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In this lesson, students draw their idea of "a scientist doing science." The exercise surfaces students' prior understandings of the nature of science and the demographics of scientists. It serves as a launching point for discovering that students, in fact, can be scientists.

How can notebooks enhance student learning during hands-on investigations?

Scientific sketching is about looking at something so closely you notice something new.

Use science notebooks to make your classroom experiments both hands-on and minds-on.

Ever wonder what nearly 40,000 animals are up to at night?

See what's revealed-every Thursday at NightLife. Sign up for event updates and exciting announcements.

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Students draw their idea of "a scientist doing science."

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Have students draw a scientist and their bias and misconceptions about the field will show.

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It seems JavaScript is either disabled or not supported by your browser. To view this site, enable JavaScript by changing your browser options and try again.

Jump to main content

In this lesson, students draw their idea of "a scientist doing science." The exercise surfaces students' prior understandings of the nature of science and the demographics of scientists. It serves as a launching point for discovering that students, in fact, can be scientists.

How can notebooks enhance student learning during hands-on investigations?

Scientific sketching is about looking at something so closely you notice something new.

Use science notebooks to make your classroom experiments both hands-on and minds-on.

Ever wonder what nearly 40,000 animals are up to at night?

See what's revealed-every Thursday at NightLife. Sign up for event updates and exciting announcements.

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Students draw their idea of "a scientist doing science."

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Believe in your students and connect with them in a real, personal way. Every student needs someone who inspires them to be their best.

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Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED

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How Science Works and the Misconceptions of the Scientific Method
Pinball Machine Example

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Science in Action: How Science Works | California Academy of Sciences

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Free Lesson plans with creative and educational content.

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"We're helping children put it all together!"

Our mission at Clarendon learning is to support the education of America's youth. We strive to create bright futures for children across the country by supporting teachers and parents by developing and providing high-quality lesson plans, videos, other teaching resources for FREE! Not only are our lesson plans free but many of our materials have won international awards for creativity and educational content.

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Who is Clarendon Learning? "We're helping children put it all together!" Our mission at Clarendon learning is to support the education of America's youth. We strive to create bright futures for children across the country by supporting teachers and parents by developing and providing high-quality lesson plans, videos,

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-Be open to creativity and risk taking
-Be curious and respectful when collaborating with others
-Be  reflective practitioner
-Be evaluative when looking at new sources of information

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Scholastic makes magazines for each grade. They provide short, interesting articles about science topics. There are also activities within the magazine that promote science thinking

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Encourage students to ask and write questions on sticky notes. The questions can be grouped into categories to further the idea of a concept map.

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Write 3, 2, 1 on a piece of paper
3 Things you learned
2 Things you thought were cool or interesting
1 thing you still have a question about
Hand in to the teacher to give feedback on the lesson

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These PBS online games would be a good activity when students are finished with their work, also a good incentive to finish. There are games that teach about ocean creatures, space and the ecosystem.
https://pbskids.org/games/science/

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This google database has hundreds of phenomena cases. They engage students by making them wonder and ask questions.

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Access Google Sites with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

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This worldly phenomena can be a great start for a new unit or lesson. Finding the reason these phenomena happen will spark curiosity in a way a book cannot.

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This site is a curated collection of science phenomena for the NGSS, along with phenomenon based learning resources and help for how to use phenomenon to drive student questions in the classroom centered around 3 dimensional teaching and learning.

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Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Scientists and engineers must be able to communicate clearly and persuasively the ideas and methods they generate. Critiquing and communicating ideas individually and in groups is a critical professional activity.

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Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Argumentation is the process by which explanations and solutions are reached.

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Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

The products of science are explanations and the products of engineering are solutions.

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Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

In both science and engineering, mathematics and computation are fundamental tools for representing physical variables and their relationships. They are used for a range of tasks such as constructing simulations; statistically analyzing data; and recognizing, expressing, and applying quantitative relationships.

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Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Scientific investigations produce data that must be analyzed in order to derive meaning. Because data patterns and trends are not always obvious, scientists use a range of tools—including tabulation, graphical interpretation, visualization, and statistical analysis—to identify the significant features and patterns in the data. Modern technology makes the collection of large data sets much easier.

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Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Scientists and engineers plan and carry out investigations in the field or laboratory, working collaboratively as well as individually. Their investigations are systematic and require clarifying what counts as data and identifying variables or parameters.

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Developing and Using Models

A practice of both science and engineering is to use and construct models as helpful tools for representing ideas and explanations. These tools include diagrams, drawings, physical replicas, mathematical representations, analogies, and computer simulations.

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Asking Questions and Defining Problems

A practice of science is to ask and refine questions that lead to descriptions and explanations of how the natural and designed world works and which can be empirically tested.

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Mistakes make us reconsider what we believe to be true.

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We would never get anywhere with science if we didn't constantly challenge our ideas.

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Many online games and animations about cells.

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Since 1994, CELLS alive! has provided students with a learning resource for cell biology, microbiology, immunology, and microscopy through the use of mobile-friendly interactive animations, video, puzzles, quizzes and study aids.

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Kahoot! is an educational tool that can be used on any device that has wifi. This tool can be used in a classroom to pit students against one another in a game setting. Or students can play by themselves to test their own knowledge.

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Includes links to:

Animals/Aquariums/Zoos/
Wildlife

Botanical Gardens/Arboreta

Dolphin/Manatee/Seal/Whale Watching

Science Boat Excursions

Science Museums/Exhibits

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School Trip Ideas in Boston I Educational Field Trips

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Directory of fun field trip ideas to science centers, museums, aquariums, amusement parks, zoos in Boston. Free lesson plans for preschoolers, elementary, and middle school students.

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Fall themed experiments including: pumpkin slime, pumpkin volcanoes and observing a rotting pumpkin.

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We love pumpkins, we love Fall, and we LOVE SCIENCE! These pumpkin science experiments and activities are a fun take on with a bit of a twist. What's the twist? You add a pumpkin! Classic baking soda and vinegar, homemade slime, oobleck, bubbles and more! It's just awesome how you can enjoy science and STEM year round and make it exciting for young kids.

Fall themed science is awesome and pumpkin themed science is perfect this time of year. I love repeating simple science experiments with fun twists. Repeating simple science activities with different themes really allows young kids to practice what they are learning in a fun way!
Explore physics, chemistry, and earth science. Check out our new list of PUMPKIN STEM BOOK IDEAS.
CHECK OUT GREAT PUMPKIN SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Click on all the links in orange or individual photos below to read all about set up and play!
MY LATEST VIDEOS
Make Pumpkin Slime {as seen in the video above}
Our homemade slime is always fun especially when you make it inside a pumpkin.

Chemistry and pumpkins combine for a unique volcano science activity!
Pumpkin Jack
I love the story about pumpkin Jack. If you are going to carve a pumpkin this year then you are already a good part of the way there to setting up your own rotting pumpkin science experiment.

CLASSIC PUMPKIN SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS WITH A TWIST!

Classic Oobleck science experiment inside a pumpkin!

Classic parts of a pumpkin and how it grows experiment

Classic bubble science inside a pumpkin!

Classic sink or float experiment using pumpkins

Classic Seed Science inside a pumpkin

Exploring a pumpkin naturally through sensory play
Pumpkin Catapults {Made with a real pumpkin!}
Use a mini pumpkin to build a catapult! Cool fall STEM idea.

Pumpkin Hot Wheels Tunnel STEM Challenge

Add a pumpkin to your race track. Engineer a pumpkin tunnel or create a jump for your cars.
NEW! Real Pumpkin STEM Activities . Even More Awesome Ideas. Click below.
Grab a few pumpkins, big and small, and get ready for some hands-on fun and learning this Fall!

WHICH PUMPKIN SCIENCE IDEA WILL YOU TRY?

Click on the photos below for more awesome pumpkin ideas.

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Pumpkin Science Experiments and Fall Science Activities

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We love pumpkins, we love Fall, and we LOVE SCIENCE! These pumpkin science experiments and activities are a fun take on classic science experiments with a bit of a twist. What's the twist? You add a pumpkin! Classic baking soda and vinegar, homemade slime, oobleck, bubbles and more!

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4 seasons of The Magic School Bus on Netflix.

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Lead students to discover, don't take away the experience.

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Resource: MA Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework

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Resource: MA Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework

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Massachusetts curriculum opportunities to experience the dynamic, interdisciplinary nature of science and technology/engineering.

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Incredible episodes of natural phenomena, wildlife and scientific discovery.

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The official website for NOVA. NOVA is the most-watched prime time science series on American television, reaching an average of five million viewers weekly.

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Creative way to help students think of three different kinds of sentences.

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Free online resource that explains how to teach science to K-8 students.

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Read "Ready, Set, SCIENCE!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms" at NAP.edu

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Read chapter Front Matter: What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators, teachers...

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Classroom poster for plant unit.

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Observation and discussion about rotting food/plants. Vocab includes: pumpkins, decay, decomposing, rotting, food, mold, bugs, nutrients.

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In October, many preschool teachers introduce topics such as the change of season or harvest time, and pumpkins tend to make their way into the classroom curriculum. Young children savor sensory experiences like feeling pumpkin pulp and smelling freshly cut pumpkin. The group may discuss the pumpkin life cycle, grow pumpkin vines, read pumpkin-themed books, and engage in a range of pumpkin learning activities, from counting seeds to roasting them. Yet, there is an important part of the pumpkin story that is often not explored-what happens to pumpkins when they decompose, and why is decay important?

Before circle time, it is independent reading, and 4-year-old Amanda settles into a chair with an already familiar book, Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? She begins to "read" this fun, rhyming, predictable book aloud, manipulating the fold-down pages and correctly identifying which things will grow and which will not. Her teacher has read many stories to clarify the concepts of living and nonliving things and to help the children understand that when living things die, they begin to decompose.

Project planning-Together!

On a summer day, three preschool teachers and an early education consultant met to draft a unit on decay. They discussed

Science themes, such as interdependence and transformation

Learning goals

Pre- and post-study questions

Vocabulary words

Potential science explorations and project directions

Resources, including books, songs, and activities

The three preschool teachers, working in different programs, in collaboration with the consultant, used this planning session to design a curriculum specific to their own group of children and families. As the projects developed, email exchanges helped the educators keep in touch and learn more about decay-expanding learning opportunities for all.

Discovering decay-It takes time

"Name something that is alive. How did you decide that it was alive?"

"How do you know when something is not alive?"

"What do you think happens when plants and animals die?"

"How do dead things (plants and animals) that have decomposed help living things?"

In September, before the pumpkin study began, a preschool teacher in the first classroom at a Head Start and state early intervention collaborative program sat with each child in her classroom and asked questions like these. She received a range of replies, from "Dinosaurs are nonliving because they are extinct, but they were living" to "There are big rocks and baby rocks, so they must be alive." This helped her assess how much the children understood about the topic of living and nonliving things. The children documented their decomposition project observations in "My Pumpkin Study" journals. The journals included pre- and post-study questions and answers, learning goals for the study, and information about the scientific method. They also shared their journals with families.
Activities to learn about what is living and nonliving included

Reading and discussing books-introducing vocabulary and concepts

Watching videos that describe what is living and nonliving

Helping children photograph something living and nonliving for their journals

Inviting families to assist their child in finding and bringing in photos of living and nonliving things

Pumpkin science explorations

It is a beautiful fall day, and the children are gathered around an apple tree in the yard. They are examining apples that have fallen to the ground, and one child comments, "It

died." The teacher replies, "Yes, the apple is dead because living things die. And after an apple dies, what does it start to do?" After a brief pause, she continues, "It rots. Look at all of the things that are happening to it." Another child adds, "Like the pumpkin," making a connection to the ongoing classroom investigations.

Will pumpkins decay more quickly indoors or outdoors? Which pumpkin half will decay more quickly, the one with holes poked in it or the one with no holes? What will happen if we plant the pumpkin seeds? The children considered these questions; made predictions; participated in investigations, observations, and data collection; and discussed conclusions.

PUMPKIN DECAY MYSTERIES-
ASK AN EXPERT

As the educators compared stories, they discussed pumpkin decay mysteries: "It is Day 30, and the cut-up pumpkin in our sealed container is not really decaying." In another classroom: "We cut a small pumpkin in half, poked holes in one side, then put each half in a separate jar. The half with holes turned white-our 'ghost' pumpkin-and the other half is covered in black rot!"

Contacting the Cooperative Extension of the University of Maine, the teachers exchanged emails with a mycologist, a person who studies fungi. The mycologist shared considerations that impact the growth of molds and other fungi:

Was the pumpkin washed before you cut it up?

Was the container clean before it was sealed?

Tools used to cut up or poke holes in the pumpkin could have different types and numbers of germ spores

Was the container ever opened, exposing the pumpkin to germ spores in the air?

This information was fascinating to the teachers, and it helped them better explain and discuss with the children what they were observing as the pumpkins decomposed.

Children's science misconceptions

"Look! The spider is spinning a web in our pumpkin." In the second classroom, in a public preschool, children helped their teacher cut a hollowed-out pumpkin into square pieces, and they put the pieces in a container with a lid. A second hollowed-out pumpkin was placed on a tray next to the container for observation. After a few weeks, the second pumpkin started to grow white mold. The children thought the mold was a spiderweb because they had seen a spider in the classroom the week before.

To help children test this theory, teachers set up a new experiment. Pumpkin chunks were placed in a container the children had inspected and declared to be spider proof. The group also examined picture books, such as Rotten Pumpkin: A Rotten Tale in 15 Voices, which shows photographs of a decaying pumpkin and different decomposers-including mold. These various classroom investigations and discussions provided children with new information and experiences designed to help them review their original theories and develop new ones.

Involving families-The decay museum!

In the third classroom, also a public pre-K, 4-year-old Lindsay is eating cheese crackers she brought for snack. She holds one up and asks, "Can we put this in the Decay Museum?" To involve families in their study, the teacher asked them to send in food items the children could watch decompose in the classroom. Fruits, vegetables, a slice of forgotten birthday cake, cheese, bread-each item was enclosed in a jar or a sealed plastic bag, creating exhibits the children could observe daily.

Children and their family members became more curious about how food decays, continuing even months later to send in food they wondered about and wanted to observe. One father requested that something already rotting be placed next to a new food item, to see if that would cause the new item to rot faster. Another family helped their child start his own decay museum at home!

Children made observational drawings and predictions about their food items. They used scientific tools for closer observation. In addition to making magnifying lenses available in the science center, the teacher connected a tablet or smartphone to an LCD projector, using the camera's zoom feature so children could see much finer details. Another day, children took a closer look at decomposers found in decaying matter in a worm bin, using a borrowed mini digital microscope.

The important work of decomposers

"It's super flat-flat as a pancake!"

"It's black. It's moldy."

"They turned different colors, yellow-brownish ..."

"It has decay stuck on it, and spots."

A photo of the orange pumpkins placed on an observation shelf outside the classroom window in October provided a visual reminder of the pumpkins' original condition, as the children described what was left of them in early March. What happened to the pumpkins? The changes inspired rich conversation.

After months of observations and investigations, many children were involved in the discussion. The teacher wrote key vocabulary and concepts on the board: pumpkins, decay, decomposing, rotting, food, mold, bugs, nutrients, dead things rot and help living things grow. Together, they reviewed photos of decomposers in a book, acting out the role of the mouse nibbling, or the slug scraping the pumpkin with its sharp tongue. Later that morning, they danced while watching a short music video about decay. The video link was shared with families for home viewing, with a request to become outdoor "decay detectives," looking for rotting stumps and leaves and emailing photos to the teacher to share the next day.

Apples, pumpkins, and overlooked fridge food; time; online activity suggestions for studying decomposition-the ingredients for engaging science explorations are readily available. Studies can expand in new directions as children become curious about earthworms, landfills, and more. Why is this important? As children in these classrooms discovered, when living things die, decomposers help them decay, release nutrients into the soil, and help new plants to grow-and that's the rotten truth!
Resources

Is it Living or Nonliving?, by Rebecca Rissman

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?, by Susan A. Shea, illus. by Tom Slaughter

Rotten Pumpkin: A Rotten Tale in 15 Voices, by David M. Schwartz, photos by Dwight Kuhn

For more information and resources to start your own study of decay, visit https://sites.google.com/site/discoveringdecay/.

Photos courtesy of the authors

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On a summer day, three preschool teachers and an early education consultant met to draft a unit on decay. They used this planning session to design a curriculum specific to their own group of children and families on pumpkin decay.

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Resource: Next Generation Science Standards

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Resource: Next Generation Science Standards

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The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards. Standards set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do. They combine core ideas, practices and cross cutting concepts.

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning

Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards

THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE LEARNING

Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

Crosscutting Concepts help students explore connections across the four domains of science, including Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design.

When these concepts, such as "cause and effect", are made explicit for students, they can help students develop a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world around them.

Science and Engineering Practices describe what scientists do to investigate the natural world and what engineers do to design and build systems. The practices better explain and extend what is meant by "inquiry" in science and the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices that it requires. Students engage in practices to build, deepen, and apply their knowledge of core ideas and crosscutting concepts.

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) are the key ideas in science that have broad importance within or across multiple science or engineering disciplines. These core ideas build on each other as students progress through grade levels and are grouped into the following four domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering.

More about 3D Learning

GET TO KNOW

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K-12 science content standards. Standards set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do. The NGSS were developed by states to improve science education for all students.

A goal for developing the NGSS was to create a set of research-based, up-to-date K-12 science standards. These standards give local educators the flexibility to design classroom learning experiences that stimulate students' interests in science and prepares them for college, careers, and citizenship.

Get to Know the Standards

IMPLEMENT

The NGSS call for a three-dimensional approach to K-12 science instruction. This represents a significant transition from previous state standards. That's why effective implementation demands a great deal of collaboration and patience among states, districts, schools, teachers, and students.

Thoughtful and coordinated approaches to implementation will enable educators to inspire future generations of scientifically literate students. That is the vision of the NGSS. This website provides a range of high-quality resources that empower educators, administrators, parents, and the general public to help bring this vision to life.

Find Tools and Resources

WHY

Science-and therefore science education-is central to the lives of all Americans.

A high-quality science education means that students will develop an in-depth understanding of content and develop key skills-communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility-that will serve them throughout their educational and professional lives.

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Home Page | Next Generation Science Standards

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

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Provide feedback to other ideas with stems like: I agree with you...

because...

but I also want to add...

but....

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Strategy: List of Responsibilities for Group Work

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Strategy: List of Responsibilities for Group Work

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Big ideas person: pulls the group back to the scientific purpose of the activity

Asks “How does X (something we are studying, reading, investigating, observing, etc.) relate to the anchoring event?”

Asks: “What is the big idea we are trying to understand? Why are we [watching ice melt]?”

Clarifier: monitor everyone's understanding

Asks: “Do we know what the word ____ refers to?”

Asks: “Can we put it into our own terms?”

Questioner: Asks questions and rephrases other questions asked by the class or group members. This is not a role that students find easy, so it helps to provide them with question stems such as :

Asks: “How do we know that_____?”

Paraphrases what other have said: “So, what I think you are saying is… Is that right?”

Asks: “What would happen if we changed ____?”

Asks: “What’s your evidence?”

Skeptic: tries to strengthen the group’s work by probing for weaknesses in the developing explanation or model.

Says: “Here’s an alternative explanation—is this just as good as the one we have now?”

Asks: “How does our idea match up with what we’ve just learned?”

Progress monitor: asks others to periodically take the measure of the group’s progress.

Asks: “What can we say we’ve accomplished so far?”

Asks: “What do we still need to know/do to accomplish this task?”

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Each group of four will have 4 necessary roles that rotate. These include group leader, material collector, assisting helper and cleaner.

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Great list of scaffolds to apply to writing and speaking with groups.

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Scaffolds for writing and talking are supports for communicating in science-specific ways that may seem unnatural for students. We mean for example that writing causal explanations, talking in small groups about how evidence can be used to back up a claim, or critiquing the ideas of one's peers in a whole class setting, are not the kinds of communication that students engage in outside of school. Tools can help-these take the form of sentence frames, guides for how to help ELL students practice final explanations, norms for whole class discussion that are developed by students, roles that students can take up in small group activity, and others. We provide a small sample of the types of scaffolding that are used during ambitious teaching.
Scaffolds for talk Norms for whole class conversations
Classrooms should have norms for civil discussions that are developed-with help from your students-from the first day of school, that are explicitly modeled by the teacher (i.e. the teacher "names" the norm as she/he uses it) and reinforced on a regular basis. Here are some samples of these norms-there are many possibilities:

Anyone can ask questions if they don't understand an idea that is being talked about

We (students and teacher) can critique ideas of others, but personal attacks are out of bounds

Don't talk over your classmates

The teacher will give "think time" before asking for students' ideas

In small group work, everyone will contribute to the conversations

It is helpful to re-visit these norms periodically, asking your students: "How did we do today in our discussion? What do we need to work on?"
Sentence starters to sustain productive whole class conversations
Some students don't participate because they are so unfamiliar with critiquing the ideas of others or adding onto a peer's comments. They don't know how to publicly disagree and some students even feel uncomfortable agreeing with others in class.

For these reasons some of our teachers have developed, with students, a list of sentence starters (structures for student talk) to help them accomplish what seems unnatural. The tool we show is just one of a set of 4 posters that a teacher made, with her students, on the first day of class. This one shows "How do I respectfully disagree with a classmate?" There are three others, including agreeing and adding to another person's ideas, asking a probing question (often asking for evidence) or asking a peer for clarification of an idea or claim.
Role cards for small group interaction
To foster group participation, it is helpful to assign roles to students. Roles should not be simply about managerial duties, such as the note-taker, the supply-getter, the procedure-reader. Roles should be about different students taking responsibility for different parts of the science talk that moves everyone's thinking forward. Here are some examples of roles for intellectual work. We list more here than you would assign to a group of students, and you might combine these roles in some cases. What we show below is not "the list" but some suggestions based on our experience in classrooms. To the right is one of the kinds of cards that we place on tables to help students know what to ask their peers.

Big ideas person. The BI person pulls the group (occasionally) back to the scientific purpose of the activity (often a group will get too wrapped up in the rote execution of the directions).

Asks "How does X (something we are studying, reading, investigating, observing, etc.) relate to the anchoring event?"

Asks: "How does X change the way we're thinking about the anchoring event?"

Asks: "What is the big idea we are trying to understand? Why are we [watching ice melt]?"

Clarifier. This is a role of monitoring everyone's comprehension about one or two key science terms.

Asks: "Do we know what the word ____ refers to?"

Asks: "Can we put it into our own terms?"

Questioner. This person asks probing questions during the activity. These folks listen for questions posed by other group members and then re-voice the questions to make sure that the whole group takes a moment to hear and entertain questions from everyone. This is not a role that students find easy, so it helps to provide them with question stems such as :

Asks: "What does it mean that ____?"

Asks: "How do we know that_____?"

Paraphrases what other have said: "So, what I think you are saying is... Is that right?"

Asks: "What would happen if we changed ____?"

Asks: "What's your evidence?"

Skeptic. This person tries to strengthen the group's work by probing for weaknesses in the developing explanation or model.

Says: "Here's an alternative explanation-is this just as good as the one we have now?"

Asks: "Does it always work this way (the explanation)?"

Asks: "How does our idea match up with what we've just learned?"

Progress monitor. This person ask others to periodically take the measure of the group's progress.

Asks: "What can we say we've accomplished so far?"

Asks: "What do we still need to know/do to accomplish this task?"

Asks: "What can we now add to our explanation that we didn't have before?"

When you stop by a table to listen in on a group, you should expect this person to be able to communicate the ideas of the group members AND attribute ideas to particular people (giving credit where it is due).
"Talk to your partner" routines
Sometimes a tool can be more like a routine a teacher enacts to help students interact. The "A-B partner" routine is one of these. We found in many classrooms that when students were asked to talk in pairs before offering comments in whole class discussion, that most students were not really listening to their partners. Or they viewed their partner's talk as just something to politely sit through until it was their turn to talk. This is where "A-B partners" came in. We asked students in pairs to talk about something substantive, like a hypothesis, or some evidence or an everyday experience that related to the science ideas being taught.

After the pairs talk, the teacher asks a student in the class to express the ideas that their partner had expressed. The difference in this routine from just "turn and talks." In addition, the teacher presses the student to say more than a cursory few words about their partner's idea. We found that this compels students to actively listen to one another and to ask follow up questions of their partners in order to understand their viewpoints. This works particularly well with English Language Learners.
Scaffolds for writing Drafting evidence-based claims
The tool we show below is to support students' writing of evidence-based explanations. This is core to the science practice of argumentation. The tool is accompanied by a routine. The tool is used near the end of a unit where the students have been studying a complex puzzling event (the anchoring event for the unit). They have also done several investigations that have provided data that can support various parts of the final explanation for the anchoring event.

Students work in small groups when using this tool. In the left hand column of the tool, the groups negotiate a claim about a part (just a part) of the full explanation for the event. They then cite evidence from one of the activities they'd done that applies to this claim. In the bottom cell they state the reasoning that links the evidence to the claim. You can see in the cells that there is a designated space to write and there are sentence frames, both of which help students.

But this is not the end of the work. The claim-evidence-reasoning is only the first step. Next the students give their sheet to another group. This group's goal is to look at the argument and try to give feedback so that it strengthens the clarity and credibility. The group giving feedback has drafted their own argument of course, but they may be attempting to explain and provide evidence for a very different part of the anchoring event. In this way, the second group is learning a bit about how the first group is constructing evidence-based arguments for a different aspect of the phenomenon.

Finally, the second group meets with a member of the first group and explains their comments. The first group then takes those comments into consideration and revises their argument.
Upper elementary example of scaffolded writing
The tool below has a number of scaffolds built into it that support young learners in constructing explanations with evidence. At the top there are clear instructions that are explicit about what should be written-this is more than "explain the skateboarder's jump." Below is a checklist of ideas that need to be included (this is more than a vocabulary list!), there are sentence frames below that, and at the bottom there is a rubric that challenges students to achieve a "why" level explanation. These are only a few examples of tools that can support writing, there are many others.

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Tools | Scaffolding for writing & talking science | AST

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Scaffolds for writing and talking are supports for communicating in science-specific ways that may seem unnatural for students. We mean for example that writing causal explanations, talking in small groups about how evidence can be used to back up a claim, or critiquing the ideas of one's peers in a whole class setting, are not the kinds of communication that students engage in outside of school.

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Ms. Frizzle never was afraid to let her students experience real-life science!

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150 BPS looking for diverse teachers to meet the needs of ELLs, economically disadvantaged and IEP students

Many opportunities to gain loan forgiveness, further your degree and reimburse $1,000 for tuition

Teachers get a mentor as they start

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The scientific method isn't always

Make an observation.

Conduct research.

Form hypothesis.

Test hypothesis.

Record data.

Draw conclusion.

Replicate.

Real scientists don't follow this and bounce around different steps to get their best answers.

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Creative and useful way to make journals out of paper and string.

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Welcome back to Bookbinding 101! Last week, we made a pamphlet-stitched book, and this week we'll be experimenting with a stab binding.

Here, the book block, or the body of the book, is a stack of single sheets rather than a signature. Therefore, stab bindings allow you to make books that are not possible with other bindings. For instance, in a pamphlet-stitch book, each leaf, or page, cannot have a different color. But in a stab-bound book, you can use scraps of different weights, textures and colors as long as they are the same size or can be cut to the same size. This is the perfect project for someone looking to try a scrapbook or family memento book - just in time for this month's theme. Enjoy! -
Photos and styling by Claire Dalgliesh
The full how-to continues after the jump . . .

(See my " Tools and Materials" notes from my Five-Hole Pamphlet Stitch tutorial.)
Tools

2 3/8″ x 19 gauge (blunt tip) bookbinding needle

1 pair of scissors

1 steel ruler

1 binder's awl, a tool used for piercing sewing stations

Materials

1 roll unbleached French linen thread

5 sheets 5″ x 7″ paper for pages

2 sheets decorative 5″ x 7″ paper for covers (The paper I used for this project was purchased at Morita Washi in Kyoto, Japan. This wonderful shop sells a fabulous variety of handmade washi [Japanese paper] for reasonable prices.)

Instructions

There are four basic variations of the Japanese stab bind: Kikko Toji (Tortoise Shell Binding), Asa-No-Ha Toji (Hemp Leaf Binding), Koki Toji (Noble Binding) and Yotsume Toji (Four Eye Binding). Today, I'll share a tutorial for Yotsume Toji, the most common variation.

1. Using your ruler and a pencil, mark four sewing stations. The four sewing stations are at least 1/8″ from the spine edge. (I marked mine 1/2″ from the spine edge.) Station 1 is at least 1/2″ up from the tail; Station 4 is at least 1/2″ from the head. (I marked mine 1″ from the tail and the head.) Stations 2 and 3 are equally spaced between.

2. Using your awl, pierce sewing stations. Piercing through this book block is a bit of a challenge. Many book artists use a drill or a hammer and nail. Just watch your fingers! I use an inexpensive binder clip to hold my book together.

4. To bind: Begin at Station 2 (back cover side). Pull your needle through Station 2. Pull snug.

6. Go through Station 1. Wrap needle around spine and back through Station 1.

7. Wrap needle around head to front cover. Go through Station 1.

9. Go through Station 4. Wrap around spine and back through Station 4.

10. Wrap around tail to front cover. Go through Station 4.

12. Go through Station 2. Tie a square knot.
Additional Resources
Japanese Bookbinding: Instructions from a Master Craftsman by Kojiro Ikegami (available in English and Japanese) gives easy-to-follow instructions for making all the major, historically important Japanese bindings.
About Pooja: Pooja Makhijani is a writer, editor, teacher and New Yorker living in Singapore. She blogs about arts and culture (and the book arts) in Singapore at notabilia. She blogs about family, travel and design at linsiwolsie. About Claire: Claire Dalgliesh is an Australian designer and blogger currently based in sunny Singapore. She fills her time exploring her new home country, crafting up a storm in her studio and, of course, sharing all that and more on her blog, Fellow Fellow.

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Bookbinding 101: Japanese Four-Hole Binding

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Welcome back to Bookbinding 101! Last week, we made a pamphlet-stitched book, and this week we'll be experimenting with a stab binding. Here, the book block, or the body of the book, is a stack of single sheets rather than a signature. Therefore, stab bindings allow you to make books that are not possible with other bindings.