Science Rubric

In order to fully develop critical thinking skills necessary to function in the world of science, and the world in general, science teachers must incorporate more robust authentic inquiry activities, as part of their overall science curriculum. However, in my experience as a science teacher (18 years) and a science program director (3 years) in inner-city high schools in Boston, students do not have the opportunity to engage in robust authentic inquiry activities. Using my years’ experience in the public education system, it is clear to me that factors, such as teachers’ inadequate content knowledge, lack of motivation to implement inquiry, pressure to teach to high stake standardized tests, lack of experience

I assessed the students’ intellectual involvement during the Science Tool Learning Center and the Help Harry STEM activity. The assessment included worksheets, designing a perch, and a survey of the students’ teamwork efforts. During the learning center, the students had to complete a worksheet the corresponded with the station they were currently at. For example, at the balance station, the students had to follow the prompts by using the balance and answering the questions on the worksheet. Not only did they have to have their “minds-on” to complete the worksheet, they were also involved in “hands-on” activities by using the science tools. Furthermore, during the Help Harry STEM activity, the students were instructed to design and build a

There have been few studies focusing on the impact that reading comprehension has in the science curriculum on students ' science comprehension. Random students were selected to participate in either inquiry-based science only or inquiry-based science plus reading conditions. The results showed that students that performed in an inquiry-science based plus reading significantly outperformed the inquiry-based science only students. In the state of Georgia students must pass the state

Integrating other learning areas in our unit of work and exercising more resources that teachers can use in the classroom base upon our science unit is also a crucial element that our group was missing that needed to be included in our presentation. The classroom environment should include lots of books, visual materials, ICT devices and activities to facilitate learning and keep the student’s interests by promoting questioning and discussion to stimulate their science thinking processes and skills in a creative and encouraging environment. (Pitcher, 2014)

This framework builds on previous high quality works in science education: Science for All Americans (1989), Benchmarks for Science Literacy (1993), and NSES (1996). Unlike these previous standards, the importance of having the scientific and educational research communities was taken into the process for developing the framework. Thus, the most current research on science and science learning was grounded when identifying the science that all K-12 students should know, which increased its scientific validity and accuracy. The second step was facilitated by Achieve, Inc. with the recognition of the importance of state and educator leadership in the development of the actual standards. Thus, state policy leaders, higher education, K–12 teachers, and the science and business community were involved when developing Next Generation of Science Standards

Facing the pressure of standardized tests, students try to cram too much information in a short period of time. The memory capacity decreases from the stress of the one high-pressure test that can decide whether they well get held back and redo the entire year over. When a student receive poor test results, this may also make them feel insecure about their intelligence and encourage them to give up and possibly drop out of school later on. It is evident that many students have weakened their ability to think creatively, in the United States. Christopher Longo states that Inquiry-based science instruction has led the way in assisting students in the process of discovering knowledge for themselves instead of simply being asked to recall information. Inquiry learning promotes creativity by increasing motivation, wonderment, and curiosity. The author proposes that inquiry is the key to enhancing creativity, while still meeting the demands of standardize testing. (Longo) Inquiry based learning is a form of teaching which involves the teacher as a guide on the side. In

2. My mission as a high school science teacher is to inspire a passion for learning by making education relevant and fun. In order to accomplish this, I want to motivate and encourage students to discover and explore scientific concepts that shape and define the world around them. My goal is to create a safe, positive, and open environment that promotes life-long learning by providing students with the resources and knowledge neccessary to help them question the world around them through scientific inquiry. In addition to creating a fun and engaging environment that encourages students to explore the the

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This particular article talks about Scientific Literacy Project (SLP) and how it is incorporated into a Kindergarten classroom. The SLP believes that science involves asking questions about the world around us and seeking answers to the questions. The process involves predictions, summarizing, and communicating to other what they have learned. The ways that the activities are developed is by: learning science through inquiry, social interactions and science talk among children, and book reading that stimulate children’s interest and knowledge of science. There are also six study units, two including: Force and Motion and Marine Life as

a. Prior academic learning, prerequisite skills, and understanding of the nature of science related to the central focus—Cite evidence of what students know, what they can do, and what they are still learning to do.

This year, I am taking a bigger leadership role at my school. I am one of three content leaders that replaced our instructional coach. As a science content leader, part of my focus is assist teachers in teaching science. Our goal is to make sure science is taught in all grade levels. In the past, science has been pushed to the side because science is not always a tested subject. It is a tested subject in 5th grade. Most of the responsibility falls on the 5th grade teachers. This role is supposed to help make sure science is taught in all grades, so that our 5th grade teacher is not at a disadvantage when it comes to science. Me been the 5th grade science teacher for 4 years now, I have taken this role very seriously. Another part of my role is to offer myself to observe teachers teach science and provide feedback. This is where I think this activity for this course came in very handy.

Scientific-based instruction is something that teachers use all the time in their classroom. Teachers are consistently assessing and evaluating students’ performance, creating and amending individual education plans, lesson plans, and reflecting on their practices. As teachers, we should be doing rigorous research and building hypothesis to base further teaching practices on.

This allows our students to create their own understandings by connecting with what they have learned. We are presenters not lectures, in which we model, demonstrate, and present activities and options for children to encourage learning. We observe children during these activities to gather information to help us identify our student’s ideas and interact with them to provide options to increase their learning. We ask questions and propose problems to initiate further inquiry from our students to promote higher order of thinking. We organize our environment to promote learning that allows for discovery and learning that best fits our children’s needs. We are public relations coordinators that encourage cooperation amongst our students and acceptance of diversity within the classroom. We also advocate for this practice and teach others the benefits that this approach has for our students. As the teacher, we are documenters of learning and reflects on the impact that these practices have on each individual learner based on knowledge gained and their skill development. We are also theory builders by helping our students make connections among their ideas and help them make meaningful connections that represent their created knowledge. These roles can form a model for teaching science because it creates an optimum environment for our students to make connections and build on their ideas through discovery, and having the opportunity to share their ideas and make meaningful connections between their experiences and the knowledge that they are

The National Curriculum for Science (2013), anticipates to advance all pupils’ scientific knowledge and conceptualise understanding through the segmented scientific approaches; biology, chemistry and physics. In addition, pupils should have an awareness of the nature, processes and approaches used within science, through the various scientific enquires that enable pupils to answer questions related to the world and life. Finally, the aims of the science curriculum also consider that children must have the resources to fund the knowledge that is necessary to use science in the, present and future tense states the Department of Education (2013).

The importance of engaging K-12 students in scientific inquiry is well recognized, however, many K-12 science teachers have not experienced science education that focused on scientific processes (Campbell et al., 2012). Describe what scientific inquiry