Activity 4

Kiersten Caine Activity 4: Exploration of Science Education Standards


CHEM 105 not only provides an opportunity for students to learn more about chemistry and science, but it also offers an opportunity for future educators, parents and members of society to understand the expectations society has created for science education standards. In the last four activities (5-8) we will explore science concepts and also relate these to the science standards we will first explore in Activity 4.
For this activity please refer to the Wisconsin Science Standards at this website:
http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/standards/sciintro.html                                                        

At this site you will find Standards A- H for grades 4, 8 and 12.  Since most of the students in this class are future early childhood educators, I would like for you to focus on the Grade 4 Standards.  If you would like, feel free to address the other grade levels if you would like! 

To complete Activity 4, choose a sub-standard under each of the Standards A thru H and describe something that you have done either in this class or outside of this class, perhaps in previous classes, that indicates that you have met the sub-standard. Each of these descriptions should be at least a paragraph long.
Here is a link to the sub-standards for Standard A:
http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/standards/scia4.html 



Science Performance Standard A Grade 4:
            The sub-stander I picked for A was a.4.4. This standard states “When studying science-related problems, decide which of the science themes are important.” I have used this technique in most all of my classes. Not only when it comes to chemistry, but whenever I am given an assignment I try to find some parts of it that will relate to my everyday life. This makes the topic more interesting, and I can use the results that I find later on in life. When working in chemistry I like working with the models and elements that I use on a daily bases. After learning about a new element, I replace the scientific words with the common name in my conversations.



Science Performance Standard B Grade 4:
            Sub-standard B.4.1 stood out to me the most out of all the other B fourth grade standards. It says “Use encyclopedias, source books, texts, computers, teachers, parents, other adults, journals, popular press, and various other sources, to help answer science-related questions and plan investigations.” I learned at a very young age that no question is a stupid question. When it comes time to writing papers, or completing a homework assignment and need some information that I do not know that answers to, I know I can turn to outside sources to help me get pointed into the right direction. For example my sister is a certified PA and whenever I have a science related-questions, I know I can turn to her and find my answer with an amazing story to go along with it.  With having internet always at my finger tips on my phone, it is very easy to look up an answer when just talking to friends about anything.

Science Performance Standard C Grade 4:

            For standard letter c, the one that I could relate to, because it happens in not only science related classes, but all. I picked C.4.3. It is “Select multiple sources of information to help answer questions selected for classroom investigations”. This reminded me a lot of the sub-standard that I picked for B. When I start to work on a project, or activity, I try to gather all the information that I can from different sources so that I can get the full story and not be bias. If you only read one source, than you are only going to know the authors point of view on that topic, not being able to think for yourself. Reading multiple sources lets you know all the sides, and now you can take a stance and write about your own. Once in junior high I was to write an option paper on what I thought about the president of the time. This was a great example of having to read many sources. I had to come up with my very own option, and I did so by selecting multiple sources of information that helped me have my own say.

Science Performance Standard D Grade 4:
            Standard D was a little harder for me to pick a sub-standard. I went with D.4.1. This standard states “Understand that objects are made of more than one substance, by observing, describing and measuring the properties of earth materials, including properties of size, weight, shape, color, temperature, and the ability to react with other substances”. I have never really thought about why or how objects are made up of so many different elements, but one vacation taught me this. This did not happen inside of a classroom but it happened in the mountains of Colorado. We went to a nation part and had a tour guide that was telling all of us all about how the mountains were made, and why they are the colors they are. It was very interesting to listen to him because he was making it easy for me to understand even at the age of 10. He would tell us all about how different type of rocks would melt into other rocks because of the earth plates moving, or rain washing them away. This was a great example of me starting to understand some of the properties of my earth. The rocks were able to react with other rocks or substances to form different masses, shapes, and textures.


Science Performance Standard E Grade 4:
            The sub-standard from Standard E that I remember learning about in class was E.4.1. It said “Investigate that earth materials are composed of rocks and soils and correctly use the vocabulary for rocks, minerals, and soils during these investigations” I remember learning about rocks names, and minerals. I never really remembered them or thought that I needed to remember them until freshman year at Stout. I took ­Geology. In this class we learned all the scientific names for rocks, minerals, and soils. Learning the scientific names of our earth’s minerals this time around really stuck because our teacher would make it fun. Every day he would bring in some kind of activity or hands on experiment that the students could do to learn about rocks and soils and know the differences between them. I am a very hand’s on learner, so this was a great way for me to learn and also making it fun.


Science Performance Standard F Grade 4:
            Standard F that I picked was F.4.1 which states “Discover* how each organism meets its basic needs for water, nutrients, protection, and energy* in order to survive”. The reason that I picked this one was because in the 3^rd grade my science classroom had a fish tank full of different organisms. Every day when we came to class we started off by feeding the organisms or looking at their new state as we left them yesterday. This was a great way for younger children to learn I believe because we were doing the act ourselves and not just reading about it in a book. It was kind of sad at some points because some of the organisms would die, but when that happened we know that what we were feeding or not feeding them, was there basic need of energy. In order to survive, different organisms needed different nutrients.




Science Performance Standard G Grade 4:

            G.4.5 says “Ask questions to find answers about how devices and machines were invented and produced”. The reason why I wanted to pick this one for the G standard was because I have learned to do this in all on my classes.  Classes like science, chemistry, math, reading, and writing ect. Asking questions to find out an answer out about how devices and machines were once invented and produced never harms your brain. I like learning new information and hearing about how others people in the olden days created a product. I can remember one time in history class we were on the topic of WWII. Our teacher was talking all about how the Americans came up with weapons to kill of the opposing sides. It was very interesting to hear about this, but I asked my teacher so many questions about how they went about making it, or how they used them in fighting. Some of the questions that I had asked him, he did not know the answer to. People always say that no question is a stupid question, and I have lived by that model my whole life.

Science Performance Standard H Grade 4:
            H.4.1  is “Describe* how science and technology have helped, and in some cases hindered, progress in providing better food, more rapid information, quicker and safer transportation, and more effective health care”. I believe that with this world changing so fast and advancing, some of the science and technology have hindered this world. It is very rare that you hear of a new product that has 0 side effects. This is one of the ways that science has indeed harmed our world. Science is always going to be evolving, but I think that scientist need to keep the consumer in mind when creating new products. An example of this sub-standard that I have bad is this past semester in Boston. Every day I took the subway to school instead of driving. This was a great use of the public transportation and a more effect way of getting to classes on a timely manner.  


Also for this activity, you are to explore the Next Generation Science Standards.  These are new standards that are being proposed at the federal level that many states, including Wisconsin, are now in the process of developing adoption plans.
http://www.nextgenscience.org/
As you explore this site, and perhaps others that are related, answer the following three questions:

1.      What do you see are big changes compared to the previous standards?

 One big change that I found in reading the new standards is that the standards for engineering, Technology, and the application of science starts off by saying that teachers need to understand that science is profoundly important in addressing the problem we face in at the beginning of the 21^st century. I do agree that teachers need to understand science, but I don’t think we can go as far as saying that it is the only way of solving the problems in our world. Some of the standards that I read on page 4 of “Standards for Engineering, Technology, and the Applications of Science” were not that the questions were much more open. Asking a k-2 “what are the different ways to solve problems and meet challenges?” This question is to open ended for a first grader to come up with an answer. The other site did a great job of making every sub-standard easy to relate to, and come up with an example of when they performed this in their class time.

2.      How are these standards connected to the other displines such as math and literacy?

I believe that these standards are connected to other displines like math and literacy because the new standards are very broad and you can’t implement any subject into them. For grades 3-5 the sub-standards stats “How can people work together to create better designs.” You can ask this question no matter if you are in a science related class or not, the students are still going to be able to answer the question. Same with standard 6-8. “How can different solutions to problems be compared, testes, and refined to arrive at the best design”. When writing a paper for English, one can change the ending or the middle to make the whole paper better, and come to a final design.

3.      What do you see will be challenges for teachers when considering some of the changes in the proposed science standards?

Some of the challenges for the teachers when considering some to the changes in the proposed science standards are that they will have to try and relate them back to the student’s. If they are good teachers, they are going to want their student’s to come out of there class learning something, and really relating to the topics they talked about in class. Teachers challenges will now be creating a science lesson of other subjects standards to fit the needs of the children and getting them to understand the importance of learning.