Fall 2009: Homework Week 5

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Fall 2009-Day 10
Instructional Strategy of Homework

Reflect on this class and your learning

Think about all the experiences you have had so far in this class and answer the following questions:

1. What aspects have fostered your learning the most? Explain.

2. What aspects have fostered your learning the least? Explain.

3. How is this class different from other classes you’ve taken?

4. Has the first three weeks of the course had any influence on how you think about teaching and learning? Why or why not? If so, how?

1. Moon Observations and Interpretations Given our observations so far, what do you predict we would see (if the sky were clear) and we looked for the moon this weekend and next week (Nov 1-7)? When is a good time to look? On what basis do you make those predictions? What questions do you have about the moon that can be answered by observing (if the sky is clear)?

2. Begin your moon paper:

Draw the phases of the moon as we have seen them during the past month. Include as many of your own observations as you can but add in some by your colleagues as needed to fill out the cycle. Include the date and time for each observation. Name each phase.

Based on our observations, on which side of the moon has the sun been for each phase?

If possible, state the relationship between the apparent shape of the moon and the angle formed by pointing one arm at the moon and one arm at the sun. Define the angle carefully. If you are not yet ready to state this relationship, try to see the moon when the sun is visible to get some estimates of these angles (should we be able to see the moon in the next few weeks!) (Take picture of your observations to include in a file or hand in #2 in class (typed with your drawings of the observations.)

Your moon paper is due Tuesday, November 24 (note this is not the date stated in the syllabus). This is a paper you will be writing, with feedback on each section, over the next few weeks. It is in place of a second midterm. The paper starts with a section on your observations, which you are writing here, due Nov 3. For the next homework, due Nov 10, you will be working on the section that develops the explanatory model for those changing phases, using the ball and lamp as we did in class and with the children. The following week, due Nov 17, you will extend this model to consider the sun/earth/moon system from two perspectives. The last section, due with the entire paper on Nov 25, reflects on changes in your understandings about the sun/earth/moon system, the nature of scientific explanations, and inquiry approaches to teaching and learning.

3. Understandings Interview two people about their understandings about heat and temperature. If possible, one should be a student of the age you would like to teach and the other should be an adult. Report: a. brief description of your interviewees (gender, estimate of age) b. your “protocol” (questions you asked) c. example responses for each individual as accurately as you can d. summary of your findings Post on BlackBoard and submit as part of a file for Homework 5 under assignments.

4. Reading Reflection: Read: Gilbert, J. & Kotelman, M. (2005). Five good reasons to use science notebooks. Science and Children, 43(3), 28-32. (To access this article, open OSU’s home page, click on library, click on ejournals, enter your ONID user name and password, enter Science and Children in the search window, click on one of the resources listed, click on 2005, click on issue 43(3), scroll down to #15, click on PDF full text).

Write a reflection: How are science notebooks useful for teachers/ students? How might you use them for yourself, or for your own classroom some day? Explain! Post on BlackBoard and submit as part of a file for Homework 5 under assignments

5. How have you used technology in the past? Why is integrating technology into the classroom valuable? What technologies do you know and how can you use them as a learning resource? Post this on BlackBoard and submit as part of a file for Homework 5 under assignments.

Example Student Response