As a future teacher, I have a similar goal with the speaker (Nancy Michael). She mentions that she wants her students to give solutions to problems, ask questions, learn from mistakes, and act like scientists. I agree with all the idea, particularly in asking questions and solving problems. In scientific methods, the steps start with asking questions (observations). In other word, I want my students to be critical in everyday life. I want to emphasize that science is not only academic requirement/subject, but it is more about how we can see science in our everyday life. I believe the main goal in learning is to be able to solve problems and contribute to help others in solving the problems that can glorify God. Thus, the idea of learning science should be taken into daily life habit. Furthermore, science is very well-know with try, try, try, try, innovate, and succeed (this is what happened to the great scientists in the past). It means it is okay to make mistakes. When the students make mistakes all they need to understand is that learn from it, improve to be better, and do innovation. Thus, as a future teacher, I hold on tight to this idea: being critical by asking a lot of questions (there is no such a 'dumb/unimportant questions' because through simple questions we can make a big change) and being persevere in solving them (try and try). In addition, science is more about creation: human's creation and God's creation. Thus, I want my students to be able to see the Creator and glorify Him for he is the perfect creator.

1. Students learn better through experiences. Through experiences it is beneficial for the students to make sense of the problem, to know the purpose of solving the problems, and to be more motivated in learning. According to Piaget's theory students actively engage in learning when they experience and they find it interesting. Furthermore, students will put more effort when they have direct experiences to the physical world. Thus, the key factor in learning science is experience (Contant, et.al., 2018). Experience is very engaging and helpful for students to learn more. 
In teaching science, the teachers need to consider the appropriateness of the content and materials (age-appropriate). Since in primary grades, students are in the concrete operational stage, it means the material should be taught in the concrete settings: real world objects, field trips, experiments, and visual aid. The content should be real-world based problems, hands-on problems, and open ended questions. In other words, the material should be more concrete and accessible for the students (inquiry based learning). In the higher level grades, students have more abstract thinking ability, somehow they do not have to see the real object to be able to imagine the problems (not applicable to all learners: diverse need). Their abstract thinking is getting higher and they can continue to solve problems with their prior knowledge as well as they discover knowledge in the process in learning. However, in learning they need real-world problems to make sense of what they have learned(relatable). In this grade levels differences, we can see the differences. In lower grades, the students need concrete things to experience the learning and grasp the main concept. Meanwhile, as the students getting into higher level, they still need to see the concrete things but not as much as in primary class, because their abstract thinking ability fully develops. The similarities is of course the problems should be relatable and real-world problems.

2. As a future teacher, I need to understand that students have their prior knowledge, that can lead them to misconceptions. It is because I believe that students are not only a blank paper that we need to fill in, but they are created as rational beings. It means that they have ability to think, to assume, and to predict whatever happens around them. Their thinking can lead them to misconception. Misconceptions need to be corrected, thus, I need to understand how to identify then correct it. Here are several ways that I can do. I need to identify it by asking them, "what do you think?" "how do you know?" then I can continue explaining to redirect their misconception in learning, through modeling the solutions/correct solutions. Second, I can identify their misconception through observing how they response to a problem. Thus, I need to monitor them to solve the problems by including them in it and give them a chance to try to solve similar problems by themselves.

Reference: 

Contant, T. L., Tweed, A. L., Bass, J. E., Carin, A. A. (2018). Teaching science through inquiry-based instruction (13th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

1. This first week is very insightful for me especially to get to know more about what science is actually about. I have been liking biology since I was in grade 4. At that time, I loved it because the fun facts of how animals body look like and it caught my attention. However, it was rare for me to really investigate it by myself, and I even was afraid to ask questions. As a future teacher, and that's challenge me to do better in teaching science. Thus, in this class, gradually my prior perspective about science has began to change. Throughout the class, I have learned that Science itself is the knowledge as well as the process in learning it. I also discovered that science is a subject for correction and modification since it is made by human. I understand that through our rational ability we are able to investigate the creation and glorify God for he is the perfect Creator. All in all, here are several things that I have understood in learning science for this week:

   1. Science exists because there is exploration, discovery, and investigation. Thus, science should be seen and taught in a student-centered perspective and inquiry-based.

   2. Students are rational being. They have the ability to investigate and understand.

   3. As a future teacher here are several things that I need to pay attention to:

      • encourage students to possess habits of mind in doing science (honesty, curiosity, willingness to modify explanation, desire for knowledge).

      • I need to understand the nature of science (made by human: affected by knowledge, social, and cultural context, and a process of generating knowledge).

      • I should implement student-centered approach (inquiry based)

      • The equity for all students (accessible according to students’ ability and needs).

   At the end of the day, as a future teacher, I will try to implement inquiry-based learning where the students can explore, discover, and investigate science. I believe that students are not a blank paper, yet they are rational being that have ability to understand and solve problems. Thus, as a teacher, I need to be creative in my teaching, and I believe this semester will equip me with creativity in teaching science.

In the unit I chose grade 5 lesson 1 

In this unit specifically lesson 1, there are some strength and weakness that I noticed. 

1. Strengths

   • Performance expectation (PE) based: make questions and observation in learning. 

   • This lesson focuses more on implementing SEPs (Science and Engineering Practices) include: asking questions and making sense of the problems, developing and using models. 

   •    Disciplinary core ideas: Structure and properties of matter. That allow students to have the core idea in learning, which is in this lesson they focus more on the developing their understanding and making model to understand the what contaminated the water sample. 

   • Implement learning sequence narrative that encourage the learners to connect the learning in a storyline (there are 5 lessons in this unit).Allow students to have progression in learning and make sense their learning

   • Crosscutting concepts (CCCs): Scale, proportion, and quantity: As students try to observe the town water sample, they make sense of the scale, proportion, and quantity.

   • Teacher as facilitator by offering opportunities for questions, supporting and redirect.

   • Provides formative assessment flexible, the instruction can be changed due to students’ level of understanding and making sense of the problems.

   •  In the lesson plan, it provides teacher note to help specific students.

   2. Weaknesses

   
   

   • Too much information in one meeting. 

   • In almost of the lessons, the SEPs are kind of repetitive. 

   • The activities take  too long (110 mins). 

   • Is it applicable in Indonesia context? (considering the timing)

   How do you balance didactic instruction and inquiry-centered experiences in that unit?

   Teachers are not only give the instruction and redirect students thinking, but more than that teachers are the facilitators in students’ learning process. These ideas means that both didactic instruction (teacher-centered:  step by step specific instruction by the teacher) and inquiry-centered experiences (student-centered) are need to be balanced. The existence of teachers in inquiry-centered class is not just redirecting and correcting students’ thinking and misconception but also to be the role models, motivators, and source of knowledge that the students can go for when they face some confusion, emotionally and intelligently. Furthermore, for students to be able to communicate and construct the meaning of learning socially, the role of the teacher is to be able to see the students capability to explore the learning in social context. 

   Furthermore, teacher-centered learning sometimes is needed in students’ learning for them to reach their ZPD even though they have their own cognitive capabilities to construct the meaning of the lesson. In other words, teacher-centered is needed to guide and facilitate the students in learning, to clarify their thinking, to control students in learning (freedom but responsible), and become one of the source in learning. Meanwhile at the same time we need to let the students to explore learning by themselves, developing their thinking through hands-on experiences, making conclusion of the solutions and making sense of the problems. At the end of the day, the role of the teacher is important for students to explore learning in experiential context. 

Lampita

1. What are the two most important things you learned by reading the introductory information about your state science standards? Why do you consider this information important?

In learning Science there is must be a sequence/storyline for developing a content. It applicable to unit plan story line and sequence learning target. It is important for me to know because it is helpful to teach according to the grade level and brain capacity development of the students. Furthermore, it is also helpful for me to structure my teaching and to help the students to make sense of their learning.

2. In every grade level, there is DCIs (Disciplinary Core Ideas) SEPs (Science and Engineering Practices), and CCs (Crosscutting Concepts). It means that students in every grade level make sense and draw concepts of their understanding of what is happening around them by asking questions. They start to develop, connect, and evaluate their understanding when they try to make sense of the problem and solution. It is important for me to internalize this information because in science, DCIs always exist and CCs where there is interdependence of science, engineering, and technology. It meads me to an understanding that Science has a big concept and connection in the real-world problems. Thus, a practical thing that I can implement is allow students to formulate questions.

2. ow would you explain the structure and/or organization of your state science standards to a peer who had not yet looked at them?​

In a brief way, I will tell that in teaching science there is grade level storyline sequence. Storyline means there is development in content because of students' development. It is beneficial for students to develop their thinking and idea especially in the disciplinary core ideas (DCIs): physical science; life science; earth and space sciences; and engineering technology, and application of science. How students learn these DCIs? They start with SEPs (Science Engineering Practices ) implementation, it is about the practices that students can do in learning the disciplinary core ideas. Usually, they start by observing what is happening, formulating essential questions, and demonstrating grade-level proficiency in science through a performance expectation. Lastly, in learning science there is connections, it can be connected to literacy and math. It means that science is not only stand by its concepts only. For instance, when we ask about energy, when we dig deeper there is cause and effect, patterns, etc. We call it CCs (crosscutting concepts). At the end of the day, Science is meaningful for students to develop their thinking through practices and make sense that science is actually the real-world problem itself that has broadly connection ideas.

3. Content as it is described in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) includes science Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), and broad Crosscutting Concepts (CCs). Based on your state science standards, what science content are the students in the grade level you selected expected to learn? How familiar are you with this content?

Grade level that I choose is grade 5. In this grade level here are science contents that they need to learn:

1. Matter and its interaction; small particles (unseen).

How familiar is it to me? I remember specifically in my middle school we learned about it. How the particles in water slowly dissolve and not dissolve. So, it is quite familiar to me.

2. Motion and stability: forces and interaction: Gravitational force.

How familiar is it for me? In my elementary school, we learned it together with the earth's place (topic number 6). This concept was combined with the distance between each planet in the universe and then how gravitational works in the solar system. I remember at that time we memorized the names of the planets and the meaning of gravitational forces. It is also quite familiar to me.

3. Energy: in animals' food.

How familiar is it to me? particularly, I do not remember that I learned it in my elementary years, but I do remember I learned it in a deeper way when I was in junior high school. So, I'd say that it is familiar for me but I need to know in a simple way (grade 5-lesson appropriateness).

4. From molecules to organism: structures and processes: plants.

How familiar is it to me? It is familiar to me, since I learned it in middle school specifically. I learned how the plants gain food through the water and air.

5.Ecosystem: plants, animals, decomposers, and the environments

How familiar is it to me? It is totally familiar to me I learned it in this grade level as well. It also reminds me of food chains because I remember we learned ecosystem as well as the food chains in the ecosystem.

6. Earth's place in the universe: the sun and earth

How familiar is it to me? I learned it in grade 6, I remember we try to compare the distance of the planets and the sun, then we draw the characteristics of the planets based on the position of them. I think, yes I am familiar with this topic.

7. Earth and human activity: human impacts on earth's systems.

How familiar is it for me?

I remember that I learned in at the end of the unit. I learned that human activity is impactful to the earth's systems, specifically ecosystem. I remember we listed down the positive and negative impacts. I would say that I am familiar with this topic.

4. What might you do to become better prepared to teach this content?​

Here are several strategies that I would like to do to become better: 1. Master the content by doing research, reading, and doing better in this college life (especially in this class: to enrich my science understanding and practices).

2. Try to be creative! To be creative need practices and a lot of attempts. Thus, I need to try the experiments or create anything (ex. diorama, etc) by myself first before letting my students do it.

3. Read and compare several standards to help to understand the essence of teaching science.

4. I need to understand my students to be more contextual in my teaching.

5. Familiarize myself to the science terminologies, so that I can really understand what does it mean and what is the connection with other terms.

6. Lastly, I have to practice 'reflective questions' as important part in learning science for myself first before I implement it in my classroom.

1. For Alignment with standards (check AllDCI/AllTopic)

• In the unit plan I can see how the unit specifically is aligned with the NGSS standard. 

In this unit there are 5 lessons that use SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs that much more likely connect to the NGSS standard.

When I analyze the standards that are being used in the unit and the NGSS standard, there are two specific topics chosen:

1.      Matter and its interaction. Focus on two: PSI-2 and PSI-3

At first, I thought it was only focus on the 5-PSI matter and its interaction, but as I was analyzing it, the unit also covers the 3-5-ETS1 which more focus on the engineering design. 

2.      Engineering design. Focus on 3-5-ETS1-1and 3-5-ETS1-2.

• Furthermore, there is learning sequence in each lesson and links the learning between the lessons as a conceptual storyline. which is aligned with the NGSS standard that make the lesson as a storyline (development in content).   

• Lastly, in the unit, there are several SEPs that are mentioned: 

1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems

2. Developing and Using Models

3. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

4. Analyzing and Interpreting Data

5. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

6. Engaging in Argument from Evidence

7. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Meanwhile, the SEPs in the standard cover these things (I paid attention to the performance standards: PSI and ETS1): 

In PSI, the SEPs that are mentioned: 

1. Developing and Using Models

2. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

3. Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

in ESI1 the SEPs such as: 

1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems

2. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

3. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

In the standard, the SEPs that are found in PSI and ETS1 are six, but in the unit there are several SEPs that is not found such as following:

1. Analyzing and Interpreting Data

2. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

3. Engaging in Argument from Evidence

4. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Through this difference I can say that the unit does not cover all the SEPs that are mentioned in the standard. Due to this, I assume that the unit just focus in asking, planning, and developing. Meaning to say that the unit does not really encourage arguments, explanations, and communication. Even though they have experiments and observations but still, it is more individual. 

2. For clarity of the learning goals and targets they include.

The unit has a clear goals and target because I can see how the learning is being develop in each lesson (sequence learning) to reach the goal in the solution: Sewage water is consumed by people, but they do not get sick. 

in addition, the learning goals and targets are clearly seen in the unit because the learning target  requires students to use their understanding of physical properties and students design a solution to determine what is in the town water samples, which can equip them to have enduring understanding.

Using the 5E Model

1. Vignette 5.1 implements a full inquiry lesson. It is because in this lesson, I can see the implementation of the essential features of classroom inquiry. First, in this lesson, I can find that the learners' engagement is oriented in the scientific questions. I can see it when the teacher, Mrs. Day, provoked students' thinking using real-world problem (what happen to her crayon), then students try to give solution and even ask related questions. Second, the students give evidence to their solution, such as 'they (the crayons) melted because the temperature is too hot' they assume this argument because they see the crayons. thirdly, the students formulate explanation from evidence to address other scientific questions. I can see it is being implemented when the teacher asks the students in pair to decide on a question based on what they did, and on what they will know. Fourth, the students evaluate or connect their explanation to scientific knowledge. They explain how the data that they got by exploring and asking questions. They also revise their questions and methods in their investigation. In their investigation, they also make connection of how the size and shape connect to the concept of melting. Lastly, the essential features is learners communicate and justify their explanations. The evidence is when the students present their investigations and findings, the students learn to listen and ask insightful questions.

2. In the vignette 5.2, the topic "studying the solar system" implements the partial inquiry lesson. It is because the teacher omits some of the essential features of classroom inquiry. I say so because there are evidence that I want to point out throughout this lesson. The teacher is more textbook oriented and/or teacher-directed. Even though in this class the students look actively in answering Mr. Wu's questions, however, they are not the ones who ask the questions. The teacher, Mr. Wu, is simply ask the class to see the answer in their textbook. Mr. Wu also asks the questions to the students from the textbook, and they are close-ended questions and not experience-related questions. Furthermore, Mr. Wu merely say, "that's correct" to the students’ answers, there is less far thought provoking in this lesson. In addition, the students also just tell the name of the planets and the fact about them. In this lesson, I understand that they learn about solar system which is kind of hard to implement experiments about it, but it should not limit students to ask real-world problem about the impact of the solar system in their daily lives, so that they can formulate and connect their explanations, not just simply mention the facts. Additionally, the assessment that Mr. Wu does in the class is just to assess how students arrange the order of the planet (where students can see the textbook for the order). Lastly, there is no deeper communication for students to justify their explanation because they just mention the facts.

3. Lesson 1 (Melting and methods) is better in promoting conceptual understanding because the students actively develop their understanding through engagement and exploration. They interact and investigate the learning through asking questions, construct and evaluate explanations, and communicate their ideas. Through those interaction, students are well equipped to develop their conceptual understanding in learning

4.  Here are several things that I can do: 

• Provide real-world problems and let the students to make sense of it. 

• Encourage students to work together.

• Ask justification for students’ answers

• Ask open-ended questions.

Exploration 5.3

• Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions. (variation level: 4)

• Learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions (variation level: 1)

• Learner formulates explanations from evidence. (variation level: 1)

• Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge (variation level: 2)

• Learner communicates and justifies explanations. (variation level: 1) 

Reflection questions:

1.      Vary, but mostly the variation that I chose is 1, because it is more learner self-direction and the role of the teacher is to guide and facilitate students.

2.      In my opinion, the reasons for the teacher to use the level of direction (learner self-direction) because:

• The topic is interesting and applicable in daily life.

• The students have the abstract thinking concept.

• The teacher consider the implementation of the inquiry-based instructions.

Reference: 

Contant, T. L., Tweed, A. L., Bass, J. E., Carin, A. A. (2018). Teaching science through inquiry-based instruction (13th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

Using the 5E Model

Chosen unit: What's in your water? Lesson 1 and 2 (Grade 5)

level inquiry that I found in the lessons activities. 

• Guided inquiry: in the explore 1 (Lesson 1)

When the teacher asks students to drop the indicators (she gives exact instruction:  3 drops of phenolphthalein into glass A). Then, the teacher starts asking the students, 'what do you notice?' and the teacher asks them to write their thinking on their notes with the given format of cause-and-effect statement. 

In this activity I notice that it is more guided inquiry since the teacher gives the students exact procedures to be followed. For instance, how many drops and how to fill in the statement. The procedure in this activity is directly guided by the teachers. 

• Open inquiry: part 2: explore 2 (Lesson 4) 

In this activity, the teacher encourages students (in groups) to design a plan on how to solve water problem. The teacher allows students to brainstorm, ask questions, plan the solution, make predictions, justify their steps, and have group feedback review. 

In this activity I can identify that the teacher implements student-centered activity, where the students share their own ideas to their group in order to plan a solution. The job of the teacher in this activity is just facilitating students with sources they need. Students are the ones who construct and design a solution toward the real-world situation that they were being asked by themselves. 

There are several things to do to differentiate instruction based on the level of inquiry. 
- to be more guided inquiry: 
1. Differentiation for students who are struggling in reading. The teacher provides more direct instruction when it comes to reading in finding evidence (since science connect to reading for research). 
2. Teacher give sentence format (written or spoken) to the students who are having difficulty in organizing their thought in writing.
3. When students having difficulty in communicating their thought in writing or speaking, they can just orally tell their thought with direct conversation with the teacher (monitor their thought by asking questions that lead them to structure their speaking). 

-to be more open inquiry: 
1. Purposefully group the students for peer-support. It is beneficial  for students to help each other. For instance group the advanced students with students who are still struggling. 
2. Allow students to use their notes/drawing/etc in order to share their thinking. For some students they might find it hard to speak out loud (socially awkward). 

(Preparation for presentation)

SEP 7-8 (Enze, Felicia, Lampita, and Netha GRADE 7)

SEP 7 and 8

SEP 7: Engage in Argument from Evidence 

Definition: It is a process of reasoning, where the students make a justified claim about the world and critical judgement about students’ own work and their peer’s work.

Progression from K-G12:

-          In K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to comparing ideas and representations about the natural and designed world. (focus on grade 2)

-          Engaging in argument from evidence in 3–5 builds on K–2  experiences and progresses to critiquing the scientific explanations or solutions proposed by peers by citing relevant evidence about the natural and designed world(s). Support an argument with evidence, data, or a model.

-          in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).

-          In 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to using appropriate and sufficient evidence and scientific reasoning to defend and critique claims and explanations about the natural and designed world(s). Arguments may also come from current scientific or historical episodes in science.  Evaluate evidence behind currently accepted explanations or solutions to determine the merits of arguments. 

Chosen grade: 7

Example: Examples of empirical evidence used in arguments could include an inventory or other representation of the energy before and after the transfer in the form of temperature changes or motion of object. The performance expectations above were developed using Structure and Properties of Matter.

Connection to the previous grade: Students are able to use several representation as media of their arguments. They also are able to evaluate some solutions based on evidence (citing properly).

Connection to next grade level: Students are able to determine strong arguments based on their variety of research, in order to support their thinking.

SEP 8: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information 

Definition:

1. Obtaining Information: Gathering data from various sources, which could include primary research, secondary sources, or expert opinions.

2. Evaluating Information: Assessing the credibility, accuracy, and relevance of the information. This step is critical to avoid misinformation and ensure the information is reliable.

3. Communicating Information: Sharing the information in a clear, concise, and understandable manner. Effective communication can involve various formats such as written reports, presentations, or discussions.

Progression from K- G12: 

-          Grade k-2 builds on prior experiences and uses observations and texts to communicate new information. 

-          in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to evaluate the merit and accuracy of ideas and methods. Obtain and combine information from books and/or other reliable media to explain phenomena or solutions to a design problem. 

-          in 6-8 builds on K-5 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.

-          in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and progresses to evaluating the validity and reliability of the claims, methods, and designs.  Communicate scientific ideas (e.g. about phenomena and/or the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (including orally, graphically, textually, and mathematically)

Chosen grade: 7

Example: Emphasis is on natural resources that undergo a chemical process to form the synthetic material. Examples of new materials could include new medicine, foods, and alternative fuels.

Connection to the previous grades: Students continue to develop their skills in collecting and verbalizing data through abstract and concrete resources (making connection).

Connection to next level: Students can provide more different formats in providing data. Students use different sources to support their claims.

1. Video 4.2

   Watch this video to see students talking in their small groups about the phenomenon of touching a suspended ping pong ball with a vibrating tuning fork. Then find out why their teacher considers such science discourse to be so important for learning with understanding.

   
   

   As what the teacher says in the video, class discourse is important because it is a powerful strategy for both students and teachers. For students, it is crucial for them to investigate the learning to sharpen their understanding, they can learn from each other, explore the tools and procedures, and to be more confident in verbalizing their thinking in a larger group. Discourse is also helpful for teachers to have pre-assessment, to understand students' knowledge and skills, and to be able to facilitate students in learning. All in all, discourse encourages students to be exposed in inquiry-based learning.

2. Video 4.3 Watch fourth-grade teacher, Glen McKnight, scaffold student thinking to test a variable during an investigation. How, specifically, did Mr. McKnight help students set up a meaningful, investigative task?

   
   

   the scaffolding strategy that the teacher is very interesting. The teacher starts by directing students' attention to what is happening in their activity. The first question is really based on what the students see, thus the students have more curiosity and willingness to be engaged. Second, the teacher directs students' ways of thinking about why the salamander hides under the rock. Thus from curiosity, the students begin to predict of what is happening (scaffold), They start make a prediction that the salamander is afraid of lights. In this step, the teacher is allowing students to verbalize their thinking based on their observation. Next, the teacher consistently creates step by step questions, that eventually lead students to practice their knowledge and skills, especially in giving solutions through planning.

3. Video 4.4

   
   

   A first-grade teacher conducts a demonstration for her class on one of the properties of air. Why do some students struggle with understanding why water does not go into the cup? What might convince them that air takes up space and keeps water from entering the cup until the cup is tipped?

   
   

   Developmentally, grade 1 students make sense the world around them through their senses, including through their observation (by seeing). The teacher starts by asking what is real, then continue to provoke their thinking by the demonstration. The teacher allows them to have touch inside the glass (that is how they know: through concrete things and direct involvement). Thus, it is hard for students to understand the concept of air because the cannot see or touch it, but then trough the demonstration, when the glass is tipped and bubbles come out (visible) then the students at the end kind of being convince that air is real (they see the bubble).

   
   

   
   

There different approaches: SUchman' inquiry, problem based, and cooperative inquiry group
The similarities: Every method implements the idea of verbalizing questions. Second, every method is experiential learning.

Differences: the process in analyzing the problems. The approach in elaborating the explanation.

Inquiry methods are helpful both for slow and fast learners because they internalize the learning. They make it personal since they experience it, they have questions from a phenomenon that raise their curiosity.

UNIT PLAN DRAFT 1

BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

Pattern

Creation: God created day and night, the time that God created, is used for humans so that we may work in the day and rest at night. God also created animals and plants so that we can eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Pattern in our Unit:

• Data in the forecast.

• Construct scientific explanation in rates of change and other numerical relationships.

• Identify cause and effects

Cause and effect

Earth and Space: Predict phenomena in the natural and design system.

Matter: How particle moves in different conditions. When putting new substances.

Force: Predict what will happen in the system of force.

Human Impacts: Relationships can be classified.

Scale, proportion, and quantity

History of Earth: How Geologic time scale is used to organize the age of the earth.

Space Systems: Time, energy, and space can be observed at various scales: Using data to determine scale properties of object in the solar systems.

Matter: Matter can react in different scale.

Creation: God's creation has different jobs and systems that work and function together, creating a world that is organized and support each other to maintain peace and balance. For example, the sun works in daytime to give energy, light, and warmth to all creation, and the moon influence tides, gives light for nocturnal animals, and guides ancient people in navigation and sailing. As His image bearer, we can observe the systems to understand ourselves and the universe more and create models to understand the world.

Standard:

MS-ESS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system and Milky Way galaxy and controls orbital motions

within them. Examples of models can be physical (such as the analogy of distance along a football field or computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual

(such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects such as students’ school or state).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include

Kepler’s Laws of orbital motion or the apparent retrograde motion of the planets as viewed from Earth.]

Crosscutting concepts: Systems and System Models

▪ Models can be used to represent systems and their

interactions. (MS-ESS1-2)

Energy and Matter:

Creation: God has created so many things in this world that may give us energy. The plants, animals, and sun gives us vitamins so that we may have energy. When we eat vegetables, proteins, and receive sunlight, we receive energy from His works.

Grade 7:

Chemical Reactions: Students will undertake a design to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes so that they may track the transfer of energy as energy flows through a designed or natural system. (MS-PS1-6)

Structure and function-grade 7 (Enze, Netha, Felicia, and Lampita

Creation: God created the world structurally perfect. All things function together to point us to the perfect Creator, God and to glorify him. For instance, the Lord created the birds with wings so that they can fly, and through these awesome creatures we can see the great creator, the Lord.

Standard: Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems.

• Within a natural system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter. Example: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

• The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a natural system. example: Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Stability and Change

Creation:

The world is created in a time, where all things change. At another time, God's creation is "according to its kind." This means everything has a boundary between each other, which means the laws and definitions of all things are separated from each other.

In science is the law of conservation, everything moves and changes but they cannot emerge from nothing only if God makes it so. All the things and laws works together formed the world we called "universe."

standard:

Stability and Change

▪ Explanations of stability and change in

natural or designed systems can be

constructed by examining the changes

over time and forces at different scales.

(MS-PS2-2)

MS-PS2-2. Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the

forces on the object and the mass of the object. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on balanced (Newton’s First Law) and unbalanced

forces in a system, qualitative comparisons of forces, mass and changes in motion (Newton’s Second Law), frame of reference, and specification of units.]

[Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to forces and changes in motion in one-dimension in an inertial reference frame and to change in one variable at a

time. Assessment does not include the use of trigonometry.]

by AllDCI

1. What priority does you believe teachers should give to children’s questions? What strategy should they use?

2. How important is it for teachers to monitor their own uses of questions? What are some effective things you could do?

Case study:

3. You realize the importance of questioning in the classroom and try to make it an essential component of your instruction. However, your results have been somewhat mixed. In your heterogeneous class, you have a small cadre of eager students who dominate the question and answer sessions. They raise their hands to answer the questions, or in some cases, even call out the answers before other students are ready to respond. As a result, the other students appear to be less and less engaged. Some have even stopped responding at all and merely wait for the others to answer for them.

What do you do?

4.You have begun calling on all students, not just those who raise their hands. So far, results have not proceeded as you had hoped, however. When you call on the reluctant students, many times they cannot correctly answer your question, or they make no response at all. You are beginning to think this situation has results as undesirable as not calling on them at all. In today's warm up activity, you are discussing the quotation by Aristotle: "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." Maria, the student you randomly select today is one who routinely does not volunteer. How do you handle this activity to improve student responses?

1. As a teacher, I believe that teachers should prioritize open-ended and contextual questions. It means that the questions should be more reflective that lead the students not only to give solutions but also let them to ponder it in their context/situation, so that they can personalize the solutions and apply in their own lives. In my opinions, there are several strategies that teachers can implement: First, ask the questions based on the daily basis, try to include ‘what do you think?’ questions, give immediate feedback to their answers, avoid criticizing or judging students’ answers but try to appreciate them, attentively listen to students’ thoughts, and use class discourse to answer questions. The role of the effective teachers is important in creating meaningful questions. According to Contant et.al (2018), teachers who are effective, use questions to boost students’ motivation to do and to think. Strategies that teachers can implement are incorporating different kinds of questions, activate prior knowledge, help students to make connections, and encourage discourse (Contant et.al., 2008). It means that teachers should be able to be creative in creating questions and monitor students' understanding. 

2. 
   

   It is important for teachers to monitor their own uses of questions because through monitoring, they need to practice their ability in creating meaningful questions. It is important for them to monitor the way they wording their questions, to practice their ability in creating investigative questions, and allow them to expect students’ answer. There are some strategies that teachers can implement: start the questions based  on daily phenomena, build interactive discussions, do some research, be contextual in probing the questions, and ask questions in accordance to receive students' thinking. 

   
   

3. 
   

   As a teacher, this case is very important to be addressed to help all the students to be engaged in the classroom. I am happy for those students who are actively involved in the discussion, but I want all of the students to share their thinking. Thus, in this case, I would like to implement popsicles name, call on student’s name, remind the disposition of sharing thoughts (listen and response), be consistent in implementing wait time, and be more interactive in giving the questions.

   
   

4. 
   

   It connects to the way teachers response to students’ answer: accepting, extending, and probing student responses (Contant et.al, 2008). In this case, teachers role is important to accept students' response.  In this case, teachers should implement inquiry teaching by listening to students' ideas to show acceptance even if it contains misconceptions, mistakes, and alternative conceptions (Contant, 2008). It means as in this acceptance approach teachers need to accept students' ideas without any judgment or correction, in order to encourage and help students to feel secure in sharing whats in their minds. Furthermore, teachers also can show acceptance through acknowledgment, repetition, and reinforcement of students' thoughts (Contant, 2018). It means teachers are actively engage and interact with the students in the questions-answers session. Simple strategies that teachers can implement is by using nonverbal language such as 'nodding' as a response that the students have been heard and accepted. Another strategy is retelling students' ideas is also powerful to acknowledge and accept students' ideas. After that, the teacher can go to the next steps: extending and probing responses. 

Reference: 

Contant, T. L., Tweed, A. L., Bass, J. E., Carin, A. A. (2018). Teaching science through inquiry-based instruction (13th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

·         What makes the population of organisms decrease and increase?

·         What are the reasons for organisms to be interdependent with each other?

·         Can you mention examples of stable and disrupted ecosystems?

·         Why does changes in ecosystems can change organisms’ population?

·         How do you contribute to stabilizing an environment?

·         How do we measure the health of biodiversity?

·         Can human influence changes in biodiversity?

How human and organisms live in coexistence?

Vocabulary grade 2

• Organism - is a living thing that can function on its own. Ex. plants, animals, and human.

• External parts - physical appearance (outside parts of organisms' body). Ex. ears, eyes, and nose.

• Survive - means to stay alive or continue to exist after something difficult or dangerous. Ex. A bird survive against the storm,

• Matter - is anything that takes up space and has weight. Ex. A tree.

• Produce - means to make or create something. Ex. A cat gives birth.

• Grow- means to become bigger or larger. Ex. A cat grows bigger.

• object - is anything that you can see, touch, or feel. Ex. a cat

• Stages of development - are the different steps that a living thing goes through as they grow up. Ex: Person is growing from baby, toddler, teenager, adult.

• Offspring - are the children of living things. Ex: A kitten is the offspring of a cat.

• Behavior- is how someone or something acts or behaves. Ex: A cat's behavior can be friendly or aggressive.

• Develop - means to grow or become better over time. Ex: A seed develop into a root.

• Physical - means something that you can touch or see. t's related to your body or the world around you. Ex: your hands, arms, etc.

• Habitats - are the places where animals and plants live. Ex: a dessert is a habitat for camels, scorpions, and snakes.

• Mimicking - means to copy someone or something. Ex: A kitten is mimicking its mother.

• Resources - are things that we need or use. Ex: clothes and food.

• Energy - is a special kind of power that makes things happen. Ex: Heat energy makes things warm.

• Water - is a clear liquid that we drink and use for many things. Ex: We use water to grow plants.

• Sunlight - is the light that comes from the sun. Ex: Sunlight makes us feel warm.

• Respond - means to answer or react to something. Ex: When you feel hot from the fire you might respond by getting away from it.

• Information - is something that you learn or know. It can be a fact, a story, or a picture. Ex: You know that a cat is growing.

• React - to do something in response to something else. Ex: You drink a lot of water when you eat spicy food.

• Environment - is everything around us/the world we live in. Ex: plants, animals, houses, ponds, and forest.

• Process - Doing things in a certain order/follow steps to get something done. Ex: Process in making a lemonade.

• Senses - are the ways we understand the world around us and help us know what things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel like. Ex: ears, eyes, skin, tongue, and nose.

• receive - means to get something. Ex: the sunlight gives energy and the plant receive (get) it.

• Different traits- observable characteristics or attributes that vary among individuals within a species or between different species. These traits can be influenced by genetic, environmental, and developmental factors.

  • Reproduction:

    Organisms reproduce to create new individuals, either sexually (involving two parents) or asexually (involving one parent).

  • Response to Stimuli: Organisms can respond to environmental changes, such as light, temperature, and sound.

  • Homeostasis: Organisms maintain a stable internal environment to function properly, despite external changes

  • Adaptation: Over time, organisms evolve adaptations that help them survive and reproduce in their environments.

  • Lost habitat: if they are destoyed animals and plants cannot survive.

    Climate change: the tempeture change too high or too low they can not surive too.

  • Pollution: Pollution can degrade habitats and make them toxic for organisms and they will die.

    Invasive species: the introduction of non-native species can disrupt local ecosystem

  • Overexploitation: vverharvesting of resources, such as logging, fishing, and hunting, can deplete populations and degrade habitats.

  • Hunting efficiency: lions hunt in prides, which allows them to take down larger prey than they could manage alone.

  • Raising offspring: elephant herds are matriarchal, with females and their young staying together.

  • Foraging and sharing: wolves hunt in packs, which allows them to take down larger prey and share the food among the pack members

  • Symbiotic Relationships: cleaner fish, such as cleaner wrasses, remove parasites from larger fish.

  • Individual- a single organism or entity that is part of a larger group or population. It is characterized by its own distinct set of genetic traits, behaviors, and physiological characteristics.

  • Each other- interactions or relationships between two or more entities, highlighting mutual influence or reciprocal actions.

  • Living thing - means something that is alive. hey can move or grow and need care to stay alive. Ex: plants, animals, and humans.

  • Extinct - means that a type of animal or plant is no longer alive anywhere in the world. Ex: Dinosaurs.

  • Similar - When things are alike in some way, we say they are similar. Ex: A cat and a tiger are similar but they are different as well.

  • Land - is the solid ground we walk and live on. Land is different from water, like rivers, lakes, and oceans. Ex: people build houses on the land.

  • Exist - means to be real or to be alive. Ex: people, birds, and lizards.

  • Area - means a specific space or place. Ex: playground.

  • Adaption: something produced to adjust to different conditions or uses, or to meet different situation in order to surivive.

    Example: Polar bear: they have thick fur and a layer of fat to against Arctic cold.

    Cacti: adapted to arid environments by developing thick, fleshy stems that store water.

  • Biodiversity: a multiplicity of genes, species and ecosystems.

Biblical perspective

Grade K-2

Creation: God created the world in diversity. Through His wisdom and power, different plants and animals have different structures and traits that enable them to live, survive, and live together with other creatures and in their environment perfectly well.

Fall: Sin distorts the perfect creation God has created. All creations (plants, animals, and humans) will die in the end. Sin also affects the traits and structures of plants and animals. The traits and structures might not work or function properly, limiting the plants and animals to live as they should be or according to what God intended. All organisms need to survive in order to live and avoid dying. Our actions bring suffering to God's creation.

Redemption: Jesus' resurrection and redemption for human affects the whole creation. He brings redemption and salvation to those who have faith and believe in Him. We, humans, are now given the wisdom and knowledge to take care of God's living creation, both plants and animals.

Renewal: Although sin will still be in the world until Jesus' second coming and living things still suffer from our actions, we are now God's agent to redeem His creation and are given the power and ability to take care of God's living creation, plants and animals. By knowing God's creation, how they live, lifestyle, structures and functions, we can effectively care, preserve, and protect plants and animals.

Grade 1 lesson 1: sound vibration.

 
Diagnostic:
- Ask students about sounds they have heard. 

- Ask if they heard any animal sounds and if they can identify what animal was making the sound.

Formative:

1. Discussion as a whole group, record a few student responses on chart paper, listing the four senses used (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling).

2. Give T-charts on chart paper with What I Wonder on the left and What I Found Out on the right for students to share out with the class their ideas about sound. 

3. Think and Share: what they think they know about what causes sound, even if they are not sure. Have students share with the class and chart their ideas.

4. Set up a center with some of the materials where students can continue to explore their ideas and refine their thinking.

Summative:

Students investigate vibrations using a drum and a tuning fork and draw a group model that explains the cause and effect relationship between sound and vibration.

As they work, use performance Assessment Checklist to make quick notes on how students are doing in all three dimensions.

Planning for assessment in unit plan

Pre-assessment:

Lesson 1 (Obj. 1 and 2)

How does the earth look like?

(students will draw)

When it happens: for engage

In the beginning before watching a video clip of how the green earth are no longer wide

What to look for:

A bigger picture of what factors can change the earth: focus on deforestation.

Lesson 2 (Obj. 3 and 4)

Get to know Sumatran Tigers: what do I know?

When it happens: for explain

Before and after watching a video clip about Sumatera tiger (students work in pairs.)

What to look for:

The original and balanced ecosystem for Sumatera tigers.

Lesson 3 (Obj. 5 and 6)

1 minute elevator speech

When it happens: explore 2

What to look for:

Students’ prior knowledge about the products of tigers.

When it happens:

In the beginning of the class: why do humans do deforestation?

Lesson 4 (Obj. 7-9)

Sumatra Map-tigers population

When it happens: elaborate

In the beginning of the class.

What to look for:

Pattern decreased population in the disrupted environmental interactions.

Lesson 5 (obj. 10-11)

Class discussion

When it happens: Engage

What to look for:

Changes in habitat affect tigers’ behavior.

Lesson 6 (obj. 12)

Explain the Poster – in Socratic seminar

When it happens: Explain 

What to look for:

To share the solution in helping tigers from different perspective.

Formative:

Lesson 1 (Obj. 1 and 2)

Centers: there are 3 centers (1 group 1 centers)

When it happens: for explore

In the middle of the class.

What to look for:

cause and effects of environmental interactions and changes in the forest ecosystems.

Lesson 2 (Obj. 3 and 4)

Students will discuss and elaborate the reading of the tigers’ population and deforestation.

When it happens: For elaborate

in the middle of the class

What to look for: Engaging in arguments based on evidence and making connection with the deforestation context.

Lesson 3 (Obj. 5-6)

3-2-1 format

When it happens: Explain

at the end of the class after data analysis and interpretation. (Evaluate)

What to look for: Students personal thinking about the tigers trades.

Lesson 4 (Obj. 7-9)

Peer-Sharing: reason analysis

When it happens: evaluate

What to look for: students’ understanding on connecting the scientific, social, and economic aspects and how it connects to ecosystem services.

Lesson 5 (obj. 10-11)

Poster: Solution exploration

When it happens: in exploration time.

What to look for: Students ability in carrying out information based on established solution.

Lesson 6 (obj. 12)

Socratic seminar -Fishbowl approach

When it happens: evaluate

What to look for:

Students personal responses in discussion about the solution.

Summative:

Campaign - Sumatran endangered animals.

Vocabulary grade K-2

Sun--The star that gives us light and warmth. Appear during the day time.

Moon--Can be seen in the sky at night.

Stars--Bright objects in the sky, like the sun give us light.

Day--The time when the sun is in the sky and when it is bright outside.

Night--When there is the moon in the sky and it is dark outside.

Telescope--The tool that can help us to see something far away that we cannot see clearly by our eyes.

Season--Different times of a year--[Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter]

Sunrise--The time when the sun first appears in the morning.

Sunset --The time when the sun disappears in the evening.

Month--A period of about 30 days related to the moon's phases.

Daytime--The time when the sun rises, and it is light outside.

Nighttime--The time when the sun sets, and it is dark outside.

• cycles - something that happens again and again (repeating pattern, ex. day and night).

• Beginning - first step or start point of something (Ex. A tree starting grow from a seed.)

• End - Last step or finish point of something (ex. eruption.)

• volcano - hot lava and ash that is coming out from a mountain (ex. the volcano is hot.)

• eruption - Something is burst out/explodes. (Volcano shooting out lava/ash)

• earthquake - the earth suddenly shakes because there is movement inside the earth (elements movements).

• formation - the process (needs time) of something into being created (Ex. rocks take time to be formed).

• quickly - something happens very fast

• slowly - something happens very slow, takes much time, and without rushing.

• time period - is a length of time, can be slow or fast (minutes, hours, weeks, months, years)

• observable - means something that can be seen or something that you can look at (Ex. you see the moon.)

• 
  

  • cycles - something that happens again and again (repeating pattern, ex. day and night).

  • Beginning - first step or start point of something (Ex. A tree starting grow from a seed.)

  • End - Last step or finish point of something (ex. eruption.)

  • volcano - hot lava and ash that is coming out from a mountain (ex. the volcano is hot.)

  • eruption - Something is burst out/explodes. (Volcano shooting out lava/ash)

  • earthquake - the earth suddenly shakes because there is movement inside the earth (elements movements).

  • formation - the process (needs time) of something into being created (Ex. rocks take time to be formed).

  • quickly - something happens very fast

  • slowly - something happens very slow, takes much time, and without rushing.

  • time period - is a length of time, can be slow or fast (minutes, hours, weeks, months, years)

  • observable - means something that can be seen or something that you can look at (Ex. you see the moon.)

    
    

    Biblical perspective

    ESS1.A

    Creation: When God created the world, He created the world that has purpose and reason. Some of His creation Has patterns (something that always repeats), like the sun rising in daytime, the moon rising on nighttime with the stars, and the different seasons that come and go by. This repeated pattern happens because God is the God who knows everything and what we need. With the sun in daytime, we can do our work, get energy and vitamin from its sun rays, and to see the world and everyone. At nighttime, God gives the moon to give small but soft ray of light to enable us to see at nighttime yet not too bright so everyone can have a good night sleep, with the stars that accompany illuminating the night sky. We can also know the time, days, seasons, and years from the sun and moon. We can be wise in what we do and know how many days left before the earth completely rotates around the sun. Seasons gives us reminder of what we must do and what we should do, like planting crops in the spring and harvesting it in the autumn to prepare for winter. The sun, moon, and stars became indicators of time of what we should do to prepare for something. Understanding the patterns of the sun, moon, and stars, and seasons helps us to better be efficient in our work and to be productive in what we do (work in daytime and rest in nighttime). We can appreciate the work God has created and praise Him for His creation.

     

    Fall: The Fall has affected the world and everything in it. Some parts of the world became too hot because the sun shines brightly there or too cold because the sun does not shine there the whole time, killing all living things (humans, animals, and plants). In some parts of the world the moon and stars does not shine brightly, leading to complete darkness. Seasons appear because of the sin humans bring into the world, resulting in spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Some parts of the world suffers because in some seasons it became too hot, damaging the body and skin, and too cold, which could result in death because of coldness.

     

    Resurrection: Since Jesus came down to earth and saves everyone who believes in Him and have faith in Him, we are renewed again and given by God His wisdom and power. Everything that we should is to glorify Him and to bring blessing and honour to the One who saves and created us. Our lives should reflect the life of someone that is new and different, not following the sin and things that angers and sad God. Our lives should be to imitate or to be like Jesus, the One who saves us from sins and a model to live a Christian life in the world.

    Renewal: Because we are saved and belong to God, we are given an important job: to expand the Kingdom of God and sharing the Gospel. To expand the Kingdom of God, we must learn about how to live a life that is effective for God’s glory. Knowing the patterns of the sun, moon, and stars and seasons will help us to know the time and how many days left before a year passed so we can use the time wisely in everything we do for God. We can also prepare ourselves for a season that will come, for example the rainy season. We need have umbrella, raincoat, and waterproof footwear to go to places when the rain comes, checking for leaks and cleaning gutters to avoid flood, drink vitamins to avoid getting sick and flu, using dry clothes to avoid catching cold, and to keep our house clean and dry to avoid molds growing inside the house. However, we should still praise in the rainy season because God created the rain and it nourishes the earth, giving life to plants and flowers. Just as rain gives minerals and nutrients to earth, we can reflect on God’s grace and blessing that comes to us, praise Him, and to spend time with Him in prayer and Bible reading.
    

Classroom procedure (for field trip): GRADE 7
1. Examples of Science class rules (based on reading):
Always:
1. Read and follow all directions for the activity.
2. Read all warning labels on all materials being used
3. Wear eye protection as directed
4. Follow safety warnings or precautions
5. Use all materials carefully and as they were intended
6. Clean up your area and dispose of materials properly
7. Wash your hands well after every activity
8. Immediately report any spills, breakage, accidents, or injuries to your teacher
9. Tie back long hair to keep it away from chemicals, flames, and equipment
Never:
1. Eat or drink while conducting an experiment
2. Touch material to your eyes, mouth, or nose
3. Experiment on your own

2. A list of procedures in my unit (about interpreting and analyzing given data about ecosystems):
1. Citation-cite properly
2. Discussion procedure-raise hand, and wait for your turn to share, and watch your time.
3. Form group work formation.
4. Clean after yourself

Science safety contracts (modified) for classroom field trip
1. Stay with your group
2. Be respectful to other visitors
3. Help care for the animals: feed them only if you are permitted.
4. Do not touch the animals.
5. Do not litter
6. Preparation: bring your students ID, personal needs, and umbrella.

draft:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGU9-FTBzw/xb9O9Locs929mW3YvBh60Q/edit?utm_content=DAGU9-FTBzw&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Material--What something made of.

Wood--a material that come from the trees

Metal--a material that is hard, heavy, and strong.

Solid--A kind of matter which has its own shape

Liquid--A kind of matter that does not have a shape unless it is in a container, like water.

Pull--use force to make something be closer to you

Push--use force to make something to be far away from you

Direction--the way that something is moving to or pointing to, like forward, back, left, right.

Friction--Something that slow the movement down.

Speed--How fast is something moving

Gravity--The force that pulls the object down to the earth.

• Speed -- how fast or slow something moves

• collision -- Means when two things bump into each other. Ex. When two toy cars crash into each other - Change is when something is not the same as it was before.

• change-- is when something is not the same as it was before.

• Direction -- Direction is the way we go or move. When we walk to school or go to the playground, we follow a direction.

• Force -- Force is how we make things move, by pushing or pulling

• Move -- means to go from one place to another

• Waves- Movements that carry energy from one place to another (Ex. water waves, stone throw into water, create ripples, and sound waves, voice travel through air to reach someone).

• Surface- The top layer that you can see and touch. It can be smooth, rough, wet or dry.

• Up & down in place- The movement of the waves moving from one place to another. It looks like a wave or a water ripple

• Illuminate- To light something up or to make it bright (Ex. Sun shines, it illuminates the ground and everything around it; a flashlight illuminates the dark room).

  
  

  Light- A form of energy that helps us see things.

  Natural light- From the sun and makes everything bright during the day.

  Artificial light- lightbulbs at home and school to help us see when it's dark.

  
  

  Light beam- A straight line of light that that comes from a light source.

  
  

  Mirror- A shiny surface that reflects light and shows a picture of whatever is in front of it (Ex. You see your own reflection when looking into a mirror).

  
  

  Prisms- A special piece of glass or plastic that can bend and separate light into different colors. It creates the color rainbow when light hits it.

  
  

  Redirect- To change the direction of something, like light or a moving object (Ex. When a mirror reflects light, it redirects the light so you can see your reflection).

Biblical perspective

Creation

God created all the universe in at the beginning, from the biggest plant to the smallest particles in the world. There are different matters in the world and each of them has its own role. Also, God created world creatively, there are many different states of the object like solid, liquid, and gas, they also have different properties, like conductivity. This all reflect the creativity of God when He created this world.

Fall

However, we as humans are fallen because of sin, some of the materials are not always in a perfect state. For example, metal will oxidate because of its reaction with the oxygen. If a metal oxidises, it will not be as hard and strong as before. This is also the fallen part of the creation. In addition, the reaction between some materials might produce toxins which is harmful to human body when we--humans to use this kind of matter. Some chemical reactions can also cause exploding which is very dangerous.

Redemption

There is also good things happen as the technology develops, especially the technology of recycling. There are some organizations that collect the objects that people do not use anymore, and process them so that the waste can be used again. It not only protect our environment, but also save a lot of resources of the world.

Renewal

By learning about the matter and its interactions, students can see God's creation in big as well as small picture. Knowing that everything that God created has its own purpose. It also reminds us that we need to be careful when we use the resources that come from God mindfully and wisely. When God's creation are used appropriately, they can work very effective.

Grade level: 7

Unit title: Endangered animals and their environments

Unit details (SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs):

Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs):

1.      Analyzing and interpreting data

2.      Engaging in argument from evidence

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs):

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems (MS-LS2-1)

·         Organisms are dependent on environmental interactions.

·         Resources are crucial for organisms’ survival.

·         Access to resources affects organisms’ population.

LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience (MS-LS2-4)

·         Disruption to physical or biological components is impactful for ecosystem dynamic and the population of organisms. 

LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience (MS-LS2-5)

·         The completeness of the variety of species can determine its health.

LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans (MS-LS2-5)

·         Humans rely on natural or ecosystems resources and services. Thus, changes in biodiversity are impactful in humans’ lives.

ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions (MS-LS2-5)

·         In evaluation there are Processes to follow to meet the criteria and constraints.

Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs)

1.      Cause and Effect: Cause and effect is used to estimate phenomena in nature or made systems.

2.      Stability and Change: Any small changes in a system may lead to bigger changes in other area.

Source: Next Generation Science Standards (2013). Topic Arrangements of the Next Generation Science Standards. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Objectives:

1.      Students will be able to create a campaign using different media based on their perspective audience.

2.      Students will be able to do a campaign about other endanger animals in Sumatra Island.

3.      Students will be able to evaluate their campaign based on their experience.

Overview of the unit:

At the end of this unit, students will go back again to the anchoring phenomenon of this unit which is “Sumatran tigers are almost extinct” to see the overall idea of organisms and environmental interactions. This unit is interconnected to mathematics about interpreting data for warranted evidence, reasoning and modelling in math. Furthermore, it is also connected to ELA where students should cite and use reliable data to be analyzed and interpreted. Last but not least, in this unit students also need to consider and elaborate more human, and organism’s interactions based on their social, economic, and scientific aspects. The process in learning and investigating, students are encouraged to reference reliable data in interpreting and analyzing the impact of environmental interaction due to some changes. While exploring the impact of deforestation and poaching to tigers’ population, students are also encouraged to see other multiple endangered animals in Sumatra and come up with ideas on how availability resources, ecosystems changes, and humans’ solutions in maintaining biodiversity are tightly important for balanced ecosystems. Lastly, students conduct exploration and investigations on the phenomenon to see the bigger pictures of the earth’s problem and be able to propose and design meaningful solutions to maintain biodiversity.

How this project helps students to reach the objectives

Since this unit is more to explanation and verbalizing data, we use campaigns as the final project. Campaign is helpful for students to construct their explanation, analyze information and data, support the established solutions, and come up with more practical solution. Additionally, through this performance task, students will be able to do metacognitive reflection on how they claim an idea and use relevance information to support. They also will learn on how to be better communicators through the campaign.

Performance Task Instruction: Do a campaign

Details:

1.      This summative will be covered in lesson 7 and 8. However, students start making progress since lesson 2 (the progression is more to students work in their group.)

2.      There are 3 groups and each group with different animals and different audience, here is the detail:

-          Sumatran Orangutan: audience grade 1-2 students they will present through story telling.

-          Sumatran serow: the audience is 3-4 students through a video then explain it a bit.

-          Sumatran elephant: the audience is 5-6 students through a poster.

3.      Students will demonstrate a campaign about their chosen endangered animals: orangutan, serow, and Sumatran elephants.

In accomplishing this summative, the students need to show progress at the end of every class. In each lesson we will discover different topic by using Sumatran tigers as the example. Here is the outline:

When it happens: 

1.      In lesson 2: The Teacher starts grouping the students in three groups. The teacher will write the three animals each on a piece of paper then fold it. Then, each group will have a representative to choose the folded paper. Their chosen animal will be their summative. At the end of the lesson 2, students will be given time to research about the population and characteristics of their chosen animal.

2.      In lesson 3: Students start to develop their findings; they will add how the animals become endangered: it might be close-related to habitat loss and illegal trade.

3.      In lesson 4: they will research how human needs destroy the animal’s habitat.

4.      In lesson 5: they will add on how to preserve the animals realistically.

5.      In lesson 6: they continue to prediction of the population of the animals in the future if we can take care of them

6.      In lesson 7 the whole class time will be given for them to finalize their campaign and be ready to demonstrate it in the next day. In this lesson they are going to get feedback from me as the teacher.

How do they do it:

Choose the animals

Do progressive research.

Create a media to show for the campaign.

Demonstrate the campaign.

What to look for:

Students’ holistic understanding on how populations are impacted by environmental interactions and changes in ecosystems then come up with solutions to bring glory to God.

Using rubric. As mentioned above, there are another three different endangered animals that students (in group) will campaign: Sumatran elephant, Sumatran orangutan, and Sumatran serow. Additionally, students will do a campaign about their chosen animals into different form: poster, video, and storytelling. They need to create a media to support their campaign. The details of the rubrics are provided.

Since my poster is about Sumatran tiger, the requirement and the details are the same with Sumatran elephants. Here is the grade of the poster based on the rubric below (highlight in the green), total score: 94

The score shows that the sample reaches an excellent grade. The reason is because it fulfils the requirements such as content accuracy, campaign message, which is the solution that are taken, visual creativity, and campaign relevance. In the part of the call to action, it is a little bit not fulfilling the excellent requirement because it lack practical action that the audience can do in daily life. Overall, the sample is considered as excellent or mastery. However, during the campaign (the exhibition), one of the visitors asked, “are going to do conservation?” the question was really though provoking for me, then I answered that we are not directly involved to do conservation, but we can think on how to help Sumatran tigers by using papers responsibly since papers are made of woods (one of the reasons for deforestation.)

According to the feedback that I received, I am glad that all my visitors learned something from my exhibition. They learned facts of Sumatran tigers and unit planning in science. Three of the seven visitors claimed that the information on the exhibition was new for them, and the other four visitors mentioned that the exhibition helped them to recall what they have learned in the past. Furthermore, the feedback encourages me for more changes in the future. I displayed the rubric for them, but I did not explain it more, because I thought that they would read it by themselves. However, assessment and rubric are very important to be explained. Second, I need to be more concised and structured on my speech. I knew that at that time I was so nervous, but it’s my third year in ITC, it means I should improve more in structuring my speech. Lastly, I need to provide example as part of making changes to the audience’s daily life. I need to add examples so that the audience can really take part in helping Sumatran tigers. I remember in my campaign I orally say that we can indirectly involve saving Sumatran tigers by using papers responsibly, because papers are made of wood and making paper is one of the reasons for deforestation.

Lampita’s Science Teaching statement

Through the science course in this semester, as a future science teacher, I believe that science is exploration of daily phenomena. It implies the idea of learning science must be contextual and experiential for learner. Phenomena can be found in daily lives that is familiar with students, such as what happen to weather changes makes people sick, light bulbs are hot, falling from water slides, and many more. The key of having phenomena is to contextual for students in other words students should know or experience the phenomena. Through phenomena students’ curiosity, critical thinking, and awareness are developed. They are more responsible and observable in their daily lives. Phenomena means an event occurs that is contextual well-known for students, so that we can investigate more the reasons and cause of the phenomena and how we come up with solutions. The implementation of phenomena is significant for teaching learning science in the classroom. It means that science is not all about facts and theories, but it is nurturing students to think and act like scientists. Why scientist? The answer is to be scientists means to be more observant and action-based person. Scientists learn through observing, questioning, making prediction, experimenting, and analyzing the data. They are looking for effective solution by applying the knowledge that they have. The beauty of acting and thinking as scientist is that we can overcome, modify, and design solution to problems more effectively.

As teachers, how to help students to be scientists especially in the classroom? As teacher’s mindset of inquiry-centered science is greatly significant for students to be effective and productive learners by doing. Through this approach, students are fully and actively engaged in learning, it brings phenomena to be discussed with the students, it allows students to work in group collaboratively, it meets learning styles of students, it encourages connection with other subjects, and it allows students to grasp new concepts and skills (Science for All Children, 1997). In other words, inquiry-centered science is students-centered. Students are the ones who construct the meaning in their learning. They make sense of the world around them through more exploration, collaboration, connection, and diversity. The role of the teacher is to facilitate, guide, share, and conduct investigation, observe, and develop explanations in helping students learn (Contant et.al., 2018). It means that the role of the teacher is not primarily lay on the content, but they draw conclusions or explanations based on students’ questions and finding in their exploration in the phenomena. Teacher can prepare the materials but not as the guidelines for teaching students. That is why, the phenomena foster students’ thinking and then teacher facilitate and validate the students’ answers and questions.

            In order to foster the inquiry-based approach atmosphere, it is crucial to introduce and implement the 5E which are engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate (Contant et.al., 2018). 5E is essential for learning for empowering students to be more collaborative, reflective, and appreciative individuals. In other world is not about the teacher “says so”, but “we found out” ideas. They will learn through 5E that allows them to see the world around them differently. At the end through this 5E, students are more equipped to effective students in learning science.

As a science teacher I have several beliefs that I am holding on in teaching science. First, in my class, I should have many hands-on activities to foster students’ ability in making meaning. Second, always start with phenomenon that drives us to investigate more. As I was making my unit plan, I learned a lot on how to make a flowchart based on my anchoring phenomena. The phenomena that I chose was helpful for me to outlining my lessons in the unit. I believe that students also will be more interested and engaged in learning. Thirdly, learning science should embrace inclusion value. It is the most important part in embracing different learning style of students. All students have the capacity to learn, no matter their backgrounds or personalities. I believe as long as we give them the opportunity to learn meaningfully, we are preparing them to become active learners. It is true that we need effort and energy to allow all students to access science, but we have to remember the fruit of it. Thus, as a teacher, I need to know well my students’ ability, so that I can tailor their learning. Lastly, I need to consider the use of technology. I believe that science needs process and tools to make it easier and faster in the investigation. Thus, it cannot be limited to use technology in learning. Allowing students to use technology is important to help them to be more effective. Thus, as a teacher, incorporating technology in assessment and learning process will be greatly helpful for students to make sense of the problems. In conclusion, inquiry-centered science allows students to investigate phenomena through 5E. The role of the teacher is important to facilitate and guide students.

References:

Contant, T. L., Tweed, A. L., Bass, J. E., Carin, A. A. (2018). Teaching science through inquiry-based instruction (13th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

Science for All Children. (1997). National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/4964

The unit plan that I have made is one of the evidence that I learn science in this semester. In my opinion, the unit plan represents my strengths in planning a science unit plan such as my understanding about the standards, in making the flowchart, and understanding the three dimensions. First, I learn that my understanding about the standards is improving. Since I choose life science, the standards are about population and ecosystem changes. At first, it was hard for me to understand the standards. After receiving feedback and listening to more explanation during class, I get to understand the standards that I choose, I need to pay attention to the clarification on the standards and consider the DCIs based on the standards. I get to know more how the standards are grade-level appropriate. Second, in creating the flowchart. It was the hardest process that I have through in making the science unit in this semester. Making a flowchart based on an anchoring phenomenon is totally a new idea for me. I did not know that teaching science should be based on phenomena. Then, in my investigative phenomena I get to understand the meaning of learning cycles. Learning cycles means the implementation of 5E in every investigative phenomenon. I claim that this flowchart is my strength, because when I finalize my unit plan, my flowchart was very helpful in organizing my lesson. The role of my professor is very helpful for me in making sense of the flowchart as well. At first, I needed to revise my flowchart based on the consultation with my professor, and that was the time of revelation for me. I understand how flowchart should look like, how to read it, and how to use it in my unit plan. Thirdly, my understanding in following the 3 dimensions (SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs).  I found it interesting that the three dimensions are connected to each other and helpful for inquiry-based approach. In my unit plan, I implement the three dimensions that are reflected on the skills and content that students are going to do.

However, I can see several things that I need to improve more. First, I need to learn more on how to create enduring understanding and the main claim. I am still struggling in making essential main claim of the unit. It is challenging since the main claim needs to be concise and aim the standards. The same thing happens to my enduring understanding as well. Since enduring understanding should be more real-world application and leading to “what I understand from this unit in a general and wider scoop of science”. In other words, it’s not simply about particular content, but it is more to the idea of apply the particular content in other topics. That is why, it is hard for me to make a meaningful one.

I believe that changes and improvements come in the process. In my unit plan making process, there are so many changes and adjustments that I do. First, I got feedback on my first draft of the unit. I need to change my standards since it does not cover ETS. Then, based on the feedback I change it. During the process of making the second draft, I do research on the standards that I choose. I read websites, unit plan samples, and watch videos about the topic that I change. After some thinking process and meditation, I got to understand what I am doing in it. Then, in my microteaching, I choose a lesson to be taught, which is lesson 2. Here I learned so much through feedback and the microteaching itself. In the microteaching, there are some changes I need to make due to some adjustment that I found. I need to consider the connection between deforestation and the population. Second, I learned that in my feedback, I have to consider the time management that I have. I need to organize my time wisely and effectively. I think in my unit I put too much activity in one lesson meanwhile, the lesson only for 30 minutes. As I am reflecting on it, I think for some lessons need to be more time goal.

Furthermore, there are other opportunities that I learn from, which is the exhibition that I do. In my exhibition, I get feedback that I need to structure my speech in delivering the exhibition. I think when I was doing my exhibition, I was not speaking very well, because I was so nervous and at the same time, I lack sleep that is why it’s harder for me as ELL to arrange my wording. Additionally, I need to show my visitors how I grade my students’ final works. I need to show them the rubrics of the performance task.

At the end of the day, the unit, lesson, exhibition, and microteaching of this science class taught me a lot to utilize inquiry-based approach as an educator. As a professional educator I need to be well-prepared and to be content with the materials. Professional educator is not something easy to do, there are many things to be considered and prepared. To be professional means be more advanced in the preparation and teaching. How to do this? Be opened to feedback be willing to do better. It means that being professional also facing failure in the process but be willing to fix and change is very important.