It's 3 Dimensional Teaching Time! ⌚️

 Hello fellow 4th-grade teachers! I am here today to explain to you all the 3 Dimensional Teaching of Energy. Buckle up we're going on a science adventure!

First up we have Science and Engineering Practices.

In this practice we have, asking questions & defining problems, planning & carrying out investigations, constructing explanations & designing solutions, and obtaining, evaluating, & communicating information. We want our students to wonder and think for themselves. This practice allows students to draw their own conclusions based on science and engineering. Students will really focus on science.

Next up we have Disciplinary Core Ideas. 

This practice includes definitions of energy, conservation of energy & energy/transfer, the relationship between energy & forces, energy in chemical processes & everyday life, natural resources, and defining engineering problems. In this practice, students will focus more on the energy aspect. They should be able to grasp information about different types of energy. 

Finally, we have, Crosscutting Concepts. 

This practice includes energy & matter, cause & effect, the interdependence of science, engineering, & technology, the influence of engineering, technology, & science on society & the natural world, and science is a human endeavor. This all focuses on what the students are going to get out of learning about science and engineering. 

As teachers, I believe it is important we understand how crucial science is to our lives. We want to pass on the message that science is crucial in our lives to our own students. Science needs to be taught and allowing students to have fun while learning helps a lot!

Thank you for joining me today until next time!

Adventures In NGSS!

Hello everyone it is NGSS time! 

 1. Practices- describes behaviors scientists and engineers engage in

2. Disciplinary Core Ideas- describe core ideas in the science disciplines

3. Crosscutting Concepts- describe concepts linking the different domains of science 

Why is it important to teach with NGSS?

I believe it is important to teach with NGSS because science is a crucial part of our lives, and teaching children science. NGSS helps build wonder for students, which promotes more learning in the classroom. Students should be able to wonder about different things and not be limited to one idea or thought. 

The 5 E's: Engage, Explore, Explain, Evaluate, and Elaborate Oh My!

 This week we are learning about our science inquiry unit and our 5 E's which are:

1. Engage

2. Explore

3. Explain

4. Evaluate

5. Elaborate

Engage:

For the engage section, we were to look at a video in which Neil DeGrasse Tyson talks about his thoughts on science literacy. The main message of his talk was to inspire people to want to become scientifically literate, he wants people to both learn and teach science. From this video, I learned science is a crucial part of the way our world functions today, and I never really thought about it that way until now.

Another activity we did was read an article provided to us called "Why Scientists Do Science?" and the article discussed the reasons as to why different people wanted to become scientists. If I was to write a "Scientific Me" essay I would probably write about what led me to want to pursue science. I would want to share that part of my life with my readers, and have them understand why I chose the career that I did. Knowing more about someone makes me feel more comfortable around them, and I want my students to be comfortable with me.

Explore:

For the explore section, we were given a bunch of resources to explore to answer the following questions given to us.

Q1: What are and how many forms of inquiry used in inquiry-based classrooms?

There are 4 forms of inquiry and they are:

1. Confirmation Inquiry

2. Structured Inquiry

3. Guided Inquiry

4. Open Inquiry

Q2: What is discovery learning? Who is the founder of this movement? 

Discovery Learning is learning that takes place in the hypothetical rather than the expository mode. In the expository mode, the student is the listener and the teacher is the expositor. In the hypothetical mode, the teacher and student are in a more cooperative position, meaning they are more likely to collaborate, the student may even play the principle role. The founder of this movement is Jerome Bruner.

Q3: What is 5 E's Inquiry-Based Learning Model/ 5 E's Learning Cycle?

1. Engage

2. Explore

3. Explain

4. Evaluate

5. Elaborate

Explain:

Q1: Watch the video-lecture about 5Es Learning Cycle and preparing 5E lessons below and explain how 5Es model is connected to the process of inquiry and scientific method.

5 E's model is connected to the process of inquiry and scientific method. When you use the 5 E's model you have to think and explain why you believe what you believe. This is related to inquiry and the scientific method because in both we ask questions, make observations, and come up with conclusions. The 5 E's model let's us dive a little deeper into what we're learning thus giving us an immense grasp on the topic. 

Q2: Reflect on how you understand the parts of the 5E inquiry learning cycle and how you will plan science lessons with 5 Es, in your blogs.

Engage, explore, explain, evaluate, and elaborate are the 5 E's inquiry learning cycle. Each one of these allows us to dig deeper into a topic we are learning about. I will use the 5 E's to plan science lessons by: including activities that will allow my students to engage with the topic we are learning about, I will provide them with different resources so they are able to explore the topic, I will give them activities to do that will allow them to explain how they feel about the topic, they will then be allowed to evaluate the conclusions they drew with the whole class, and finally I will give them the opportunity to elaborate as much as they can on any assignments given to them by having them create something fun like a blog!

Learning science is fun and we should always encourage it in our own classrooms. That is all I have for you all today. I wish you all a good week!

Jitters Be Gone!

Welcome back everyone to another day in my life! 

Tuesday and Thursday were introduction days for the whole class😬. Tuesday I didn't get a chance to go, but it was great to listen and learn new things about my classmates that I never knew before. I loved having the opportunity to see how creative they all are, their Bitmoji classrooms all looked so great! 

Thursday was the day I finally got to go and every time Dr. Smirnova asked who wanted to go next I hesitated because I had the jitters! I was so nervous to go, but I finally worked up the courage to say "I can go next". And I did! I got to present and it felt good to be able to share my creative side with my classmates. 

Getting to know my classmates better was great and to find out that we all felt similar ways before it was our turn to present, whew what a relief that was to hear! I really enjoyed this experience and it really helped to calm my jitters!

Well until next time blog! 

Blast Off!

 Hello everyone and welcome to my first blog post here on "Future Scientists At Play"! I am really excited for this semester and I cannot wait to learn more about science with all of you. Here's to a great semester! 

The first day of class was yesterday August 31st and let me tell you it was a blast! We started off with an activity called a "brain break", which was super fun to do. Dr. Smirnova had us do an activity in which we had to copy what she did and we did funny things like jumping up and down and clapping our hands. She did it to keep us awake and engaged for the day's lesson, and the activity really did help.

After that activity, Dr. Smirnova played us a video that discussed digital learners. 

The video was very powerful. It discussed how some teachers do not give children the opportunity to use technology in the classroom,which does not give students an opportunity to express themselves and create things. This video sent out a very strong message and I definitely reccommend showing our future students this video.

After the video, Dr. Smirnova gave us the opporutnity to be creative on our owns. We got to creat our very own scientist! Here's mine everyone meet Dr. Howie:

The first day off class went great, and I cannot wait for many more days like yesterday! I'm gonna sign off now everyone, see ya later!