A “Science” Autobiography
My earliest and most vivid memories of science are from home when I used to live with my grandparents in the Dominican Republic. There were so many experiences with my grandparents that I will never forget, like the year we raised tadpoles and watched them change into frogs, planting seeds in our garden and watching them grow. Through these experiences, I was discovering my world and piecing together knowledge of how it worked. I was a part of it. I was doing the science. I was amazed to see what came before my very eyes.
In Elementary School, I know that I learned science often but only a few memories stand out. These are memories of actually observing the life cycle of butterflies. I remember that one afternoon
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We hypothesized, we tested our ideas and observed what happened, sometimes we made adjustments, and we drew conclusions. I learned about Newton’s Law and about forces of gravity, while learning how to problem solve and be a scientist. These were meaningful ways of learning. I have to point out the fact that my most favorite experience was going on the Physic day to six flag because concept such as the newton’s law of motion, force and acceleration and many others we put to practice on real life scenario. In addition to that, I was able to enjoy all the rides of the park. This experience just makes more truth that there is science behind everything. Labs helped me grasp material more fully, as I manipulated it and saw its connections to my world and my life. It confirmed for me that science was anything but arbitrary.
On returning back to the Elementary School setting, I am excited to hear about science kits being used, full of models and hands-on experiments for the students. There are activities for the students to discover how science works and how it is connected to their lives. The content of science is important, but if students can obtain this knowledge through a variety of activities including observation and experimentation, why would you use just textbooks and
As I was helping oversee the young students competing in various science-based events, I was enthralled
I have always been fascinated with science-oriented interests. I remember being young and intrigued by the complexity of the human body. As I grew, puzzles and critical thinking became essential to my learning process.
Through this program I had first-hand access to some of the brightest young minds in both the United States and the world. The sharing among students of ideas and experiences in science, and in other areas as well, was enlightening. I felt like I had the chance to absorb knowledge from those around me. This environment spread beyond the students and also included the faculty and speakers. We had access to incredible faculty who were able to give much to the experience and share their own science insights. The program also brought in speakers and other science professionals from around the world who were at the top of their respective fields. This festival gave me real access to the movers and shakers of the science world, an experience beyond any available to me anywhere else.
For our Science fair, we had to come up with our own science hypothesis and project. The 6-8th graders had to do all of this and also present this to the judges who were also scientists and to your class. For my project it was based on loud music and your heart rate. My hypothesis was, if I had a group of people who listen to loud pop, jazz and rock, then their heart rate will increase. I had a lot of fun doing this project and also presenting it to my classmates. It was also fun presenting it to the science fair judges. They had suggested me some things to also try or to change the experiment a little bit. The Science Fair had taken place at our St. Lucy's gym and annex.
Ferinad Puretz, Max. 'True Science', Review of Peter Medawar, Advice to a Young Scientist. N.p.: n.p., 1980. Print.
Schlager, Neil, and Josh Lauer. Science and Its Times: Understanding the Social Significance of Scientific Discovery. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Print.
“Science is not a body of facts”. Science is a state of mind” (Angier 490). While both essays, “The Canon” by Natalie Angier, and “Scientific Literacy and the Habit of Discourse” by Thomas W. Martin, discuss the fact that science is practiced through actions and is not a set of facts to be learned, these two articles approach the topic differently. By using different rhetorical modes and having alternate styles, these two articles appear different but contain the same foundation of science and make similar points. Even though the article’s main points have similarities, the essays also contain many differences through their rhetorical mode, approach, and appeal.
By incorporating NOS in science textbooks, not only we will be addressing the problem suggested by Sutton (1998), but, also, as teachers, we will be reinforcing scientific expertise needed in to develop active citizens while attaining two roles in scientific understandings that are “knowing how” science was established and “knowing that” which is constituted of facts and scientific knowledge (Bellous &Siegel, 1991). Finally, Sutton’s chapter provides a concise framework for teachers and research scholars to view science teaching and scientific knowledge from a different perspective. Such that the science content and teaching should be viewed from the scientists’ perspective to the extent that collaboration between scientific community is needed to reach such
From the unit of chemistry in grade ten science, the students have learned many things from different types of elements in the chart all the way to how each element impacts the daily life each student or even adult lives in. Some of the things I as a student have learned include how to draw the different elements in a bohr rutherford diagram, balancing chemical equations, types of chemical reactions, and even information about the different types of acids and bases. Although there were many other things in the unit, these four definately helped me learn about chemistry in a more in-depth way, as well as teaching me something very new since these were some things a few of the students had never done in the previous years. Learning this in the classroom has really opened my eyes to the world in which we live in today, many times I leave the house on a cold day and as I look upon the cold water becoming ice or even the snow falling down, I know how it is happening, why it is happening, and I can even picture the molecules solidifying as we had seen in class with many different diagrams.
Generally, science is a hotly discussed and vehemently debated topic. It is difficult to achieve consensus in science, considering the fact that ideas are diverse about even science definition, leave alone the true interpretations and meaning of scientific experiments, philosophies and discoveries. However, these arguments, disagreements as well as continuous trials to find a better reasoning, logic and explanation are exactly what have always been driving science progress from art to art form. It is worth noting that, in Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction, the Author-Samir Okasha explore various way of looking at science via the prism of life by citing a variety of scientific experiments, and providing examples from history of science.
...o listen carefully to ensure that kids are discussing scientific ideas, not socializing. The teacher's role is to ensure that students achieve their primary goal: meaningful understanding of scientific concepts. The practices described in this article help bring this about in several ways. When instruction centers on students and focuses on hands-on experience with scientific phenomena, science class becomes an exciting place. When instruction concentrates on the investigation of current problems and issues through scientific inquiry, science class becomes a relevant and meaningful place. When instruction emphasizes the development of communication skills, science class becomes an invaluable place for preparing children to tackle the challenges of adulthood. And the education community owes it to its students to assess their academic progress fairly and accurately.
When we sit in a science class, most of the time we are bored as bored can get. We really do not get a chance to explore on our own to find out what’s really out there. Teachers sometimes are not able to get in depth outside the textbook because they are required to teach that all throughout the year. That is why a lot of kids do not really get into science because they are stuck in the book all the time. Some kids love science and do not really care about the work they have to do.
When integrating Nature of Science into curriculum, assumptions are made about students and instructors. These assumptions include that students are all at the same level in terms of science understanding and concepts as the rest of their classmates, and also assumes that the students learn at the same rates (NGSS: Appendix A). These assumptions are detrimental to science education when focus needs to be on the content being taught rather than teaching background of science as a standalone. Teaching NOS explicitly becomes increasingly difficult when students aren’t given access to proper science learning environments. As mentioned in the High Hopes – Few Opportunities reading, it is stated that, “California students do no typically experience high-quality science learning opportunities[.]” (Dorph et al., 2011). When students don’t have a basis for scientific concepts, it becomes increasingly difficult to teach NOS. America’s Lab Report further expands on the idea that this style of learning is not likely achievable, as “[N]o single […] experience is likely to achieve all of these learning goals.” (Schweingruber et al., 2005) where learning goals is referencing the goals of laboratory experiences that include understanding Nature of Science. Again, when a lack of understanding for general science exists, its arguably much more difficult to teach
They also need this relationship to be able to plan their lesson effectively. For children, understanding the nature and process of science is dependent upon their developmental level and the experiences teachers provide for them. Children can begin to understand what science is, who does science, and how scientists work through classroom activities, stories about scientists, and class discussions. Teachers should provide children with many opportunities to make observations with all their senses, to look for patterns in what they observe, and to share with others what they did and what they learnt from their
The National Science Education Standards have set the standards for teaching science. Under Program standard B the standards discuss the best ways children learn science. Program standard B states ì the program of study in the science should be developmentally appropriate, interesting and relevant to students lives: emphasize student understanding through inquiry,, and be connected with other school subjects.î This sums up what teachers need to be doing un their classrooms to teach science. The traditional textbook only and work sheet teaching of science is clearly not recommended with inquiry and hands on experiences. Standard B shows representations of methods to use not only in the teaching of science but other subject areas.