Private Universe

1. How the phases of the moon occur?
The Earth orbits around the Moon so we only see pieces of the moon at a time. Shadow?

Moon never changes shape. It is only the way the sun reflects the moon.


2. What causes the seasons?
The orbit of the Earth with the Sun causes a change in temperature. When we are closer to the sun it's hotter and further is cooler.

The Earth is tilted. And depending on the tilt of the moon and where the sun is, the seasons change.

3. What causes a lunar eclipse?
When the moon orbits and the Earth orbits at a particular location.

Formative

Galeleo (sp?)

helio-centric (sun in the center)

geo-centric (Earth in the center)

1992: Sun is in the middle

The sun does not move. North star= big bear, always tilt pointing towards the north star

Earth orbits around the Sun= 1 year

Northern Hemisphere is titled toward the Sun= summer.
Norther Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun= winter.
Prime Meridian: fake
Capricorn, Cancer, Equator: lines on the Earth. Points on the Earth.
Equator/Equinox: 12 hours a day/night
Solar Eclipse: can't see the Sun
Lunar Eclipse: can't see the moon!
Blue Moon: 2 full moons in one month
Waxing: getting bigger
Wayning: getting smaller
The moon is not in the plane of the equip tic
The moon dives in and out of its own orbit

Peters Reading

I think scaffolding is a concept that can be used in education.  Scaffolding is the support that a teacher provides a student.  The teacher needs to asses the amount of scaffolding a student may need.  As a teacher, the goal should be to provide the student with material that is not too easy and not too difficult.  This is a very challenging task to do but with the use of scaffolding, teachers can make knowledge most beneficial.  The work of Piaget is extremely intriguing to me. I believe the use of schema is essential is student's knowledge. To make connections with previous experiences, students can learn best.

Misconceptions

This article really hit home for me.  As a learner that learns best when experiencing and manipulating knowledge, theoretically science should be my favorite subject.  However, I believe terms were forced into my brain that I did not understand but somehow passed science so I must have been good enough to get by.  With many of my teachers through elementary schools, I never understood why things were and a lot of the time it was just because they were that way.  I believe labs are a GREAT tool to use when teaching science and will be beneficial to aid to students' knowledge.  With being able to manipulate objects and using notebooks, all students can learn because it applies to many learner types.

Rising to Greatness

Wow.  After reading this article, it really put the struggle for education in Iowa into perspective for me.  However, this article bases most of it's argument on test scores.  I do not believe that test scores alone are a accurate measurement of student's progress and growth.  Although our national education system relies heavily on test scores, I believe other factors need to be taken into consideration.  What if the student's dog passed away earlier that morning? Or a student had not been fed that day and could not think about anything else but their hunger? Dialects and word usage differ nationally, what if the student did not understand the words in the questions? It is alarming to me that solely from a test score, judgments can be made.  This bothers me because we live in a nation that strives for hard work and communication in the job force.  I do understand the importance of tracking growth nationally and by State.  However, more factors should be taken into consideration when determining judgments on states' education ability.  With that said, I believe Midwest Education enforces the idea to students that community and dedication are extremely important.

How to fix these test scores? To be honest, I have no idea.  I do know that it needs to be a progressive process and will take time to reach.  All any teacher can do is teach their best and aid each student to progress and grow as an individual.

Science Notebooks

 I am a believer in notebook use for all subjects in Elementary Education. I believe notebook use in subject areas for elementary students is extremely important and essential to their learning experience.  This is extremely vital for elementary science education. When learning science,  students are encouraged to use all five senses: smell, taste, touch, sight and hear. With a science notebook, students are able to document drawings, words, smells, anything that will aid their memory to later reflect.  I believe reflection is an extremely important part of education.  With the ability to reflect in science education, students can better their understanding of the topic at hand.  If students are able to record in the moment feelings or observations, their reflections will be more detailed and education will be more worthy for the future. As a student who never used a science notebook, I believe this would have been extremely beneficial to my learning.  I do not remember much from science classes when I was in elementary school but I believe with a science notebook maybe I would have remembered more.  With the ability to reflect on my experiences, I believe I would have had more memorable and meaningful experiences.

Initial Vision Statement

Thinking back on my science experiences in elementary school, I realize I do not have many positive memories.  In fact, I do not have many memories at all.  One of my few memories is scrapping rocks against glass and having not a clue what I was doing.  Another memory I have is from fifth grade when I was required to have a book full of leaves that I collected.  I remember being extremely stressed out over this project because I could not find all of the leaves I was required to collect and I was scared I would receive a poor grade.  Then I entered high school where I took Biology, Earth Science, Genetics and Chemistry.  The majority of these classes I did not enjoy and I believe my teachers had a large impact.  I always saw science education as a topic that students were either good or bad at.  I never thought of science as a subject that I was able to be successful at.  This could be because of the broken record of hearing teachers explain that girls are good at literature and writing and boys excel in mathematics and science.  Or this could be because science information always seemed very intimidating to me, such as the Periodic Table. Science was the only subject in school that did not come easily to me.

I believe there are a few key components necessary for a quality science education.  I believe teachers need to create science activities that are meaningful and relatable to students' lives.  I think students are more likely to remember and appreciate experiences that are applicable to their own lives.  I also believe students learn best with hands-on experiences.  Allowing students to have hands-on experiences and make discoveries on their own will greatly benefit their learning. I believe making discoveries allows individuals to remember their activity and result much better than someone simply telling or showing them.  For example, something as simple as mixing the colors blue and yellow together and resulting in green will have a longer affect on students than if the teacher were to simply tell his or her students the conclusion.  Although not all activities in science may be safe for students to experiment with, I believe students should be able to do the majority of the activities in the classroom.

I anticipate teaching students science with great enthusiasm.  I do not want students to feel overwhelmed by science material and want to be sure to teacher science to all learning styles.  I want to have science lessons that accommodate all of my students’ learning styles, in result my students will greatly benefit from my lessons. When explaining science systems I want to be sure to have visual aids as well as thoroughly explaining the system.  I also want to allow time for students to experiment and soak in experiments.  Also, when writing laboratory reports and other written assignments I want students to feel excited to write about them.  This can be done by eliminated some of the unnecessary questions and adding more question that require the student to share their opinion and conclusion. Overall, I hope to explore with my students and allow them to have a meaningful science experience.