EmilyMichi

12/7/2014
SC492
FinalProject

TheprogramsofferedattheUrbanEcologyCenterhavebeenrefocusedtobetterfitthe

NextGenerationScienceStandards.Theprogramguidegivesabriefdescriptionofthe
programsandhowtheysupportthenewstandards.Eachdescriptionoffersawaytoconnectto
acomponentidea,acrosscuttingconceptand/orascienceandengineeringpractice.Even
thoughthebookletindicateshowaprogramalignstotheNextGenerationScienceStandardin
realitynotallprogramhavethatfocus.Thisisespeciallytrueforprogramsthatsupportcross
cuttingconceptsorscienceandengineeringpractices.Iwantedtoworkwiththeprogramswe
taughtthisfalltorevampthemsothatofferedanactivitythatwouldfosteranunderstanding
foracrosscuttingconceptorscienceandengineeringpractice.

Crosscuttingconceptsareconceptualideasthatareoverarchingandbridgemultiples

sciences.Thedevelopmentofeachconceptprogressesasstudentsmoveupthroughthe
grades.InfirstgradewehaveprogramthatisfocusedonanimalhabitatscalledLandDwellers.
ItisaprogramthatIhavefeltdidnothavedirectionoraconcretefocus.Toplanforthis
programmycoteacherandIexploredthecrosscuttingconceptpatternstogiveusanideaof
whatknowledgeofsciencethestudentsshouldbelearning.Patternshelptoguide
organizationandclassificationandforstudentsink2theyshouldbeworkingtodevelopways
torecordpatternsthatareobserved.Afterdiscussingourobjectiveswedeterminedwe
wantedthisprogramtolaytheframeworkforabetterunderstandingofadaptationsandhow
characteristicsareusedforclassificationinlatergrades.Tohavestudentsrecordpatternsthey
observedwecreatedalabsheetthattheyweretouseintheanimalroom.Thelabsheethad6
characteristicsforstudentstolookforintheanimalroomandaspaceforthemtotallytheir
observations.Thecharacteristicshadstudentsfindinganimalsthathavescales,ashell,claws,
livedinwater,4legsandnolegs.Asawrapupwewentthroughtheroomanddiscussedhow
wemighthaverecordedoutobservationsofspecificanimals.Thisactivitycouldsupport
studentswhoareEnglishLanguageLearnersbecausetheyareabletomakereallife

connectionstovocabularywords.Byrecordingtheobservationstheycontinuouslyseethe
wordsandwhatitmeans.Forinstanceeverytimetheysawananimalwithashelltheywould
findthewordandtallytheobservationfurtherdevelopinganunderstandingofthatword.

Engineeringandsciencepracticeshelpstudentsaskbetterquestionsandimprovehow

theydefineproblems.In6thgradeweofferaprogramthatexplorestheideaofforcesand
Newtonsthirdlaw.Theobjectiveoftheprogramisforstudentstodemonstratetheway
objectsinteractinrelationtoNewtonsthirdlawofmotionbydesigningexperiences,which
changeimportantvariablesthateffectoneorbothoftheobjects.Wewantedstudentstouse
evidencetodeterminealogicalexplanationforNewtonsLawandsupportasolutionforan
engineeringproblem.Aspartoftheclasswepresentedthestudentswithaproblemthatthey
hadtoworkingroupstosolve.Tohelpstudentsfindevidenceforsupportingtheirideaswe
createdalabsheettogivethemspacetorecordtheirplanning,observationandconclusion.
Byhavingstudentsworkinsmallergroupstheywereabletoworkattheirownpaceand
supporteachother.Theeducatorswereabletogobetweengroupsandfurtherchallengethe
groupsthatwerequicktofindasolutionandworkwiththegroupsthatwerehavingdifficulty.

Wehaveweeklymeetingsaseducatorswherethereisachancetosharedifferent

activitiesthathavebeentriedrecently.MycoteacherandIwilltakethisopportunitytoshare
thedifferentwaysthatwehaverevampedtheseprograms.Wealsowroteuptheactivitiesto
addtotheongoinglessonplanandsavedthelabsheetstotheshareddrive.Hopefullyother
educatorswillusethelabsheetssothatwecancontinuetodevelopthemandimproveour
programs.

Name:

Name:

AnimalRoomObservations

AnimalRoomObservations

Characteristics

How many?

Characteristics

Scales

Scales

Livesinthewater

Livesinthewater

Claws

Claws

Shells

Shells

Nolegs

Nolegs

4legs

4legs

How many?

Name:
Drawaplanbeforeyoustartbuilding:

1. Whatworkedordidntworkaboutyourteams
project?

2. Drawanimageofyourfinishedproject:

Aftertryingoutyourplan,writeordrawobservationsabout
whathappened:

3. WhichofNewtonsLawsdidyouuse?

4. Howwelldidyourteamworktogether?

Name:
Directions:AswedrivetotheUrbanEcologyCenterpleaseobserveto

thewhiffleballs.Nexttoeachpromptwriteyourobservations.

BeforetheBusstarts:

Asthebusismoving:

SuddenStop:

SlowStop:

LeftTurn:

RightTurn:

Whichballismovingfaster?
Small

Large