help struggling students keep up.

• Providing students with additional content in a very accessible form can assist students in developing their knowledge of content. Like the parts of a cell 
• Teachers can even create their own YouTube Channels to create videos for struggling students. This could also be a way to provide parents examples of what material is being discussed in the classroom

Youtube videos can be used to start discussions in the classroom about current events that are related to science. 

• For example, a debate on vaccines
• Or a debate on if global warming is the biggest threat to human life

There is a multitude of opportunities that Youtube videos offers students and teachers, we must simply just find them!

Some Great Channels To Start With Include:

Khan Academy

Crash Course

Minute Physics

Minute Earth 

Periodic Videos

Ted-ED

PBS

Soul Pancake

Veritasium 

"The Early Bird gets the Wordle"

Wordle!

What is Wordle?
Wordle is a free tool for creating word clouds from texts of your choosing or your own mind that is simple to use. The clouds that you create show how prevalent a word is within a text. When you insert text from a chapter about water in your science book, Wordle would put the most frequently used words, such as "Water," from that chapter in a larger print in comparison to lesser used words. You also have the luxury of customizing the size, shape, orientation, and color of the generated Wordle. The only exception when entering text is that you need to leave out all punctuation, it isn't needed. Here's an example of the Create screen:

Who can use Wordle?
Wordle can be used by anyone with access to the internet!

When or how could you, as the science teacher, use Wordle?

Uses for Wordle:

• Generate a Wordle for students to use at the beginning or end of a unit
• When students need a visual representation of the content you are teaching, you as the teacher can create a Wordle to help 
• Your students can use Wordle to summarize qualitative data or their readings
• You, as the teacher,can use Wordle as a supplement to a lesson
• Wordle can be used to present vocabulary in a fun and engaging manner by your students or yourself
• Students can use Wordle as a means of review before a test
• As an entrance/exit slip: Specifically, you could have your class create a Wordle that contains information about what they learned,questions they had, or any other comment and have them upload them to the class website as a virtual "permission slip" that shows they participated that day
• Teachers can assign a Wordle as a response to a reading/chapter
• As a bulletin board filler: Students can generate a Wordle about what they think about a topic(ie: What is Science?)and post them onto a bulletin board outside of the classroom
• Students can also use Wordle as a means of reflection

Where can I find additional Wordles?
http://www.wordle.net/

A couple of examples...

What does this Wordle represent?

This Wordle (taken from the website itself) shows words that go along with a Biology unit. The most frequently used terms are Biology, Organisms, Cells, Species, and DNA for example. Other words that are used less often may or may not be equally important as these so it's important to remember to prioritize what words you insert to create a Wordle.

Could I use Wordle to help students understand Common Core, NGSS, or NCES?

Sure! I've included a Wordle that uses terminology from the 6th grade NC Essential Science Standard 6.P.1 and its clarifying objectives 6.P.1.1 through 6.P.1.3. This standard says:

Essential Standard Clarifying Objectives 

6.P.1 Understand the properties of waves and the wavelike property of energy in earthquakes, light and sound waves.6.P.1.1 Compare the properties of waves to the wavelike property of energy in earthquakes, light and sound. 6.P.1.2 Explain the relationship among visible light, the electromagnetic spectrum, and sight. 6.P.1.3 Explain the relationship among the rate of vibration, the medium through which vibrations travel, sound and hearing.

Put into the Wordle Create Tab, it comes out looking something similar to the following Wordle:

The possibilities are endless with Wordle! Go online and try it out for yourself! 

Using Kahoot in the classroom!

What is Kahoot?

Kahoot is a FREE technology for students and teachers!

Teachers can use it to give a quiz, facilitate class discussions, gather class opinions, introduce a class debate, or take a survey.  The possibilities are endless!

Teachers simply go to www.getkahoot.com and make a quiz, discussion, or survey.  Once finished their Kahoot is given a game pin that they can share with their students.

Students go to www.kahoot.it/#/com on their phones, laptops, ipods, etc. and enter in the game pin their teacher gives them.  Once the game pin is entered students can create a nickname if they choose or they can remain anonymous.  After all students are entered the teacher presses start on the main screen and the game begins!

How can you use Kahoot in a science Classroom?
There are so many ways, you can use it to give a laboratory quiz, to ask students an open ended question like What is their favorite thing about science?  It can be used as a graded assignment or for fun to see what students are thinking or what they already know.

Here is a fun laboratory quiz pin that could be used, GamePin: 781233
: https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/3cd561a4-0e8e-4e6c-a38c-5818d618439c, The teacher simply goes to this link and has the students type in the game pin and it begins.

The best part is that there are so many great Kahoots already made and it is simple and easy to make your own that fits your specific class needs!  It is a great way to start discussions and get students excited about using technology in the classroom.  Kahoot is great tool, it can be made anonymous so that every student has a chance to answer and voice their opinions with out worrying about what others may think!  At the end of each Kahoot teachers also have the option to get feedbacks and results so they can keep all the answers if they would like to.

Ideas for use in the science classroom:

-Use it to introduce a new concept or topic.

-Use it to reinforce knowledge of a learned topic.

-Use it to lead peer discussions and reflections.

-It can really be used with any science topic to do all of these things and it is fun because it engages students and introduces them to new technology while still making learning fun.

-You can even have students make their own Kahoots! and they can play against each other which is super fun in the classroom.

Goals for Our Science Students

Our group of middle and high school science teachers-to-be shared their goals for their science students in the lesson yesterday. They will be revising them at the end of the course. We are also taking this opportunity to learn about blogging with students and anticipating issues before they come up (e.g. students must understand the difference between a post, a comment and a reply; emphasize that everyone's name (or chosen nickname) must be on their comment/ reply, there should be no "anonymous" comments (unless you as a teacher decides a specific activity is better suited for anonymous replies); the importance and usefulness of labels/ tags, etc.

Here are our lists of goals. Please feel free to comment on your classmates' list: